Enhancer

by Wyatt Kane

  Yet desire wasn’t the only thing to consider. Even though all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her more tightly and crush her body to his, he stayed as he was.

  He swallowed. “What if it’s only the device that’s leading us to this?” he managed.

  Tempest’s grin grew broader and took on a playful aspect. She traced the outline of his collarbone with her fingertip. “Brad was right about you,” she said. “You really do have to stop overthinking things.”

  Ty felt like his entire body was shaking. He could feel her pressed against him. Yet even then, he couldn’t just accept what was happening. He had to be sure.

  “Probably,” he said. “But still.”

  He willed himself not to respond to her touch any more than he already was.

  Still smiling, Tempest wrapped her hands casually around the back of his neck. “Ty Wilcox, you are truly the cutest, most adorable man.” She stood on tiptoes and gave him another quick kiss, just a taste, then continued. “But please, no more hesitation. Remember, the device only enhances what is already there. I want this. You want this. I don’t see a problem. And if it makes you feel any better, my device is part of me. Even if much of my desire for you comes from it, I’m more happy with that.”

  With that, she brought him down to her level and kissed him again, and for Ty, it felt like time stopped completely.

  “So,” Tempest said when she came up for air. “Have I managed to convince you yet? Or do you need more?”

  Ty couldn’t think any more. All he knew was Tempest was the most spectacularly perfect woman ever created, and his body had been reacting to that perfection from the moment he met her. Surprisingly, he no longer felt like she was out of his league. He’d known her for less than a day, and yet that was enough. To him, she was just Tempest, perfection made flesh, and he was Ty, enhanced by the device on his wrist. And through a stunning, cosmic piece of luck, she was as attracted to him as he was to her.

  He realized he hadn’t answered her question. “I think I’m good,” he managed.

  Tempest raised an eyebrow. “I’ll be the judge of that,” she said. With that, she stepped away and shrugged out of Ty’s backpack, placing it gently on the ground.

  “Meow,” Gremlin offered from within, but Ty ignored her muffled comment. He didn’t have any attention to spare. Tempest required it all.

  Smiling, looking him dead in the eye as if in some sort of challenge, she casually stripped off her top, revealing the perfection that had been hidden beneath. Ty’s breath caught in his throat and he felt his heart beat much faster than usual. She was a work of impossible art formed by the greatest of artists, and he wanted to devour every creamy inch of her flesh.

  Nor had she finished. With all the grace and beauty of a dancer, she stepped out of the rest of her clothing and stood naked before him, with the device on her wrist being the only item she still wore.

  Then she turned slowly around so that he could admire her from all sides.

  “Like what you see?” she asked for a second time. This time, she wasn’t talking about the view over the lake.

  Ty drank her in with his eyes. None of the few other women he held in his memories could come close to matching Tempest in any way. If she had a flaw, he couldn’t spot it, and he was doing his best to look.

  “Yes,” Ty said. “Absolutely.” With the way his brain was refusing to function, it was amazing he managed even that.

  Tempest smiled, obviously enjoying the effect she was having on him. “Then what are you waiting for? Your turn.”

  Her words galvanized him into action. He wasn’t anywhere near as graceful as her, but within very few seconds, he was as naked as she was.

  She looked him up and down. An earlier, pre-device version of Ty might have felt self-conscious and tried to cover himself. But now, he stood with confidence on top of the boulder in the middle of the lake with the sun on his skin, and just smiled under her inspection.

  Tempest gave a small nod of approval and, still smiling, closed the distance between them.

  The first touch of her skin was like a bolt of electricity that burned like a fire. He embraced her again and then they were caressing each other, kissing and exploring, and his mind became filled with pleasure unlike any he had experienced before.

  Somewhere within the first few minutes, Tempest murmured a warning. “I can be a bit rough,” she said.

  “Worth it,” was all Ty could manage to say, and then, somehow, with no further discussion, they were lying together on the top of the boulder.

  17: Home

  They spent the next hour and a half exploring and enjoying each other in a number of ways. Tempest was soft and strong and surprisingly agile, and Ty became entirely lost in her embrace. They moved together both slowly and fast, gently and rough, and at the end of it, they lay together, Tempest on top, both of them spent and Ty at least completely drained and exhausted.

  “Thank you for this,” Tempest sighed. “I was hoping to get a chance to have you all to myself,” she said cryptically, her voice dreamy and relaxed.

  “Huh?” Ty asked.

  “You’ll find out,” she replied. But she didn’t say anything more.

  Ty was too content and relaxed to follow it up. At that moment, he didn’t care that his apartment had a massive hole in its side. That Bane was still after the device on his wrist. He wasn’t even worried about Brad having to sleep on a friend’s sofa, Gremlin meowing in disapproval from time to time in his backpack, or anything else.

  Not even his job.

  His job, for which he was already running late.

  It was the first time he’d thought about work for hours, and with Tempest still on top of him, he lurched upright. She giggled and started to move against him. “I didn’t think you would be up for round two quite just yet,” she said.

  “I’m not,” he replied. Then, with Tempest’s moving against him, he realized he might not be telling the truth. He grinned at her. “Or at least, I didn’t think I was.” Tempest laughed and kept going. “But right now I have to make a phone call. I’m late for work.”

  At first, it seemed as if Tempest might continue, just to try and distract him. But then she reached over to his trousers and plucked his phone from his pocket without disengaging. But she paused before handing it to him.

  “You’re not thinking of going in, are you?”

  The uncomfortable realities of existence came crashing down on Ty all at once. Any interest he had in round two collapsed under their weight.

  His apartment was broken. He didn’t yet know what that meant in terms of his lease. But even if it was effectively done, he still had other expenses, not the least of which was his loan repayments. He needed an income.

  Which meant he still needed work.

  “I kinda have to,” Ty said with a sigh.

  Even though it was clear to both of them that round two was not going to happen, Tempest stayed where she was. But she shook her head. “No, you don’t. The man we questioned said he got your address from your work. Do you think Bane has given up trying to get your device? He could be at your work right now, waiting for you to arrive.”

  The realities of Tempest’s words hit Ty like a kick to the guts. He knew she was right, but for the moment didn’t know what to do about it.

  Tempest came to the rescue with that as well. “Tell them you’re sick. Get a day off.”

  Ty nodded. It was the only real option.

  He glanced at his phone and was surprised to find that there was still reception even there. He lay back on the rock and dialed the number.

  When he got through to Angie, she sneered at him, called him names, and suggested he wasn’t that keen on keeping his job if he was going to call in sick all the time.

  On the other day, Ty might have gritted his teeth and said nothing. If he did, he might have raised his voice in anger, and that wouldn’t have ended very well. But that was before the device, before being attacked in his own apartment, a
nd before making love to Tempest on top of the boulder.

  “Look through your records,” he said calmly. “I’ve worked for you for several years and this is only the third day I’ve ever taken off. And while you might think that people like me are a dime a dozen, there is no one who knows those machines like I do. Sure, others might be able to fix them when they crap out, but it’ll take them three times as long.”

  He didn’t mention that with the device on his wrist, he could probably do it in seconds and make improvements to the machines in the bargain.

  “Now, you can fire me if you wish, but either way, I’m not coming in to work today. And besides, which would you rather have? One staff member off sick today, or several off sick tomorrow?”

  There was a surprised silence at the other end of the line. So Ty decided to push his luck. “I’ll take that as approval. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make it in tomorrow.” And with that, Ty rang off.

  He found Tempest grinning at him. “Who’s the man?” she said, holding her fist out to him.

  He bumped it. “I guess I am,” he replied.

  At the same time, Gremlin uttered a particularly loud, “Meow” that sounded like either agreement or denial from within Ty’s backpack, and both of them laughed.

  Yet Ty knew it wasn’t going to be that simple. He probably still had a job, but Angie the Hutt was what came up when you searched for ‘vindictive’ online. Even now, she would be trying to think up jobs she could give him as punishment. Disgusting jobs, the type of thing that could give a man nightmares or make him throw up.

  Then Ty couldn’t help but laugh again. That was pretty much his job description. Angie already gave him all the disgusting jobs in the place. There was little more she could do to hurt him.

  Tempest was looking at him with a restful, replete expression. “Thank you for this. But I think we should probably head home. There’s someone you need to meet. And we have work to do. We have to find this Bane, figure out where he got his device, and find some way to put a stop to him.”

  With that, she stood, and to Ty’s immense disappointment, started climbing back into her clothes.

  <<<>>>

  Ty enjoyed the rest of the flight as much as he enjoyed his first, only this time he was substantially more relaxed. He found himself wondering what it might take to create something that allowed him to fly under his own power. Even as he thought of it, his mind started to put the pieces together.

  He knew that Tempest did it by controlling different forces and energies, but there were other options available as well. Ty could use simple thrust if he could figure out a reliable option for power. Or he could manipulate gravity within his own sphere of influence. He could even create a set of mechanical wings to do the job.

  Perhaps a jetpack would be the easiest solution. All he needed was some time and a few spare parts. And the right tools for the job, of course. The power question was something that he could solve at any point.

  Yet, despite his relaxation, as they flew back into the city, he got the sense that they were rejoining reality. Their sightseeing trip to the rock had been no more than an interlude, a short, pleasant break from truths they still had to face.

  Bane was out there with his men, and that meant Ty wouldn’t be safe as long as he had the device on his wrist.

  He’d once said to Tempest that he would take it off as soon as could. Now, he was less willing to do so, even if he could figure out how.

  Not only was he enjoying his life for the first time in what felt like forever, but Ty was also starting to understand the value of his skill. So far, he’d done nothing more than build a stun gun. But the possibilities were enormous. He was already figuring out how to fly, but why stop there? He could build himself a shield powerful enough that Bane couldn’t hurt him.

  He could also create weapons.

  Effectively, given sufficient time and resources, the only limit to what he could accomplish was his own imagination.

  There was another thing as well. The device was the key to Tempest’s heart. Whether the attraction they felt for each other would continue if Ty somehow managed to lose the device, he couldn’t know.

  All he knew was that it was something he was less and less inclined to risk.

  “Nearly there,” Tempest spoke in his ear.

  It was enough to break Ty out of his reverie. They had been flying for some time and had entered an old part of the city filled with brownstones. Ty didn’t know what the suburb was called, but from his position above, he could see that the streets were wide, even, and lined with trees. To him, that suggested a wealth and sophistication, a gentrification that was far beyond his normal means.

  He wondered where they were in relation to his apartment, then decided it didn’t matter. There was nowhere in the city that Tempest couldn’t get to more quickly than anyone.

  They slowed down and started to descend. But Ty was in for at least one more surprise that day.

  Instead of aiming for a brownstone or even one of the houses nearby, Tempest was aiming instead for one of the larger buildings. It was an older style and looked to be in a state of disrepair. Except for the penthouse, which looked like a Gothic mansion done in dark steel and glass.

  At first, Ty didn’t quite believe they were heading there. Yet he could feel Tempest’s suppressed excitement through her arms as she held him. He could sense that she wanted to surprise him, to show him something cool.

  And this mansion was it. Tempest dropped down outside the main doors, to land on top of a bridge that spanned a large pond complete with lily pads and bulrushes. Ty even thought he saw the colorful glint of a koi or two through the water.

  Tempest again held onto Ty until he caught his balance. As he had done at the top of the boulder, Ty looked around, scarcely believing his eyes. Then he looked at Tempest. “Seriously? This is your home?”

  The stunning woman just beamed at him, obviously pleased by this reaction.

  “Wow. Just… Wow,” Ty said.

  18: Dinah Lore

  After a moment or two, Tempest gave him a nudge. “Are you going to just stand there, or would you like to come in?”

  “Come in! Absolutely. This place – it looks incredible!”

  “Yes.”

  As they headed toward the main entrance, Ty couldn’t help but ask. “I thought you would live somewhere less conspicuous. Like, in the comic books, superheroes have their hideouts in basements or caves. You know, somewhere hard to find. How do you keep villains from finding you?”

  “You really thought I would live in a cave?” Tempest asked, teasing him.

  Ty grinned. “Well, no. Not exactly.”

  She shrugged. “Here’s another question. Did you truly believe there were superheroes in New Lincoln before you met me?”

  Ty looked at her. “Not really, no. There were stories on the news nets, but…” he trailed off.

  “Exactly. Most people don’t believe we exist. The stories and images on the news nets aren’t conclusive. That’s part of Dinah’s skill, but the point is that there’s no reason to hide if nobody is really looking for you.”

  “What about the people you’ve caught? The bad guys. Surely some of them would want to try to find you?”

  “Sure. But nobody knows who we are. There’s no document that links, ‘female superhero who can fly’ with this address. As well, this building has been undergoing refurbishments for the last couple of years. It’s empty. Nobody can get to the penthouse floor except for us.” She shrugged again and gave him a smile. “Nobody has found us yet,” Tempest finished with a grin.

  They had reached a large, ornate set of glass doors that opened as they approached, admitting them to an entryway filled with dark woods and marble tiles that looked somehow baroque. There was even a huge chandelier hanging down from the double height ceiling.

  Ty didn’t know where to look first. He stopped just inside and turned a complete circle, just trying to take everything in.

  “Dinah!
We’re here!” Tempest bellowed.

  “Dinah?” Ty repeated. Tempest had mentioned the name a few times before but hadn’t really said much about her.

  Tempest flashed him a smile. “She’s awesome. You’ll like her.” She arched her eyebrow as she spoke, and Ty wondered what exactly she meant.

  He didn’t have to wait long to find out. In just a few seconds, Dinah appeared from the right.

  Not for the first time that day, Ty found himself staring. Aside from maybe Tempest herself, Dinah was the most extraordinary woman Ty had ever seen. Just as stunning as Tempest, she was completely different in almost every way.

  Tall and dark haired, the woman seemed to flow into the entryway with a liquid grace that not even Tempest could match. Where Tempest didn’t have any obvious genetic mods, Dinah was one of the more heavily modified people Ty had ever seen, from the antlers growing from the top of her head to the hooves that replaced her feet. Her skin was darker than Tempest’s and had a gentle mottling to it.

  “You’re a deerkin,” Ty blurted.

  The woman smiled and nodded. She seemed completely serene, as if nothing could faze her, and as she approached, she appraised Ty openly and calmly. Ty’s first impression was that she was the calm to Tempest’s storm, the peace to Tempest’s passion.

  “Is this him?” Dinah asked, her voice surprisingly soft and melodious. It was like butter melting on a Sunday roast, and Ty felt like he could listen to it forever. He couldn’t help but experience the same sort of instinctive, undeniable attraction to her as he felt with Tempest.

  “Yes, this is him. Ty, meet Dinah Lore.” Ty could see Tempest’s broad grin out of the corner of his eye. He had the suspicion that she knew very well how he was responding to the deerkin, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Nor did Tempest seem displeased. Instead, there was a knowing aspect to her grin that suggested some sort of trial.

  “Dinah was one of the first to wear a device. Her main skill is Information Control, which is incredibly useful to a team like ours.”