Twice as Hot (47 page)

“Anything
for you, my little tampon.”

Both
of them chuckled, and I saw Lexis force her attention to her hands, as if they
were the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. Tanner and Elaine really did
make a cute couple. I just hoped they found a way to touch each other. Surgery,
maybe. Or, ugh, hopefully another experiment wouldn’t be necessary.

“Desert
Gal,” Rome prompted, drawing my attention. “You were curious about what
happened to her.”

Oh,
yeah. “Dead?” There was a mixture of hope and dread in my voice.

He
shook his head. “Alive and in lockup. John’s going to do some tests, have
someone interrogate her, find out how she’s able to touch other people without
draining them and use the information he gains to help Elaine.”

“Good.
That’s good.” A part of me still pitied her, but I was glad her reign of terror
was over—and that she might do someone else some good. Even unwillingly.

Rome
squeezed my wrist. “You did good, Wonder Girl. You did real good. I’m proud of
you.”

My
chin trembled, the depth of my emotion seemingly endless. What a wonderfully
sweet thing to say. After all, I had hurt him, put myself in danger, two things
he would have ranted and raved about only a few weeks before. “I don’t think
the battle ended with Desert Gal, though. Dr. Roberts is her dad, you know? He
made her what she is, gave her those powers. He experiments on people without
their permission.”

“Yes.”
Our gazes were locked and for a little while, only a little while, the rest of
the world faded away. “Once I thought he was fine out there,” Rome added, “roaming
around. I thought it was better to keep such a mastermind out of the wrong
hands. Any hands, really. But he’s a danger.”

“What
if he’s experimenting on an innocent right now?”

“Any
idea where he is?”

“One.
The one Candace gave us.”

My
stomach twisted, because I knew what he meant. The lead was me. PSI thought
Roberts would come after me, try to find out why his formula had worked on me
and no one else.

“I
won’t let anything happen to you,” Rome said. “You know that, I hope.”

Would
he feel the same way after my three dates with Jean-Luc? “I want to learn
self-defense. And dirty street-fighting.”

He
nodded, a proud glint filling his eyes. Proud of me? Again? “Soon as the doctor
signs your release, we’ll head to the gym.”

I
shivered—in anticipation this time—because I suspected there would be some
heavy petting involved. However much our future relationship remained up in the
air, we were attracted to each other and when we were in close proximity,
alone, wrestling, hands were going to roam, legs were going to intertwine.

“First,”
I said, “we need to talk.” Much as I craved him, there had to be some ground
rules.

“I’ve
been dreading this,” he said, and there was indeed a grim note to his voice.
“You don’t think we should be together. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have agreed to
date that fucking Memory Man. Something you are
not
going to do.”

I
didn’t want to do it, but I wouldn’t tolerate being bossed around like that,
either. “This whole memory loss thing made me realize a few things, that’s all,
and we need to hash them out. And yes, I’m going to date him as promised. I
told you, I will not go back on my word. But speaking of Jean-Luc, where is he?
If you placed him in lockup again, I swear to God I’ll roast you alive.”

“You
already do,” he muttered, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. “And yes, you
will go back on your word. Because if he touches you, I’ll kill him, and you
don’t want his death on your hands. You’re mine. Now tell me what you
realized.”

On
my
hands? Ha! And he still considered me his, even though I was
“different”? “You didn’t think I was yours a few days ago. You thought Lexis
was. Do you know how badly that hurt?”

“I’ll
kiss it and make it better,” he said huskily.

Oh,
God, did I want him to try. I had to cut back a moan of desire. “Our wedding
has already gone up in flames, Rome. I don’t have a dress, a church or a
caterer. And as we originally planned to marry in a few weeks, I don’t think I
can get everything together in time, anyway. Not that we’ve decided to still
get married.”

“We’re
still getting married.” A hard, harsh statement he obviously saw as fact.

I
ignored him. It was either that or throw myself in his arms and just forget the
concerns I had. As I sat there in silence, I could feel several gazes boring
into me. One belonged to Lexis, and I didn’t want her hearing all of my
problems. Though given how close her bed was to mine, I suspected she had
already heard quite a few. “Let’s save this conversation for another time. When
we’re alone.”

“No.
What are your concerns? I need to hear them.”

Fine.
Witnesses be damned. Sherridan and Tanner would only ask me for details later,
anyway. “You don’t see me as an agent. You see me as a liability.”

“That’s
not true.”

“It
is. You planned to take me and Sunny and hide us away. Don’t try to deny it.”

His
eyes narrowed. “I won’t. I thought about it for about a minute and then
realized it would be wrong. And look, I stepped back, didn’t try to stop you
from fighting Candace. Even
encouraged
you to fight with her.”

True.
“Okay, you
used
to see me as a liability and I think maybe you liked me
that way. You were my protector, and I let that define our relationship. But
I’m different now. You said so yourself.”

He
nodded. There was no use denying it.

“I’m
going to be an agent, not just play at it. I’m going to take cases, travel,
fight. I’m going to do this because it needs to be done and I want the people I
love to be safe. I would love to work with you, but I won’t allow you to be my
guard dog. Or cat. Guard cat. You’ll have to treat me like any other agent. Is
that something you can handle?”

That
muscle began ticking in his jaw again. He didn’t answer.

“Also,
I’ve said it before but it needs reiterating. I am going to date Jean-Luc.
Three dates, as promised. Otherwise, I’m a liar and that’s not something I want
to be. Is
that
something you can handle?”

Silence.

Heavy,
gut-wrenching silence. My gaze landed on Lexis, and there were tears in her
eyes. She nodded at me. Telling me this was going to be okay?

“Go
on the dates,” Rome finally said, his expression hard as granite. “Just know
that I’ll be there the entire time. Go to eat, I’ll be at the restaurant,
sitting at the table next to yours. Go to the movies, and I’ll be right behind
you, breathing down your neck. But I will not ever treat you like any other
agent. You’re special to me. I’ll be concerned about you, I can’t help that.
I’ll want to protect you. Always. Can
you
handle that?”

“I—”

Didn’t
have time to answer. “No. Don’t say another word. We’re done for right now.” He
pushed to his feet, scooting the chair away. He strode from the room and never
looked back.

Two
Days Later

“Concentrate
, belle !”

“I
am!
Rome.
”

We
were on opposite ends of a blue mat, sweat pouring from both of us. While I
probably resembled a drowned house cat with severe breathing problems, Rome had
never looked better. His shirt was off—of course—and his skin sun-kissed, roped
perfection that glistened sexily.

He
arched a brow. “I’ve tossed you on your ass over fifteen times.”

“And
I’ve nailed you with a dirt ball once and an ice ball twice.” Of course, he’d
dodged all three so quickly they’d only nicked his arm—which had affected only
his arm, damn it, rather than consuming his entire body.

Before
meeting me here, he’d soaked himself in a clear, experimental chemical that
slowed the progression of the elements. Apparently John had been working on it
for a while. Since learning about me, actually. Just in case I turned on him, I
suspected. Or maybe in case others like me were made. I only hoped bad guys
didn’t get hold of the stuff. Anyway, the ice had melted in minutes and the
dirt had smoothed away, all while Rome had subdued me with his
other
arm.

Arf.
Arf.

Grrrrr.

The
barking and growling drew my attention, and I foolishly glanced away from Rome.
Merciless man that he was, he was in front of me in seconds, knocking my ankles
together and sending me flying to my ass. Again.

He
loomed over me, eyes narrowed in disappointment. “Don’t look away from your
opponent. Ever. You know better. And letting those two mutts break your
concentration? You should be ashamed.”

“Thanks
for the tip,” I muttered, staying put and trying to catch my breath. We’d been
at this for hours, and my muscles weren’t used to the strain. “But if you ever
call them mutts again, I will neuter you.”

My
babies didn’t like my man and vice versa.

The
night before, my first night home from the hospital, Rome had snuck into my
house. Okay, I’d let him in. I hadn’t been able to help myself. Though I’d
sworn we wouldn’t until we’d talked things out, we’d ended up making love. It
had been desperate sex, life-altering, earth-shattering sex. The kind that
affected you soul-deep.

Next
morning, when I woke up, Rome had already left—no talkie-talkie for us, just
hanky-panky—so I’d done what I’d promised: purchased not one but two vicious
dogs. Minus the vicious. Okay, I’d bought two puppies. English bulldogs.
Lovey—black and white, very rare—and Ginger—top half white, bottom half brown,
like pants. They looked like little teddy bears, and I hadn’t been able to
resist them.

Currently
my girls were nibbling on bones in the corner of the gym, oblivious to the
world around them. Jean-Luc was watching them for me. I hadn’t been able to
leave them home alone, and he was doing his best to romance me. Which
apparently meant sticking to me like glue and doing whatever I asked. That
didn’t bother me. After all, that had been my plan with Rome. Great minds and
all that.

He
was staying at a nearby hotel until he could find a permanent place—after his
hard work on the Desert Gal case, John had hired him and he’d accepted—and had
been waiting for me here at headquarters. He didn’t like me rubbing up against
Rome, though. I’d heard him mutter a protest more than once, but he didn’t try
to stop the lessons. That surprised me. I’d already confessed about my recent
nocturnal activities with Rome. Though there were no promises between me and
Jean-Luc outside our three dates, he’d looked so hurt I’d wanted to die.

Since
returning Rome’s memories, he’d been nothing but sweet to me, nothing but
helpful. The least I could do was stay away from Rome sex-wise until our three
dates were over. Besides, by then I would—should—know if Rome and I could go
the distance as a couple. If he would love me, despite anything. Despite
everything.

I
think that’s what I was most worried about. That he wouldn’t love me, wouldn’t
respect me, when all was said and done.

Men!
I was between a rock—Jean-Luc—and a very hard place—Rome.

“Up,”
Rome commanded. “You’re wasting time.”

“Well,
you’re consuming my personal space.” I lumbered to my feet, facing him on my
tiptoes so that we were nose-to-nose.

At
least he didn’t attack me again. Or kiss me. Would I be able to resist? Even
though I’d brushed my teeth, had coffee, two bottles of water and a bagel, I
still had his decadent taste in my mouth. Still heard his groans of pleasure in
my ears. Still felt his hands kneading my breasts, rubbing between my legs.

“You’re
panting,” he said huskily. His eyes lowered, lingered on my breasts, my
hardened nipples.

Every
part of me, every organ, every cell begged me to lean the rest of the way into
him. Miracle of miracles, I stepped backward. “Self-defense. Important.
Lifesaving. Dr. Roberts is out there and needs to be stopped. Jean-Luc. The
dates. Our future, up in the air.” All the reasons we had to stay away from
each other right now.

His
expression became shuttered. “You’re taking too long to summon the elements.
Time an opponent can use to slice your throat or inject you with a night-night
cocktail. And you can’t rely on typical defensive moves because you won’t be
fighting typical criminals. You’ll be fighting scrims, so the outcome will
depend on who has the most power. You. Or them. What’s more, I thought we were
doing this because
you
thought you didn’t need your emotions anymore.”

I
kicked at the air with the tip of my tennie. “You’re right.” Last night I’d
told him about summoning the ice that had stopped Desert Gal without the use of
my emotions. “But I can’t do it again. I’ve tried. Only my emotions are calling
the elements and I can’t switch them off with a snap.”