by SM Olivier
Micah seemed somewhat mollified as he nodded. “Can Patrick come too?”
Remy smiled. “If he wants to.”
Micah let out a whoop. “I’m sure he would. His dad always promised to take him camping but he never did. He’ll love it!”
“Then it’s a deal,” Remy stated. “See you later man.”
They did some weird, drawn out handshake, and I had to laugh as they ended it in a fist bump.
“We should get going,” Sierra gently reminded us.
“Let’s go,” I agreed. See you soon. I hope. I sent out to the guys.
Be safe, Remy responded.
I’ll be counting down the minutes. Jaxson blew a kiss to me with a wink.
Watch over her, Troy said with a pointed look to Noah.
I’ll save you guys a plate, Drake reassured us.
Hold onto Adams. She’s up to something, Jace spoke to Noah and me silently.
I nodded as Noah and I walked over to her. We each took a firm hold of her arms despite her loud protest, and Micah and Sierra joined us. One minute I was in our cozy haven, and the next we were standing in a copse of trees by a carved-out rock face.
We could hear screaming the moment the tents and fire came into view. Noah and I strode through the middle of the tents following Sierra and Micah. I tried to ignore the looks we were getting from the other team. Some of them were looking at us with relief, while others looked at us with something akin to distrust.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” Jemmy cried dramatically as she saw us. “He won’t stop.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her. She linked her arms with mine and pulled me towards the screaming man.
I winced when I finally saw him. He was laid out on a sleeping bag near the fire. His left leg was at an awkward angle and I could see the fibula or tibia bone protruding out. I’m sure Noah knew the proper name, but I couldn’t remember from the crash course he gave me of the human anatomy.
Can we do this? I asked Noah hesitantly. I froze in mid stride. My nightmares came rushing forward. I was young. I was new to all this. How could I possibly believe I could do this?
Love! Noah said urgently. We healed a dead man. I grimaced at the reminder. Sorry for being so blunt. We repaired damaged veins. We can do this. You can do this, Blake!
I nodded and took his hand. Together we walked over to him.
“Um what was that?” Jemmy asked as she looked at us suspiciously.
Don’t you want to know, I teased her silently.
“Blake!” she cried out petulantly. “We’re best friends! Secrets don’t make friends!”
“Come on, J,” Gavin gently prodded her as he embraced her from behind and pulled her back. “Let them get to work.”
“Thanks for coming,” Terrance nodded with a look of relief as we knelt down beside the screaming man.
We had only been here for five minutes and the screams were tearing through me. I could only imagine how it was for them.
I nodded at him and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and imagined the intricacies of the leg. I recalled the chart Noah showed me on the human body. Despite the fact that I couldn’t recall the names, the chart was burned into my brain. I felt the warmth spread through me. It started in my toes and coursed through my body until it reached my head.
Now! Noah and I both spoke simultaneously to each other.
We held our hands out and hovered over the man’s leg. I felt the broken fragments and splinters of bone scattered about. I concentrated on his bones mending back together again. I felt myself begin to shake as the pieces took time adhering to their original places. I could feel Noah’s hands tremble in my own. This was the hardest thing we had ever done together. The break had been an ugly one and not all the pieces were there. They were struggling to reconnect.
Gavin! Sierra! I called out to them, knowing we needed their help.
What do you need? Gavin responded back psychically.
“I’m here.” Sierra responded as well.
We need you to mimic us and act as our catalyst. Noah said through gritted teeth. It’s a bad break.
Gavin took my hand. Sierra took Noah’s hand. Instantly I felt the surge of power. I almost panicked. It felt like the power had a mind of its own. Like it wanted to break free and run rampant. I had to cajole it to return to the man’s leg. I had to will it to complete the mending process and close the open wound. I compelled the man to lift his leg and wiggle his toes. I was reassured when I felt the man’s leg respond to me coaxing him to move. I didn’t want to leave him without knowing he was completely healed.
I was about to release my hold on Gavin and Noah when I felt the power surge up again. As it surged, I felt my body go limp. Like the power wanted to drain me dry and take from me. I felt my body begin to rise in the awkward position. Noah and Gavin were like my anchors holding me down.
“Let go!” I heard Jemmy yell in the distance as the blackness wanted to engulf me. “Let go now. Sam!” I heard her yell. “Sam, you have to force them apart!”
“Now Sam! Now!” I heard Rachel cry hysterically.
I felt a huge gust of wind and suddenly I was free. My body came slamming back down to earth. I couldn’t move. My limbs felt like lead weights. I turned my head and saw Noah on all fours gasping for breath. Sierra was sitting on her butt her hands clasping her knees, looking stunned. Gavin crawled over to me and reached out for my hand.
Did you feel that? His voice was shaky. What was that?
I couldn’t respond to him as I watched Noah stumble over to me gather me up in his arms. “Blake, love, come on Blake.”
Jemmy, Rachel, and Micah came over, crying. Terrance, Dawn, Sam, and Marcel were kneeling above me. Everyone in their camp was surrounding us. Watching us. Looks of awe and fear scattered throughout their ranks.
“What do we do?” Sierra asked shakily as she stroked my hand.
“Take me back,” I finally gasped out. “Take Noah and I back.” I knew I needed to be with all my guys.
I needed to recharge from the power that tried to drain me.
Chapter 10
“What happened?” I heard Remy bark out in anger.
“She’s ice cold. Get her clothing off,” I heard the catch in Jace’s voice before I felt the cold air against my skin. “We need to get her into the pool and warm her up.”
I could hear everyone, but I was unable to respond. No words verbally or mentally could be produced. I was locked into paralysis.
I was freezing. My teeth were chattering so hard. I couldn’t stop it no matter what I tried to do. My jaw was aching from the intensity of it. My head was steady throbbing. It felt like little gnomes had burrowed in my head with hammers. They were pounding in my head to the point that I couldn’t see straight.
My vision was through a tunnel. My eyes gritty. Blurry. I tried to blink my vision clear, but it wasn’t working.
“Is she going to be okay?” I heard Micah’s frightened voice.
“She’ll be fine,” Jaxson said. I didn’t know who he was trying to convince; himself or Micah.
“I’m staying here. I’m not leaving. Exercise be damned,” I heard Jemmy mutter resolutely. “Micah can you take me back and help me get my pack?”
“Me too,” I heard Gavin say determinedly.
“Should we clear it with Terrance and Will?” Sierra asked hesitantly.
“I’ll call him now,” Drake said resolutely. “Micah, can you bring Terrance back here?”
“Hand her here, man, you can barely stand on your own two feet. You don’t look so good. Come on in,” I heard Troy command Noah.
I was transferred to Troy’s arms and he walked me into the water. I could almost sigh in contentment as I felt the heat of the water begin to seep into my body. It was warming me up. It replaced the cold that had set into my bones. Troy hadn’t walked in far because I could still hear their conversation.
“It was a bad break,” I heard Noah say quietly. “There was no way we could
have mended it without damaging it further. He wouldn’t have been able to walk again with serious reconstruction surgery. She asked Gavin and Sierra to help us.”
“I have never felt that much power in my life, and I’ve been around Will,” Sierra said in a somewhat dazed tone.
“It was like her power had been unleashed. Like it’s caged in her and wants to break free,” Gavin said grimly.
“She controlled it and made it listen to her. We healed the man. He’s going to be stronger than he ever had been. He used to have issues with his knee,” Noah said somewhat stunned. “I don’t know how I knew that, but when we’re connected it’s like I can feel the injury too. I never felt the injury before. I just healed it and hoped it would work. Now I can feel everything. Like the bodies are trying to talk to us.”
“We were able to mend his bones even though he was missing fragments,” Gavin added. “Somehow, someway it fixed. Better than new, like Noah said.”
Noah was suddenly above me. A concerned look on his face. “Are you with us, angel eyes?” He turned to everyone on shore. “Her eyes have been open since it happened, but she hasn’t spoken after she asked to be brought back here. She wanted, no she needed all of us.”
“Her gift wanted her. It wanted to consume her,” Sierra voice was shaking.
“I could feel it,” Jemmy said tears in her voice. “Then I could see it like when I’m manipulating electricity. It was like she was surrounded by electrical currents. Did anyone else see that?” she asked tremulously.
“No,” Gavin stated, and I looked over as he drew her into his arms. He kissed her nose. “I think you saved us all, though. With all of us connected, it was like we were all plugged into a power strip with no power surge protector. Her gift was going to fry us all. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move. It was draining me of everything. Jemmy told Sam to disconnect us, so he used his wind to break us up. The moment our hands disconnected…it released us.”
“That was some crazy shit,” Terrance exclaimed. “I don’t think the Nons will ever underestimate us again.”
Micah was now back with Terrance.
“Pops said he can’t authorize the change in the training exercise,” Drake said ruefully as he joined us in the pool. He reached for me, and Troy reluctantly handed me over. “I’m sorry, Jemmy, but he doesn’t want the other team to claim he is being biased or partial to the gifted. He thinks it could cause further dissension among the Nons and us.”
“That’s not fair,” Jemmy protested. “It’s not like Blake and the guys are supposed to be locating us. The mission is to locate them. There is no added advantage for them if Gavin, Sierra, and I were to stay here. I want to be with my best friend and brother.”
Terrance grunted. “If it was up to me I would be fine with them staying here. Especially now that−” He looked around. “…I see how sweet you guys got it here. You got a pool!” he exclaimed.
There was a tittering of laughter despite the heaviness in the air.
The sound of their laughter seemed to draw me from the edge I had been clinging onto. I felt like a thaw spread through me, like I was waking from a deep sleep. I wrapped my arms around Drake. I wrapped my legs around his waist and clung to him. I needed to get closer to him. I was terrified how close I had come to death, and I knew that’s what the results would have been had I held on a few seconds longer. I would have killed myself and hurt the others.
“I’m hungry can you feed me.” I murmured in his ear.
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Can you please stop scaring me like that?”
Jemmy, Gavin, Terrance, Micah, and Sierra stayed with us for a little while and ate some fish stuffed with wild garlic, wild onions, and cranberries with a water cress and cattail salad. I felt like my limbs were still heavy, but I was famished.
Jace insisted that I sit in his lap as he fed me. I wanted to protest but honestly his tender care was sweet.
“Do you want to tell us what happened?” Jace asked me after I had eaten my full.
My throat was dry from disuse. Remy handed me a canteen of water as if he knew.
“They were right,” I finally confirmed Noah, Gavin, Sierra, and Jemmy’s theory. “It was like, once I asked Gavin and Sierra to help us out, my gift got out of control. I had to force it to obey me, but once that guy was healed it seemed reluctant to go back to rest. Do you think it got out of control because Gavin and Sierra’s gifts are so strong that it was too much power at once? Do you think it’s because I haven’t been using it that often lately and it was pissed at me?”
Drake cleared his throat. “When the gifted were first discovered, some people believed that our gifts did have a life of their own. They believed that our gifts chose us. Once that gift became a part of us, the gift would only give us the amount that they thought we could handle. Thus, the reason we have levels within each gift.
“It’s a possibility that your gift resented the idleness. Plenty of gifted people believe it is a muscle and you need to use it constantly, or you will either lose it or you can strain it when you use it again.”
“I thought the gifts having a mind of their own was only an urban legend though,” Jaxson said skeptically.
“I thought it was, too, but you weren’t there today, man. The power that was running through us with our gifts was unlike anything I’d ever felt. It had a mind of its own.” Noah said emphatically.
Gavin, Sierra, and I nodded in agreement.
“Maybe we should make sure you work on your gifts everyday just in case,” Jace declared.
“I don’t think we should join our powers for a little while either,” Remy commented. “It’s not worth the risk.”
“Maybe it was me that threw things off today,” Sierra said forlornly. “I am a catalyst and I have never tried to boost anyone as powerful as Blake.”
I shook my head. “You can’t carry any of the blame.” I insisted to Sierra. “That guy is going to be able to walk again because of us. Without the painful setting or reconstructive surgery. I don’t even think he could have waited for help to arrive. We needed you.”
Sierra nodded but she didn’t seem convinced.
“I agree,” Noah said. “Blake shouldn’t join powers with anyone until we figure all this out.”
I couldn’t stay awake much longer, so I asked Remy to get our bed ready. I still had every intention of sleeping with him. I didn’t know if I had the energy to do anything else but sleep, but I needed to be near him. He immediately agreed and got my sleeping bag and connected his with mine. With his size there was no way we could sleep in just one of them.
I got up and said goodbye to Terrance, Micah, Jemmy, Sierra, and Gavin. Then I kissed each one of my guys goodnight before following Remy into our sleeping bag. He told everyone goodnight and joined me.
Terrance, Micah, Jemmy, Gavin, and Sierra left shortly thereafter. Noah decided to go to bed, as well to recharge. The rest of the guys decided to pull out a pack of cards, too wired to sleep yet.
I woke up as the sun began to rise to find everyone sleeping around me…again. Remy’s body was wrapped around my own. I softly stroked his arm as I thought about the events of the day. I needed a physical connection now. I needed to feel alive. I shimmied out of my underwear and lifted my shirt up over my head.
I turned in his arms and took his manhood into my hands. I stroked it, before I crawled under the blankets to take him in my mouth. I was glad he had slipped in his bed in just his boxers, so I was able to easily free him from his confines.
I knew the moment he awoke when I heard him hiss. He then breathed my name on a quiet sigh. He grabbed my head and guided me down further on him. I knew I couldn’t take him all, but I was going to try. I reached down and started to fondle his jewels. Then I took my thumb and began to rub the sensitive spot below them. He tensed up in surprise. I heard him stifle another moan.
I lovingly licked and sucked on him, enjoying the fact I knew he was practicing restraint. He wanted to be vocal, but
he didn’t want to wake the others.
I knew he had enough when he rolled me under him and proceeded to go under the blankets. He pushed my legs open and began to feast on me like he was a starving man. He licked and sucked on me. His pushed his fingers in me, and I had to clench his hair pulling it. I knew I was more than ready for him and couldn’t wait to feel him in me.
Remy, I begged him silently. I want to feel you. All of you. Please give it to me.
He barely suppressed a growl as he crawled up kissing my stomach and took one of my nipples into his mouth as he pushed into me.
Best way to wake up, he growled.
What can I say. We made a bet and you won. I teased.
Is this what this was? No other reason why? He stopped and looked down at me.
I realized he was going to remain still unless I begged him for more. I lifted my hips up and wrapped my legs around his waist, squeezing them together. He raised an eyebrow at me.
Remy, I whined. You know I want you. I need you now.
He smiled in satisfaction as he pushed back into me. Then he pulled out until he was nearly completely out. I clasped him again and squeezed my core clenching around his manhood. The girls had gone into graphic details on how to do exercises down there. I listened into their conversation, took notes, and I had been practicing. I just hadn’t tried it yet.
He cursed his eyes widening as I giggled and clasped my hand over his mouth. “Shh,” I whispered as I clenched him again.
Keep that up, and I’ll be spilling my seed into you before you get yours. He hissed. Who taught you that? Never mind, I don’t want to know.
The girls told me I need to get some Cosmo magazines which, apparently, are a font of knowledge. I giggled. I didn’t know if it would work.
It works. He smirked as he began pushing into me in earnest. He reached down and began to rub my love button.
He barely touched me before I bucked against him and shattered into a million pieces. I scratched his back. Not realizing I was digging my nails into him, leaving marks, as I tried to suppress my cries.
He captured my lips with his own and groaned his own release. I felt him fill me up and felt some of his warmth spill out onto my thighs.