The Deviant Underground (Time Bandit) (20 page)

“I'm sorry, Susan.” Kathryn giggled. “But I need dick in my life. You are so beautiful, but you ain't got the goods.” Kathryn realized that the car had come to a halt. She teleported back into the front seat and leaned over. “Now Charge, on the other hand . . .” He grabbed her and kissed her hungrily. Kathryn tried to awkwardly climb over the car's center console to get at him, but something stopped her. “Oh, no. I have to pee.” She laughed and kissed him again. “Meet me upstairs,” she whispered and teleported into the cabin.

After she had used the bathroom, she took off all her clothes and got in the bed. She lay there, the sheets feeling cool against her skin. Her body ached for Charge, and she wished that he would hurry up. She wanted a cigarette, but she couldn't quite remember where she had put them. She also felt like she could use another drink, but sex first. Definitely sex first. She rolled over on her stomach and hugged the pillow. Everything felt so right at that moment that she wasn't going to think about what to say tomorrow. Just enjoy tonight.

Charge slipped into the bed next to her. Kathryn squealed with surprised and rolled over. She wrapped her arms around him, and they resumed their hungry kisses. Charge explored Kathryn's body with his mouth. Starting with her lips, he slowly kissed his way down Kathryn's lean frame. With each kiss, Kathryn groaned. Charge softly caressed her skin, giving her goosebumps. She felt like she was on fire and couldn't take the suspense any longer. Charge gently bit her inner thigh, and she pulled him up to her.

“Inside me, now,” she whispered.

Charge smiled, and he entered her. Kathryn eyes rolled back as the pleasure overcame her. Charge's thrusts were fluid and smooth. She met his rhythm, and their bodies rocked and swayed. The whole room seemed to be moving in tune with them, and her orgasm rose. Like a wave, it came crashing down on her. Kathryn arched her back, and Charge thrust deeper, taking her breath away. She gripped his back as the orgasm flowed through her and fell back onto the damp sheets when it passed.

“Good?” Charge whispered.

“Mmm,” was all Kathryn could say. She closed her eyes to savor the feeling. Every pore on her body felt alive.

“Hold on one sec,” Charge said softly. “I'll be right back.”

He climbed out of bed. Her thoughts returned to finding her cigarettes. She really needed one now. Charge re-entered the room and pounced on her. She giggled. She was about to ask him if he had seen her cigarettes, but his mouth kept any sound from exiting. This time, Charge was aggressive. His kisses devoured her. With one hand he stroked her breast, and with the other he grabbed her ass and hitched her leg up over him. He put himself inside of her, and Kathryn gasped. The room spun as Charge's forceful thrusts made the bed squeak with his momentum. She tried to keep up with his rhythm, but he overpowered her and took control. She grunted as she gave in and let him dominate her. His raw, sexual energy consumed and exhilarated her. He placed one hand on the back of her neck, and the flow of electricity started there. It coursed through her body, forcing her into another orgasm that surprised her and took her breath away. As her body convulsed, she was vaguely aware that Charge's was doing the same.

Charge's body gave one last shudder, and he collapsed on top of her. Kathryn savored the solid weight of him before he slowly rolled off her. They both lay gasping, unable to speak. Overcome by the power of two orgasms and too much alcohol, Kathryn drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Twenty

When Kathryn slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she was aware of was the taste of alcohol in the back of her throat. She swallowed hard and sat up. The second thing she was aware of was the fact that she was alone. Charge was nowhere in the room, and there was just a crumpled pile of sheets left in the place where she last remembered him being. The third thing she was aware of was the dull pound in the back of her head and the fact that the room was now at a standstill. She glanced over at the digital clock resting on the nightstand. The red lights glowed 1:06. The fourth thing Kathryn was aware of was the pressing need to pee.

She teleported down the hall, used the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and took a quick shower. The dull pound was still there, but it was nothing that a strong cup of coffee and a cigarette couldn't take care of. She teleported back to the still empty bedroom, got dressed, and dug around for her cigarettes before finally finding them jammed into her pants pocket. She teleported down to the empty kitchen and brewed a large, strong cup of coffee. Drink in hand, Kathryn teleported outside and sat down in the afternoon sun. She lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, and took a sip of her coffee. As the smoke blew away on the afternoon wind, she smiled. She had had a great time the night before. Not only was the club a lot of fun, but the backroom felt like a community. She had felt normal there. Everyone was warm and welcoming. She smirked to herself as she thought of Flash—perhaps a bit too welcoming.

Kathryn heard the crunch of leaves underfoot and turned to see Susan approaching from inside the cabin. She was clutching a mug of her own and wearing sunglasses. She did not look good.

“Good morning, sunshine!” Kathryn yelled. She couldn't see Susan's eyes behind the dark glasses, but she knew that Susan was glaring at her.

“And how are you so damn perky?” Susan grumbled. “You drank just as much as I did.”

Kathryn took another sip of her coffee and a drag from her cigarette. “Hey, I'm a seasoned professional with a primed liver.” Susan reached for Kathryn's pack and took out a cigarette of her own. Kathryn lit it for her. “You, clearly, are an amateur.”

“Compared to you, I must be,” Susan muttered. She took a drag, exhaled, and groaned. “My head.”

“Take a few aspirin. You'll be fine.”

“Oh, I took something stronger than that,” Susan said, her head in her hands. “Just give it a few minutes to kick in.” Kathryn laughed and leaned back, enjoying the warm sun on her face.

“Hey.” Susan paused. Kathryn turned to look at her. “I'm . . .uh . . . sorry about last night.”

“Sorry about what?” Kathryn knew what Susan meant, but she wanted her to say it.

“About the car thing.” Kathryn said nothing, so Susan continued. “The . . . uh . . . kiss.”

Kathryn smiled slowly. She remembered the sweet taste of Susan's lip gloss and the fruity smell of her hair. “No need to apologize.” She winked at Susan. “I liked it.”

Susan's jaw fell open. Kathryn enjoyed the look of shock on her face, so she simply took another sip of coffee and said nothing. After a few seconds, Susan regained her composure. She took a final drag from her cigarette and crushed it out in the ashtray sitting on the table, glancing at Kathryn before taking another sip and saying, “Well, maybe I'll have to do it again sometime.”

“Well, maybe you should.” The sound of leaves crunching ending their flirtation as Charge came out of the cabin toward them.

“So, the two of you finally return to the land of the living,” he joked as he pulled up a chair next to Kathryn.

“Barely,” Susan grumbled.

“Amateur.” Kathryn cocked her thumb over at Susan and then finished off the rest of the coffee. The dull ache was gone, and she felt like herself again.

Charge stretched his legs out. He was wearing shorts, and his caramel skin glistened in the sun. Kathryn's eyes wandered up and down his legs, watching as his muscles bulged against his smooth skin when he moved. She thought back to last night and a smile crossed her lips. Charge's voice interrupted her dirty thoughts.

“So, I just finished talking to Jonathan.”

“Yeah?” Susan asked. “About what?”

“About what we found out last night.”

“What did you find out last night?” Kathryn realized that Susan had begun to tell her, but they were interrupted.

“Plenty. First of all, did you notice that Candy's got an eye patch?”

Susan nodded. “Yeah. What happened?”

Charge shrugged. “She doesn't know. JT said that she's been telling people that she went to bed one night and woke up about a week later with a fucked up eye.”

“What?” Susan looked doubtful. “How the hell does that happen?”

Charge shrugged again. “I don't know. But she's not the only one. Willy's leg is messed up, and he doesn't remember doing anything to it. Charles has a big-ass scar down the side of his face that just showed up one day . . .”

“Hey, I saw that guy,” Kathryn interrupted.

“And even worse,” Charge leaned in close, “Malika's arm is missing.”

“Huh?” Kathryn frowned. “What do you mean, 'missing?'“

“Missing,” Charge repeated and karate-chopped his own arm at the shoulder. “Sliced clean off. She was in the parking garage at her job, the next thing she knows, it's several days later and that shit is gone. Like surgically removed. Bandaged stump and everything.”

Kathryn’s stomach did flip-flops. Susan's mouth was ajar. “What the hell is going on?”

Charge shook his head sadly. “No one knows. And there's more. Do you know Hazard?”

Susan thought for a moment. “Is he kinda short? Graying hair?”

“Yep, that's him. Anyway, one night he brought some dude with him. Nobody knew the guy, but he vouched for him.” Charge turned to Kathryn. “Hazard's been coming to the club for years. Everyone knows him. He's an empath. Not a particularly strong one, I think.” Charge shrugged. “But he's one of us, so whatever. So he introduces this guy around, who says that he's from New York. He seems to know some of our connections there, so it's all good.” Kathryn reached for another cigarette and lit it, completely engrossed in Charge's story. “So a few weeks go by, and one Saturday night everybody's hanging out. The place is packed. All of a sudden Maureen stands up and shouts, 'We're going to be raided! Everyone get out of here, now!'“ Charge saw the look on Kathryn's face and explained. “She predictive. She can see the future.”

“Cool.”

Charge continued. “So everyone runs out of there, almost causing a stampede. Mass chaos, the whole shit, but Maureen had given them enough warning. According to Nero, the 'cops' showed up about 10 minutes later talking about some kind of call about a fight that broke out, and they needed to search the club. Of course, Nero let them, but everyone was already gone. Here's the real fucked up thing.” Charge scooted forward in his chair. “It turns out that this guy that Hazard brought with him was really a human—a human
pretending
to be a deviant.”

“Hold on a second,” Kathryn interjected. “We're human, too.”

“No, we're not, babe.” Seriousness flashed in Charge's eyes. “We're different.”

“We're—” Kathryn began to refute him, but Susan jumped in.

“Shit. How did they find out this guy was a human?”

Charge continued his story, forcing Kathryn to silence her objection. “Pia happened to run into them together a few days after he brought the guy to the club. She wasn't at the club the night the guy showed up, but you know Pia, she can sniff out a suspicious character a mile away, and of course, knew instantly that the dude was human.” Susan nodded. Charge continued, “Anyway, she mentioned this guy to Don, and when she described him, he confirmed that Hazard brought him to the backroom. Don was there that night and saw him.”

“Damn,” was all that Susan said.

“And that's why Kathryn had to prove to Nero and Herc that she's a deviant. Everyone's on high alert.”

“Damn,” Susan repeated. “Roz got some of that, but not all of it. Are you sure that version is the truth?”

“Yep, first heard it from JT, who was there both nights. Found Don and got the info about Pia's encounter. Then went out and talked to Nero to confirm. It's all legit.”

“Shit.” Susan sat back and put her feet on her chair, drawing her legs close to her. “If Maureen hadn't of been there . . .” she let the rest of the sentence hang in the air.

Charge nodded. “I know.”

“But,” Kathryn had another question, “how do you know that this Hazard guy and his friend are responsible?”

“No one has seen or heard from him since that night.” Charge turned to Susan. “Romeo and Dizzy even went to his house, probably to kick his ass, but he wasn't there. No one was there. The house was empty. He's disappeared. Oh, and speaking of disappeared, all of the people Hazard's friend said he knew in New York have disappeared, too.”

Susan threw her legs back on the ground and leaned forward. “Wait. What? Who?”

“Whiz, Bogart.” Charge paused. “and Alex.”

Susan's eyes grew wide. “No,” she whispered.

“Yeah. No one has heard from them for weeks. And no one from New York is talking to anyone from LA and vice versa. Everyone feels like the other one set them up.” Both Charge and Susan fell silent. Kathryn wasn't sure if she understood everything, but she could tell that what had happened was serious. Charge finally broke the silence. “That's why Jonathan is sending me to New York.”

“Good. You should go,” Susan said quickly. “Find out what happened. Where they are. The last time we spoke, we fought. You have to find them.” Her lip trembled.

“I'm leaving tonight.”

“What?” Kathryn frowned. “Why are
you
going? Why can't someone else go? Why are you getting involved in this?”

“There's a lot of stuff you don't know about, babe. Number one, I know all the New York crew. I used to live out there. They trust me. They'll talk to me. Number two, if Jonathan tells me to go out there, I go.”