Twice as Hot (46 page)

Tanner
stepped into my dimming line of sight, his features concerned. I think he would
have come to me, but Elaine crumpled beside him, as used up as I was. He
turned, bent down and scooped her up.

All
the women were out for the count. Made sense. We’d done the most work. But had
we won the battle only to lose ourselves?

“Belle,”
I heard Rome shout, sounding like he was in an underwater tunnel located in
another state. Where the hell was he? Didn’t matter, I supposed. He’d get me to
safety.

It
was the last thought I knew before darkness claimed me.

I
awoke with my heart
drumming and my body sweating.

First
thing I noticed was the beeping.
Beep, beep, beep.
The high-pitched
noises came from every direction, a discordant symphony. One was fast, one
slow, one in-between. One was a quick
thump thump
before a lengthy pause
and another
thump thump.

Confusion
was a thick web inside my brain.

Through
slitted eyelids and a fan of lashes, I saw that a light glowed overhead, dimmed
but still too bright for my sensitive corneas. When I turned my head, I could
see colored pinpricks shining off…monitors? Heart monitors, then. The beeping
suddenly made sense. Except, why was I hearing it?

Brow
furrowing, I scanned the rest of my surroundings. A hospital room, by the looks
of it. Gurneys, a nurse padding through and reading charts. Electrodes dotted
my chest, and a paper-thin blue gown I remembered very well gaped over them. We
must be back in Georgia. PSI headquarters.

Sherridan
lay in the bed to my left, Lexis in the bed to my right. Elaine was in a bed
across from us. All four of us were hooked to an IV and all the others were
awake, eating. Groggy, I sat up—hello, dizziness—and scrubbed the sleep from my
eyes. My IV tube caught on the bed rail, pulling the skin of my forearm. I
winced, inhaling deeply and catching the scent of cleaners, medicine and…Rome?

I
inhaled again, savoring the scent. Sure enough. Wild, earthy.

Rome
had recently been beside my bed.

When
had he left?
Why
had he left? I guess I could ask him next time I saw
him. But I hated waiting.

“Hey,”
I said, drawing everyone’s attention. “How are the others doing? Rome, Tanner,
Jean-Luc, Cody and the Shadow Boys?”

“They’re
good,” Elaine said. “Promise.”

Sherridan
grinned at me and waved. God, she looked good. There was a flush to her cheeks
that bespoke health and vitality. Her hair was clean and brushed, the blond
curls shining. There was a cut on her lip and a bruise on her cheek, but those
would fade. She was alive. Nothing else mattered.

“How
are you?” I asked her.

She
opened her mouth to speak, but closed it with a snap. Her smile slowly faded.

“What’s
wrong?” I asked.

She
pointed to her mouth and shook her head.

“You
lost your voice?”

She
shook her head again. The vivid blue of her eyes dimmed, a sad, almost haunting
edge creeping into them.

“She
can’t talk to you unless you have special filters in your ears.” Rome’s voice
echoed through the room, nearly electrifying me.

Both
Lexis and I jumped, I noticed. For different reasons? I wanted to watch her, to
see if I could judge whether she realized he’d gotten his memories back, but I
didn’t. My gaze sought Rome of its own accord, drawn to him by an invisible
tether. Breath caught in my throat, burning.

He
was as beautiful as ever. Tall, muscled, dressed in black. His unkempt hair shagged
around his face, so damp it dripped onto his temples. His cheekbones were a
little sharper, as if he’d lost weight, and fine stress lines branched from his
eyes.

“Rome,”
Lexis said.

He
ignored her. In fact, a muscle ticked in his jaw, the only reaction that he’d
even heard her. So. He was mad at her. Mad about what she’d done, how she’d
lied, manipulated and used him to try to win him back. I’d tried to warn her it
would happen.

“How
are you?” he asked me.

“Better.”
I pinned him with a stare, crossing my arms over my chest to hide my hardening
nipples. Now that the danger was over, now that my friends were safe, now that
his memories were returned, my body was reacting as it always had when he
neared. Like I was a live wire attached to a generator. Only now? Ha! But
still, not good in a room full of people.

“I’m
glad. I was worried about you.”

Sweet
man. “What were you saying about Sherridan?”

“You
mean Siren? That’s her new paranormal name. Because she now has a superpower,”
Rome explained, stepping into the room. He didn’t stop until he was beside my
bed. There was a chair there, and he eased into it, leaning back and stretching
out his legs.

Siren?
The smell of soap wafted from him, distracting me. I was willing to bet he’d
left me only long enough to shower. I smiled. My dear, sweet man.
Who once
dated Desert Dirtbag and never told me.
My smile disappeared.

Rome
reached out, twined our fingers. I was stiff, but didn’t pull away. “What?”

“Nothing.”
Everything. My upcoming dates with Jean-Luc were approaching. Could Rome and I
make it?

The
question slammed through me—when would it leave me? Of course we’d make it, I
told myself. We’d made it through his memory loss. And yet, he hadn’t even
hinted about whether or not he could see himself with me forever, now that I
was putting the agency first.

I
dragged my thoughts back to the matter at hand. “I still don’t understand.” I
looked over at Sherridan, who had tears in her eyes. “Whatever it is, we’ll
make it better,” I vowed.

Rome’s
fingers squeezed mine. “Candace had her scientists mess with Sherridan’s voice.
Now, when she speaks, anyone who hears her will fall under her spell. Male and
female alike. They’ll be her slave, do anything she asks.”

Oh,
Sherridan. Poor Sherridan. She’d wanted a superpower, but hadn’t thought about
the consequences. And there were always consequences. I’d come to realize that
bad always balanced good and good always balanced bad. Otherwise, the world
would swing too far to one side.

“What
about Lexis?”

Something
in his eyes hardened and he answered before Lexis could. “They didn’t mess with
her. She already had a power.”

As
he spoke, I tried to throw my legs over the side of the bed. I wanted to wrap
Sherridan in my arms. But Rome had anticipated such a move from me. He released
my hand and locked onto my ankles, tossing them back onto the bed with a flick
of his wrists.

“Don’t
even,” he said.

Fine.
I wasn’t sure I could walk, anyway. “Someone tell me how Desert Witch planned
to use a spell-binding voice against me.” And I knew it had been for my
benefit. Why else take my friend? “Sherridan would have commanded her to go to
hell, and that would have entranced
her.
”

Rome
was shaking his head. “The only way to not fall victim to Sherridan’s voice is
by having special filters surgically added to your ears. Filters Candace has.
She wanted Sherridan to call you before her procedure to worry you, then after
it was done so that you were guaranteed to answer and assuage your fears. But
Sherridan wouldn’t do the latter, even upon threat of death.”

Candace,
was it? Ugh. “Surely Sherridan’s voice wouldn’t affect
me.
Surely—”

“I
guess we have to prove it. Lexis and I had filters implanted when we went
through all our enhancements, and Tanner got his this morning, so you and
Elaine are the only ones in the room without them. Brace yourselves. Show her,
Sherridan.”

“I’m
so sorry, Belle,” she said on a sob, and her voice was heaven. Absolute, utter
heaven.

I
shivered, my gaze drawn to her, my body leaning toward her. No, not leaning. I
was trying to stand again, had to reach her. Touch her. She was so beautiful,
and if I could just trace my finger over her skin, I knew I would be
transported to the paradise I heard in her voice. It would be better than
Rome’s kiss.

Hooked
as I was to the IV, I couldn’t move fast enough, couldn’t move close enough.
But I tried, oh, I tried. Until a hard restraining hand pushed me back on the
bed and held me down.

“What
are you doing?” I batted at the offending restraint. “Let me go. Sherridan, I
need you. I love you.”

A
heavy weight descended, pinning me down. I fought and bucked and bit and
scratched, all to no avail.

“Let
me up, damn it!”

“Belle.
Stop.”

My
struggles increased. If I could just reach Sherridan…hold her, kiss her
perhaps. She was everything I’d ever wanted. Everything I needed.
Sherridan.
Even the name made me shiver.

Warm
lips pressed into my ear. “Calm down, baby. I’m here. Rome’s here. I’ve got
you. Concentrate on my voice. Do you hear me? Your body feels so good pressed
against mine. Lush and sweet.”

Rome’s
husky tone penetrated the love-lust haze thing I had going. I stilled, tendrils
of horror sneaking up on me. I was panting, sweating, but my head was clearing.
“Oh, God.”

Slowly
Rome’s delicious weight lifted off me. I remained in place, though I wanted to
latch onto him and take comfort.

“See,”
he said, settling back in the chair.

I
shared a watery smile with Sherridan. “It’ll be okay,” I told her. And then I
looked away, because her sadness was more than I could bear.

My
gaze landed on the other “happy” couple in the room. Tanner must have entered
while I’d been trying to score with Sherridan. He’d been forced to hold Elaine
down just as Rome had held me. Thankfully, she was covered in another full-body
stocking, preventing them from any skin-to-skin contact.

“Look
on the bright side, Sher,” Tanner said with a grin. “You’ve finally got a shot
with Jessica Alba.”

Rome
reached up and traced a finger over my arm. “Now you see how powerful
Sherridan’s voice is. Candace planned to use her as bait. Draw you to her. She
would have found a way to make Sherridan cave, like threatening to kill Lexis
in front of her. That was the disaster Cody was hoping to avoid. He couldn’t
call us because Candace was paranoid and wouldn’t let him out of her sight. She
had him monitored 24/7.”

Goose
bumps broke out over my skin. His touch…so warm, so gentle. “I want filters,” I
said. No way I’d make my best friend remain silent in my presence for the rest
of her life.

“I’m
sure that can be arranged,” Rome said.

Sherridan
waved in a bid to gain my attention. When our gazes met, she mouthed,
I’m
sorry.

“It
happens to the best of us,” I said. I held out my arms. “Look at me.”

A
quiet, whispery bark of a laugh escaped her. But it was enough to make my heart
pound and my skin tingle. Sweet Jesus, she was beautiful. Enough to—
Get
hold of yourself, Belle.

“Knock,
knock,” Cody said. “Can I come in?”

Immediately
Sherridan rolled to her side, facing me but giving Cody her back. Cody watched
her, his hands fisting at his sides. There was a gleam of murder in his eyes,
not that any other part of his expression betrayed it. His smile remained
firmly in place.

Something
had happened between them. I’d stake my life on it.

“Looks
like the gang’s all here,” I said. I was just happy John hadn’t arrived
demanding blood. With Reese jailed, he would have had to take it the
old-fashioned way, but still. I’d been through enough.

“The
nurse told me everyone was awake. I just wanted to check on you guys.” Though
he spoke to all of us, his gaze kept returning to Sherridan. I remembered the
way he’d held her when she’d exited her cage. Remembered how he’d caressed her
back and held on as though she were…necessary.

Sherridan
paled, opened her mouth to say something.

“We’re
good,” I rushed out, cutting her off. “Right?” I realized I’d asked about the
men, but never about my girls, even though they’d been right in front of me the
entire time. Or maybe because they had.

Lexis
gave a brief nod, and Elaine said, “Better than ever.”

They
did look good, as healthy as Sherridan.

“What
happened to Desert Slut?” I asked. “Other than the fact that she likes to sleep
with agents.”

“Cody
slept with her? Go, Cody!” Tanner laughed.

“I’m
not talking about Cody.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “But anyway, you don’t
get to talk. You came in here and ignored me, didn’t hug me or even ask how I
was doing.”

He
flipped me off behind his back, and I was the one to laugh. That was my sweet
Tanner, back to his old self completely.

“Be
nice,” Elaine told him.