Healed (The Found Book 3)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “Nate, she’s all right, just wiped out. I’ll have her call you when she wakes up.”

  “Nate?”

  “Go to sleep Sarah,” Sierra said as she turned out the light. “He’ll talk to you when you wake up.”

  ****

  God, how could she be opening her eyes from a nap and feel exhausted? Sarah stretched, and realized the room was dark, and it looked like the late afternoon outside. The events of the day passed through her head as she yawned and stretched again.

  Desolation swept through her as she thought about little Alma. She pushed off the covers and went to the door.

  The only one in the living area of the suite was Max.

  “Where is everyone?”

  “Cyrus and Sierra went to their own rooms, and Maricel and Alma went to take a nap when you did.”

  “Max, what happened? She was so happy? You could see that she was actually believing us when we told her she wouldn’t hurt us, and then she had such a meltdown. It was heartbreaking. Did you sense anything?”

  “No I didn’t. I’m wondering if Gabriella would, since technically Maricel and Alma are her charges.” Sarah yawned again.

  “How are you doing, I know it took a lot out of you. Was your nap long enough?” She looked at this man whom she had met when she was in high school. He really hadn’t changed a bit, only now she knew she was found, and he was her guardian. Sometimes it all struck her as surreal.

  “Yeah, how about you, didn’t you need a nap after healing me?” She watched as he ducked his head.

  “Geez, how strong are your abilities Max.”

  “Where we come from we’re in touch with pretty much all of our capabilities, we use our whole brain. I didn’t lose it when I came over.” He looked her straight in the eye.

  “Why did I?” She was really curious.

  “Nurture versus nature. You grew up thinking you didn’t have the capacity, so you didn’t exercise those parts of your brain.”

  “Why am I now?”

  “Because you’re coming into contact with others who are, and you’re seeing your full potential.”

  “That’s one hell of a lot of potential you have going there Max Lawrence. I think you saved my life.” He powered down his laptop and stood up.

  “Actually I’ve been waiting for you to get up. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “Okay.”

  “Let’s go take a walk.”

  They headed downstairs to the hotel gardens. It felt good to be outside at sunset, so Sarah didn’t push Max to start talking. They found a bench near the rose garden and sat down. Sarah had a bad feeling all of a sudden.

  “This isn’t about Alma is it? You don’t think something is wrong with her do you? After Nate takes care of Stovers they shouldn’t be after her anymore.” God, what was he worried about? It wasn’t like Max to be concerned. He gripped her fist.

  “I didn’t mean to worry you Sarah. I’m sorry, I should have gone about this better. No this isn’t about Alma. I wanted to talk to you about your future.”

  “My future?” She looked into his steady blue eyes.

  “You’ve been so caught up in staying out of the hands of Rixitron, I don’t think you’ve considered what you might want to do once you’re no longer in hiding.” She looked at where their hands met. At first she thought he was talking about Nate, and then she realized he wasn’t.

  Looking up she said, “I definitely want to practice medicine again.” He grinned.

  “I never doubted that. But have you decided how you might want to go about that?”

  There was a trick to this question, she was sure of it. She sat for a while, looking out at the sunset, breathing in the scent of the roses. One of the things that had made her better than her peers were her skills as a diagnostician. Now she had come into her found abilities as a healer, she understood why. She understood, at a visceral level, what was going on in a patient. But wasn’t some of this trainable? Yeah, she was blessed with gifts very few, if any, others had, but weren’t there aspects to what she did that she could impart to others?

  “Max, what exactly does Dianysis do? I know it has a pharmaceutical arm. But it has a lot more than that, doesn’t it?”

  “Yep. We’re bringing in some of the best and brightest in all arms of medicine, to help take patient care to a new level. This means nursing, surgery, aftercare, obstetrics, pediatrics which I know is your field. But one of the things we are really working hard on is diagnostics. The better we can get at diagnosing things fast and accurately, the better we can be at providing better outcomes.”

  She grinned. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with that focus, now would you?”

  “Sarah, I told you, my abilities aren’t even close to yours. You would be a phenomenal coup for our team. But I know you were doing your residency rotations so you could focus in pediatrics. Would you be happy working as a diagnostician?”

  “It depends, would I be working with patients?” That was important to her.

  “All the time.”

  “Then I would be happy.” She smiled happily.

  “This is something that could really advance the field.”

  “That doesn’t really matter to me as much as helping and working with the patients.” He leaned over and hugged her.

  “How is it I knew that?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Despite the fact the rescue of Alma was a success the scheduled Skype session with Nate, Gabriella and Kota was subdued. When Maricel and Alma had woke up from their nap, Alma didn’t allowed anyone to touch her. She only calmed down when she was left in the crib housekeeping brought up to the suite. Maricel was torn up.

  Sierra arranged for the session to be hooked up to the flat screen TV. Sarah kept staring at Nate. He looked tired. She vaguely remembered his presence when she was healing Alma, but everything had been so chaotic she didn’t think about it until then. She’d talk to him about it later

  “So you think Stovers is meeting with somebody in Defense about weaponizing Alma’s abilities?” Cyrus asked.

  “That’s it in a nutshell,” Kota confirmed.

  “Damn. How in the hell does he think he can deliver on that? He couldn’t deliver on the healing. He doesn’t have Alma. Seems to me he’s promising something to people who will be pretty cranky when he shows up empty handed,” Sierra said derisively.

  “We’ve been thinking about that Sierra. Either he got something he needed from Alma when he had her alone all of those months, or he plans to make another grab for her,” Nate explained their thinking.

  “I don’t think he could have done anything without Simms,” Sarah said. She shuddered to think of Stovers getting his hands on Alma again.

  “We need to bring in Stovers, then I’ll make him talk,” Gabriella said.

  “Gabriella, what the hell do you think we’ve been trying to do? We’ve been hunting for Stovers since Sarah was kidnapped,” Nate damn near yelled.

  “Do not lose your temper, if not Stovers, I need to talk to Simms. I can find out if they got the information they needed to duplicate Alma’s abilities,” Gabriella said.

  “How in the hell do you think they could have duplicated her abilities when they have been unable to duplicate Maricel’s or my abilities?” Sarah asked impatiently.

  God, Gabriella could try the patience of a saint.

  “I get it. Because they gave up on Maricel, they didn’t think she had abilities, and they only had you for a few days. What’s more, all they focused on for the healers was breeding. They had Alma in a lab for months. While they wanted to duplicate her abilities to turn them into a weapon,” Nate said grimly.

  Sarah felt sick, Nate was absolutely right.

  “Cyrus, do you think you can persuade Nevada officials to allow Gabriella to question Simms?” Kota asked.

  “Yeah, but it’ll take some time. We’ve already made use of her once by having her drive all over Atlanta trying to track down where Alma was being
held. It’s going to take some fast talking to get them to let me use her again. Give me three or four days. Can you keep yourselves busy until then?”

  “I’m coming back to Atlanta,” Nate said. “We still don’t have a lead on who Stovers might be meeting with. Trying to find out what he might have discovered is one way to get ahead of him. In the meantime, we need to get Alma under lockdown.”

  “No, I don’t want her locked up again. You can’t do that to her. I won’t let you.” Maricel practically yelled from the couch. Then she started speaking in Spanish and burst into tears. Sierra, who was sitting between her and Sarah, looked panicked. Sarah and Max immediately rushed to the young woman.

  “Maricel, you’re misunderstanding Nate,” Sarah said as she put her arm around her. “You and Alma would be together. You would be in a good environment, probably an apartment in California like I live in. You would be protected.”

  “I’m so scared,” Maricel was finally able to say in English.

  “I know. But you would be living with good people,” Sarah reiterated.

  “Would you be there?” Maricel asked with big brown tear filled eyes.

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?” Nate roared from the screen. “Where are you moving to?”

  “Not now Nate.” Sarah turned back to Maricel. “Honey, there are great people who live in these apartments. People like my brother Cyrus. The best part is they are trained to protect you. Nobody from Rixitron has ever discovered our location. You and Alma would be safe.”

  “Gabriella said we would get to look for my mama and brother.”

  “I already am,” Gabriella said from the screen. “Dakota and I will leave here and go to Texas before heading to Nevada. We will work to find your family.”

  “Would they be able to live with Almacita and me?”

  “If they want to, then sure they could.” Sarah patted Maricel’s hand.

  “Okay, then we have a two-pronged approach. We get Maricel and Alma to California, and we get Gabriella to Nevada after Cyrus makes Simms available. I love it when a plan comes together.” Nate grinned as everyone groaned. “What, nobody else here is a fan of the A-Team?”

  “I’m turning off the Skype session now, Chief,” Sierra said shaking her head.

  ****

  “Sarah? Wake up Angel.” Nate’s hand on her nape felt like sandpaper wrapped in velvet, and it made every nerve on her body stand up and take notice.

  “’I’m awake.”

  “It’s not sleepy time?” he teased.

  She rolled over enjoying the way his hand moved to collar her throat. “Not when you’ve been gone for three nights.” She reached up to touch him.

  “Let’s play a game.” His hazel eyes glowed. She swallowed a little nervously, but this was Nate.

  “What kind of game?”

  “Let me be in charge tonight. If at any time you don’t like the game, you call a halt. But I don’t think the woman I know will want to cry uncle.” Now her eyes adjusted she saw he still had his jeans on but his shirt was off. His burnished skin and muscles did it for her. She would never feel scared in his arms, only safe and protected. But then she had a thought.

  “Is this what you want? I mean, do you want me to be more submissive.”

  “God no baby. I love how you are when we make love. Couldn’t you tell the last time we were in this room? I almost lost it when you told me to strip,” his reassurance rolled over her like molasses. “I just want to explore something new.” She relaxed into the bed, and he brushed his fingertips against her cheek. “All right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sarah Marie, I love you. I love you so damn much.” She thought her heart would burst. She couldn’t stop the tears, she just couldn’t. She swallowed, and swallowed again.

  “Nathanial Edward, you are the center of my world. I love you too. You’re my mate.”

  “Mate,” he repeated the word, as if tasting it. His smile shone brightly in the room. “Yes, exactly you’re my mate.” He grabbed her in a fierce hug. “Angel, I love that word.” He rocked her for a long time, then placed a warm kiss on her neck, that led his lips to hers until he was loving her with his mouth, plundering, leaving her breathless.

  “Angel, are you still up for a game tonight?” She didn’t know how eyes could be both dark with passion and twinkling with laughter, but she loved that Nate’s could.

  “Always.”

  “Put your hands against the headboard.” Such a sexy request. She raised her arms, conscious of her nudity and the fact it thrust her breasts upwards for his perusal.

  “Gorgeous.” He pulled down the comforter, and she realized he must have adjusted the thermostat because it was warmer then when she had gone to sleep. Those little considerations drove her out of her mind and melted her heart. His fingers traced down the slope of her breasts, but didn’t touch her nipples.

  “Nate.”

  “No words Angel, and no moving.” Was he out of his mind? Her fingers pressed hard into the suede headboard. She couldn’t help the slight movement, his eagle eye noticed and his eyebrows raised. She mouthed the word sorry. He shook his head, and pinched her nipple in rebuke. She kept still. Barely.

  “Good girl.” He spread his fingers, and his hands spanned her entire waist. He easily lifted her, so her bellybutton met his tongue and she sighed. Being held and moved so easily was intoxicating, making her feel more feminine, not like such an amazon.

  “You fit me perfectly,” he said echoing her thoughts. Her mate understood her. He traced the crevice, and then took a light bite at the flesh of her tummy. Sarah couldn’t help squirming. He pinched her nipple again, which only made her groan and squirm some more.

  “Sarah,” he said in a stern voice as he set her back down on the bed. He waited until she was under control. Then those wonderfully calloused hands, gripped her hips, his fingers finding the flesh of her ass. He traced the sensitive skin between her hipbones with the scruff of his chin. She jerked.

  Again he set her down gently and looked down at her, his expression solemn. She got even more aroused as she stayed as still as possible. He bent again, moving his dimpled chin softly against her tummy. He traced so lightly back and forth she thought she would lose her mind.

  “Ahhhhh.”

  “You like that.” He kept doing it, until she was panting. The sensations were so intense, he had to hold her down, because she was bucking and then shrinking away. Then he went lower and blew on her curls. She was going out of her mind. Thank God he didn’t stop.

  His hands moved, and he slowly, inexorably parted her legs, and pushed up her knees until she was totally exposed. He slid his hands down the inside of her thighs closer to her core. She saw his intent gaze, at the same moment she felt his fingers part her flesh.

  “Pink, and it’s my favorite shade.” Sarah trembled, her entire body thrumming with desire. Then he pushed his finger inwards, testing her readiness.

  “God Angel, you feel like wet silk.” Sarah thought she would explode. She saw him shift, she could tell his intent.

  “Don’t Nate. Please, it’ll be too much. Please just make love to me.” She knew she was breaking the rules of the game, but he had her so worked up. Her man, her mate. She needed the bond of flesh to flesh. “I promise not to move my hands, but I need you inside me, I need the connection.”

  “Oh Angel, anything you need, I’ll move heaven and Earth to give it to you. Don’t move.” He slipped off the bed and sheathed himself. He knelt on the bed and stared. It took all she had not to beg again. She could see he needed this as much as she needed him to come inside her.

  “You’re beautiful to me, so open, offering yourself.” He pushed her knees wider, and touched her glistening flesh, testing her readiness. “Oh Sarah, I love how eager you are.”

  “Please Nate.”

  He guided his shaft to her entrance, and then started forward in slow increments as she adjusted to him, moaning softly. As he
came into her fully she gasped as she once again adjusted to the fullness.

  He stroked her hair back from her face. “You good?”

  “So good. But you have to move.” She was working so hard to stay still, keeping her hands against the headboard.

  He pulled out slowly so she felt every sensation, and she keened at the raw sensuality. Gently back in. She was worked up so slowly, but the ladder was so much higher than it had ever been before.

  “Harder, faster.”

  “No.”

  “Please.”

  “Relax.” The more she pleaded, the slower he would go, and the higher she would climb. She started to panic.

  “Nate, what are you doing?”

  “Making us feel good.”

  “I’m scared.” And she was. This was unlike anything she had ever felt. “Please go faster. I don’t understand.”

  “I’m loving you. You deserve to be loved Angel.” But he must have sensed her panic, because he gradually increased his thrusts. Her arousal surpassed her dreams as he continued to press against a spot inside her that felt sublime.

  She trembled. “Now let me watch Angel, you’re so beautiful when you fly.” She soared.

  ****

  Nate shuddered his release, amazed at the woman and the feelings she evoked. He rolled to his side, not wanting to crush her.

  “No,” she said in a slurred voice. “On me.” He smiled. She always wanted his weight. She liked it when he surrounded her. No other woman liked it. His mate needed him and he needed to be her protector. When he rolled a little bit on top of her, she pulled him further. He chuckled.

  “Need you, always need you.” Well didn’t that deserve a kiss? When he told her he had to dispose of the condom she mewed in protest but released him. He adjusted the thermostat on his way back and bundled them under the covers. She was awake and insisted on more kisses, which he was happy to oblige. Finally she pulled away and asked about his trip to D.C. So he told her.

  “I want to hear about you moving. What was that all about?” he asked. “Are you thinking of moving back to Georgia after we take down Stovers?”