Twice as Hot (30 page)

Scary
stuff. My skin was chilling, my body temperature dropping. How did one fight a
person they couldn’t touch? I gulped, changed the subject again before I froze
the entire car. “What if we see one of PSI’s Most Wanted Scrims?” I asked. Our
job was to put them in a supernatural prison, after all. A prison with better
security—security designed to negate the very powers they wielded—than those
used for normal humans. I could only imagine what would be done to me if ever
I
was sentenced to confinement. Since pollutants were my downfall, I’d probably
find myself drowning in them, always weak, always coughing. They’d keep me
drugged, too, I didn’t doubt. Keep my emotions numb.

What
a lovely thought.

Rome
veered off the highway onto a side road. “We’re only after Desert Gal. No one
else matters right now.”

I
frowned. There were no buildings around us, no street signs. Not anymore. “You
didn’t lie about the party, did you? Dress me up only to take me into a barren
wasteland and kill me?”

He
snorted. “Please. If I were going to do you in, I’d tie you to a bed and have
my way with you first.”

Comforting.
And sexy. But I was avoiding sexy right now. Rome had vowed to change my mind
about sleeping with him, yet he’d made no effort to do so. Actions were
stronger than words—or lack of actions. I was taking the hint. “Remind me of
our objective again.”

“To
watch, listen, learn.”

I
nodded. “I can do that.”

“We’ll
see,” he muttered. “Here’s your first test. You’re going to listen to me. While
we’re at the party, you are to do what I say, when I say to do it. You are not
to leave my side for any reason. Not even to use the bathroom. If I’m unclear,
let me know. You can get out of the car and wait for me here.”

My
eyes narrowed at him. “You’re lucky I lo—like you.” I’d almost said
love.
No way I’d say those words until his memory returned. “I’ll behave, don’t you
worry. I’ll be so good, in fact, you’ll think I’m Lexis.”

For
reasons I couldn’t understand,
he
frowned the rest of the drive.

As
promised , the party was an underground flesh fest. More so than I’d imagined.
A lot of men wore suits like Rome, as if they’d gotten off work and had come
straight here.

Here
turned out to be a
metal building hidden at the base of a mountain. There’d been no signs pointing
the way. One moment I’d seen nothing, the next I’d spotted about a hundred cars
in front of what looked like a forgotten, dilapidated warehouse.

The
moment we’d stepped inside, however, that image had changed. The walls were
lined with black velvet. There were leather couches in every corner, black lace
hanging from the ceiling to create a dreamlike haze. Soft music wafted from the
speakers, and the lights were dim. Very romantic. If not for the half-naked
women roaming around.

No
wonder Rome had chosen to bring me rather than Lexis—which did not speak highly
of me. I could look trashy; Lexis, elegant as she was, simply couldn’t.

A
topless waitress sauntered past us with a tray of champagne, and I grabbed a
flute. Not to drink, but to blend in.

Rome
flashed me an irritated glance and confiscated the glass. Motions stiff, he set
it on the nearest table.

Oopsie.
I’d needed permission.

He
wrapped his arm around my waist and led me deeper into the lion’s den. We’d had
no trouble getting in. Rome had said, “Delta, and guest,” and the pair of beefy
armed guards at the front doors had nodded, moved aside and allowed us past
without any trouble. My heart had pounded in my chest the entire time, and I
think ice had even begun to crystallize over my skin. Again.

When
we reached the bar, Rome ordered a beer. I took a moment to look around. Smoke
billowed through the room, adding to the dreamscape effect. A dreamscape that
made me cough.

Had
I seen the club’s occupants on the streets, I would not have thought of them as
more than mortal. Some were tall and muscled, sure. But some were average
height or shorter. Others were overweight and balding. What powers did they
possess? And why weren’t they showing them off? Some kind of unofficial
agreement to behave?

Beer
in hand, Rome ushered me to a table in back. The one on our right was empty,
but the one on our left was occupied. A young-looking man in a dress shirt and
slacks had two naked women cuddled up to him, kissing and caressing.

Rome
sat and I eased next to him. When his hand settled on top of my thigh, I
shivered. I forced my body to remain relaxed, my expression soft. I wondered,
though, if there were gentlewoman’s clubs where the men were the objects. If
not, there should be.

The
size of the crowd surprised me. “Are there this many people with paranormal
abilities in Georgia?”

“Of
course. They’re everywhere, in every state. But not all of them are scrims, and
not all of their powers are overt.”

“You’re
new here,” a man said, suddenly at Rome’s side though I hadn’t seen anyone
approach.

Rome
nodded, sipped his beer as if he hadn’t a care.

“Welcome.”
The man’s gaze traveled to me. He was handsome. Greek-god handsome. Blond,
tall, chiseled, with a strong nose and chin. A savage gleam in his bright green
eyes. Some kind of symbol was tattooed on his throat. A circle with something
inside it. “I saw you come in. Wanna trade?” he asked, snapping his fingers.

A
pretty brunette rushed to his side, sidling up and rubbing against him as if
she’d been waiting for just such an invitation. She wore a leopard-print bikini
and high heels.

Rome
took a moment to look the guy’s bimbo over. He seemed to be mulling the
possibility over in his mind, the jerk.

I
pinched his knee, my skin suddenly hot. Not enough to burn through his pants,
but close.

“No,”
Rome finally said. “Not now. I’ve been looking forward to this one’s mouth for
hours. Maybe later, though.”

Yeah,
later—if I didn’t cut off his arms and use them to club him to death first.
Bastard! I knew this was all for show, or rather, thought I did. The truth was,
I didn’t really know this new Rome or what he was capable of.

“My
name’s Johnny if you change your mind.” Johnny’s gaze stroked me, as if he
could already picture me naked (not that it took much imagination thanks to my
Rome-mandated outfit) and he liked what he saw.

I
shuddered.

That
seemed to delight him, but he clomped off with his brunette.

Rome
touched my thigh again, even leaned over as if he were whispering something
erotic into my ear and said, “He’s a space and time manipulator and he’s been
on PSI’s capture and neutralize list for a long time. He’s gone back to the
past and, we think, placed major bets and made all kinds of money he shouldn’t
have. As I’m sure you could tell, his weakness is women. Stay away from him.
I’ll come back for him another time.”

Suddenly
Rome stiffened. He straightened abruptly and cursed under his breath.

“What?”
I asked, glancing around. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“Shit.
I’ve got to leave you for a moment.”

“What!”
I demanded again, chest tightening.
You are an agent. Act like one.

“It
can’t be helped. Stay here, and you’ll stay out of trouble.” He grasped my
chin, his fingers warm. “Do not move from this spot. I’ve marked you as mine
and no one will touch you if they know what’s good for them.” He gave me a hard
kiss. Then he stood and strode off, and I was on my own.

What
the hell ?

My
narrowed gaze followed Rome across the building, past a throng of people and—I
lost sight of him, unable to see from my vantage point. A moment passed before
I spotted him again. He was still moving through the—No, wait. He’d stopped in
front of a busty blonde, and my jaw dropped at his let’s-get-this-party-started
body language.

My
fingers curled over the edge of the table. The blonde smiled up at Rome
seductively, clearly in agreement; she even traced her fingers down the planes
of his stomach. I couldn’t help but notice that he did not pull away from her.

Maybe
he’d brought me rather than Lexis tonight because he didn’t want his precious
Lexis to see him flirting with other women. Bastard. I wished to God my powers
included supersonic hearing.

Once
I would have known he would not do anything sexual with this woman. Once. But
no longer. I was so angry at that fact, I felt like calling Memory Man back and
telling him to keep the stupid memories. Rome didn’t deserve them.

With
that thought, I could almost feel M-Squared’s longing for me stretching across
the void between us…him craving everything I had to give…demanding more…

Where
was he? Had he followed me to Colorado? I found myself glancing around the club
as if I might catch sight of him.

A
waitress passed me and I called, “Ma’am, I’d like—”

She
didn’t even glance in my direction.

She
placed the drinks balanced on her tray on another table, the male recipients
eagerly lapping them up. They were joking and laughing and clearly already
intoxicated. One even pinched her ass. She tossed him a grin that belied the
gleam of irritation in her eyes.

Done
with them, she moved toward me again.

“Excuse
me. I’ll have a—”

Once
more, she couldn’t be bothered to spare me a glance. Perhaps karma was
belatedly kicking in, punishing me for having been a less than solicitous
coffee wench—er, barista—back in my days at Utopia Café. Or maybe the
waitresses were instructed to only answer to the men. That made sense. I hated
it, but it did seem fitting in this Men Are Superior club. I wondered how many
of said men would feel superior to me while writhing in the heat of my fire.

Now,
Belle. You are not a violent person. You do not enjoy doing bad things. What
would your mother say?

My
shoulders sagged. My dad’s voice kept popping into my head at the oddest
moments. It wasn’t fair, either. He knew just how to get to me, how to shame me
into better behavior. It was one thing to hurt someone in order to save a loved
one, but quite another to do so out of spite.

“Hey,
hot stuff. We’ve never seen you here before,” a male voice said.

Next
thing I knew, a twentysomething guy with cute, puppy-dog eyes and a dimpled
smile was sidled up to me. He smelled of expensive cologne—and sex.

I
crinkled my nose. “I’m taken,” I said. Kind of.

“By
who? You don’t look taken to me.”

The
voice was identical to the one that had first spoken, but it came from my other
side. I quickly switched my attention—and found myself staring into a face
identical to the one I’d just been looking at. Another quick switch—first guy
was still there. Twins, then. I studied them closely. Only difference was, guy
number one had three freckles beside his right eye, like a half-moon. Guy two
didn’t.

“What?”
I asked, having lost the thread of the conversation.

Both
men laughed.

“Whose
woman are you?” the second asked.

“Oh.
Uh, I belong to Delta.” That’s the name Rome had used to get in, so that’s the
only name I’d use to refer to him. He hadn’t told me to do so, but better safe
than sorry. I didn’t want to remove my attention from my unwanted guests, but I
did for a second, searching for Rome.

He
and the blonde were no longer by the wall. In fact, as far as I could tell,
they were gone entirely.

My
teeth ground together.

“Delta?
Never heard of him. You want us to fight him for you?” another voice asked. It
was identical to the other two.

I
gasped when I spotted a third familiar face: same puppy-dog eyes, same dimpled
smile. Triplets, then. I’d never encountered triplets before. Like the second,
this one lacked the half-moon freckles. “No,” I said. Damn, they’d surrounded
me. They weren’t big and muscled, were merely average height and lean. Still.
Three against one, not good odds when the one was me.
Wait. You have powers,
dummy. You are a force to be reckoned with.
Oh, yeah. I hated that I had to
keep reminding myself.

“Who
do we have here?” a fourth voice asked.

No
way. No freaking way. But there he was, the exact image of the others. He, too,
was without the freckles. They all wore the same white button-up, same jeans.
And all four were squished around me at the table.

My
palms began to sweat. Which meant my heart began to race and my blood to
thicken. I did not want to freeze these men in place. That would draw unwanted
attention to myself.

“Gentlemen,
I hate to be rude, but uh, could you kind of leave?” I shifted uncomfortably,
grimaced when I rubbed against one of the quadruplets. “I’m expecting my date
back any moment. He kind of frowns on me talking to other guys. And by frowns I
mean kills.” Any other time, that sort of statement would have made me cringe.
And I would have looked down on any girl who said it, thinking she needed a new
man. Right now, I couldn’t get the words out fast enough.