Love Uncharted

by Berinn Rae

  So much for not pegging me based on my record.

  “This way Miss Crazar.” His tone lost all warmth, as if he were addressing a criminal.

  Cali ground her teeth, but followed after him like a good little citizen.

  The room she was to give her statement in looked a lot like an interrogation booth. Her escort dropped her off, instructing her to take a seat. The officers would be with her shortly.

  Was being left alone supposed to intimidate her? Were they trying to wait her out and jumble her nerves so that she’d plead guilty?

  The bastards could rot in hell for all she cared. Let them watch and analyze her all they wanted. She wasn’t going to give them as much as a nervous tic.

  After seven minutes of staring at the wall ahead of her, the door finally opened, admitting two officers.

  “Miss Crazar?” the one on the left asked. He was short and stocky with blond hair and hard eyes. His partner looked a few years his junior with a short military cut and blue eyes.

  “Yes.” She kept her face devoid of any emotion. These assholes had lost all right to polite respect from her when they started treating her like a felon.

  They each sat across the table from her. “I’m Officer Collins and this is my partner Officer Jacobs. Before we take your statement, there are a few questions we’d like to ask you.”

  “Of course.” She pasted on a pleasant expression. “Anything I can do to clear up this mess.” Her mind wandered to Collette. How the hell had she been released? She was found at the scene. Cali wanted to demand answers of her own, but she didn’t want to make them think she was involved more than she really was.

  “We’re happy to hear that.” Collins’ voice could have been discussing the weather for all the emotion it held. “Are you familiar with a woman by the name of Collette Lizeroux?”

  The opportunity to broach the subject was too much to pass up. “Was that the woman I ran into in the lobby? Shouldn’t she be behind bars? She attacked me.”

  The two officers exchanged glances but didn’t answer her question. “So you don’t know her or why she was in your parents’ home yesterday afternoon?”

  Cali went for dumb innocence. “No, I have no idea why she came after me.” Unfortunately, that statement was true. All she knew was that Collette had orders to collect her, and not even Felix and his super friends had any leads as to why.

  Or maybe they did and just hadn’t told her.

  She stiffened her spine.

  Officer Collins looked through some of his paperwork. “And you’ve had no problems … socially since this little incident in high school?” He turned the folder around so she could see her record. She wished for all the world that she’d bitten the bullet and paid the money to have it sealed. He gave the papers a quick tap. “No dealings with those that might hold something against you for not paying on time?”

  Cali’s temper spiked. “Do I look like a druggie to you?”

  Collins leaned back in his chair and exchanged another look with the still silent Jacobs. “Why don’t you tell us, Miss Crazar?”

  Underneath the table, her hands balled into tight fists. “I’m not a druggie.” She enunciated slowly through clenched teeth.

  “So what were you doing at your parents’ house yesterday?” Jacobs spoke up for the first time. His voice was a startling contrast to his appearance. It was a deep rumble that rolled through the whole room. “Looking for some quick money?”

  Cali bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snarling at him. The truth was she had gone there for money. Dammit. But it wasn’t what they were thinking. She’d needed the money for her rent. “I’d never steal from my parents.”

  “Of course not, Miss Crazar,” Collins soothed. His patronizing tone grated on her. “But we’re curious as to why you would be at your parents’ when they were conveniently on vacation.”

  The hairs on the back of her neck started to prickle. “I didn’t know they were on vacation.” Asshole, she added silently.

  Jacobs opened his mouth to speak, and Cali already knew she wasn’t going to like what came out of it. “You know what I think, Miss Crazar?”

  Don’t give a shit.

  “I think you’re still a little lost, that you haven’t quite got your feet under you yet. I think you panicked and sought out the only safety you knew.”

  She’d had enough. The whole back of her neck was tingling, her anger raging inside her. “I’m not a druggie. I’m not a dealer, or a user. I don’t care what misconceptions my siblings might have given you, but I’m clean. Have been ever since … ” She tapped the folder perhaps a little too forcefully for emphasis. But screw them. If they thought she would just go along silently with their accusations then they could go fuck themselves.

  The silence in the room was deafening, a deep, rhythmic lub-dub, the only sound to be heard.

  Cali’s whole body turned to ice. Oh, no.

  She tried to reel in her emotions. It didn’t work. In fact, the sudden anxiety made it worse. The thumping grew louder.

  Collins’ and Jacobs’ eyes both grew wide.

  Jacobs put both hands on the table as if to shoot up from his seat. “What the hell is that?”

  The lub-dub increased as Collins and Jacobs began to lose their cool. At this point it sounded like a cacophony of drums.

  Collins was trying to keep his resolve. “Easy, Andy.” He put a hand on his partner’s shoulders. “I’m sure it’s jus — iss — azar’s — ell — one.”

  Cali sat in stunned horror as his words went in and out.

  Holy shit, holy shit. Calm the fuck down, Cali!

  She shut her eyes and exhaled. She desperately drew on what Felix had told her to do the other day. Damn, how she wished Felix were here with her.

  Jacobs shot to his feet, the chair smashing to the floor behind him as he started to yell. Half his sentence was not even audible as his voice went in and out like Collins’. His sudden outburst did little to help Cali relax, but she pushed through it.

  Stay focused.

  Collins was now on his feet, attempting to calm the young cadet.

  Come on, Cali. Think serene forests, calm beaches …

  It didn’t work.

  Felix’s arms around you …

  The prickling receded.

  The pounding of the officers’ hearts faded. Cali sagged in relief, but it was short-lived.

  She needed to get out of there.

  She got to her feet. Collins and Jacobs both took a step back from her, their faces pale. “I wanted to give my statement and here it is: I went to visit my parents. I had no idea they were on vacation. While I was there, I was attacked, I believe the people were robbers, I fled for my own safety. Now, if there is no sufficient evidence to detain me, I’m leaving.”

  Collins looked like he wanted to say something but he stopped. “Very well,” he said finally. “Good day.”

  Cali nodded and got the hell out of there.

  Chapter 10

  Felix could tell Cali was upset. Hurt, angry, and underneath it all, sad. She tried to hide it. Did a pretty good job of it. But he knew better.

  He was supposed to be taking her back to the clinic or even her own place if she asked him. But she’d said nothing since she had stomped out of the station with her chin high and her eyes haunted. He wanted to ask what had happened. He wanted to chase away the fears he saw in her eyes but she wouldn’t let him, dammit.

  So instead he decided to take matters into his own hands and help her deal with her anger another way. He maneuvered the Hummer in the opposite direction of the clinic, and it wasn’t until they were almost to their new destination that Cali even noticed the change in scenery.

  “Where are we going?”

  “My place.”

  That knocked her straight out of whatever slump she’d been in. “Why?”

  He pulled into his driveway. “For some anger management.”

  “I don’t need anger management.”

  “
Fine, for stress relief.”

  “I don’t need stress relief.”

  He turned in his seat to face her. “Is that so? So you always clutch your hands like that until they’re white and shaky?”

  She instantly unclasped her hands.

  “Look, you obviously don’t want to share with me what happened in there, but I’m still going to try and help you. It’s not good to keep all that locked inside. Now come on.”

  He led her into his house and left her in the main living room to go retrieve his gloves and mitts from the guest room. The place was more like a storage unit. A really unorganized storage unit. How did Sydney stand sleeping in here, he wondered as he shoved an old pile of clothes out of his way to get to the closet.

  “Boxing gloves?” Cali asked once he was back in the living room with her. He threw his pair of mitts onto the couch.

  “Best therapy there is,” he told her. “Now give me your hand.”

  She held her arm out to him.

  Her arms were long and smooth. Her hands slim and elegant. He imagined she could deliver the most teasing of caresses with those babies if she wanted to. He wanted those hands on him again. Though they looked gentle, he knew firsthand the power behind them. Like when they’d gripped his hips that time he had her pushed up against the cement pillar, his lips on hers. He remembered all too clearly the taste of those lips. Instantly he was hard for her.

  Shit.

  He swallowed as he guided her hand into the glove and strapped it on. “Next.” His voice was gruff, and he hoped she didn’t notice the bulge in his pants.

  She held her other arm out to him, and he strapped her in. He quickly turned his back on her to readjust his jeans and slide his hands into the punching mitts he’d brought out for himself.

  “Okay.” He turned around to face her. He held up his hands, palms out so she could aim for the little white circles in the center. “Hit me.”

  She looked skeptical. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  He grinned. “Trust me, you can’t hurt me.”

  Instead of putting her at ease, the words put her on the defensive. “Oh, yeah? How’s that shin treating you?”

  He winced as he remembered the killer bruise he’d woken up with that morning. She definitely wasn’t a fragile little thing. But he had a feeling the strong, independent front she presented to everyone took its toll on her.

  You can’t keep your shields up forever.

  Yet he had the feeling Cali never let anyone close to her. Her distrust bordered on paranoia. He couldn’t imagine living like that. Everyone needed someone to trust, to accept them for who they were.

  “Come on,” he goaded her, wiggling his hands for emphasis. “Punch me.”

  She barely hesitated before her glove came flying at him. She hit the mitt hard enough to have his palm stinging.

  “Good,” he said. “Again.”

  And she did, over and over and over again, until she was breathing heavily and her eyes were distant. He could see her pain in their onyx depths. She’d given him a glimpse of her betrayal. That bastard Tyson had left his scar on her, and Felix wanted nothing better than to pound that asshole’s face into the dirt until he bled. The pain she had experienced there had only gotten worse when her parents refused to see the real woman their daughter had become. His heart went out to her. She had a lot of problems to work out, and he would be there for her. Even if the only way to stay close to her was by operating as her own personal punching bag.

  He knew what she was going through. He knew that sting of betrayal, could still taste the disappointment of losing those closest to him. He’d been cast out by his best friends on the cusp of his own power discovery. Hell, he’d been screwed over thrice by Collette. He could still remember the shocked stupor he’d been in the last time he’d seen her, years ago. He’d run from her apartment bleeding, with no idea if he’d killed Kevin or not, and the sight of Jasmine’s corpse forever burned into his memory. His world had been turned on its side. Much the same way he imagined Cali’s had been.

  He reined in his wandering thoughts and focused on the woman in front of him. Her punches were getting sloppy. Sweat glistened at her temples. Her body shook from fatigue, and her eyes were brimming with unshed tears.

  “I think that’s enough,” Felix said gently.

  She threw another punch. “No.” Her voice cracked and she punched again. “Bastards thought I was nothing but trash, like I was worth nothing!” Each word was emphasized with the slap of her glove meeting his mitt.

  Felix lowered his arms before she really hurt herself. “Cali … ”

  With no target to set her anger upon, she deflated. She shook her hands. “Ow,” she said weakly.

  Felix dropped his mitts and went to take hers off. Her knuckles were red and slightly swollen. One was starting to sport a little purple coloring while another was cracked and bleeding.

  “Shit.” He went for his first aid kit.

  He guided Cali to the sofa and knelt before her. He took one of her hands and studied the handiwork. “Well, I’ll give you this, you’re a better boxer than Joel.”

  The comment pulled a small smile from her, one that disappeared as soon as he applied the peroxide. They lapsed into silence.

  “They think I broke into my parents’ to steal money to pay off a dealer.”

  Her words came out of the blue.

  “They wouldn’t listen to me, already had me pegged from the beginning. As soon as they looked up that fucking record. I tried to stay calm but it didn’t help. My powers came all the same. The officers freaked out. I think they knew it was me but they were too afraid to say or do anything. Maybe I’ll luck out and they’ll explain the weird occurrence away.”

  Felix didn’t interrupt in case there was more she needed to say. He continued to carefully wrap her knuckles. When nothing else followed, he brushed his thumb over the backs of her hands. “The first time I went to confront my best friend after accidentally using my powers in front of him, he called me a freak and slammed the door in my face. I got so angry at what he’d said and done that what little control I’d gained of my powers at the time slipped. I Erased his entire front door. My friend screamed. Slid down a whole set of stairs, he was so scared. I’ll never forget the look on his face though. He didn’t know who I was anymore, he was terrified of me.”

  When he looked up from her hands, he found she was watching him intently. Those deep brown orbs were as unguarded as he’d ever seen them.

  He cleared his throat. “We all lose control of our powers, especially in the beginning. We’ll help you work through it. Work through this.”

  “Is this going to cost me?” she teased.

  “Absolutely.” Those beautiful lips kicked up at the corners, sending a jolt straight through him. His blood pounded through his veins. His hands itched to touch her. He wanted his mouth on hers, his skin against hers, his body inside hers.

  He wanted her with such force it shook him to his very soul.

  He needed to pull away.

  He couldn’t.

  And when her lips sought his, what little control he thought he might have had was obliterated. He fell on her like an antediluvian beast.

  He couldn’t touch enough of her. Her face, her neck — he trailed his hands down the sides of her body, just barely grazing her breasts. She arched into the touch. It was all the invitation he needed.

  He flicked his thumbs over her hardened nipples. Her breasts were small and tight. They were perfect. With a growl he pushed her deeper into the couch. His tongue sought hers, and she responded with equal force.

  This was no delicate flower beneath him. Cali was all wild, raw energy. Her fingers raked him, set his blood boiling. One of her hands dove into his hair, pulling his head closer so that their teeth nearly scraped. She drew his tongue seductively into her mouth and sucked him till he moaned.

  Oxygen was an annoying necessity.

  They broke apart, inhaling lungfuls of air. Their gaze
s locked. Shit, he’d never felt this strong a pull to a woman before. She stared up at him with surprisingly naked eyes.

  I’d never hurt you, he wanted to promise her. But Cali was beginning to look more and more like the type who would believe actions over words.

  That was fine by him. He’d protect her, guard her with his life if he had to. This explosive attraction he felt toward her was more than he’d ever felt before. He was drawn to her and not just physically. He wanted to know her, to learn her hopes and fears, to take her in his arms and comfort her whenever she needed it.

  Cali reached up and traced her finger along his jaw. “I don’t even know you,” she said as if she were mirroring his thoughts.

  “That can easily be fixed,” he drawled.

  Cali inhaled sharply. Felix frowned, not understanding her reaction until he replayed his comment. What he’d meant to come out as innocent and genuine took on a totally different context when he took in their compromising position. Especially when his erection was so clearly pressed against her.

  Well, shit.

  He went to backpedal but something caught his eye outside of his sliding glass door. It was a person. A man in his backyard.

  Felix shot to his feet. One minute the guy was there, the next he was gone. “What the hell?” he mumbled. He raced for his back door and ripped it open.

  Nothing.

  “Felix?” Cali called from behind.

  “Stay here.” He closed the sliding glass door on her, but not before he heard her say, “Like hell.”

  He ran around the side of the house and out the gate. He scanned his neighborhood. No new cars. No strange people running from his house.

  What the fuck?

  Had he imagined that guy?

  The tickling at the back of his neck wasn’t something from his imagination. He knew he’d seen something. The only question was how the hell had it escaped so fast?

  An Illusion, perhaps?

  Cali plowed through the gate, nearly knocking them both over. Felix righted her without thought. “What gives? What’d you see?”