Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(7)
Author: Gena Showalter

And if he takes the Desert Gall case, you can forget getting a chance at this new target. I don’t care what threats you issue, he’ll toss you in Chateau Villain."

Ugh. Chateau Villain. An underground prison where superpowers were neutralized in whatever way necessary.

Sadly, he was right. John put the interest of science – and understanding the scrims we fought – above all else.

I nodded as if Cody had convinced me to play by the rules. He hadn’t. I’d just be more careful with my words from now on, I thought as I once again turned back to Rome. Or rather, the window that allowed me to see him.

Desperation flooded me, more potent than ever before. I had to touch him, had to feel his skin against mine. To do so, I had to be able to keep myself under control. You can do it. I just needed a few cheerful thoughts. Like? I wondered with a bitter laugh.

Well, your dad is safe in his assisted-living center and dating several of the female residents.Excellent.

Rome is still alive. Even better. The storm inside me finally began to calm. My best friends are with me.

Oh, yeah. My best friends. They were still waiting.

"Will you give Tanner and Sherridan a progress report?" I asked. Not that there’d been any. Progress, that is.

"Sherridan is the rockin’ blonde?"

"Yes."

"I tried to talk to her before I found you. She just stared at me blankly, like I was invisible or something."

I waved a hand in dismissal. "She wasn’t doing it to be rude, I swear. She was just in her Happy Place."

"Uh, Happy Place? Can you be more specific? She have the power to transport her spirit or something?"

Of course he’d think that. He’d worked for PSI a lot longer than I had, and had seen countless different abilities. I’d have to choose my descriptions more carefully. "She had lousy parents and learned to retreat into her head when things got too rough. Lately, she practically lives there." Though I still didn’t know why, exactly.

I inhaled deeply, having lost some of my cheeriness with the direction of the conversation. Cheerful thoughts, cheerful thoughts. You can do it. Me, walking down the aisle. A grin lifted the corners of my lips. Good. Keep going. My dad, healthy enough to escort me. Rome, smiling at me from the altar and glowing with love.

The ice inside me melted, leaving a cold shell that gradually thawed. Deep breath in, out. No mist formed. Thank God. I waited several minutes, but still the cold did not return.

"I’m going back in the room," I said. I wrapped my arm around my middle and as I moved forward, my gaze snagged on Rome’s left hand, where a ring – a symbol of our union – would one day rest.

His fingers were twitching.

I stilled, gasped.

"What?" Cody asked.

"He moved!" Eyes widening, I raced around Cody and into the hospital room. I shoved a nurse out of my way and barreled in front of Lexis. She snapped a curse as she stumbled backward.

After righting herself, she quickly made her way to my side. "You’re too dangerous to be around him.

Get out!"

"His hand moved," I said, the excitement in my voice ringing like a bell.

"What?" She grabbed his hand and lifted his fingers into the light.

"He really moved! I saw it." I tugged his hand from her grip. He was mine, and I didn’t share. But as I held him, time ticking away, the muscles remained relaxed. I tried not to weep with disappointment.

So clearly I remembered the morning he’d left for this last mission. A morning I’d taken for granted, thinking countless more like it were on the way. We’d been in bed, naked, sweating from a wild pleasure-fest.

"I don’t want to leave you," he’d said. His fingers had traced the ridges of my spine.

"I don’t want you to leave me, either. Maybe I’ll hold you prisoner." He’d chuckled. "God, I love you. I’m even addicted to you. Get twitchy without you."

"Good, ’cause I tend to get homicidal without you."

Another chuckle. "Too bad that happens while I’m gone. You know I love to exhaust you into calmness.

For world safety, and all that, because I’m such a giver."

"Well, I feel a hot rush of fury suddenly sweeping through me…"

"Do you, now? Let’s see what I can do about that." He’d kissed me then, a hot, breath-stealing kiss that had rocked me to my soul.

"Come back to me, baby," I whispered now. "I need you."

His fingers twitched.

I uttered another of those shocked but happy gasps. "Rome?" His eyelids began to flicker open.

"I think…I think he’s waking up," Lexis said excitedly.

My heart nearly burst from my chest when his eyelids finally remained open. Thank God. Thank God, thank God, thank God. Rome really was awake. He was going to be okay. I twined our fingers so we were holding hands like we did every night after making love. His skin was callused and hot, so amazingly hot. So wonderfully familiar.

I breathed deeply, taking in his warmth, his deliciously feral scent. My heart kicked back into gear and fluttered wildly. I was so energized – and had been so upset – I could feel a wind swirling inside my head, a blend of the negative and positive. Maybe that wind blustered even outside my body, since my hair was dancing around my shoulders. I didn’t care, though. One of my tornados could gust through the room, and I wouldn’t have budged from Rome’s side.

I wanted to be the first person he noticed, truly noticed. In my mind, I could already visualize him smiling warmly, love and lust gleaming at me.

Then, finally, blessedly, his eyes lost their glaze of sleep, gradually becoming alert. He glanced around the room and frowned in confusion.

"Hey, Cat Man," I said softly. "You were out in the field and got hurt, but you’re going to be fine.

You’re back with PSI now." You’re back with me. "You’re safe." His gaze locked on me. His frown deepened and his brow furrowed. "Who are you?"

Chapter Three

"Okay , what the hellis going on?" I shouted, trying to tamp down the flames already leaping inside me.

"Keep your voice down," John, my boss, said, shaking his head in exasperation.

"Your walls are soundproof so there’s no need for quiet." We were inside his office at PSI headquarters, Lexis, Cody and Tanner with us. Everyone was seated. Except me. I was pounding from one wall to another, too agitated to stay still. "If I don’t get some answers, I’ll do more than shout!" And they all knew it was true.

So far, I’d managed to keep a tight leash on my super-reactions. Maybe because I was numb. A numbness that was due to shattering disbelief. I was a freaking stranger to my own fiance.