by Christy,Dena
“I have more at home. Let’s get out of here,” she said and she walked toward the front door with him following in her wake.
They walked past the security desk where Carl sat. No one spoke as he and Miranda breezed out the front door like they had every right to. A feeling of relief washed over him. At least he was out of there, and if what Miranda told him about what they’d planned for him was true, then she’d saved him from death.
“We need to get to my car, and I’ll take you wherever you need to go.” She took a step off the sidewalk and he put his hand on her arm. He stopped her and scooped her up in his arms, and she let out a startled noise.
“You might injure your feet, so tell me where this car of yours is and I’ll take you to it.” He enjoyed the weight of her, she seemed solid in a reality that felt like it was constantly shifting under his feet.
“Do you see those dumpsters over there?” He looked in the direction she pointed, to the far corner of the parking lot. “My car is parked just on the other side.”
He strode across the parking lot with her in his arms. It took longer than he expected since he was still in Dr. Avery’s form and his stride was much shorter than Synn was used to. He carried her around the dumpsters, and her vehicle sat on the other side just as she said.
“You can let me down now, the car has to scan my thumb in order for us to get in.”
He let her down onto her feet and took a half step away from her. His arms felt empty without her in them, and he balled his hands into fists and shoved them in his pockets.
She put her thumb on the small square beside the handle, and the lock disengaged and she opened the door. He walked around the other side and opened the passenger side door and got in the seat.
“Where do you need to go?”
Synn had no idea what to tell her.
“I need to go somewhere quiet, until I get my location device charged and working. Myself and the companions I was traveling with all had chips implanted under our arms, so that as long as we had the location device we could find each other once separated. If you could take me somewhere I can be undisturbed for a while, I would be grateful.”
“You don’t have a citizen card.” She sagged in the seat and her head dropped forward.
“I don’t know what a citizen card is. Please explain. How might I get one?”
“I know there are people who make fake ones but I have no idea who they might be. Without one, you are vulnerable. You can’t do anything in this world without a citizen card or without chips to pay those who might look the other way. I can’t drop you off at a hotel, because you couldn’t get a room in a nice one without a citizen card, or in a dumpy one without chips.”
She reached forward and pressed her thumb on the small square panel beside the steering wheel. The car’s console lit up, and Synn was fascinated by how quiet the engine was, if it was running at all.
“Destination?” The voice came from the vehicle itself, and he thought it would be a cool feature to add to Hylda. He sagged against the seat when he remembered that Hylda was lost to him.
“Home.”
The car moved forward, taking them away from this horrible place. Synn didn’t turn back to look at the building they were leaving far behind. He had no intention of ever going back there, and it was thanks to the woman sitting beside him that he hadn’t died in there. He would have to find a way to compensate her for it.
* * *
Miranda’s car pulled into the parking lot of her building, and when the engine turned off she looked around. She and Synn should be safe enough for now. It would be morning before the junior scientist discovered Dr. Avery, so she and Synn a little time to get him sorted out with some place to stay. Where that would be, she didn’t have a clue. Unless they solved the no money, no citizenship card issue, he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.
“Come on up to my apartment and we’ll sort out something for you to wear, and I’ll try to get the screws out of your back.”
He nodded, and she looked away. He still looked like Dr. Avery and it was creepy to have him sitting beside her in the car. And he’d kissed her while in that form too, which wasn’t the magic moment a first kiss was supposed to be. No matter what he said about being Synn underneath the disguise, having her boss’ twin kiss her wasn’t on the list of events she wanted to repeat. Hopefully he would take his usual form once they were inside, and she could move past the way he made her feel right now.
Sitting in the car wasn’t helping them, so she got out and walked across the pavement with him close to her side. It would be better to go through the back, so she hurried along the side of the building until she got to the secured door at the rear. There was no reason that the guard at the front desk needed to see her bringing Dr. Avery home.
She pressed her access pass on the panel at the back and the door popped open. With a quick glance at the open elevator doors, she took him by the hand and led him up the stairs. Better not let anyone see them. Her apartment was only four floors up, so it didn’t take them long to get up the stairs and into her hallway.
Her floor was quiet, and fortunately no one saw them go to her door. She put her hand on the palm scanner and as soon as the door unlocked she stepped into her apartment.
He came to stand beside her, and she braced her hand on the wall of the foyer. The adrenaline that had kept her moving throughout the escape was fading fast, and it took every ounce of will she had not to dissolve in a heap on the floor. She was not equipped for this. She’d gotten him out of the building, but now what was she supposed to do?
“Miranda? Are you all right?” He put his hand on her shoulder and she stood up straight and shrugged away his touch.
“I’ll look after your back, and then we have to go.” With a glance over at him, she pushed her lips into a smile. His face was puzzled, and she knew she was acting strange, but couldn’t figure out how she should be acting. There wasn’t a manual about how to behave when breaking an alien out of prison and escaping with him. She’d have to muddle through somehow, and to that she needed to get a few things.
She walked down the hall and into her bedroom. Her closet door stood open, and she went to it and turned on the light inside. Up on the shelf was a small wooden box. It would be the answer to at least one of their problems. She pulled it down and opened it. Inside was every piece of jewelry her father had given her mother. Without a citizen card, he would need chips, which she didn’t have. Her mother’s jewelry was the most liquid asset in her possession, and all she needed to do was pawn them.
She sat on the edge of the bed and looked over the contents. Her mother had spent years going over every piece and pouring her bitterness into every one. It would have been better for her if she’d sold it all, but her mother couldn't move past her failed marriage. It was time for the jewels to go, and they would be better put to use helping him survive then collecting dust in her closet.
Setting the box aside, she went back to the closet and pulled out the small satchel laying in the bottom. Tossing it onto the bed, she went to her chest of drawers. She had a pair of men’s loose cotton pants in there that she like to wear when she relaxed. They might not be long enough for him, but they should fit him comfortably around his hips and waist. Dr. Avery’s clothes wouldn’t hold up once he transformed back into his normal self, since he was so much bigger then the diminutive scientist. She dug through the drawers until she found the pants along with an oversized plain navy T-shirt that she liked to wear with them. She tossed them over on the bed and quickly pulled out a few of her comfortable clothes to take with her. She still had no idea where they were going to go, but all she knew was that they couldn’t stay here. Everything on the bed got stuffed into the bag and she turned to go.
The bathroom was her next stop, and she rummaged through the drawers until she found a small box with first aid supplies. She tucked it under her arm and walked back down the hall. He stood in the same spot he’d occupied when they walked in the apartment.
“You can go in the living room and sit down. I need to get one more thing and I can take a look at your back.” She breezed past him and into the kitchen. She pawed through the content of her junk drawer until her searched turned up a small screw driver. Perfect, now she had something to take out those screws.
She went back into the living room and dumped the satchel on one of the chairs and put the first aid kit and the screwdriver on the table in front of the sofa. He’d taken her at her word, and sat quietly on the sofa.
“Did you get what you needed?”
“Yes, I now have a way to get you the chips you need, and I got something for you to wear. I’m sure you will want to change back to your normal self. I’ll get the screws out of your back once you’re back to normal.”
“I can stay in this form if it makes you more comfortable.”
“Please don’t.” Her voice was a little too loud and emphatic, and he looked at her in surprise as he drew back slightly. She took a deep breath. It looked like she would have to be honest about how she felt looking at him in his guise as Dr. Avery. “I don’t want to see you as him. I much prefer looking at you in your own form, at least then I know for sure it’s you.”
“Then I will change back, since I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
She focused her attention on the duffle bag, and pulled the clothes she put in there for him. “I hope this will fit you better than his clothes will once you change back.”
She turned back to him with the clothes in her hand and he’d already taken off the shirt he’d stolen from Dr. Avery.
Jesus, that’s the last thing I want to see.
She knew it wasn’t Dr. Avery, but in a way it was his body, and she couldn’t see him that way. It was going to take a while to get the image of his pale chest, with its sprinkling of grey hair out of her head. If she saw more than that she’d end up traumatized for life.
“You can change in private. The bathroom is just down the hall.” She took him by the arm and showed him where he could go. As he turned to go, she noticed the screws from the pad in his back. “Are the screws uncomfortable? Do you want me to take them out now?”
“They aren’t pleasant, and I’d rather have them removed, but it can wait until I’m back to my normal self.”
“Okay but don’t bother with the shirt for now.”
He nodded before he walked down the hall and in to the bathroom. He was in there for several moments, and Miranda sat on the sofa, pulling out what she thought she would need from the first aid kit.
“Okay, I think I have everything…” She looked up when she’d heard his footsteps in the hall. Synn stood in the middle of the room waiting for her, and her mouth went dry at the sight of him.
Her mouth dropped open for a second before she had the sense to close it. He no longer resembled Dr. Avery, and he was once again the man she’d seen the first time she’d walked into the observation lab. She’d been so anxious about escaping the lab to notice what his body looked like when she’d helped him remove the pad from his back. She noticed now.
His skin was a few shades darker than her own, and it covered a body honed into an athletic machine. His broad shoulders flowed into the v of his back muscles down to his trim waist. He faced her, and she stared at the chest she’d touched only a few days ago. It looked as hard as it had felt, and the muscles in his stomach formed defined ridges that bunched and flexed when he moved, begging for her touch.
“Are you ready to remove the screws?” She couldn’t stop staring and he waved his hand at her with a look of open inquiry on his face. “Miranda?”
The heat of embarrassment crept up her face, and she tore her eyes away from him. It was like she’d never seen a naked man before, but then she’d never seen one like him. She needed to get herself under control before she did something stupid like push him onto the sofa and have her way with him. She set the first aid kit and the screw driver on the coffee table and stood.
“I’ll look after the screws in a minute. I want to change out of my work clothes first.” Thank God she hadn’t thought to do it before because now she needed the excuse to get out of the room and collect herself. She turned and walked to the bedroom faster than the simple act of changing clothes warranted.
When she got to the bedroom, she closed the door and leaned against it. She drew in a deep breath to slow the pounding of her heart. How was she going to keep her hands to herself when he provided such a powerful temptation?
Should she resist? All her life she’d done what had been expected of her, and from the time she was a child until now, she’d done very little deciding for herself. In light of recent events, perhaps her judgement wasn’t the most sound.
She pulled on her comfortable clothes and took down her hair. She sat on the edge of the bed for a minute. She would still need a few more minutes to collect herself so she could face him in all his muscled glory.
Perhaps she was over thinking this. Maybe she should just go out there and see what happened instead of trying to anticipate every outcome. She was in uncharted waters, and perhaps it was time she realized that she couldn’t control everything. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and prepared herself to go back in the living room and put her hands on his bare flesh.
Chapter Ten
What did I say? Miranda’s movements were rushed, as if she couldn’t wait to get away from him. He must have said something to offend her. The troubling thing was that, even after touching her and allowing her to touch him, he gleaned nothing from her mind. He should be able to get a small read on what was going on in her head.
Perhaps it was true what the elders said? Once a Latrothian warrior found his true mate, her mind was closed to him unless she took part in the mating ritual that would bind them together for the duration of his life.
He blew out his breath and shook his head. Those were just tales, old stories told amongst his people to make the connection between them and their mates more sacred than it needed to be. There was no way he could verify it. He hadn’t been interested in knowing the minds of the females he’d been exposed to in the past. Maybe he couldn’t read a females mind and there was nothing more to it than that. He could read a man’s mind because his ability to impersonate other races depended on it to blend in. His kind didn’t impersonate females.
Miranda came back to the living room, and she’d changed out of the clothes she’d worn to rescue him. She looked more relaxed now, and whatever had taken her from the room earlier seemed to have past. She’d taken down her hair, and he couldn’t take his eyes off it. It spilled about her shoulders and down her back like a fiery waterfall. It looked soft and shiny, and he curled his fingers into his palms. She wouldn’t want him burying his fingers in it and drawing her close. His touch made her feel weird, or at least that was what she’d said back at the lab. Of all the emotions he wanted to inspire in her, weird wasn’t one of them.
“Let’s get rid of those screws.” She walked over to the sofa and sat down.
He turned his back to her so she could work on removing the screws. It would be a relief to have them gone. They were a final reminder of the torture her colleagues had put him through. He would carry scars from it for the rest of his life.
The light touch of her fingers one him forced him to make his mind go blank. She was the first female to touch him so intimately. The females on his planet were mated, and while he’d met several, they were forbidden to him. Her simple touch aroused him, but he wouldn’t burden her with his attraction to her. She’d shown him already that she wouldn’t welcome his touch.
“It looks like there are two parts to this. There is the screw itself, but it’s anchored into your skin with another piece.”
“Removed the screw first and see if there is a way to pull the other piece out.” Her hand lingered on his back, and there was no movement from her. “What is it? Is there something you aren’t telling me?”
“No.” She stroked her fingers down his back and he closed his
eyes. He needed to find his center, otherwise her touch would drive him crazy. “I think I’m going to have to pull the anchor out of your flesh and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It needs to come out, and I’m prepared for it to hurt. It won’t be any worse than what I’ve experienced at the hands of your Dr. Avery.”
“He’s not my Dr. Avery.” Her voice was sharp but at least she was doing something other than touching him. She picked up the screwdriver and set to work.
“He wants to be. When I took his form I got a good look into his mind. He’s obsessed with you.” That obsession would be dangerous if she remained ignorant of it. She should at least know of the danger that Dr. Avery posed to her.
“It doesn’t matter.” He grimaced when she loosened a screw from the coupling in his back. It wasn’t painful, but the pressure and vibration of the threads coming loose set his teeth on edge. “He’s not my boss anymore. I threw my job away when I set you free.”
The first screw was out, and it made a tiny sound as it rolled around on the coffee table. She set to to work on the next one, and he clenched his jaw. There were only three left to deal with, but the feeling of each one coming out of his body made his skin crawl.
“Why did you?” He needed to keep talking to take his mind off the screws coming free and wanted to know why she would make such a huge sacrifice for him. He was a stranger to her, and she owed him nothing.
“Why did I what?” She dropped another screw on the table and tackled the third one.
“Why did you save me?” Her hands stilled, and silence stretched between them. Perhaps she wouldn’t answer him? After another moment past, she blew out her breath and went back to work on the screw.
“I wasn’t supposed to know about you. I don’t have clearance to be in the lab you were housed in. One of the scientists led me to believe that Dr. Avery wanted me to go in there and interact with you. I didn’t know you weren’t…” She dropped the third screw on the table. Only one more to go.