Dating Outside Your DNA (14 page)

She felt Roan tense beside her and wondered what was up with him. She looked back at the new guy, who was smiling from ear to ear. He had pretty white teeth. She smiled back.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" he asked.

"No. We were just leaving," Roan said.

She met Roan's gaze. He gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head for her to walk in front of him. Well, he might like the personal trainer stuff, but she was tired of the isolation. She turned back to the newcomer.

"Hi, I'm Lyraka, and we weren't just about to leave." She held  out her hand and he took it in his. His hand was large and warm.

"Since Roan doesn't want to introduce us, I'll do it for him. I'm  Gavin Chambers."

"It's nice to meet you, Gavin."

"So, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?"

She laughed. It was a corny line, but the way he said it made it

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sound funny. "I'm shooting bad guys, at least on paper."

"Why would you want to shoot bad guys  when you have me

around? I'll do it for you, cross my heart." He made a motion of

crossing his heart.

"But if I let you do it, then how will I ever become an agent?"

Gavin straightened from his relaxed pose, looking at Roan as if

for confirmation.

"She's in training," Roan finally admitted.

Really, he acted as though she were top secret. Sooner or later

people were bound to find out about her. It wasn't as though they

didn't know what aliens were. Nerakians trained side by side with

earthlings all the time.

Gavin studied her a little closer. "Nerakian?" he asked.

"Yes," Roan said.

"No," Lyraka said at the same time.

Gavin raised his eyebrows. "Okay, is it yes or no?"

Roan's jaw had started to twitch. She'd already figured out that

wasn't a good sign . Why was he getting so irritated?

"I'm half earthling, half Nerakian," she said.

"That's a first." Gavin looked from Lyraka to Roan. "She must

be special."

"Joe wants her kept under wraps."

"I've been under wraps all my life. It's boring. I want to

experience life. I feel as though I've traded one prison for another and  I don't like it. And you're both talking as if I'm not even here...excuse  me!"

Gavin suddenly grinned, then looked at Roan. "Keeping you busy, huh?"

"You can't imagine."

Men, they were all alike. No wonder her mother had advised her to stay away from them.

"You're right. Maybe it
 
is
 
time for us to leave." She started to walk toward the door, but decided to give them something they could really talk about and hit her internal speed button, zipping past Gavin in a blur.

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"What the hell?" Gavin whirled around.

She stopped at the door. "I'm not just special, I'm their secret weapon." She let the door slam behind her and headed for the Jeep.

Maybe this wasn't what she was meant to do in life. She climbed into the Jeep on the passenger's side, flopping down in the seat, then slamming the door shut. Actually, she hadn't made contact with the door. It just sort of slammed on its own.

That was the way her other abilities had come about--sort of by accident. The day she realized she could kick speed in the butt, she'd tumbled head first into the river that ran close to the colony when she hadn't been able to stop in time. She'd eventually learned to control most of what she could do.

Roan would probably tell Joe, and then they'd keep her hidden so they could study her more, and see what else she could do. She was starting to feel like a lab rat.

She laid her head back against the seat and sighed. All her life, she'd lived at the colony. Long after she'd finished any home schooling, she'd stayed because she couldn't bear to hurt her mother.  But now that she was free, she wasn't.

What would happen if she just took off? Moved someplace where no one knew her. She could keep her skills under wraps. Of course, there was the problem of new ones popping up unexpectedly.  Like the hangers this morning, and the Jeep door just now. She could always claim ignorance.

She jumped when the door opened on the driver's side and  Roan climbed in. He started the  Jeep, put it into reverse and backed out. His jaw still twitched. It wasn't like she didn't know she'd pissed him off. Joe had been very specific when he'd said he wanted to keep her under wraps.

Now might not be the best time to start a conversation so she looked out the window. He still hadn't said a word by the time they pulled up in front of the building.

Nope, this wasn't good at all.

Damn it, he really needed to see her side of things. She followed him inside. He went straight to the training room. At least he

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was aware why they were there and wasn't giving up on instructing

her. Except he went straight to the classroom, then to the bookcase.

He ran his fingers over the books in the case, drew out the thickest

one, thumbed through the pages, then thrust it toward her.

"Read this. There'll be a test." He turned and strode

purposefully out the door.

She glanced at the book.
 
Policies and Procedures
. Man, she  must've really pissed him off. She had a feeling taking the book to the  woods and reading beneath one of the trees wouldn't be a good idea.

On the other hand, he was already pissed at her. What did the  degree of being pissed off really matter? She headed for the door.

She could almost feel his gaze on her as she headed into the  woods. She didn't go far, not wanting to push her luck that much. She  parked herself beneath one of the tall pines. Serenity washed over  her. She closed her eyes, breathed in the heady fragrance of pine,  and soon felt her troubles drifting away.

Really, what did it matter if Roan was irritated? Or Joe for that  matter? Joe had recruited
 
her
, not the other way around. They were  all excited about what she could do so she really doubted they would  stamp FAILED across her paperwork. At least, she didn't think they  would.

She  flipped to the back of the book and looked at the last page-

-412 of them. Good grief. Okay, whatever.

Two hours later, she closed the book. Her eyes were  permanently crossed. Most of it had been so boring she'd barely  gotten through it. The chapters on investigative techniques had been  really cool, and there'd been some other chapters that hadn't been  too horrible to read through.

She couldn't put it off any longer, though, and came to her feet.  She would have to face Roan sooner or later. Besides, she was  getting hungry. As she walked across the gravel parking area, she  glanced up and caught a movement at one of the windows. Roan?  Probably.

Lunch was an excruciating experience. Roan didn't speak and  as soon as it was over, he stood, dropping his linen napkin on the

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table. "I have to leave for a while. Keep reading." He didn't say

another word, just left.

Oh, yeah, he got to leave while she was still stuck here. This

was not how her life was supposed to be. And did he care? No. He

was probably going out with the guys or maybe he had a hot date.

She marched back to the training room and crammed the book

between two others, then skimmed her fingers across the rest and

drew one out that looked as though it might be interesting. It was

about killing people. S he might need that sooner than she thought.

She took it to the living room and made herself comfortable on the

sofa.

The day passed slowly. She could hear every tick of the clock.  She read the same paragraphs more than once, then had to go back and read the passage again.

If he was with another woman, what did she look like? Was she pretty? More than likely. They were probably having a nice dinner--candlelight and wine. He would laugh when he told her about the rookie he was trying to train, then they'd laugh together.

Evening fell. Dinner was a disaster. She couldn't even work up a good appetite. She stabbed her vegetables until they were mutilated, finally gave up, and went back to the living area.

After Frances and Cole left for the night, an eerie silence filled the building, and even though Cole had started another fire to ward off the evening chill, it didn't seem to help.

But then the silence was broken. She could hear the Jeep getting closer and sighed with relief. Would he still be angry with her?  Not that she cared. He'd gotten out for a while and played while she'd been stuck here reading a book that didn't even tell her a good way to kill him and get away with it.

She didn't turn around when the door opened, but continued to stand in front of the fire warming her hands.

He went into the living room and stopped. His building anger was palpable. It almost matched hers. He either snorted or growled, she wasn't exactly sure which, then he walked away from her.  Apparently, he changed his mind because he came back inside the

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room.

"I thought it was understood that you wouldn't go to the woods  alone?" he practically growled.

So, he wanted to start a fight. Fine with her. And if he needed to  use her going to the woods as an excuse to drop her from the  program, that was fine, too, but she wouldn't go out like a little lamb.  Nope, he'd just opened the storm doors to all her anger and  frustrations. Bring it on, baby!

She turned from the fire and faced him. "No,
 
you
 
said I couldn't  go to the woods alone . I didn't agree. You also said we would work  alone. You've told me exactly what I can and can't do, and it's getting  pretty damn old." It was irrelevant at this point in time that Joe was

the one who'd made the decision for her to train one-on -one. She

was pissed at Joe, too, and if he was here, she'd tell him exactly how

much!

Roan stepped in front of her. "I thought you wanted to be an agent. Is it too tough for you? Are you backing out?"

"Why can't I train with the others? They'll have to know what Ican do sooner or later. Why not sooner?" Her anger rose to the surface. The log in the fire split and cracked, spewing embers up the chimney.

He crossed the room, not stopping until he stood right in front of her. "Because you can't take orders. You've p roven that only too well today."

She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him, but she had to raise her head to do so since he was so close, and so tall.  "You can't tell me you like the situation any more than I do. You said so yourself that you want to go back into the field. How do you think I feel? I wanted to be around other people who are training. I want to feel like I'm a part of something. I'm tired of being..." Her words trailed off when she realized how much of herself she was exposing.

His anger seemed to vanish in a heartbeat. At least, his jaw stopped twitching and the hard glare in his eyes was replaced with a softer, kinder look.

He brushed her hair behind her ear, then smoothed his

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knuckles across her cheek. Lyraka realized just how much she'd  yearned for his touch. Or was it just the touch of another person. She  loved her mother, but Aasera hadn't been one to hug. The Nerakians  weren't a demonstrative race.

"Tired of what?" he asked softly. "Tired of being alone?"

He dropped his h and down to his side and cold enveloped her.  Did he sense how much she longed for more?

She didn't want his pity. She squared her shoulders. "Yes, but  you already know that."

"Yeah, I do."

"Of course, you've read my file."

"And you."

"What do you mean , and me?"

"I see it in your eyes. All your hopes and dreams. You have  very expressive eyes."

Lyraka wasn't sure she liked the idea that he could read her  thoughts so well. What if he...

"And yeah, I know you want me as much as I want you."

"No, I don't," she lied, trying to bluff.

He brushed his palm over the front of the thin shirt she wore,  across her breast. Her nipple immediately hardened and a flash of  heat spiraled downward and settled between her legs.

"Don't you? Even now your body tells me exactly what you  want. Do you deny that you want me to unbutton your shirt and slip it  from your shoulders? Or that you want me to unhook your bra and let  it fall to the floor so I can look at your breasts, touch them, squeeze  them...take one tight nipple i nto my mouth and suck on it while  caressing your other breast? Do you deny that's what you want?"