Playing with Passion Theta Series Book 1 (12 page)

CHAPTER NINE

“We…weren’t…finished.” Ingrid knew Mack had tried to be
gentle, not like what Mack Stone had done in Atlanta, but it hadn’t
been pleasant.

“You were more than finished. That
kind of power is over the limit. Someone could have been
injured.”

“That's bullshit. Think about who made
up those limits. Not thetas, that’s for sure. Why can’t we change
the limits? You should be encouraging us to use our full
potential.”

Gene took Ingrid's hand and spun her
toward him, grinning like a chimp. “That was fucking incredible.
How did you learn to do that?” He grabbed her forcefully at the
waist, lifting her and spinning them around. He let her slide down
along his chest, obviously aiming to kiss her on the
cheek.

If she hadn’t been angry with Mack,
she would have pushed Gene away with a laugh, but she’d planned to
show them more, and Mack had stopped the rehearsal for no good
reason.

She leaned her body into Gene's and
put her hands around his neck, kissing his mouth with passion. Gene
must have known she was doing it to piss off Mack, but he didn't
push her away. At the same time, he didn't kiss her back, which was
fine with her, since she was managing to make it look good without
his help. When they pulled apart, the rest of the troupe was quiet,
waiting for Mack’s reaction.

His face showed no emotion, which
pissed her off even more. She realized with irritation that she’d
wanted him to give a shit that she'd kissed Gene. Well, fine. She
wouldn’t allow herself to care about this guy. She needed his axis
power to do what had to be done and that was that.

She’d wipe those precious moments of
closeness they’d shared on the terrace from her memory immediately,
or at least as soon as she could convince her heart that she didn’t
want to hold him in her arms again.

Mack said, “I think we’ve rehearsed
enough for this afternoon." He looked straight at Gene, ignoring
Ingrid completely. "I’ve arranged for security if you two are going
out this evening. Let Alan know, and please morph. It’s
safer."

Gene nodded, looking slightly
uncomfortable about the kiss. “Sure, boss.” Maybe that kiss hadn’t
been one of her better ideas.

Mack's expression grew concerned as he
looked at Diane. "Are you all right, Diane?”

Her face was flushed. “I’m fine. It
was...it was astonishing. I was sure it was real. I thought I was
truly a vampire for a minute or two. I completely forgot there was
a script." She glanced at Ingrid, her respectful tone surprising.
"If we were able to give an audience that kind of experience, The
Director could double the ticket prices.”

"I didn't do it for The Director."
Celeste turned away from the group, staring at the cityscape,
unwilling to meet his gaze.

Mack shook his head. "I’m calling a
production meeting for tomorrow afternoon at three. Ingrid, I'd
like to meet with you tomorrow morning at eleven. We have things to
discuss.” She nodded. I have an appointment tonight, so I’ll see
you all at breakfast. Try not to oversleep, Dave.” Mack moved
quickly through the door and down the stairs.

Ingrid winced, watching
him leave. Staci’s expression said it all, kind of a
you are pond scum
look.
A small part of her felt like pond scum. Her anger was always
getting her into trouble.

She sighed in frustration. "I'm an
idiot." She hadn't meant for everyone to hear, but it was only
fair. She’d gone off on Mack Harbor in front of the troupe, the
nicest most reasonable Mack she’d worked with yet. And did he rage
back? No, he'd handled it with class. However, she didn't hold out
hope that she’d remain in the troupe for much longer.

Gene took her hand in his. "Why is it
so important to you—all this experimenting with using more power?
What are you really trying to do?"

She knew Gene would figure it out on
his own soon enough, his perceptive brain always spinning on high
cycle. She told a half-truth, hoping it would satisfy
them.

"I want to make our lives better,
that's all. Show the world that we’re more than slaves.”

The drive back to the house was
quieter. Alan drove while Sam, having the longest legs, rode
shotgun. Gene, Staci and Ingrid sat in the back. Diane and Dave
were driving back in the other car.

Sam twisted around to look at her.
"I've never experienced anything like what we did this afternoon,
but I'm not sure it's for every audience. You saw Diane. However,
I'm extremely impressed by the control you exhibit when channeling
such enormous amounts of power. Your focus is extraordinary,
especially at such a young age. I understand why The Director puts
up with you."

He didn't mean it as an insult, so she
laughed. "You're as strong as I am, Sam. That's why I chose you to
play the master vamp. It's hard to hold back when you know you can
do so much more, isn't it?"

Staci touched her shoulder to get her
attention. "It could have gone badly. You could have hurt
Di.”

If they lived in a different world,
and thetas had been able to have kids, Staci would've made a great
mom. “I've been practicing at higher levels for four years now,
although this afternoon was mind blowing, even for me. But I also
noticed you've been using extra power, maybe not quite as much as
me, but still over the limit, according to the rules. You manage to
mask it better than I do."

Staci shrugged and smiled sweetly, not
denying a thing.

"Could you teach me?" Gene had wrapped
an arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer and resting his head
on top of hers. He smelled like citrus: fresh and clean.

Sam laughed as Ingrid poked Gene in
the ribs, saying, "Your projections shimmer with emotion. I bet all
the females in the audience weep when you die and moan with lust
when you have sex. If they're connected to your Ingrid, they
probably come screaming your name. Why do you think you have such a
huge following?"

"I thought it was because I was so
adorable." He played with her hair, twisting it around his
finger.

"Adorable dynamite," Staci
whispered.

"You got all that from one rehearsal?"
Alan sounded skeptical, a typical techie.

"This troupe is the strongest I've
seen." And hopefully they'd be getting stronger, as long as Mack
could be convinced that her theory might actually work to free
them.

Gene and Ingrid changed clothes and
went out late that afternoon, as planned. They'd morphed into
model-types, dressed in the latest fashions, eating their sushi and
drinking their sake with enthusiasm.

Gene flirted playfully the entire
evening, pulling out his southern accent, affectionate in a
non-pushy way. They danced almost every dance the band played, Gene
entertaining the other customers with his sense of fun. Once in a
while, he’d pull an unsuspecting female onto the floor, someone who
might never have had the nerve to dance in front of other people.
He made her look flawless; leaving the shy girl with a memory she’d
hold in her heart forever.

Ingrid wondered if he'd make a serious
pass when they got back to the house, but true to his word, Gene
gallantly said goodnight at Ingrid's bedroom door, kissing her on
the cheek, tipsy and very charming.

Ingrid woke at nine, got herself some
breakfast, and went back upstairs to her room at 10:15 to take a
shower and wait for her boss. She’d been tempted to start packing,
thinking that he’d be firing her this morning, but had held off. At
eleven sharp, he knocked on the door.

Mack's eyes widened as he took in her
usual attire: shorts and a tank top. His gaze flitted to the bed.
Was he nervous to be in here alone with her? That was kind of
sweet.

“Why don’t we go for a walk?” she
suggested, trying not to smile.

He looked relieved. “Good idea. We’ll
get some exercise and check out the neighborhood. There are some
beautiful pre-steal homes in the area.”

To mark the time their
world was turned upside down, the human population had started
calling the day the archdemons had shown up on earth to wreak havoc
as
the steal
,
always left in lowercase as a sign of disrespect
.
Before then, the other
supernatural races had been content to stay in the shadows and
allow humans to take care of running the world. But with the
appearance of The Director and his siblings, the werewolves,
vampires and others were forced to step up. The phrase had become
part of the vernacular, and was now used by all races—all except
for The Director, of course. He called their sudden
appearance,
the enlightenment.

Walking behind Mack down the stairs,
Ingrid couldn't help but appreciate the very fine view. She
wondered what he’d do or say if she grabbed his ass. Probably freak
out, citing some rule or other. After having seen how shaken Diane
looked after the rehearsal, she’d forgiven him his energy pullout,
but she wasn’t sure if he was in the same forgiving
mood.

She’d never thought of
walking as being a way to get exercise, and after seeing Mack at
her bedroom door, had actually started hoping for a slightly
different
form of
exercise this morning. Thetas had super-charged sex drives, and the
only intimate company she'd had during the last month was with her
own hand and a few favorite battery operated toys. Last night,
she'd actually called up a fantasy with Mack as the leading player,
and if he looked anything like she'd imagined him…well,
wow
.

They walked in silence for the first
half block, but the quiet was making her antsy. She plunged in,
trying to break the tension. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed
Gene like that in front of you. I was angry and it was childish. I
shouldn’t have yelled at you in front of the others, either. You’ve
been nothing but nice to me.”

He shrugged. "Kissing Gene was not a
problem. Not respecting me in front of the others was, even though
I understand that you were stressed because of the energy
withdrawal. Tell me it won’t happen again and we’re
good.”

“I’ll try.”

“Ingrid…”

“I react strongly, sometimes
inappropriately, but I have good reasons.”

“You can’t use your past as an excuse
forever.”

“It’s not that. I’ll explain later.
Not here in the street.”

They turned off Henderson and onto
Kissel. “Did you have fun last night?” he asked.

“Yeah. We ate sushi and danced for a
couple of hours.” She smiled in his direction, but got zero
response. “We didn’t sleep together.”

“That's not my business.” His calm
tone of voice was annoying her to no end. Where was that passion
she’d felt on the terrace?

Ingrid considered grabbing his hand,
but thought better of it, worried their connection might explode
out here on the sidewalk. “Why didn’t you make me morph before we
left the house?”

“I can protect you.”

“From a pack of wolves?”

“You doubt me?”

“No.” His confidence was amazing. In
fact, everything about him was amazing. She stopped in her tracks,
forcing him to stop as well. “There's something between us. Don’t
you want to explore it? See where it goes?"

"Another experiment?" His voice was as
flat as one of Alan’s pancakes.

"No.” She frowned. “Is that why you
got cold all of a sudden after our talk? I would never use you for
your power.”

But hadn’t that been exactly what
she’d been planning to do? She stared at her feet, mortified by her
own cold truth. To gain her freedom she might destroy this powerful
male, who’d done nothing to hurt her. A guy who’d put blood, sweat
and tears into giving his troupe the best life he could
manage.

“I don’t have casual relationships.
I’m the possessive type—a one woman guy.”

And didn’t that sound perfect? To make
a lifetime commitment to one special guy—a guy she’d chosen. "We
need to talk. I have an idea…”

“Let’s go somewhere more private. The
entrance to Snug Harbor is around the bend. Hardly anyone uses it
anymore.”

Impatient as always, Ingrid stopped
walking as soon as they were through the tall metal gates and
inside the park, placing her bare hand on his chest, wondering if
the connection between them was still there, still strong. When she
looked at his face there was real heat in his eyes, his previous
coldness melting away. The strange link was warm and sweet and felt
right, like Mack was supposed to be her guy. Her forever
guy.

She bit her lip, her
breath coming faster.
This was
crazy
.
This
didn’t happen to thetas
. But she didn’t
step away and neither did Mack.

"I swear, I'm not forcing a
connection." Ingrid didn’t want to speak—only feel this glorious
closeness. She realized they were both smiling at each other, happy
in a way she’d never experienced. When he placed his hand over hers
their separate worlds became one.