Twice as Hot

by Gena Showalter

Chapter Four

 

  "Bitch ! Traitor ! Liar!" I slammed my fist into Lexis's cheekbone. Usually my first instinct was not to fight but to say something bitchy and run. However, these past few days my anger levels had been so spiked it was almost a relief to let go like this. At least physically. I felt I'd been waiting for this moment forever.

  Her head snapped to the side and she stumbled backward a few steps, righted herself and glared over at me. Her gaze never falling from me, she used the back of her hand to wipe at the soot my blazing skin had left and the blood trickling from the cut my engagement ring had caused. Rome might not remember me, but Lexis wouldn't be forgetting who I was to him anytime soon. I wasn't taking the ring off, and I damn sure wasn't selling it. Hell, no.

  "Nothing to say?" I was panting, barely able to contain the flames working through me. Any moment they might burst free, charring everything and everyone around me.

  Good, I thought. Let them.

  "Get out of my face, Belle. I'm better at this game than you are. Trust me, you don't want to mess with me. "

  "Oh, but I do. And I don't care if you grind me into powder, I'm not letting you get away with this. " Lexis and I were standing inches apart inside the workout room John kept for his agents. After leaving Rome, I'd searched the entire building and had found her in here, running on the treadmill. She'd taken one look at me and had jumped down, clearly prepared to deal with nothing more than a heated conversation.

  That's when I'd punched her.

  She might be a powerful psychic, but she'd never been able to predict the things that would happen to her. As I now planned to do with all my enemies, I had used her weaknesses against her and I wasn't sorry.

  "And anyway, why are you here? Why aren't you interviewing one of the prisoners like you were told?" I already knew the answer. She'd been waiting for me. Or rather, for a chance to pounce on Rome, to see if he'd remembered me.

  Sweat dripped from her chest, past her vivid red sports bra and down the planes of her flat belly. "Had no luck with him, I take it?" she asked in that smug tone I so hated.

  Bingo. I'd been right. "No thanks to you. "

  Guilt flashed, quickly gone. "You're not right for him. It's time you both realized it. "

  "Is that so?" Before his last mission, Rome had been teaching me to fight. And fight dirty. Without warning, I kicked out my leg and nailed her in the stomach. Breath whooshed from her mouth as she skidded backward, instinctively hunching over. Other agents were in the room, and I heard them muttering:

  "Hundred on Lexis. Girl has skill!"

  "Dude, you haven't seen The Mighty Water Hose in a temper. You're on. "

  "Is anyone else as turned-on by this as I am?"

  "You don't want to do this," Lexis repeated, straightening. Even sweaty and winded, she was a beautiful sight. The shiny length of her black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her green eyes flashed brightly and pink flushed the exotic slope of her cheeks.

  "What you've done to me, Rome and Tanner is underhanded and wrong, and you know it. Someone needs to punish you, and I happily volunteer. "

  "I don't care if it's wrong. I don't care if it hurts you. I can't!" Righteous fervor poured from her, a deluge that only strengthened my anger. "I love him. "

  I sputtered for a moment, dumbfounded by her logic. "And that makes your behavior okay? If you truly loved him, you would have warned him about the danger he faced. Had the situation been reversed, had I known I would lose him, I still would have warned him to save him. That's real love. But guess what?

  None of that matters. You had your chance with him. You blew it, cut him loose and he moved on. He wants me now. "

  Her chin lifted, and hell, she'd never appeared more superior. "Wanted you. He wanted you. As of two days ago, he wants me. He wants to be a family for Sunny, the kind of family we were before. " I ran my tongue over my teeth, fire inside my mouth, burning, blistering. Surely there was something I could say to make her understand the depths of her betrayal. Surely there was something I could do.

  Surely. . . please . "Once you said you knew he wasn't the man for you, that he would love another.

  What's changed?"

  "Everything," she shouted, tossing up her arms. "The world offered me a second chance and I took it. I won't make the same mistake twice. He and I can - will - make things work this time. " Oh, that burned. In more ways than one. "Let's forget about Rome for a minute. How could you do this to Tanner? He treated you like a queen. Worshipped you, would have done anything for you. " Again guilt curtained her expression, but as before, she quickly masked it. "He's young, and I'm not the girl for him. "

  Damn her! "Again, that doesn't excuse your cruelty. He's a good guy, and you broke his heart as if he meant nothing to you. As if he was nothing. "

  "Trust me, he'll get over it. Sooner than you think, too. "

  What did that mean? That Tanner was about to meet the love of his life? I'd wondered that very thing a few days ago and had even felt sorry for Lexis. Not an ounce of my pity remained. "Knowing that doesn't make what you've done okay, either. You're ruining people's lives. "

  "No," she insisted. "I'm making things right. Finally. "

  Clearly, I'd made her understand nothing. I braced my feet apart, my hands at my sides, preparing for the battle soon to come. "Just so you know, Miss Know-It-All, you're not the girl for Rome, either. "

  "I will be. Just watch and see. "

  I swung my arm and, though I'd been aiming for her nose, I nailed her in the cheek again. She gasped, straightened, another trickle of blood joining the first. "That's for what you've done to Rome. " My other arm whipped out, connecting with her other cheek. "That's for Tanner. " Now, for me. I clasped both hands together, ready to slam my joined knuckles into her nose.

  She sucker punched me in the face before I could move an inch. In fact, her arm flew up so quickly, I had no idea she was moving until my brain slammed into my skull.

  Several seconds passed during which I saw nothing but stars. But when I realized what had happened, my anger ratcheted yet another degree, a flame sparking from my eye and catching on my eyelash.

  Control. No fire. If I burned her to a crisp, I'd be incarcerated, considered a scrim even though she was the criminal here.

  "I warned you," she said. "Rome taught me to play dirty, too. " I blew out the flame, though my attention never left her. "That's all right. I've learned a few tricks on my own. "

  She waved her hand at me. "Bring it. "

  So I did. Silent as a cat - my cat - I launched at her. Amid the chorus of male laughter and insincere pleas to stop, we slammed together and tumbled backward. Lexis hit the floor, and my weight smacked into her. Any air she'd managed to suck in previously was expelled in a gust.

  While she struggled to breathe, I straddled her, my knees pinning her shoulders. There would be no hair-pulling and scratching in this fight. We'd settle this like men. Superstrong, paranormally-enhanced men, but whatever. With my left fist - oops, a flame - I popped her in the nose. She yelped. With my right - what do you know, another flame - I nailed her in the jaw. Snarling, she wiggled for freedom.

  Blood dribbled down her lip and chin, and black soot smudged her too-perfect face.

  The laughter faded, the muttered "Stops" becoming real, concerned. No one dared approach us, though, fearing for their lives.

  As I reached back to introduce her eye socket to my knuckles, one of her legs worked between us and kicked. Next thing I knew, I was flying backward. I landed on my ass but swiftly jumped up. She was already on her feet. Both of us were panting, glaring.

  "What's the matter? Can't stand a little competition?" she taunted.

  "Can't win a man without cheating?" My fingers caught fire completely. Several of the men decided to brave our ire and approached. I threw a fireball, causing a wall of flames to form in front of them, keeping them away. While they scrambled for an extinguisher, I said, "You knew this would happen to
him, and yet you did nothing. He's suffering because of you. His life is a mess because of you. " She shook her head viciously, as though she could block my words with the back-and-forth flap of her ponytail. "I'm making things right. But you know what? If he really loves you, he'll pick you this go-round, too. " Her legs widened and her hands fisted in a classic ready-for-war pose. The same one I'd adopted twice already. "Now, enough talking. Let's finish this. " Hardly willing to obey her, I held my ground. Smoke billowed toward the ceiling, curling, stretching fingers out to me. I coughed until the sudden tickle in my throat eased. "If you touch him, I'll forget killing a fellow PSI agent is a no-no. " Truth and determination dripped from my every word. "And then, when Rome's memory returns, he'll hate you for what you've done and ask me to kill you all over again. " Her cheeks leached of color, and a tremor worked through her. "Maybe his memory is forever lost.

  Besides, hating me is not the future I see for him," she said, voice softening.

  Everything inside me stilled. My lungs. My heart. My blood. Cold washed over me, ice crystallizing on my fingers and causing every flame to sizzle, die. "What do you see?" Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound emerged.

  I inhaled sharply, and another round of coughing ensued. "What the hell do you see, Lexis?" Again, she remained silent. To be cruel? I was in her face a heartbeat later, scared, angry again, coughing even harder, frost and fire battling for supremacy inside me. Wind whipped between us as I hooked my foot around her ankle and shoved. Down, down she fell. On the mat, she used her elbows to crab-walk backward, away from me.

  "What the hell do you see?" The cold began to leave me, my fury eating away at it and leaving a burning trail. Jealousy was there, images of Rome and Lexis living happily ever after with Sunny flashing through my mind. A muddy fireball formed in my palm. "Tell me!"

  The agents finally doused the flames in front of them and moved around us in a circle, probably meaning to close in until they rendered us completely immobile. Instead, their positions aided my cause. Lexis hit a pair of boots and stopped.

  Gasping, she rolled to the side just as I tossed my bounty. It barely missed her, yellow-orange flickers crackling where she'd been, smoke billowing from the foam. The men jumped back with a collective gasp as another muddy fireball formed. I threw it, too. Again, Lexis rolled, escaping harm, causing more of the mat to hiss and the men to step farther away, widening the circle rather than closing it.

  "You really want to know?" she shouted. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you'll wish I'd kept quiet. You're going to continue to plan your wedding, but he'll want nothing to do with it. Another man will court you, but Rome won't care. Do you hear me? He won't care! You're going to date this other man. It's him you'll marry. Him. Not Rome. Him. "

  She was lying. She had to be lying. Anything to shred my confidence, my hope. Anything to give herself an edge. I wouldn't, couldn't believe otherwise. No way I'd marry any man but Rome. No way I'd love any man but Rome. "Too bad you won't live long enough to find out if your predictions are true. " I advanced toward her, stalking my prey with every intention of destroying it. I hadn't lied to her earlier; I no longer cared about consequences.

  But then, panting as I was, the black plumes still wafting from the mat enveloped me, soaked into me and filled me up, and I started coughing again. My steps slowed, then stopped altogether. As the seconds dragged by, those coughs became gut racking, shaking my entire body. Damn it! Not now. Any time but now.

  While I gasped for breath, someone tackled me, tossing me to the ground and pinning me. What the - three male bodies weighed me down. I struggled and kicked and screamed.

  Lexis, who was being patted on the back and asked if she were harmed, sprang for me. Through wide eyes I watched as she closed the distance, fist drawn back. One of the men dove for her, knocking her down just before she reached me. She scrambled to her knees just as I worked my way free of my own captors. Determination like ours couldn't be contained.

  Even as I coughed, a raging fireball formed in my hand. Attack me while I was unable to defend myself, would she? Try and steal my man, would she? Hurt my friend, would she? Not without paying a very dear price. I pulled my elbow back, wrist relaxing. . . preparing. . .

  "Stop!" a masculine voice shouted.

  Rome.

  I twisted, my heart pounding, nearly cracking my ribs. He was clearly angry but all the more magnificent for it. Too bad I didn't have time to drink him in. Lexis's foot connected with my back and sent me flying forward. Forever I seemed to trip, the fireball falling from my hand and catching a corner of the mat in a blazing inferno.

  As I righted myself, someone rushed over and saturated the flames with liquid nitrogen.

  With a quick glance, I rasped, "Low blow, Lexis. " I wouldn't be foolish enough to give her my back again. But damn it. Well played, Miss Know-It-All. Well played. I should have been smart enough to do something similar to her.

  She was standing, shoulders squared, expression once again smug. "There's more where that came from. "

  How could I ever have trusted this woman? Even a little?

  At least I'd gotten in a few good blows. Her lips were cracked and bleeding, and a bruise had already begun to form under one of her eyes. No telling what I looked like, though. Without the rush of adrenaline, without the glacial blast of fear and the conflagration of rage, my knuckles throbbed and my facial muscles ached.

  "What the hell is going on?" Rome demanded.

  I strode to Lexis's side, though I remained out of striking distance, and returned my focus to him. This time, I was able to drink him in - but oh, I was sorry for it. Quite simply, he scrambled my brain. He was tall, dark, dangerous. Exotic, sensual. Mine. He was the fantasy I'd always craved, the reality I thought I'd never achieve, but had. Only to lose it.

  This isn't over.

  His eyes strayed from Lexis to me, from me to Lexis. I wasn't sure which one of us caused his pupils to dilate, his nostrils to flare. Sure signs of arousal. At one time, I would have known who that arousal was for. It would have been me, no question. He would have stalked to me, grabbed my hand and jerked me into the hallway - coworkers be damned - where he would have pinned me against the wall, unable to exist a second more without my taste in his mouth. One of his hands would have cupped my breast, and the other would have worked at my jeans.

  "Out," he snapped.

  Both Lexis and I jolted in response, though neither of us obeyed. We knew he wasn't speaking to us.

  "Out!" he repeated, harsher this time.

  There were scampering footsteps behind us as our fellow agents fled.

  When there was silence, Rome crossed his arms over his chest. "There will be no more fighting between the two of you. Understand?"

  "Yes," Lexis said, clearly wanting to please him. "But I was only defending myself. She attacked me. " Perhaps I should have followed her lead, should have tried to placate him. That had never been my style, though, and I wouldn't change now. "Fuck you," I told him. "I'll do what I want, when I want, and there's not a thing you can do about it. You lost the chance to order me around. And besides that, she's a heartless bitch who deserved every punch I landed. Next time I'm not going to stop until she's unconscious. "

  Lexis gasped.

  Rome blinked over at me, shock forming in those electric blues.

  Someone whooped behind me. I turned - and it was one of the hardest things I'd ever done, looking away from Rome. But I had to. Any longer and I would have run to him and jumped into his arms. He was just so familiar to me, so. . . necessary. More than that, shock was a look I received from him quite often. Every time I said something he didn't expect but liked, he would blink, grab me and kiss the breath right out of me. Yes, he kissed me for a lot of different reasons.

  "Hello, everyone. " Grinning, Cody leaned a muscled shoulder against the door frame, so beautiful he could have been a painting come to life. Hell, in this supernatural world of ours, I wouldn't doubt if that were the case
. "Hello, gorgeous," he added, gaze on me.

  My brow puckered in confusion. Was he talking to me? Surely not. He'd never spoken to me like that before. The only women Cody wouldn't seduce were those that belonged to his friends or those who were looking to get married. I was both, so I was definitely off-limits.

  Or had been, I thought sadly. This sucked.

  "I need a moment with the women," Rome said stiffly.

  "Well, I need a moment with Belle. "

  "No. "

  Cody laughed now. "So you're saying you're her man? If that's the case, I'll leave. " Rome's jaw clenched. He remained silent.

  "Fine, then. You're no longer her man," Cody said, "so you can't speak for her anymore. Not that you could have before," he added with another laugh.

  "Get lost," Rome retorted.

  "I believe the little lady told you to fuck yourself. Rather than tell you the same, I'll just ask Belle what she'd prefer to do. Stay here and receive a lecture about giving naughty girls the spankings they deserve, or come with me and have fun. "

  My head lashed back and forth between them as they spoke. Rome bared his extra-sharp teeth in a scowl, but Cody never lost his grin. These two men were friends, colleagues, yet here they were, locked in some sort of tug-of-war. Not over me, but over power. Surely. Why?

  "Miss Jamison. . . Belle," Rome said, and hearing my name on his lips was heaven. Nearly my undoing.

  "Tell Cody you want to stay. We need to talk. "

  Giving in to him now would have undermined my take-no-crap stance. Besides, as Cody predicted, he probably wanted to yell at me for hurting his previous and future wife. Ugh. No way. I'd seriously vomit.

  Then I'd burn something. That didn't mean I wanted him to spend time alone with Little Miss Know-It-All, though.

  Hating myself, I faced Rome. "I think we've said all we need to say to each other. Unless you've remembered something?"

  He gave an abrupt shake of his head.

  Not one to miss an opportunity, Lexis rushed to his side before I could latch onto her arm and petted his shoulder. "Let her go. She's caused enough trouble today. " Next she whispered something in his ear.

  A muscle began ticking under his eye, his gaze never leaving me.

  My insides twisted in disgust. What the hell was she telling him? That I was the devil and I'd attacked her for no reason? That she'd begged for mercy but I didn't possess any?

  "Belle," Cody prompted.

  Do it. Spin. I spun. Each step measured, I walked to Cody, knowing the distance between me and Rome was growing. I was shaking, my eyes a bit watery. Any minute now, raindrops would pour from the ceiling. You are such a baby. Hold your head high. My chin lifted.

  When I reached Cody, he wrapped one of his arms around my waist and tugged me into the hard length of his body. I would have gasped, but he smothered the sound by pressing my mouth into his chest.

  Then he whispered to me, "I'd be willing to bet Rome's eaten up with jealousy right now and it's killing him. "

  Looking up at Cody, not daring to hope, I freed my mouth enough to say, "Really?"

  "I'd place my substantial savings on it. "

  "I thought you wanted to speak with her, not eat her whole," Rome sniped.

  Dear God. Cat Man was indeed in a snit. I grinned up at Cody, happier than I'd been in days. "He can do both," I said without looking over my shoulder. "I've always loved a man who could multitask. "

  "My kind of woman," Cody said, grin widening. "And why do you care, anyway, Masters? You're done with her. " To me, but just as loudly, he said, "I was listening to your earlier convo with Kitty over there and wanted you to know you were right. I leave my women so sated they can't even speak. I'm willing to let you find out for yourself. "

  I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

  "I told you. I need to speak with her. About the Desert Gall case," Rome added tersely, "and how it connects with our last mission. "

  "Don't worry," Cody said. "I've already talked to her about that. "

  "Rome," Lexis said. "Take me home. Please. My head is throbbing and I need to get cleaned up. You heard Cody. He's got things under control. "

  I pictured the two of them alone. Perhaps showering together, as Rome and I liked to do. My stomach clenched painfully, amusement forgotten. "Cody, will you take me to the nearest clinic? I need someone to dig the knife out of my back. Lexis might need it again. And the good doctor might want to give me a tetanus shot. I think she bled on me. "

  Stunned silence.

  I often had that effect.

  "Rome," Lexis said, and this time her tone was pure I'm-pissed .

  Not wanting to hear his response, I whirled on them and said, "Actually, it doesn't matter if Cody has things under control or not. I've been placed in charge of this case, which makes me your boss. Both of your bosses. And I expect both of you to begin interviewing Desert Gal's victims in the morning. Then I expect you to report to John's office at noon. We'll compare notes and decide what to do next. Oh, and a word of warning. Fail to show, and I'll introduce you to Mean Belle. " No longer appearing stunned, but rather braced for whatever slipped out of my mouth next, Rome snorted. "You mean we haven't met her yet?"

  "Not even close. "