by Marie Harte
“Thank you, sir.”
Though she felt more than sick at the thought of procreating with Lennox, she didn’t take it seriously. From what she felt from J.D.’s relaxed energy, he didn’t either.
They watched the drama play out.
“Okay, Mike. Now.” Carter stepped back as Mike threw a switch and typed in a few commands. “Good luck, Lennox.” His eyes narrowed.
A loud hum broke the sudden silence in the room.
Remy gasped as energy flooded the room and centered in her gut.
“I can feel it.” Lennox prayed with a zealot’s devotion. “Dear God. The power is flowing into me. So much energy. And it’s good. So amazingly right…”
“Increase the current,” Carter ordered, studying his monitors and Lennox in short intervals.
Remy and J.D. watched in shared silence, not sure what to expect. Something was happening, but what was the million dollar question. She felt the energy burning through her, but it didn’t hurt. The more she absorbed, the more clear-headed she felt.
“You good?” J.D. asked.
“Yeah. You?”
He nodded. “But I don’t think Lennox is going to be. Look at him. He’s got blood in his eyes.”
She wasn’t surprised when Lennox shrieked. Bloody tears streamed down his cheeks and his eyes rolled back in his head. Mike cranked the dial again at Carter’s order, and arcs of blue and purple light moved along the wires connecting Lennox’s temple to the leads fixed to the glove. For several minutes, Lennox remained frozen, his muscles locked in place, his face a grotesque parody of bliss—his scar stretched his mouth to appear as if he were smiling.
It seemed to last forever, and then it was over. Mike shut off the controls and Lennox slumped, brain dead, his eyes wide open but unseeing.
“Excellent.” Carter removed the glove from Lennox and ripped out the wires without getting so much as a shock. “Worked like a charm.”
“Good numbers, Doctor,” Mike nodded.
“What did that accomplish?” J.D. asked.
She wondered if he felt her unease. A pleased Benjamin Carter was a dangerous Benjamin Carter.
“That, my dear subjects, is the jump I needed to be ready for you two. Mike, the headsets.”
Mike hurried from his stool, grabbed two weird-looking visors and crossed to J.D. and Remy.
“Fuck, no. Get that thing away from me,” J.D. insisted.
“It’s okay. Link with me,” he told her. “We’ll get past this together. Remember how to shield.”
Together? They hadn’t done this in ten years, and it had only worked the one time…
“Trust me, Remy. Please?”
She blew out a breath. What choice did she have? Had J.D. not been here, she could have stretched out her time with her uncle until the cavalry came. But now they needed to change things up.
“Don’t make me regret this,” she warned.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. Great. Now I’m going to cry again. I hate crying.”
“Don’t cry, my dear.” Carter smiled. “You’ll feel weak, I’m sure. But you won’t die. With luck, neither will Joshua. I figured you’d prefer to procreate with him. I hadn’t considered Lennox, if you must know. He’s not sane enough to risk contributing faulty genes.” Carter turned to his assistants. “The rest of you, please leave. Once they’ve gone, Mike, flip the switch.”
The others left. Mike seated the visors on her and J.D. She might have tried to short out the device, but Carter wouldn’t have left that to chance. With so much raw energy floating around the space, and her recent weakness, as well as the drugs, she looked to the sure thing.
She turned and faced J.D. “I won’t let you down again.”
“I know.”
She merged with J.D.—her Joshua. She let him go as deep as he’d ever gone and ventured just as much into his psyche. They layered their energy, much the way she’d once seen a straw hat woven. Bands of trust, affection, love, all bound together, created a shield through which nothing should penetrate.
I love you, he’d said. And he’d meant it.
She mentally reached for him when Mike turned the dial again. The shield held. But her uncle’s displeasure was a problem. Carter adjusted his glove and increased the current traveling from her visor…into him.
The shield faltered. J.D. groaned, and she realized he’d been holding much of the pressure from her. Because when he wilted, she felt immediate aftereffects. As if death was coming straight for her.
Chapter Seventeen
J.D.’s lips encouraged her to kiss him back, and sensual heat spiraled throughout her body as they held on to each other. She could feel her uncle and the others beyond them, but in this special place created from using their shared power, she and J.D. felt invincible.
“We’re here, baby. Together.” He smiled at her, and the blue nimbus around them struck her to the core.
“So beautiful.”
“That’s us. You and me, together.” He touched her cheek, and the sensation of love speared her in two. “I knew we could do it if we pushed hard enough.”
Something wasn’t right. “Wait. There was pain. Too much pain.” Her throat dried. “Are we dead?”
“Not yet. But we will be if we don’t go back.”
“Back?” She didn’t understand.
He pointed.
She followed his finger, and a glance down showed their unresponsive bodies. Her uncle danced around, shouting with joy. His success, so much power… Their energy filling him to the brim while they remained unconscious. Dead?
She swallowed. “Are you sure we’re not dead? We look dead.”
“I don’t feel like a corpse.” He winked at her. “And you have to admit I’m hot for a ghost.”
She laughed, as he’d intended. “This isn’t funny. We’re having an out-of-body moment. This is so friggin’ weird, even for us.”
“Something more for us to share.” He grinned and held her hand in his. Then he kissed her again, and she lost herself in his love.
“I’ve felt this way before,” he murmured. “When you put your mouth around me, sucking me down. I come and I’m totally out of my body.”
“J.D.” She felt a blush though she knew it wasn’t there.
“Yeah, I know. Not the time or place, damn it. But for leaving me like you did, for not telling me what you were up to? I’m thinking a few blow jobs and some anal sex. That will make it right.”
“You’re thinking about that now, here?” Oh man, now she was too. “How can I be turned on when I’m dead?”
“Because we’re in heaven?”
She laughed with him, unable to stay mad or worried. The joy of having him to herself was so real. And that he clearly would forgive her, after lying to him to save him… Her mirth faded. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I love you so much.”
“I know.”
“And I was always so sorry for nearly killing you. I wanted to save you, and I almost didn’t.” She wiped away a tear that wasn’t there.
“I know that too. Baby, don’t cry. Let’s get back and stop Benjamin Carter. He might be your uncle, but you’re not responsible for what he’s done. You know that?”
“I know.” She finally believed it too. “If Carter really has our energy, he can hurt people. We have to stop him while we still can.”
J.D. nodded. He cupped her cheek and kissed her. “I know. The guys are nearly here.”
She looked with him, through the glass walls, and past the concrete floors, the metal girders and the internal structure of the building. Seeing in terms of streams of energy. Hunter led a small team down a stairway, while Thorne and a few other men came from another angle.
“What now?” she asked.
“Now we take back what’s ours. Let’s go get it.”
“You’re sure?” What if this state was a kind of limbo? Would they get stuck in her uncle?
“I’m sure I love you, and I’m damn sure I’m not lett
ing this asshole rule our lives anymore. How about you?”
She hugged him back, and he held her tight. “I’m with you. Always.”
“That’s my girl.”
Together, they flew into her uncle, moving through the glove into his body. They stole through him, feeling the emptiness of a man who should have been full. He was nothing, just a shell through which their energy passed.
And she wanted her power back.
Remy tugged hard and took herself away. The ease with which she pulled stunned her, and in moments she was back in her body, gasping for air, blinking past the stinging sensation of being body-bound again.
“J.D.?” She turned to see him, but he didn’t move. Across the room, her uncle seemed frozen in midseizure while Mike watched like a statue, in a panic. It dawned on her that the pinging she’d heard wasn’t her body or her energy, but gunfire outside the lab. Apparently the walls were bulletproof, because the glass didn’t shatter under the impact of the miniwar outside.
The troops finally reached them and took Mike away. Thorne untangled her from the visor and removed her restraints. But through it all, J.D. remained unmoving.
“Jesus. J.D.?” Hunter ripped the visor from J.D. and tore through the restraints. Then he gently eased J.D. to the floor. Her lover’s body remained limp, his chest unmoving. “Come on, buddy. Wake up.” Hunter radioed for medical assistance while the others stood around, looking helpless.
Remy understood what he’d done. The jerk had pushed her free, tangling himself in her uncle. No wonder it had been so easy. He’d given her an escape, at great cost to himself.
“No.” She stood with Thorne’s help and pointed a shaky hand at Carter. “Help me. Need to…touch him. Help…J.D.”
Thorne and Hunter shared a glance before Thorne agreed, “Okay. But you do anything to put yourself in harm’s way, my uncle is gonna ream my ass. And then I’m gonna ream yours.”
She ignored him in favor of saving her wonderfully giving, stupid boyfriend. Her lover. Her everything.
“You are in so much trouble,” she told him, praying he could hear her.
Thorne eased her down next to her uncle, who lay stiff as a board on the ground.
“Don’t touch me now,” she warned him.
He must have seen the glow in her eyes, because she certainly saw the change in the atmosphere as the world turned blue. Then she pushed her hand into her uncle, allowing the atoms and particles of energy to change their masses into pure energy.
“Holy shit.”
Noise faded behind her as she concentrated on her tie to J.D.
It was small at first, but his essence gradually moved into her body, her heart and limbs and mind. Warm and comforting, his being made her feel whole again. But when her uncle’s presence neared, she recoiled.
Digging her hand out from his chest, Remy rolled away from Carter as he spasmed and gasped for breath.
Overloaded, she aimed a finger at J.D. and literally pushed him from her. A burst of light arced from her finger to his chest and acted like a shock cart, waking his body back to life. While he thrashed, a medical team entered to work on him. Finally.
She turned back to her uncle. The bastard was conscious and seething with failure. She wished J.D. could have seen him like this.
“You bitch. You had to ruin everything all over again.” He tried to crawl to her, but he had trouble moving. So he aimed a finger at…J.D.
Oh hell. He wasn’t completely drained after all.
Before she could ready herself to absorb his power, a loud boom shocked the room into silence.
Her uncle stared at her, and then his energy winked out as a trickle of blood emptied from the hole in his forehead.
“Sorry. I didn’t like him calling Remy a bitch,” Hunter drawled and stuck his pistol back in the holster under his arm. “And, yeah, you can tell Mr. Wizard when he wakes up that he owes me.”
The room remained silent for a minute before the others chuckled. Bodies came and went, but Remy couldn’t keep up. She felt so very sleepy.
“I’ve got you, Remy. You’re okay.” Thorne sounded close.
“Sleep, honey. I’m here when you wake,” J.D. said with a soft voice. “I love you, Remy. Always.”
She felt him in her, still a part of her, despite having gone back into his body.
“Always,” she whispered back, smiled, and closed her eyes.
“Swear to God, woman was all over me. It was embarrassing.” Two weeks later, Thorne Buchanan regaled the events of that fateful day Benjamin Carter went to hell. He swilled beer from an expensive glass in the lavish ballroom of the Overlook Hotel in downtown Savannah.
“You’re out of your mind.” J.D. took a long drag of beer and wondered when Remy would put him out of his misery. Where was she? He tugged at his necktie, pleased he outshined every guy here. But it would have been nice to have Remy here, complimenting him.
“Hey. You’re not supposed to be drunk during the ceremony, idiot.”
“Ceremony? This is supposed to be a celebration, not a funeral.” He did his best to ignore a few familiar faces. Damn. Who had invited the Burrow sisters? “And anyway, let’s be honest. Remy wasn’t crawling all over you. She’d just expended a huge swell of energy. She passed out; she wasn’t feeling you up. Dickhead.”
It wasn’t easy, but J.D. kept his patience. Though if Remy didn’t show up soon, he planned to torture her later. All this crap for an engagement that wasn’t even theirs made no sense.
His buddies Hunter and Rafe joined them.
Hunter thumped him on the back, and he nearly spit out his beer. “Hey, bud. How’s the party going? Can’t believe Max proposed to Christine. Alex can’t believe it either.” Hunter nodded at the small crowd in the hotel’s lavish ballroom, where Max Buchanan stood with a beaming woman on his arm.
“I know. I was betting on Valentine’s, but Max decided to give her an early Christmas present.” Thorne shook his head. “Hey, guys, tell him, would you? J.D., Remy is totally in to me.” Thorne shook his head. “This poor guy has no idea how hard it’s been to keep our love affair a secret.”
J.D. glared. “Even after downing two beers, you’re still not funny, Buchanan.”
“Oh man. You guys should hear how he wants to push me through the floor. Set me on fire, boil my blood.” Thorne shivered in mock fright, though he’d read J.D.’s thoughts perfectly. “The IT guy is really scary.”
“Fuck off.”
The others laughed. Cole and Luc joined them. Great. Now the torture could begin in earnest. The guys had been riding his ass for days, with no end in sight. Where the hell was Remy, and how long did they have to stay?
Cole nudged him. “You know, you scared the shit out of them with that whole ‘I’m dead, I’m alive’ thing. Tell me again how you jump bodies, ’cause I’m thinking that might be something I’d like to try with Remy.”
“Stop teasing him,” Remy said from behind the group.
“Thank God…” He turned and gaped at the vision in a blue-silk dress that exposed more cleavage than he liked anyone else seeing.
“Wow.” Cole pushed past J.D. and kissed her. On the lips. “Good to see you alive, shorty.”
“Funny.” She absorbed the energy J.D. shot him, intending to shock him, and grabbed J.D.’s hand. Then she kissed Cole back. “Thanks for everything you did.”
J.D. scowled and pulled her close to him. She acted like she hadn’t seen the guy in weeks.
“She hasn’t,” Thorne answered with a smile in his voice. “He’s been busy on another case. Just got back into town last night. You’d know this if you hadn’t been so busy freaking out about your new life.”
They all glanced at the ring on Remy’s finger, and J.D. flushed. He didn’t need her thinking he didn’t love her. “Get out of my head or I’ll screw with your bank accounts, credit cards, car loan, your—”
“Hold on, now, son.” Thorne held up his hands in surrender. “That’s a threat that genuinely scares
me. Come on, guys. Let’s let Romeo make an ass of himself without an audience.”
J.D. would have flipped the guys off if Remy hadn’t been watching him so closely. Once they’d gone, he whispered in her ear, “Any reason you’re flashing the entire room with that gorgeous rack?”
She turned into his arms and kissed him right on the mouth. A mark of possession he could feel to his toes. One that might grow embarrassing if she moved away and showed his suddenly too-tight pants.
“I don’t like those women ogling you,” she grumbled and glared at the women smart enough to scurry away. “You’re my pretty man.”
“You’re damn right about that.” God, he loved her. “Just don’t let the guys hear that or I’ll never hear the end of it. Although Pretty Man sounds better than Mr. Wizard.” He nuzzled her neck, loving the rosy scent of her shampoo. “I want you all the time. When are you moving in, again?”
“As soon as I can. My lease is done next week. And I’m ready.”
She sounded nervous. He couldn’t have been more pleased. “Ready to be Mrs. Morgan?”
She snorted. “I’ve been ready for that for years. You’re the one nervous about our ‘I dos’.”
He flushed. “Not true.”
She laughed. “If you say so. I think it’s cute that you get lightheaded at the thought of standing in front of our friends in a church.”
“Cut it out.”
She grinned. “You’re just lucky I know how much you love me.”
“How could I not? You saved my life.”
Her mirth faded. “No, you saved mine. I trusted you, really trusted you, and you didn’t let me down. Even better, you didn’t hold it against me.”
“Who says?” he asked and murmured, “We still haven’t quite gotten to your fine ass yet. I’m all good with doggie style, sixty-nines, and your amazing blow jobs. But I’m still waiting to tap that ass.”
“Would you hush.” She slapped a hand over his mouth and turned bright pink. “I wanted to talk to you about something serious.” She sobered. “I love being with you, in all ways. But I still can’t get over almost losing you. I mean, you were in my uncle, a part of him.”