by Derendrea
“O2 holding at 95 percent.”
My body felt like it was made of bricks. My eyes barely opened.
“Blood pressure 90 over 60 and rising.”
Had I been asleep? My eyes adjusted to the light, and I found myself almost completely reclined and surrounded by men in black shirts.
How the crap did that happen?
The comfort I had felt from the stranger’s hands had vanished. Replacing it was an intense feeling of fear and anger. A thick blanket covered me, but underneath I had been undressed down to my bra and underwear. A plastic tube was taped to my arm. My God, it’s an IV.
“Three milligrams midazolam,” the stranger’s voice rang through the rest. I looked up to his face.
Sure, he was handsome, but why had I let him affect me so strongly?
“Let me go!” I demanded, surprising myself with how angry my voice sounded.
His hand pressed down on my arm above the IV. His dark eyes locked onto mine. “You don’t want to be awake for this. The cleaning can be a bit jarring.”
“What!” I sat up, and as I did I saw the man to my left had emptied a needle into the port of the IV.
My body tensed, but at the same time a weakening sensation flushed through it.
“I am an American citizen. I have rights. Unlawful... search and seizure... The fourth...” Dizziness won over anger. Strong hands pushed me back onto the reclined seat.
The stranger leaned over me. He placed his hand on my neck. “Trust me, Miya. I will take care of you.”
I blinked and the vision blurred. “Who are you?”
“My name is Jordan.”
My eyelids grew heavy and closed over the light. I shook my body to rouse myself.
“Please, don’t do this.” A chemical taste filled my mouth. I tried to sit up, wanting to throw up. I couldn’t see the stranger, but I could feel him. Close... very close.
“Just breathe,” he whispered. His words pervaded my senses. My pulse slowed beneath his fingers. My chest filled on its own, making me sink deeper into oblivion.
I dreamt of water. Vast and open, like it covered the entire planet. Still, calm, clear water.
I sank deep inside it. The water was cool and clean, so clear I could see on in every direction.
I drifted deeper. The water caressed my every pore. I was able to breathe, despite the glittering surface being far above me.
I opened my eyes.
The jolt into consciousness was vexing. I hadn’t been dreaming. I really was under water. I gasped, but air didn’t fill my throat and my lungs painfully contracted.
Then air was mechanically forced into my lungs. I lifted my hands to my face. A breathing tube filled my throat and a mask was secured over my face. Reflexively I started to tear it out, but then reason held me.
I was under water. If I pulled it out, I wouldn’t be able to breathe.
The water rushing around me stilled. The ventilator periodically filling my lungs, I tried to focus to see. I was in a glass tank set in the middle of a bright room. A man in a doctor’s coat stood on the side of the tank, turning a dial. He had a worried expression on his face. I tried to get him to meet my gaze but he didn’t.
I thought of Luke in that Star Wars movie, waking in a water tank after almost freezing to death.
I looked up. The top of the tank was sealed with a metal disk. I gasped, but again breathed against the ventilator. I dug my fingers into the side of the mask.
Before I could tear it off, I met eyes with the stranger standing directly outside the tank.
Jordan.
He mouthed “stop” through the glass. I shook my head. I banged my hand on the locked lid.
“Wait,” he mouthed. His face was drawn with concern.
A full breath filled my lungs. Jordan nodded to me and stepped to the left.
I looked down. I was dressed in white panties and bra. My feet touched the metal base of the tank, covered with smooth holes. That’s where the rushing water had come from.
There has to be a way out.
I looked up, but my gaze fell on Jordan. He was filling a needle from a vile. Next to him was a suspended IV bag. The tube led to the top of the tank then inside, going down to my arm. The ventilator tried to fill my lungs but I held it, shaking my head at him.
Jordan pushed the needle’s tip in a joint of the IV and met my eyes. I clutched the tube and tape on my arm, prepared to rip it out.
“Stop.” His mouth formed the word and his eyes pleaded it.
I looked down to the needle in his hand. Seeing me settle, Jordan’s body loosened. He gradually pushed the plunger of the needle, freeing its contents into the plastic tube. I felt a twinge in my private area from the slightly sexual act. I held the IV tube in my hand, but I didn’t pull it out. In moments I felt the numbing flush up my arm from whatever he injected it with.
Jordan placed his palm against the tank. I closed my eyes a long moment. I wanted to be held in his arms. I wanted to be alone with him in some dark room, not exposed and distant in this... research lab. I wanted to feel him inside me, not just imagine him there.
I placed my hand over his on the glass.
It’s almost over. His voice was in my head.
Great, now you’re going crazy again.
I stood there, suspended, the ventilator breathing for me and the drug making my body feel detached and lethargic.
He probably doesn’t even want you. He’s a doctor, and you are just a patient. Yeah, a mental patient.
Jordan reached over to the dial the man in the lab coat had turned. He began to twist it, keeping my gaze.
The look on his face was passionate and intense. My sensitive folds warmed and contracted under the panties. I pressed my legs together. He turned the dial further and jets of water flowed over my feet and legs. I tilted my pelvis, the rushing water providing some privacy. He turned the dial again and the water rippled all over my body. I could no longer see Jordan, but I knew he was there, his palm still across mine on the tank.
Sensation rushed over my private areas. My pelvis tightened with pleasure. What are you doing? My conscience scolded me. But I didn’t care. I wanted more of it, and I wanted it at his hand.
The current became stronger. My back arched and my head fell back, welcoming the rush over my skin. Normally, it was very difficult to make me reach orgasm. My previous boyfriends rarely took me there. I mostly faked it, just to make them think they were doing a good job. Still, I almost came right there, just from rushing water and the thought of Jordan’s touch on me.
My excitement, however, began to dull. I was losing ability to feel the moving water. The drugs. I would have scowled at the IV if I could open my eyes to see it. The rush intensified, almost strong enough to be painful, but I couldn’t feel it. I couldn’t feel anything.
I slowly became aware of my body, sore but comfortable. A hand cupped my neck and lifted my head up.
“Drink,” a sultry voice stated. Something cold pressed against my lips. I swallowed the water that was poured into my mouth.
Water. I opened my eyes, expecting to see the tank, but instead I saw a cream colored, spacious room.
Holy shit, was that real?
I lay on a large bed under a white pillow-stuffed comforter. The room was softly lit with fixtures built in the molding. The walls were empty, except for the wall to my right. A floor to ceiling waterfall decorated the middle of the wall. It was at least eight feet wide and sounded like a forest stream. On either side of it were what looked like windows, except the glass was darkened.
The hand supporting my head laid me back and I sank into a pillow. I looked up to Jordan seated on the bed beside me.
“Where am I?” I asked quickly, before I could get lost in his eyes.
He held his hands together over his lap. “A research facility,” he answered. I wanted to laugh, but his face was serious.
“Are you government?” I pushed my elbows into the bed to sit up. I cringed a moment, my body
protesting from having lain in the same position for too long. Jordan moved his hand beside me, but I was able to sit up on my own. I noticed the IV was gone from my arm. I looked back to Jordan, demanding an answer.
“Sort of,” he answered.
I looked around again, expecting to see security cameras mounted on the ceilings. There were none. I found the door on the far end of the room. I thought it would have chains and locks and a peep window, like some mental hospital, but it was just a normal door.
“Why did you bring me here?” Gazing at him, my breath caught in my throat. Shit. His hair was loose over his shoulders, shining black and smooth. He wore a form-molding white shirt. And my... his form. Chiseled and muscular torso, toned arms. He wore black jeans and a leather belt.
He knew I was staring at him because he didn’t respond until I looked back up to his eyes. His expression wasn’t condescending; he was almost smiling. “This is a place for people like us.”
“Us?” I could guess what he meant. He touched my arm, sending rippling sensation across my skin. That confirmed it.
Stress, opiates, head injury... all causes of delusions and hallucinations. Heat stroke... that’s it. You passed out in the parking lot on your way to class. And dreamed...
I met his charming eyes.
...of the most handsome man alive.
He waited for my thoughts to settle. “Come,” he stated and offered his hand, “I’ll show you.”
If it is a hallucination, why not play along?
I took his hand. I pulled the blankets aside, worried I would only be dressed in underwear. But I was wearing a light-fabric white tank and shorts. Feeling woozy, I tightly held Jordan’s hand to get out of the bed.
As I stood my back spasmed. I cringed, unable to move. I definitely had been laying in one position for too long.
I felt Jordan place his open hand on my lower back. Warmth radiated through the cotton shirt. The pain wasn’t just dulled, it dissolved. My back straightened and my energy renewed. I turned to Jordan, his hand still on the small of my back, strength and warmth still filling me.
“How do you do that?” I whispered.
He stood three or four inches taller than me. His dark eyes reflected the light. His fingers pressed against my back and I had to close my eyes from the rush that went through my body.
I am alone with him.
I opened my eyes and stared at him in disbelief. Not so much that he had magic hands, but because of how his attention was so completely filled by me. No one had ever paid this much attention to me before, not even ex-boyfriends.
I realized he still held my hand. Hesitantly I wrapped my fingers around his, feeling his skin. I watched him, worried he would pull away, but he didn’t. I’m sure I blushed like a schoolgirl.
His hand lowered from my back. “We are made of energy.” He gestured forward. “Touch the window.”
I looked to the dark rectangles on the wall. He walked beside me, keeping hold of my hand.
I stopped before the dark glass, reached forward and pressed it with a fingertip.
The glass immediately changed, becoming transparent and letting in the light from a bright, open area beyond.
“How?”
“The window responded to the electricity in your touch. It is the same as turning on a transitional touch lamp or using a touch screen phone.”
I paused, gazing out the window. The room we were in was on the second story of a large complex overlooking a courtyard. People walked through trees and fountains, gardens and benches. The courtyard was surrounded on all sides by buildings and large, rectangular windows like the one we stared out of.
“Some people are more sensitive to this energy,” Jordan stated.
People below walked or sat together, some sat alone reading or laying out on the grass. Peaceful, but a little creepy. Above the courtyard was not open. It was covered by a dome of glass that let in the sun’s light.
“Some people learn to manipulate it.”
I looked back to Jordan and lifted my hand out of his. He’s as crazy as you are. My chest tightened and I could feel my heart pound against it.
“What do you want with me?”
He faced me squarely. He responded to my accusing tone with deliberate calmness. “You have a gift, Miya. We can teach you to use it.”
I felt sick. Of course it was too good to be true. You’ve ended up in the looney bin at last. “And if I don’t want to learn?”
He stepped closer. His proximity caused tingling across the body. It’s just your imagination.
“We will make you forget,” Jordan whispered, his eyes lowered. “You’ll wake up in your apartment with no memory of this place, or anything that has happened.” My body started shaking. “But if you chose to stay,” he met my eyes and my breath caught, “I will show you things that you’ve only dreamed of.”
I swallowed hard. I pictured myself running for the door, being caught, restrained, and sedated, much like the trip it took to get here. Jordan crossed his arms and waited, staring at me.
“What...” my voice cracked. I cleared my throat. “What sort of things?”
Jalin nodded behind me to the enormous waterfall. I walked to the center of where it ran across the wall and onto a pool on the floor.
“This water flows through the entire facility. If you touch it, you should be able to feel what I’m talking about.”
Fine, just a test. I reached my hand forward to touch the water. A few inches from the flowing water, my hand hesitated. Jordan stepped beside me. My brows lowered, and I forced my fingers into the stream.
The explosion of sensation was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was like an electric shock. For a heartbeat I left my hand under the water, but in that small space of time a conglomerate of images and feelings flooded my awareness. Too fast to understand them distinctly, the fragments made me think of many different people.
My legs forgot how to support me. I started to fall, but Jordan caught me below my arms. Held in his embrace, the swirl of experience started to settle. He cupped my buzzing hand, sending soothing warmth into it.
I laughed. The rush of awareness and feeling was exhilarating. I wanted to touch the waters again, but I didn’t know if I could stand it.
“Another time,” Jordan said softly, and smiled at the reaction on my face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would take you so hard. The cleaning made you extra-sensitive, and you already were...” He trailed off, staring into my eyes.
I felt connected with him. The room spun one direction, and he and I spun another. We leaned closer, meeting each other in the middle. I felt dizzy, like I had spent the morning on a merry-go-round.
We kissed and the world stopped moving. He was so tender and wanting it made a pit form in my stomach. I no longer felt like a child under his touch. I felt like a woman. I parted my lips and let him kiss me deeper. He placed his hands on either side of my face and pulled away. The look on his face made me hurt.
He was rejecting me.
“I can’t do this,” he said and stepped back. I felt light-headed, but anger and disappointment kept me standing straight.
“You are under my care.” His tone was soft. He said one thing, but his eyes told me another.
“Jordan...” I closed the space between us. My bottom lip slipped between my teeth and I looked him up and down.
He hesitated, choosing his words. “The influence I have over you can make you believe you are attracted to me.”
His words made me furious, yet felt like kisses on my skin. His influence over you... Warmth heated between my legs.
I lifted my hand to his well-built chest. He didn’t withdraw. “If you want me to stay here,” my finger pushed down his shirt, tracing the crease between his pecs, “you’d convince me.”
I couldn’t believe the words came out of my mouth. I regretted them, until I felt his chest rise. His breaths were deeper, faster. His face changed from collected and confident to primal focus, like he wa
s on the hunt. He seized me, wrapped his arms around me and kissed me passionately.
His warm lips closed around mine, his tongue slipping inside my mouth. I tilted my head back to accommodate him. He tasted salty and sweet. His freshly shaved cheek and jaw flexed beneath my hands as we kissed each other. My fingers laced through his silky black hair. I grasped the crook of his neck, pulling him into me.
Take me.
I didn't know if he really could read my thoughts, so I told him with my body. Pressing against him, I could feel his heat through the thin cotton outfit. He kissed me deeper and ran his hands down my back. I lowered one of my hands to his side and slid it under the base of his shirt. Tentatively, my hand explored his skin. Flat, tone muscles covered his back. Not body builder bulging, but strapped and sleek.
Damn!
I turned to putty in his hold. His arms wrapped around my lower back and he lifted me eye to eye with him. He stared into my eyes, searching.
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
I wrapped my legs around his waist. Leaning my head back, I pulled his face against my neck. Jordan obliged, kissing and taking my skin in his mouth. Pressing me against his body, Jordan started to walk toward the bed. My excitement heightened. I pressed my pelvis against his solid abdomen.
“You affect my more than anyone I have ever known,” Jordan stated, pulling up from my neck.
Did I hear him right?
“I affect you?” I stared into his dark eyes. “Are you serious?”
He lowered me to the edge of the bed and kneeled before me. “Very.”
His hands ran along the outside of my thighs, across my hips, then wrapped around my back. He slipped under my shirt and rubbed his warm hands across my back, but then stopped.
“I should warn you...”