She then looked at Lexi, who was looking back and forth between us in confusion. “I know it’s a sensitive subject, but can you ask your sister if that guy kissed her?”
Lexi’s eyes widened in surprise, before she nodded and ran upstairs to do just that. I focused on my second-sight as she slowly opened Rose’s cracked door, prompting both women inside to look up at her. Lily was holding Eden now, still sitting next to Rose’s sleeping form on the bed.
In the meantime, Winter was focused up at the ceiling as I assumed she listened to their thoughts.
Lexi gave Heidi an apologetic look. “Sorry, sis, but I have a question that’ll probably be upsetting. But it’s for Sam. We’re trying to figure out something about his superpower.”
Heidi looked at her in surprise. “Oh, umm, what is it?”
“The…the guy who attacked us…” She paused when Heidi looked down, seeming suddenly depressed. “D-Did the two of you, like, kiss during the movie or anything?”
Heidi gawked at her. “What? No, of course not!”
Lexi looked dejected. “Oh, okay. Sorry then. Sam was just really angry when we were leaving to come pick you up, and we were trying to figure out if that had something to do with it.” She paused. “Sorry,” she repeated, beginning to back out of the room.
“W-Wait,” Heidi replied. “Actually, he did sort of kiss me on the cheek. And it was after I called you too.”
Winter abruptly looked at me. “Same image.”
“What?” I said in confusion.
Her pale green eyes were intense. “He did kiss her on the cheek, and she got upset and pulled away, but the image that popped into your head just now is the same as her memory of it. Just a different angle.”
I gawked at her.
“Different angle?” Freya repeated in confusion, only to glance over her shoulder when both Lexi and Heidi came rushing down the stairs. “I’ve seen Sam’s memories recently,” she continued, looking back at Winter. “And I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Different angle,” Winter repeated louder, speaking to Lexi and Heidi now. “Sam has the same memory in his head as Heidi, but it’s from a different angle. His memory isn’t from her perspective. It’s more like he was there, watching from up close.”
Heidi looked a little embarrassed, but Lexi gasped, focusing on me. “Sam…”
“What?” I asked seriously. “Come on Lexi, just say it.”
“Sorry, I’m just trying to think if it even makes sense.” She paused. “Sam, you don’t, like, have some kind of specter like I have…do you?”
Freya and I immediately exchanged a look. “Like, an astral specter?” she considered out loud.
“I…I don’t know,” I admitted. “How would I even figure out if I did?”
Lexi’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know how it would work for you. For me, I had to practice trying to see into another room. And when that didn’t work, they ended up designing a special cubicle for me, where I’d hold onto a wire poking out on both sides, trying to see how many fingers my coach was holding up, or what was on a flashcard.”
“Well that wouldn’t help me,” I realized. “I can see through walls anyway with my second-sight.”
“Maybe it’s like a different kind of sight,” Freya considered. “I mean, obviously it would be, but what if you tried closing your eyes and also tried to ignore your second-sight too. Tried seeing what someone was doing without using either of those forms of vision.”
“Then I’d probably start freaking out,” I replied seriously. “My claustrophobia would likely kick in.”
“It won’t,” Winter reassured me. “I’ll keep you stable.”
I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
Lexi nodded. “Okay, let’s do this. Maybe I’ll take my car down the road so you can’t see me, and then have my sister on the phone. You can try to guess how many fingers I’m holding up.” She paused. “Think that will work?”
I shrugged. “We can try, but I can see a pretty good distance with my second-sight, so you’ll have to drive at least a half-mile just to make sure.”
She nodded again. “That’s not a problem, especially since there’s hardly any traffic on our road,” she replied, turning around to head toward the garage. We were still using the borrowed CDS car, which was currently back at the office due to our helicopter ride, so her sky-blue Ferrari was available.
I watched her pull away and begin heading down the road, before she started calling Heidi, who picked up right away.
“Okay, she’s gone past as far as I can see,” I told her.
Heidi relayed the message, prompting Lexi to drive a little further, before pulling off onto the side of the road.
I looked at Freya.
“Ready?” she wondered, her crimson eyes sympathetic. “We’ll be right here for you. You’ll be able to still feel us.”
“And I’ll keep you stable,” Winter reminded me.
I nodded, taking another deep breath, and closed my eyes.
My reflexive response was to begin focusing on my second-sight, but after a moment, I tried to reign that in too, trying to focus my thoughts on Lexi.
Heidi spoke up, her phone held up to her ear. “She wants you to guess how many fingers she’s holding up.”
I nodded, feeling both Freya and Winter with their hands on me, trying to comfort me while everything went truly black.
Lexi held up her index finger, feeling ridiculous about what she was planning to do, but knowing it might help. After all, it was what helped her begin using her own specter – her coach making a funny face at her. Later, the man explained that sometimes a sight that would provoke an unexpected emotion, like laughter, could help make the ability sort of click into place.
The amusement would pull on her focus, helping her overcome that hurdle preventing her from ignoring her other senses.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned forward slightly, rather than bringing her finger to her face, and began pretending it was Sam, kissing him at the top gently a few times, before beginning to lick as seductively as she could manage.
She then moaned while beginning to suck, having zero idea if that would help, but figuring the worst case was only she’d know she was doing this.
‘Damn, Lexi. How are you so hot?’
Winter unexpectedly laughed, prompting me to open my eyes. “He can see her,” she announced with a grin.
“Wait, she was really doing what I saw?” I asked seriously.
She nodded, her pale green eyes amused. “I latched onto her before she left, so I can still hear her thoughts.” She laughed again. “It was hard not to react, but once you actually ‘saw’ it, I couldn’t keep it in any longer.” She grinned. “Go ahead, tell Heidi how many fingers she’s holding up.”
Needless to say, Heidi looked confused.
I cleared my throat, glancing briefly at Freya. “Umm, one.”
Heidi relayed the message, only for her eyes to widen as she nodded.
Winter laughed again. “Tell her to try doing something else, like an activity or something.” She then focused on me, her pale green eyes the most entertained I’d ever seen. “Now, try again.”
I gave Freya another look, before taking a deep breath and making my second attempt, closing my eyes, and trying to put all my focus on Lexi.
Lexi stared at her dashboard, her sister having just confirmed that Sam saw her. She couldn’t decide if she was excited now or mortified, especially since Winter was apparently laughing at her.
Dammit.
If it was for Sam, then she just needed to suck it up. The more ridiculous, the better, though she was kind of trying to aim for arousing and seductive.
Sighing heavily, she glanced at the backseat, before sliding her seat back a little, and then climbing back there. Once she was on her hands and knees, she hesitated, before beginning to slowly move her hips rhythmically, putting her whole body into the deliberate suggestive motion, pretending like she was grinding agai
nst Sam’s rear seductively.
When she was younger, and kind of loose, she’d once seriously considered being a stripper just for the fun of it.
Just for the attention.
She’d never want to do something like that now, but she could do it for Sam. Might as well put her moves to good use, since she had never really used them for their designed purpose – getting as many tips as possible.
‘Holy shit, Lexi.’
Winter laughed again, reaching down to squeeze my inner thigh just below something else that was reacting to what I was imagining Lexi doing. “She’s pretty good,” she mused, only to laugh again when Freya gave her a confused look, also noticing my reaction.
I met Winter’s gaze, just unable to believe that what I was seeing was really what Lexi was doing, though it felt different this last time. I felt more there , rather than it only being like an image in my head.
I was also shocked that Winter grabbed me just now like she did. Another inch and she’d be grabbing something else entirely.
I cleared my throat. “Umm, I guess go ahead and tell her she can come back. Obviously, I need to practice, but I think I’ve got the hang of it enough to try it on my own.”
Winter grinned. “I don’t know,” she teased. “I kind of want to see what else she’s got up her sleeve. Most fun I’ve had in forever.”
I scoffed. “I’ll be sure to ask if she can give you a demonstration later.”
“Sure,” she agreed, with another chuckle. “Doubt she’d want to, but you can ask!”
“I can hear you guys, you know,” Lexi unexpectedly said.
We both looked at the phone, with Heidi looking embarrassed now. “Umm, I sort of put it on speakerphone. Sorry.”
Winter just laughed harder, probably knowing she could be heard and only pretending to act surprised, enjoying everyone else’s reactions more than anything.
Although, I had to admit, it was nice to see her laugh. Nice to see this side of her again, after experiencing it briefly when we first met. However, her hands were all over me now, and while I didn’t mind, I also didn’t want to be in the mood right now, even if I already was a little.
Thus, I decided to get up and get something cooking for an early dinner since most of us had missed lunch. We had plenty of stuff to make the same fajita-like dish Winter made for us earlier in the week, and I knew she should at least be hungry. Plus, I wanted to have something to do with my hands so I could try not to think about everything that we’d discovered today, as well as to come to grips with this new reality that I might be able to essentially spy on people from a distance.
No wonder the government didn’t want me to know what I was capable of.
Although, I still kind of wondered if there was something worse than swapping bodies, copying powers, and being able to spy. I mean, there had to be, considering they already knew I was aware of the body-switching and they knew I’d soon learn of the superpower mimicking too. Not to mention, I didn’t feel like me being able to spy on others was much more invasive than what Winter could do, though my ability might be less limited by distance.
Hard to say at this point.
Either way, I was kind of at the point where I really just didn’t want to think too much about any of it. Instead, I’d rather focus on my family. I was glad that Lily had been able to take care of Rose and Heidi had taken care of Eden while all this was going on, because I wasn’t in any condition to attend to their needs.
But that just made me feel bad.
My kids needed me, and I couldn’t leave it all to everyone else.
Winter had begun helping me in the kitchen, seamlessly being an extra pair of hands without having to talk. Which was honestly really nice. But when I noticed Rose stirring upstairs, I decided to leave the rest to her so I could make sure my daughter was alright. After all, in the last year since she’d been with us, she’d never really cried before.
Definitely never cried so hard she was sobbing.
I made it there just in time too. When I sat down on her bed, her red eyes popped open, only for her to focus on me and immediately sit up to bury her head against my upper stomach. I just held onto her while she took a few shaky breaths, gently rubbing the middle of her back to help comfort her.
Even though I knew I wasn’t to blame for any of this, I still felt bad. I’d worked with her and Lexi only a week ago, to get the items out of Lexi’s room that had bad feelings attached to them, all of which were mundane objects, including a digital picture frame, a small watch she never wore, and the lamp by her bedside table which could easily be replaced.
Yet even despite all that, something worse had stepped foot right into our house without any of us being aware.
It made me appreciate Winter being around all the more, knowing she’d gotten Rose away from the situation the moment she realized what was going on. That, and she chased the person out of the house, defending our family even though she didn’t think there was actually a threat at that point.
After Rose and I hugged silently for a few minutes, I encouraged her to feed a little from my wrist, knowing it would make her feel better, and then reminded her that Eden was waiting for her downstairs.
That definitely cheered her up.
She wrapped her arms around my neck to give me one last tight squeeze before hopping down with the grace of a cat and running downstairs. Watching her with my second-sight, I couldn’t help but grin when I saw Heidi and Lily both flinch when Rose silently slipped past them to kneel by the chair to watch Freya feed Eden a bottle.
At the same time, Winter began heading upstairs, the skillet sizzling on the stove, prompting me to take a deep breath and get up to leave Rose’s room, closing the door behind me. I then paused when she stopped a few feet away, facing my direction. She seemed hesitant, and a little somber too.
“Sorry if I was a little intense earlier,” she said quietly.
I shook my head, assuming she meant how possessive she sounded. “It’s fine. Just unexpected is all. But you should know I don’t really mind.”
“I know you don’t,” she agreed. “But I’ve just been trying really hard to hold myself back, and I feel bad that it slipped.”
I gave her a confused look. “Hold back?” I repeated.
She nodded, frowning slightly. “Yes. Imagine how your females would have reacted even just a week ago if I was acting like that.” When I didn’t respond, a little stunned by what she was implying, she sighed. “Sam, I really wanted you to be my alpha from the moment I assessed you. I told you the number I would have given you was high, and it was. My subjective assessment of you probably would have been one of the highest numbers I’ve ever given out.”
She sighed again, glancing away. “And I admit that I was a little indecisive at first, even despite my assessment. I had reasons for feeling that way, but in hindsight I realize I knew the moment I did my evaluation.” She grimaced, focusing on me. “But with humans, often good alphas normally don’t get to choose their females beyond the first one, so I had to hold back. And all I could do was hope that maybe somehow it would work out. That they’d accept me.” She paused. “I did have some reason to believe it would work out, but that didn’t stop me from being really careful about how I approached it.”
I scratched the back of my head, finding it difficult to believe that she felt possessive of me all this time and was just holding back. After all, we hadn’t known each other for long.
“That too,” she agreed. “I’ve heard just about every thought that’s popped into your head since we met, whereas we’ve barely spoken aside from a few instances. Combined with my sixth sense to know the integrity of a person, that means that how well each of us feels like we know the other is very lopsided. I feel like I’ve known you all my life at this point, whereas you obviously…don’t.”
“Sorry,” I said sincerely. Because she was right. I did kind of like her, and I definitely appreciated her, and she was obviously as hot as hell, but it wasn’t th
e same level of feelings that I had for Heidi and Lexi – not even close at this point.
She gave me a small smile, her pale green eyes endearing. “It’s alright. I can keep holding back. And I will keep holding back, so that you can become more comfortable with your relationships involving those two.” She paused, her expression a little vulnerable now. “But I’ve decided to let you know how I really feel, now that I’ve slipped anyway. I’m way more attached than a normal person would be at this point. In a weird way, I feel like I’ve been waiting to meet you all my life.” She glancing away then, and almost looking as if there was more she wanted to say, but was set on holding back like she promised. “And now that I have met you, I can confidently say that I know you and understand you better than anyone else does, aside from Freya. Perks of being a mind reader.”
I smirked a little, wanting to be playful since this conversation felt a little somber and awkward. I really kind of wondered if she was being literal when she said she’d been waiting for me all her life, and that definitely made me a little sad if it was the case. Because if that was true, then in a weird way, she’d been waiting to start a relationship with me a lot longer than Lexi and Heidi. Really, Lily too. Yet, despite that, she was the last to join the family.
I cleared my throat, forcing a smile in an attempt to change the mood. “So, does that mean I can take a peek under your clothes now?” I teased.
She grinned in return. “Yes. Except you are also now welcome to take more than a peek.”
Damn.
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. Honestly, from a sexual standpoint, her offer was extremely tempting, but I’d just started advancing stuff with Lexi and Heidi, and wanted to focus on that right now. I wanted us to all be secure in our relationships, or otherwise our family might really fall apart if I wasn’t careful.
Jealousy was an especially ugly beast that could pop up at any time, despite the fact that Lexi at least seemed fine with the idea of me doing stuff with Winter. But if I began making her a priority when this was something that both Lexi and Heidi had been wanting for almost a year? Yeah, that might turn out bad. Because that’s how they would view it, even if Winter had sincerely been waiting on me all her life.
The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) Page 36