by Sydney Addae
Thomas nodded and for several moments no one said anything. “I’ll have Hawke return.” Thomas looked at them. “Last chance before we get the shots.”
No one changed their minds.
“Chimeras,” Thomas said standing and shaking his head. “I’m a chimera, who knew?” He opened the door and walked out.
Mia squeezed Noah’s hand. “You’re going to give away your house?”
He nodded. “I didn’t know about the slower aging and other stuff. Eventually, it would’ve been a problem.”
“Military would’ve come looking for you,” Tip said. “Probably still will. Either you die from that damn shot or you live changed, enhanced. It’s that simple. You didn’t die and are still on their radar. Someone’s watching to see if you change or show any signs of being different.”
“Good point, probably right. My therapist may have already turned me in,” Noah said. “Liam doesn’t know I’m in Wyoming, just that Mia and I went away for a bit.”
“Military searching for you is an issue that’ll need to be handled. They can be like pit-bulls,” Lizzy said.
“Noted,” Noah said as the door re-opened and Hawke walked in with Trina wheeling in a tray.
Trina left the room and closed the door.
“Before we start with the shots, I’ll reiterate what we discussed and agreed to. Let me be clear, you owe no allegiance to La Patron, he is not, will never be your Alpha or leader. Thomas is your leader and anyone who joins your group will need to be approved by him and then bond with and through him so that everyone in the group is connected.”
He waited until they all nodded. He discussed the fact that each person will be changed, supercharged but could not say what that change would be. He made no guarantees to how long they would live, how often they may need to take shots in the future if ever, he assured them that Thomas would have access to the serum and would work closely with him to make improvements.
They all agreed.
“Thomas asked about mated pairs and I confess I don’t know the answer. I will say this. Mia impacted Noah’s abilities, strengthened them and he impacted hers as well, she is keener, sharper since they came together. Maybe you’ll know your significant other by how well your abilities mesh together. That’s the way it worked for them. Don’t expect your significant other to always have the same gifts or powers as you. The key is to complement, to make you better,” Hawke said. “Oh and it won’t matter what you think of the person initially if they’re the one, you will walk through fire to get to them.”
“And it won’t take long to get to that point, either,” Noah said squeezing Mia tight.
“True. In fact, it will happen quickly so toss all the human stuff away and pay attention, not to how you feel but how well you work together,” Hawke said.
“Which means we have to get out and meet people,” Mali said looking around the table at them.
The others laughed.
“After you receive your shot, the tech will take you back to the exam room for you to rest. You’ll be here for a couple days, after that you can return home to work out the kinks to control your gifts.” He looked at Noah and Mia. “We changed your rooms so you’ll recover together.”
Pleased, Mia smiled.
“Thanks,” Noah said holding her hand.
Hawke picked up a pair of latex gloves. “I can’t catch or give you anything. This is more for your peace of mind. Do I need to put it on?”
They all said no. There were eight needles on the cart. One for each of them and an extra one for Thomas.
Hawke gave each of them a shot in their thigh and sent them out the room. Thomas was the last person to receive both shots.
“You’ll have the extra power to stop the others in their tracks, to literally break their minds, to forcibly call them all together, to find them anywhere in the world and to open frequencies for them to speak telepathically. This is the serum the Liege attempted to create but failed. It’s a gift to you from La Patron. He believes others will come to join your team and you’ll need to check their hearts before deciding to give them the serum to correct that crap the military is using. You need this to be their Alpha Leader.” He gave Thomas the shot.
Liquid fire shot through Thomas. He fell to the floor.
Hawke lifted him and carried him to his room.
CHAPTER 22
MIA WOKE SLOWLY, BLINKED a few times until the room came into focus. Her heart pounded in her chest as she took several breaths to slow it down. She and Noah were in her bedroom at the complex. No wonder the bed felt so good and comfortable beneath her. Sounds from the bubbling hot spring lingered in the air. An interesting mixture of citrus and pine teased her nose.
She turned slightly.
The aroma changed to include Noah’s unique masculine scent. He lay next to her with his arm around her waist, snoring lightly. Scooting closer, she stared at his face, taking in every line on his pale skin, the high cheekbones, firm lips, and narrow nose.
He was so handsome. Her heart clenched when he snorted and snored louder. She loved that sound and hoped to hear it for years to come. Heat from his body caressed her skin. Pushing back, she snuggled closer.
His arm tightened around her waist.
Seconds later, his cock hardened against her back. Her mouth watered. Nipples hardened into tight pebbles. Her eyes drifted closed as his hand inched up to her breast, cupped and squeezed it gently before tugging the nipple.
Tingling sensations raced to her core.
She shuddered as he continued teasing her breasts. Goosebumps exploded on her skin followed by sensitive tingling and moisture pooling between her legs. She fought the moan rising from her throat and lost the battle when his fingers eased between her legs, toying with her pubic hair for a few moments. Perched on the edge of expectation, she panted like a bitch in heat waiting to feel what he would do next. Those talented fingers worked her swollen clitoris and then slid inside, stroking the length of sex using her juices for natural lubrication. Drenched, hungry and gasping for more she pushed back against his hand. She groaned and twitched against him, her walls flexing against his fingers as he added another finger, preparing her for his thick length.
Every stroke took her higher as if magnified in some way. She ached to reach her peak. To fly in the wind with him and dance with the stars. He gave this to her. Freed her from her cares and fears.
She humped on his fingers, increasing the pace. The scent of their joint arousal washed over her and intoxicated her as a sweet drug. Her head spun with lust and desire, the best cocktail. She was so wet, so hot against his fingers, his moaned in her ear letting her know he wanted more.
Close but not quite there, she pulled on her nipples, pinching and stroking them. Tingles of pleasure shot between her legs, inciting her core. Her pussy tightened. The contrasting sensations blew her mind, she lost her rhythm.
She tugged her nipple harder sending little jolts of electricity to her throbbing core. Demanding her body give her what she needed. What she wanted.
Noah’s thumb pressed her clit.
“Noah,” she yelled as sharp bursts of pleasure rippled through her body. Shuddering, she stiffened against his fingers until she stopped moving. He eased his fingers from her between her legs and licked them clean. “Like that?”
“Umhmm.”
He cupped her bottom and ground his thickness against her slowly. She moaned as the head of his cock teased her opening.
“What about this? You like this?” He eased the wide, thick head inside.
She gasped, closed her eyes and placed her leg over his for easier access. He accepted her unspoken invitation and slid deeper into her from behind. She placed one hand behind his head as he leaned up and surged into her over, and over again.
Faster, deeper and harder than before. His grunts and moans were rough and urgent. He held her close as if she were a precious gem. Together they danced. Their sweat-slicked bodies moved in an intricate, erotic tango with the
sole purpose of giving each other pleasure.
“Mia,” he said on a long moan, with his mouth against her head. He chanted her name as his balls tightened. Lost in the exquisite sensation of being one with her, he jerked hard into her, as his world exploded into total bliss.
“Baby, that was,” he said as sleep dragged him under.
“I know. I know,” she murmured and drifted off.
<<<>>>
Noah stood in the middle of a wide, long field and looked at the snow-covered mountains in the distance. Inhaling the cold air into his lungs he turned slowly, wondering not only where he was but why was he standing on green grass in frigid weather, wearing nothing but a short-sleeved shirt and jeans.
No shoes. No hat. No protective gear. Why didn’t the cold bother him?
Weird.
There had to be a reason he stood here like this. Peering into the distance he noticed what appeared to be a small cloud drifting slowly toward him.
His chest clutched, and he didn’t know why. The closer the cloud came, tension rolled through his body, all but paralyzing him. He wanted to look away, but for some reason, his gaze locked onto that cloud as if it was the returning Messiah.
Maybe it was.
His heart raced a million beats per second as the cloud drew near and he recognized the rolling gray mist. He couldn't catch his breath. His hands trembled madly as the mist inched closer to his naked feet, covering them like a pair of well-worn boots.
Pinpricks of pain registered everywhere the mist touched. Why couldn’t he control the damn thing?
His head throbbed as he battled to remain in the present. Sounds of gunfire, the acrid smell of blood, gunpowder and the sight of body parts littering the ground wrenched a cry from his chest. He covered his ears.
A sharp pain tore through his heart as yelled with unmitigated grief. His entire squad, dead. Gone. With his hands covering his face, he fell to his knees, shaking, crying and begging anyone listening to save Rex, Gordie, Jake, Parker, Pablo, TJ, and Rhodes.
There was no answering voice.
The mist tightened around him, stealing his breath.
It hurt to breathe. He curled into a ball on the ground, reliving that last battle. Being hit, flying through the air, overlooked by the enemy and eventually found by others.
“Why?” he moaned thinking of his friends. They were good men, most had wives, kids, parents who loved them. It didn’t seem fair.
The more he wailed against the injustice of his friend's death, the tighter the mist became until it choked him. Struggling to breathe and break free, he realized he couldn’t. Trapped and entwined he stopped struggling and looked at the mist.
“This is crazy.”
The mist pulsed against him as if it were alive. “Why do you always come to me? You don’t follow Mia.” He wiggled a finger free and poked the dark mist.
“Ow.” It stung. “Being trapped by mist makes no sense,” he muttered. What had Mia said when he asked her how she controlled it?
“Back off,” he said taking Mia’s suggestion to talk to it. Nothing happened, but it wasn’t as tight as before. He could move a bit.
“Get out of here,” he said and sighed. He thought of Mia, the team, Hawke and everything he’d learned so far. Somehow he would learn how to control this stuff.
If Mia could, he could. Thinking of her lightened his heart. He thought he was too old for her when it was the other way around. Although she looked much younger than him, she had him by several decades.
He stretched and was surprised that he could. The mist hovered but didn’t twist around him or hold him captive. Frowning he sat up, reached out and touched it again. No pain. It curled around his finger, up his wrist, and around his arm sending tendrils of warmth through him.
“What the hell? One moment you’re choking me, the next you’re doing this?” Curious, he watched the mist curl around his midriff as if dancing with light touches. “No one would believe this,” he muttered and tried to cup it in his hand, it was much lighter, almost translucent now. “What are you? Why are you here? Why do you torment me?”
There was no answer, not that he expected any.
“Back off,” he said.
It darkened a bit as it rolled away but remained closed as if waiting for additional instructions. He eyed the rolling mist that looked as if it bubbled up from a cauldron.
“Is Mia the key to controlling you?” he murmured thoughtfully. “I was thinking of her and you backed off.” He lay on the ground and searched the sky for answers. “If she is, that’s cool.” His thoughts drifted to the military giving him the shot that changed him into a chimera when he died.
He frowned. The others believed the military would search for him, wouldn’t leave him alone.” Anger rose in his chest. After all his years of service, they changed him without his knowledge or permission.
The mist darkened and rolled closer, tightening around him.
“Get back.” It continued wrapping around him, growing darker. For several seconds he stared at it while thinking of the possible reasons.
Are you channeling my emotions? When I’m sad or angry, it’s dark and painful. But when I thought of Mia... the mist lightened like now.
“Go away,” he said firmly. It rose high in the sky like a child sent to its room peeking through the stair rails.
He stood. “Come to me.”
The mist returned.
He looked around, didn’t see anyone and opened his hand. “Come onto my hand.” Sounded stupid but then none of this made a lot of sense.
The mist wrapped around his hand.
“What the fuck?” he whispered seeing the mist on his palm. This was cool, he couldn’t wait to show Mia. He walked a few feet to a boulder and looked at it. “Wrap around that stone.”
The mist moved, hovered over the stone and then covered it.
Stunned, he wondered if this was the enhancement Hawke mentioned but wasn’t sure since the mist had always been around.
“Tighter. Wrap around it tighter.”
The mist thickened. It looked as if it formed bands within itself.
What kind of super-power was that, he thought. “Crush the rock.”
The mist darkened. The bands disappeared. Noah stepped back as the rock shuddered and burst apart.
He dropped back onto his ass with his hand covering his mouth as he stared at the dust and pieces of rock. “What the hell?”
Gradually the mist lightened but remained over the rock. Freaked, he stared at it for several minutes, trying to process what happened. Obviously, the mist wasn’t normal. Not doing stuff like that. It obeyed him, but it obeyed Mia too. Would it obey anyone? He frowned. That wouldn’t be good.
He stood, wiped his hands on his pants, and stared at it a little longer. “If the mist responds to my emotions, then I should be able to control it. But how? When it was dark, it didn’t obey him at all.
Clueless what to do next he released a sigh and spoke. “It’d be nice to control you, have you in my pocket when I wake up,” he muttered.
The mist disappeared.
Noah stood and turned in a circle, searching for it. He wanted to work with it a bit more.
“Damn.”
CHAPTER 23
DR. HIGGINS STARED at the report on the screen. She was obligated to report this change in Master Sergeant Sloan but suspected it would cause him problems down the road. His nightmares were getting worse. Peculiar.
She shuddered in remembrance of his chilling recounting of what happened to her the previous weekend. She hadn’t told a soul and she knew the Lieutenant hadn’t. It would cost him everything and after his hundredth apology, she agreed to keep his secret, as long as he stayed far away from her.
She hadn’t seen or heard from him since that night and had verified he’d been transferred to a base in Virginia. The report glared at her. Trifled with her professional responsibilities and sense of right and wrong. The only thing Sloan wanted was to be left alone, hadn’t he
suffered enough. If she sent in this report, they would come for him. Chances are he’d be taken somewhere like the others, even though he was now a civilian.
Indecision pulsed against her forehead. She hadn’t said much about Sloan in the past two months, this month she had to answer the unasked question. Was Sloan enhanced?
If it wasn’t for that damned dream, if he hadn’t named the Jeep, she could’ve blown it off, said there was nothing special. Just PTSD. But he had said the Jeep. He’d seen it. And for that, she had to send this report.
She pressed send, grabbed her purse and left the office early. She needed a drink.
CHAPTER 24
NOAH GASPED AS HE WOKE with a start.
“Easy,” Mia said, her hand on his chest as she stared down into his eyes. Her gaze held worry, concern and something more. It eased whatever bothered him before. He rubbed his hand down her arm and took a deep breath.
“You’re here,” he said.
She smiled. “Yes, I am.” Leaning forward, she brushed her lips against his. “We have a meeting.”
He frowned. “What?”
“As we wake, we’re supposed to meet with the others. Hawke has to re-examine us, make sure we’re okay.” Her gaze locked on his. “You’re okay? Anything strange happened?”
Looking around, he realized they were still at the clinic. “We made love, right?”
She nodded. “You forgot?”
“I’ll never forget when you give yourself to me like that, it’s just I thought we were in your bedroom, at the complex.”
“Me too.” They stared at each other for a few seconds before he exhaled.
“That dream was too real,” he said and then remembered the mist and exploding rock. “The mist changed.”
“How?”
He explained what happened.
She whistled. “Definitely ask questions about that.”
He nodded, rolled off the bed, stretched his legs and arms. Everything felt the same.