Unawakened (3 page)

Sometimes, I even used his abilities against him. Maybe I had a hard time resisting him, but it was a two-way street, and as often as he turned the tables on me, I turned them back on him. While I remained a simple, plain unawakened human, I had some power over Rob, and I made certain he knew it.

It was the only way to survive in a world filled with monsters who viewed me as a food source. Lifting my chin, I swallowed several times before saying, “I went to see Kenneth.”

Rob tensed, and his eyes widened before narrowing. “I hadn’t meant for you to go alone.”

It wasn’t an accusation; Rob’s tone deepened when he was truly angry.

Before I had met him, failure for me had been equal to a death sentence. Things had changed, and while the words stuck in my throat and bitterness at my stupidity washed through me, I had the courage to say, “I shouldn’t have.”

“Lesson learned.” With Rob’s two words, the matter was resolved—if I let the subject die. I wanted to, but of all the people and dae in the world, only Rob and Colby understood me.

My fear of getting hooked on drugs again made me shake. After a lifetime of hiding the truth from everyone, being open and honest hurt. Until I knew what the drug did, I needed his help.

“Something’s still bothering you.”

His statement was an invitation, one I could ignore or accept without consequence. That, too, had been something I had learned while my head and ribs healed from my haphazard collision with the side of a skyscraper.

“Kenneth and his dae drugged me.” My words emerged as a wavering whisper, and my shaking intensified. Every single fear from years of fighting my addictions resurrected and hammered away at me.

I didn’t want the pleasuring tingle of my clothes brushing against my skin to feel so good, but even standing still, I couldn’t avoid it.

Rob was off the couch and in front of me in the time it took me to draw one shaky breath. He cupped my face in his hands, and the warmth of his touch partnered with the sensitivity of my skin made me tremble. “What did he drug you with?”

The rumble of his words in his chest betrayed his fury and reassured me of Rob’s innocence.

My concentration scattered at the way he brushed his fingers over my cheeks, his hands sliding down my throat to check my pulse. My heart raced, both from my fear of what Kenneth’s drug was doing to me and the sensation of Rob’s bare skin on mine.

With Rob, I didn’t have to worry about my allergies. All I had to do was enjoy the warmth of his touch. I closed my eyes, struggling to catch my breath.

“Alexa? What did he drug you with?”

When I didn’t answer, Rob slipped an arm behind my back and propelled me in the direction of the couch. I sagged onto it, and the soft, worn cushions caressed me through my clothes.

“Alexa!”

I didn’t want to talk; I wanted to bask in the pleasure of the high, and I squirmed where I sat, my breath coming fast and shallow. The heat of desire spread through me, and a new fear grew.

If Kenneth Smith came to pay me a visit with the drug still in my system, I doubted I’d say no to him no matter how much I loathed the idea of sleeping with him. I craved the sensuality of touch and the euphoria Rob never failed to give me.

I’d be no different from the girls in Terry Moore’s videos, and after killing Lily, I had no doubt the outcome would be the same. I had taken Kenneth’s prized bitch away from him, leaving her cold body on his doorstep.

“Talk to me, Alexa,” Rob demanded, and the anger in his tone dragged me out of my thoughts.

My voice wavered when I said, “Terry Moore’s drugs. The red one. Said he didn’t know what it did, that I should find out for him.” A fear-born shiver raced through me. “Said he might come before it wore off. Twelve hours. I killed his favorite.”

“I’m going to do far more than just kill him,” Rob snarled. Drawing a deep breath, he let it out in a long, slow exhale. “Colby!”

My macaroni and cheese roommate oozed its way out of our bedroom and mumbled, “Mommy?”

“Remember what we talked about last week?”

My cheesy roommate spent a great deal of its time in a comatose stupor as a result of gorging on apples, but Rob’s question spurred it back to life. “Mommy,” it snarled, hopping once in place.

“I’ll take care of her. You go handle that business. We’ll make plans once you’re back.”

Colby left. It never failed to amaze me how it managed to open and close the door without hands.

Slumping beside me, Rob sighed and flexed his hands. “Okay. Let’s take it from the top. What happened?”

As long as I sat still and Rob didn’t touch me, I could focus my thoughts. I closed my eyes, fighting the temptation to trail my fingers on Rob’s skin to discover if touching him felt as good as him touching me did. I told him about my dawn excursion to visit Kenneth Smith and the little he had told me before his dae had jabbed me with the needle.

The hardest part was admitting what the drug was doing to me. I lacked the courage to confess how badly I wanted Rob to cover me with his body.

Then again, I probably didn’t need to tell him. Thanks to what he was, he always knew. I found comfort in the fact he wanted me and wouldn’t take what he desired without my invitation.

The drug did far more than make me sensitive to touch. It made me want the pleasure of skin on skin, and the longer I fought against it, the more painful it became. It began as a burn in my bones, one only the brush of clothes or touching something alleviated, although the relief from the discomfort didn’t last long.

After more than an hour, I had no doubt Kenneth knew exactly what the drug would do to me and that he intended to take advantage of it. If Rob hadn’t returned home and Kenneth had come to my apartment, I would have given him exactly what he wanted just to escape the drug’s relentless discomfort.

“Damn it,” Rob hissed, pacing around my apartment like a caged beast seeking a way out of its prison. “Having a counter for that wretched drug on hand was one of the few things I hadn’t thought I’d need. I’m sorry, Alexa. I should have known better.”

The apology distracted me from the burning ache enough for me to watch him fidget. “I was stupid. I shouldn’t have gone alone.”

“Now that you recognize your mistake, don’t do it again. I don’t blame you. You’re frustratingly independent, and I should have known better than to leave you alone with Colby for so long. I had business I had to attend to.”

“My stupid fault for trusting Smith,” I countered, shaking my head.

“This explains the videos far more than I like,” Rob admitted, balling his hands into fists before he forced his fingers to relax. “If this drug spreads to the general population, rapes will skyrocket, and the victims probably won’t even believe they were raped.”

“They’ll like it,” I agreed, shuddering. I was liking it, which terrified me most of all. At the rate I was going, if I didn’t find real relief soon, I’d be desperate enough to accept anything from anyone. “They’ll want more.”

I already did. The years hadn’t separated me far enough from the bone-deep cravings of having the next hit, one even better than the last. It took all of my willpower to stay seated and still, fighting against my desire.

“Alexa.”

I made the mistake of turning my head, and my hair tickled against my throat. The featherlight touch sent a zap all the way down to my toes, and I sucked in a breath at the stimulation. “What if he comes here?” I whispered, terrified of what I would do, of what I’d say, and how I’d be powerless to resist.

Rob stared at me for a long moment, his eyes narrowed. He smiled, and I held my breath at the way he looked me over from head to toe. “I’ll keep you too busy for him to even have half a chance of catching your attention.” He pushed back the sleeve of his suit to check his watch. “Ten and a half hours, assuming his twelve hour estimate is correct. I can probably call in a favor and make sure Mr. Smith stays away for the duration. Alternatively, I can drive him away should he happen to interrupt us. Which would you prefer?”

Even without the drug influencing me, I would have been intrigued by Rob’s offer. Whenever he checked his watch with a leering smile, he had some new trick up his sleeve. Without fail, his tricks left us both satisfied.

If Kenneth drugged me so he could have me as he wanted, robbing him of his desires would make my time with Rob all the sweeter.

“And if we’re interrupted?” I asked, matching him stare for stare.

“I’ll make sure I take a picture of his expression for you to enjoy for years to come.”

I could live with that, and I told him so. His smile turned sensual, and he stalked towards me, leaving me with no doubt of his intention and desire.

I welcomed him with open arms and a smile of my own.

The interruption I feared came at midday, and I flinched at the knock on my door. Rob grumbled, rolled away from me, and paused long enough to kiss me.

“I won’t be long,” he promised, and with his most playful smirk on his lips, he headed for the door, grabbing his bathrobe on the way.

I used the time to catch my breath, wiggling my way under the blanket. Rob hadn’t changed much about my apartment since he had invaded several months ago, but the soft blanket was a welcomed addition.

With the drug still coursing through me, its plush texture was divine. I heard the murmur of voices in the other room, and Rob’s deepened with his annoyance. While Rob undoubtedly wanted to put an end to Kenneth sooner rather than later, we couldn’t kill my boss, not yet. First, we had to ruin him and make him so despised by the other elite they wouldn’t care if he disappeared or was found floating in the river.

I stretched, making a pleased noise in my throat at the way the fabric caressed me. The drug’s intensity had waned enough I was no longer completely at its mercy and slave to the faintest stimulation.

Without the burning ache and desire for pleasure driving me, a pleasant numbness settled over me, keeping me relaxed despite my awareness Rob was in the other room with Kenneth and possibly his dae, too.

I should have been afraid and worried.

The door in the main room slammed, and Rob laughed before strutting his way back into the bedroom. He held his slender cell phone in his hand. “I come bearing a gift of photographs, my dearest Alexa.”

He dropped the bathrobe to the floor and slithered into bed, sliding his hand over the curves of my leg. While the blanket separated us, the rub of the plush fabric and the pressure of his touch conspired to steal my breath. After sliding under the blanket beside me, he presented his phone, and I grabbed it, conscious of the way his body pressed to mine.

Both Kenneth and his dae were featured in the photograph, and both of them had dressed in fine suits. Fury lit Jacob’s eyes a fire red, and Kenneth’s frown promised someone’s death. “Those are two very unhappy men,” I commented. There were only three images, but Rob had managed to capture Kenneth’s rage perfectly.

“I think it’s safe to say Mr. Smith’s attention is now focused on me, since I have what he wants. Now that I have a better idea of how far he’ll go to have his way, I think I’ll be better prepared to deal with him. They won’t be back today, not if they value their lives. That leaves us with the rest of the afternoon. Colby probably won’t be back until after dark.”

“What is Colby doing, anyway?”

“A little bit of this and a little bit of that,” Rob evaded, pressing a finger to my lips. “I have a plan. If you don’t know the details, no one can try to force it out of you.”

“I want to help.”

“Conveniently, my plan involves you, although at a later stage. Humor me, Alexa. You’ll like what I have in mind, and I saved one of the best parts for you.”

“Fine, I’ll humor you, but only this once. I want to help.”

“I’ll need it when the time is right. I want to limit your exposure to Mr. Smith as much as possible, especially after this morning. Please make sure you take either me or Colby with you whenever you’re forced to see him. I don’t think he’ll give up without a fight.”

Rob was right, and I knew it. Instead of fighting a pointless battle, I nodded. “I should have known better.”

“Lesson learned. If he wasn’t in such high favor with so many elite right now, I’d get rid of him. Still, there are other issues we need to address, including Dean Lewis and Arthur Hasling. Lewis will be our biggest problem. Kenneth Smith is repulsive enough, but he has limits and plays by certain rules. If those videos we found are any indication, the dean doesn’t play by any rules, and proving his crimes will be difficult at best. He’s simply too far up the ladder to disgrace without a great deal of work.” Rob grunted and stretched out, draping his arm over his eyes.