by SM Olivier
Ella nodded. “Sure.”
I don’t think she realized how much she had changed the mood in the car.
When we finally met the guys for lunch, we had already made two trips back to the car. In true Rachel fashion, she had shaken her forlorn thoughts and had dove head first in our shopping expedition. She seemed happy not to look at price tags as she picked up a complete wardrobe and then some. I remembered when I had been shocked at Jemmy’s blasé attitude with money. I had hated when she insisted on loading me down with clothes. Ella and Rachel had no such reticence.
The longer I spent with them the more natural it felt to be with them. We fell easily back into the way we use to be. I wasn’t crazy about going shopping, but I was happy to feel closer to normal again.
It was as we were heading towards the food court that Jemmy stopped in front of a Halloween store. “You know Halloween’s in a few weeks,” she smiled at us suggestively.
“It is,” Rachel said excitedly. “Oooh, look at that Harley Quin costume!”
“I was thinking more of that cat woman costume!” Jemmy exclaimed. “Come on, let’s get our costumes. We can all be super hero characters!”
“Two things,” I tried to stop them. “Super heroes, don’t you think that’s slightly cliché, and where in the world and when would we wear them?”
“To the Halloween party we’re going to have at our house,” Jemmy said as if I was dense.
“I think we need to ask Pops,” I insisted. “With everything going on, he might not want to have a party.”
Jemmy waved a hand at me. “Then we get them now and return them if he says no.”
“I want to be a cat too!” Ella exclaimed.
It was clear I was out-voted, and like always, I was steamed rolled into a costume I would have never picked out for myself.
Over lunch, I explained to the guys what Ella had told us in the car. They seemed to be as concerned as we were.
After a few minutes of silence Jace finally spoke up. “What if Ella was taught how to draw,” he suggested. “Remember how that boy told us that he draws things and they come true in dreams? What if we were to get them together, and he can explain how he does it. When she has a vision, she can draw it immediately, so we can have a better idea what may come to fruition.”
I smiled. “That’s a brilliant idea, let’s find out where that boy was placed, and we can start having ‘play dates.’”
Jace gave me a knowing smile and a wink.
By the time we got back to the house, we had already broken the news to the children about their security guards and asked them if they would be okay with their blood being drawn. Ella wasn’t too keen on the idea, but Alex and Micah assured her that they would hold her hand, so she seemed more receptive to the idea.
I wanted to get home sooner because Will had planned a big dinner for us to meet our security detail and get familiarized with them. I didn’t know how Drake would be after having that huge bombshell dropped on him, and I wanted to help him with dinner. It wasn’t until we were on our way home that I found out Steven, Cora, Beth, and Nadia would be there as well.
Troy and Remy should be done with their improvised training program for the Knights and swipe team. They were going to present their plans tonight as well.
We had two hours remaining before our guests were to arrive. Drake was telling me how he was thinking about making some lasagna, garlic bread, and fresh tossed salad. He said he was going to make a chocolate cake with chocolate icing as well. As he told me this, I wondered if he remembered that was the first meal he made us, when Ella and I had been adopted.
When I walked into the house, it was eerily quiet. I’m sure Will had liked the rare quiet, especially since my brood had come along. I took my bags up to my room and made my way back downstairs. Noah, Jemmy, Gavin, Rachel, and Jaxson had already told the children to get dressed so they could spend some time in the pool before dinner. The indoor Olympic size pool came in handy. Especially when you wanted them to burn off any access energy.
I wanted to text Drake to see if he was okay, but our phones hadn’t been returned. Troy had turned our phones in to one of his security teams to see if he could get any information off it. Plus, I no longer had his phone number. Will had once lamented how technology was great and convenient, but it also made us lazy. Thus, the reason why he still read an actual newspaper and memorized all the phone numbers of his closest contacts. I had never bothered remembering anyone’s numbers accept Judge Myers and Ella’s old burner phone number.
I pulled out the romaine lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onion for the salad. It could be made ahead of time and stored easily in the commercial grade refrigerator. I pulled out the metal serving dishes and began to slice the lettuce up, lining two pans with it. I added all the other ingredients and gently tossed it.
I looked up at the clock and wondered, once again, where Drake was. I decided to head down to the basement where Jace had joined Troy and Remy. The basement was better than any professional gym. To the right of the stairs was a bathroom, complete with a shower. To the right of the stairs was a sauna. Straight ahead you could see treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes lining one wall. On the opposite wall were several different varieties of lifting equipment and free weights, with mirrors so you could watch your form. Around the corner, heavy bags and speed bags hung from the ceiling, and unique flooring was installed throughout the area. Mirrors lined the wall and a ballet barre was connected to it. Televisions were strategically placed, along with a state of the art sound system. Right now, it was blasting hard rock.
They must have been done their collaborations, because all three of them were lifting weights. Jace had a changed his clothing down here; he was now laying on his back on a bench press as Remy spotted him. Troy was shirtless with loose fitting pants as he placed hard, fast kicks to the heavy bags. It was an art in and of itself as he did sidekicks, round house kicks, butterfly kicks, jumping sidekicks, all fluidly and effortlessly.
I had to snap my jaw shut. Too much hotness in one room for me. As I watched, a rivulet of sweat drip down Troy’s chest. I longed to lick it away, taste his salty maleness. Jace made a deep sexy sound deep in his throat as he strained to push the bar of weights back into its cradle. I remembered the sounds of pleasure he would make when he was between my legs, and I felt a warmth pool in my stomach. Remy was the largest and most muscular one of my connections. He wore a sleeveless t-shirt where his muscles looked larger from his recent work out. I wanted to wrap my hands around it, knowing there was no way my fingers would touch.
The only time I had felt this acutely aroused was when I was straining, and I hadn’t used any of my gifts today.
“Blake,” Jace groaned out.
“What?!” I squeaked as if my hands were caught in the cookie jar.
“You need to learn how to control that, or I’m going to have to carry you off and take care of it,” his lips told me he was teasing me, but the look on his face was unmistakable.
“What are you talking about,” Troy asked with an amused smile.
“I can feel it,” Remy grunted as he turned to look at me, his eyes undressing me.
Troy walked closer to them, and his lips parted when he turned to look at me. He licked his lips slowly, and I knew what was on his mind. I followed the path of his tongue and it took everything within me to not ask him to let me feel his tongue on me.
“Ever since she made her last connection, my gift has been stronger, but I feel her more acutely,” Jace almost let out a strained groan as he buried his face into his hands.
“Yeah, I noticed,” Troy said as he held his hands up. In the past his fire orbs were the size of a soccer ball. I gasped in awe as the orbs grew to the size of exercise balls.
“So, you’re gonna feel me, every time, I…” I trailed off, feeling my cheeks burn.
“Probably,” he stated, “Unless you learn how to control it, if you can control it.”
�
��Well, um, I guess I’ll go back up and start dinner,” I mumbled as I hastily beat a retreat.
I shouldn’t have been shocked that one of them would have followed me up the stairs. I almost made it to the top before I was gently pushed against the wall, and warm firm lips captured mine before I could even gasp in surprise.
The lips that moved across my own were firm, assured and demanding. I almost cried out bereft, when they were pulled away.
“I want you, now,” Jace growled in my ear.
I nodded mutely and grabbed his face, so I could taste his lips once more. “Where?” I asked breathlessly.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs, through the kitchen, through the living room, and up the stairs. He pulled me down the hall to his bedroom. Before the door even closed he had me back against the wall. His hands were above my head as his lips sought mine once more. I needed to feel his skin against mine and I greedily sought out the feel of it with my fingertips. I scraped my finger nails across his chest and his abs. When my fingers felt the waist band of his shorts, I didn’t hesitate to slip my hands under them. I grabbed his hard glutes before reaching around to feel the warm length of him. He was hot steel in my hands. I rubbed him, knowing the exact rhythm that got him off.
“No,” he gasped. He pushed my hands up. He picked me up and lightly tossed me on the bed. He pulled my top off with impatience, his hands were sure as they worked the zip down on my jeans. As he pulled them down his lips found my stomach, then my hips. I hissed as he kissed the sensitive spot on my inner thighs.
“Please Jace,” I begged as I pushed my hips towards the warmth of his mouth.
“Do you want this?” he asked as he hovered over my core.
“Please,” I gasped.
He ripped the fabric of my panties away, and I didn’t care that they were beyond repair as the warmth of his mouth found me. I nearly shot off the bed at the desire that tore through me. He brought me to the edge several times, knowing each time, but he refused to give me what I wanted. I gripped his head.
“Jace,” I pleaded.
“What do you want?” he growled.
“You,” I panted.
He didn’t make me wait any longer as he plunged into me. After two strokes I was already falling apart around him, but he wasn’t done with me. He continued to slide in and out of me, his size stretching me to a pleasant sort of pain. He made me fall apart two more times, each time more intense than the last, before he allowed himself his own release.
We took a quick shower, barely able to keep our hands to each other before I firmly, but reluctantly, told him I needed to get back down to the kitchen to finish dinner.
“How’s Drake?” I asked as I slid my clothing back on.
He frowned. “Not good. He’s going to take this break up hard. He told Rose he’ll accompany her to any Dr. appointments, along with Collin, until the DNA test comes back. Then they’ll all take it from there.”
I sighed. “When do you think they’ll get that done?”
“She’s refusing to get one done until after the child is born. She denied any intimate relationship with Collin until he showed Drake their text messages. I think she may have burned both bridges in her denial. She’s still holding out for Drake,” Jace’s lips twisted in derision.
“Well if Ella’s prediction is correct, it’s not Drake’s. But what happens if she was wrong…?” I grimaced, as I crossed my arms across my chest. “What happens if it is his?”
He enfolded me in an embrace, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. “He’s done with her. Remy told Drake about the time she hit on him, plus he doesn’t believe Collin’s her first indiscretion. He thought he loved her, and I’m sure in a way he still does, but she killed any more affection he may feel for her. Her betrayal cut too deep. If she came clean immediately, he may have forgiven her, but he can never trust her again. If—and there’s a big if—it is Drake’s child, he’ll do the right thing and take care of them, but he’s not going to want a relationship with her. Will you be okay with that?”
I nodded without hesitation. “If that’s the case, I can’t deny him a relationship with his own child. Taking care of the baby would be the right thing to do. I’m not happy about it, but a child shouldn’t suffer because of any of my insecurities. I guess I’ll give him time to decide where he stands in our connections, but technically, it was already made…”
Jace gave me a gentle squeeze. “We’re moths to your flame, none of us is strong enough to avoid you. We’re all drawn to you. You’re our nucleus.”
I found Drake pulling the last of the home-made lasagna noodles out of the pot of boiling water. I joined him at the counter and started to layer the lasagna with the finished noodles, meat sauce, and spinach ricotta mixture.
“Thanks for making the salads for me while I was out shopping,” he said quietly as he began layering his own pan of lasagna.
“Are you okay?” I asked gently as I reached out and ran a hand along his back.
He gave me a crooked smile; his bright blue eyes behind his wire framed glances studied me for a moment. “I will be, not today, not tomorrow, but some day. I hope you’ll be patient with me.”
“I’m not rushing you,” I said resolutely. “I know your situation just got a whole lot more complicated, but I’ll be there for you whenever you need me to be. If you need to talk or vent, I’ll be there for you.”
“Her first appointment is this Friday,” he said hesitantly. “She thinks she about 10 weeks along.”
“How do you feel about that?” I asked gently.
He gave me another crooked little grin. “Are you psychoanalyzing me? You do remember that I am the psyche major?”
I giggled. “I know!”
“I feel…trapped, angry, betrayed,” he spoke after a few minutes of silence. “I knew she seemed preoccupied at times, and some of her stories didn’t add up. Now she’s…pregnant and maybe, just maybe, if you weren’t around I would marry her. Deceptions and all. Now, if it is my child, I can only be a part time father and that’s not how I imagined my life, when or if I ever decided to have children.”
“Well let’s hope Ella’s prediction is correct and it isn’t your baby,” I frowned.
His eyes rounded. “She had a premonition,” he whispered hopefully.
I nodded, but I had to clarify things. “That’s what she told me, before time was changed. However, some of her other premonitions didn’t come true.”
I placed my pan of lasagna in the oven and pulled out the loaves of ciabatta bread to begin making the garlic toast.
“Most precogs are accurate,” Will stated as he came into the room. “Sorry for eavesdropping,” his mouth said, but his eyes said otherwise. “We have the power to change our destinies, but with every vision, the truth was in there somewhere. She’s unique,” he informed me. “I’ve met other precogs capable of seeing 5 minutes into the future, 10 minutes into the future, even days into the future. I’ve never encountered anyone who was able to see weeks, and even months, into the future. Especially at such a tender age and with no formal training.”
“So, is there a chance it’s not my child?” Drake said with wonder.
“I’ll say it’s a 50/50 chance,” Collin said with self-deprecation.
I looked warily at the two of them. Wondering how they were able to still be civil towards each other. Especially Drake.
I was even more shocked when Drake leaned his head back and laughed.
Chapter 17
Dinner was a success, and I could honestly say I thought the Knights chosen for us seemed to fit in well, apart from two of them. Ned seemed reluctant to have to be detailed with caring for the children. He was obviously fresh out of school and felt it beneath him to be a glorified babysitter. He seemed bitter that he wasn’t out in the thick of the ‘real’ action. He had become accustomed to it. Since he was the newest member on his team though, his supervisor was the one calling the shots. His supervisor, Terrance, tasked him wi
th the children along with Michael.
Dawn was the other Knight I didn’t care for and there was no obvious reason. She was going to be with Jemmy, Rachel, and Jaxson. I never thought I was a jealous type of person, or easily intimidated, but she was a tall, well built, female. She seemed too familiar with the guys, Remy in particular. I didn’t like her knowing glances and secret smiles she kept throwing his way, and I hadn’t missed the glances the guys kept throwing each other.
By dessert I had seen enough.
“Are you hooking up with her?” I projected to Remy.
He looked at me and shook his head.
“But you have?” I questioned.
He nodded.
“No more,” I stated firmly. “I am your connected. Not anyone else.”
I remember when I first found out about my connections. I had been understanding to the guys’ situations. Some of them had been seeing or dating their girls for years. I had thought it was selfish for me to have my cake and eat it too. How was I supposed to expect them to be with me and only me, when I had all 6 of them? Since time had went back, I realized the error of my ways. I wouldn’t be sharing any longer. No girls were coming between us ever again. Even if, and it was a huge if, Rose was carrying Drake’s baby, I could be mature enough to allow them to have a decent relationship for the sake of the child, along as they never crossed certain boundaries.
Remy raised an eyebrow, grinned, and then nodded. He almost seemed to relax after our ‘conversation.’
Another plus to our dinner was Steven, Cora, and Beth had brought their new ward, Patrick. Patrick was the 12 year-old boy who drew pictures that came true in dreams. His parents had been contacted and they seemed reluctant to bring him back home, especially with three younger children at home. They weren’t gifted and had no clue that he didn’t suffer from a freaky mental disorder. They were relieved when they found a family willing to help him with his ‘disorder.’