Seven Psychics Read online

  Stripping my jacket off, he dropped it to the floor. I wore one of my usual white tank tops and it suddenly didn’t feel like it was enough clothing. He pulled my shirt out of my jeans and slowly slid it upwards. His knuckles grazed my skin lightly, leaving a trail of heat behind as they worked their way up my stomach and between my breasts. I lifted my arms up and he pulled the tank top over my head and dropped it to the floor. His hands went to my hips and his eyes went from my face down to my feet and back up to the button on my jeans. He popped it open, slid the zipper down and his hands moved around to my lower back. His palms slowly slid inside my jeans and cupped my butt as he bent to kiss my neck. My hands were on his shoulders and my breathing was growing more ragged by the second.

  He knelt, trailing soft kisses down the middle of my body until his knees hit the ground. His hands worked my jeans down my legs with agonizing slowness. His teeth bit my stomach lightly. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt me, but I sucked in a breath anyway. There was something so erotic about Garrett being on his knees in front of me that my mind momentarily went blank.

  Rough and calloused from years of training, his hands slid down my legs all the way to my ankles, taking my jeans with them. He lifted my right foot first, then the left and my jeans were tossed into the small pile of clothing on the floor. Now dressed only in my underwear, my face instantly went red in embarrassment. I wanted to cover my plain white bra with my hands and run for the bathroom, but Reece’s expression stopped me. He was looking at me as if I was precious. He stood, running his hands lightly up the outside of my legs and stopped at my waist. He shifted his hands around to my back then both of his hands swooped down to my butt and lifted me. I instinctively wrapped my legs around him as he knelt in the middle of the bed.

  Garrett put me down and lay half on me, half on the mattress. Trapped by his weight, I almost panicked, but he kissed me, stealing my breath as well as my reason. My fear was swept away as wild excitement that I’d never felt before ran through me. I kissed him back with a passion that I didn’t know I was capable of feeling.

  His hands slipped behind my back, unhooked my bra and he stripped it off me. Before I had time to blush, he was sliding my undies down to my feet. I was now completely nude and he was still fully clothed. His expression was almost dazed as he ran his eyes from my face down my body and back up again, lingering on areas that no man had ever seen before. He stared at me as if I was more than merely precious now, but as if I was the most beautiful girl that he’d ever seen. Tears stung my eyes because I knew his emotions weren’t real. They were just a temporary fabrication that would fade as soon as the compulsion was gone.

  Without taking his eyes off mine, he undressed. I gazed at his body, marveling in his perfection. I was amazed that, even if it was only for a short time, he’d be mine. My gaze strayed to the one piece of male equipment that I’d never seen in real life before and my fright returned with a vengeance. This was my first time and he wasn’t exactly thinking straight. This was bound to be painful.

  As if sensing my fear, he kept his body apart from mine when he lay beside me again. Cupping my face with one hand, his other ran down my side to my hip and held me in place. He kissed me long enough for me to lose my breath again then he kissed his way down my throat to my chest. I gasped when his mouth closed over my breast.

  Heat instantly began to build as he used his mouth to torture me. My hands were on his shoulders and I was torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer. His knee slid between mine and he nudged my legs apart. Terrified of what was about to happen, I went rigid when he settled over me. We were chest to chest and groin to groin with no barriers between us. His body was hard and his skin was silken and soft in contrast. He was hot enough that I was worried he had a fever.

  He kissed me deeply and swept a hand down my side then back up again to my breast. His palm was rough against my skin and when he swept his hand down again, he didn’t stop until he reached the apex of my thighs. I let out a startled sound when he rubbed my most intimate place. After just a few seconds of friction, a pleasurable jolt went through me. His mouth was on my breast again and the combination of his hands and mouth on me brought an incoherent moan to my throat.

  When his finger stopped moving, I made a sound of protest. I’d been on the edge of what had felt like sublime ecstasy. Then I realized what he was about to do. I gasped when he was inside me, more from shock than from pain. Despite my fear, he was gentle rather than rough. It only hurt for a few moments, then he began to move and my fear was instantly forgotten. He didn’t feel too heavy now and I clutched his shoulders, trying to pull him in deeper with every stroke.

  A strange sensation began to build inside me along with the heat. The almost painful pleasure exploded into pure ecstasy when Garrett’s teeth sank into my left shoulder hard enough to draw blood. I shuddered helplessly in a fresh burst of pleasure as he increased his speed for a few more strokes then let out a sigh of contentment. Spent and unconscious, he slumped against me. He’d fulfilled Lust’s command and his body was now going into recovery mode.

  With his full weight on me, I could barely move. I stroked a hand down his back, hoping I’d be able to extricate myself before I suffocated. Reece stirred at my touch, which surprised me into freezing. Now that he’d fulfilled his directive, he should have remained unconscious for at least a couple of hours. Lifting his head, he looked down at me in puzzlement. Then his eyes cleared and he focused on my face. His gaze swept down to see my naked body beneath him. He rolled off me with an expression of abject horror. “What have I done?” he said in a broken whisper.

  Snatching his clothes up off the floor, he fled from my room. My tentative happiness shattered and I was dragged back to reality when I remembered why Garrett had come to me in the first place. There could be only one explanation. Lust had instructed him to find the person that he found the least attractive and to force himself to have sex with her. The conversation that I’d overheard between Kala and Flynn had new meaning now. They knew he didn’t want me and that I’d be his most likely target.

  Rolling off the bed, I dully examined the blood on my sheets. It was proof that I was no longer an innocent. Stunned by what had just happened, I stumbled into the shower to wash away all signs of my one and only intimate encounter with Agent Reece Garrett. The others would be back soon and I had to get rid of all of the evidence. No one could know what had happened in this room tonight. Garrett had probably fallen into a coma somewhere and he shouldn’t have any recollection of what had occurred between us. It was a miracle that he’d managed to flee from my room at all. I put it down to the tampering that had been done to his genes as a child.

  Drying myself off, I dressed, changed my sheets and tossed the old ones into the washing machine on the ground floor near the back exit. I mixed bleach in with the powder and hoped it would remove the stain. Returning to my room, I dried then brushed my hair, being careful to avoid my eyes in the mirror.

  My shoulder was still hurting and I shifted my t-shirt aside to take a look at the bite mark. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the one on my right shoulder, but the flesh was torn and bruised. I had a feeling it was going to leave a permanent scar.

  Sweat had gathered on my brow and I wiped it away with a towel. I felt slightly feverish and hoped I wasn’t coming down with something. I’d been under a lot of strain for the past month and it might have left my system vulnerable to catching a virus.

  Finally meeting my gaze in the mirror, I couldn’t pretend that I was the same person anymore. The girl that I’d been was gone forever and I was an adult now. Not because I’d had sex, I wasn’t naïve enough to think that getting naked with a guy had automatically turned me into a woman. While everyone else had forgotten what day it was, I hadn’t. “Happy eighteenth birthday, Lexi,” I said softly to my reflection then I put my hands over my face and began to cry.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Twenty

  I managed to regain my composure shortly b
efore the others were scheduled to arrive. Sinking onto the couch, I drank coffee that I didn’t actually want. It tasted funny, as if the milk had gone sour.

  The door to the main hallway opened and Mark stepped inside. He saw me sitting on the couch watching TV and smiled. It was strained and worried and didn’t quite reach his eyes. I waited for Flynn and Kala to appear behind him, but he came in alone. “Where are the others?” I asked.

  “We heard from Reece just before we left the city. They’ll all be staying in Denver for a few days,” he replied.

  His outright lie caught me by surprise, but I couldn’t exactly call him on it. I wasn’t about to confess that Reece had shown up shortly after Mark had warned me to run if I saw him. I was pretty sure he’d been joking when he’d made that suggestion. He knew what the consequences would have been if I’d managed to lock myself in my room. Garrett would have died and I’d have lived with the guilt that I could have saved him for the rest of my life.

  “Did you find her?” My breath almost caught as I asked the question. I’d never wanted anyone dead with such fervor before.

  He knew who I meant and shook his head. “She got away. Don’t worry, Alexis, we’ll track her down eventually.” His smile wasn’t as reassuring as normal and I woodenly turned back to the TV as he headed upstairs. From the corner of my eye, I watched him pace backwards and forwards in the coms room. He was worried and he was bad at hiding it. Reece was out there somewhere, unconscious and alone. I remembered Mark’s warning that there were wolves and mountain lions in the area. I was torn between telling him the truth and in hiding Garrett’s shameful secret. In the end, I couldn’t embarrass Reece that way. I was pretty sure he’d rather have his face chewed off by a wolverine than for his boss to know the depths that he’d been forced to sink to.

  Feeling decidedly unwell, I only picked at my dinner and went to bed early. Preoccupied with his own problems, Mark bade me goodnight and I dragged myself upstairs. I didn’t bother to take another shower, but merely changed into a singlet and sleeping shorts and climbed into bed.

  Strange dreams plagued me and were disturbing in their intensity. I dreamt that I was running through a forest, chasing something that I couldn’t quite see. The moon was high overhead, shining down with its beautiful yet terrible silver light. Stepping on a sharp rock, I cried out when I cut my foot.

  Snapping awake, I turned around in a dazed and frightened circle. My bedroom was gone and I stood in a clearing in a forest. My foot was throbbing where I’d cut it. On the verge of outright terror now, I saw a faint path that might have been made by deer. Hoping it led back to the compound, I hobbled along it as fast as I could. My arms were wrapped around my torso and I was shivering from the cool, late night air.

  Spying a thirty foot fence through the trees to the right, I was relieved to see that I was still in the compound. The trees closed around me as the path narrowed even more and I lost sight of the fence. An owl hooted from a nearby tree and I nearly screamed. A howl came from somewhere beyond the fence and I couldn’t bite back my shriek this time. I muffled the noise with my hand over my mouth, trying not to draw attention to myself. The howl was wild, savage and strangely mesmerizing. Only when my feet touched the grass did I realize that I’d stepped off the path and was limping towards the sound.

  “Get a grip,” I scolded myself. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I was alternating between feeling hot and cold as I returned to the path. Maybe my fever had caused me to sleepwalk. It was something I’d never done before and it was something I hoped I’d never do again.

  Breaking free of the trees, I saw the silhouette of the compound in the distance and hurried towards it. Praying that Mark wasn’t aware that I’d gone out for a midnight stroll, I placed my palm on the scanner and the door clicked open. The lights were bright enough to make me blink painfully as I snuck inside. My foot had stopped bleeding and I didn’t leave any tell-tale signs of my passage as I traversed the hallway. The pain in my foot had faded to the point where I didn’t have to limp by the time I reached the end of the corridor.

  The communications room was empty when I hauled myself to the top of the stairs. I crept past the first two doors and quietly entered my room. Locking the door, I leaned against it, breathing hard from prolonged terror. Now that I was back in the safety of the base, I began to shake in reaction.

  When I felt as if I could walk without falling over, I hopped into the shower and washed my filthy feet. I dried them off then sat on my bed to assess the damage. The cut that had hurt so much at first was now just a dull throb. The wound was too small to bother with a band aid. I dressed in fresh clothing and dragged myself back to bed, hoping I’d remain in my room this time.

  Sleeping in far later than usual, I only roused when Mark banged on my door. “Alexis! Are you awake?” His voice wasn’t as muffled as usual, he must have been shouting as loudly as he could. I groggily wondered why he didn’t just use the intercom.

  Staggering out of bed, I pulled on the thin white robe that I’d left hanging on the back of the door and pulled the door open. “What’s wrong?” I mumbled.

  My hair was bedraggled and sweat was beaded on my forehead again. I had a feeling I looked even worse than I felt when Mark took an involuntary step backwards. He was probably worried that I was contagious. “It’s after ten. Are you feeling ok?”

  Muddled and exhausted, I looked at my left arm to check the time, but my wrist was bare. I’d left my watch on the bedside table and I didn’t even remember taking it off. “Not really. I kind of feel like crap,” I said. My words sounded like they were coming from a long way away.

  “Do you need to see a doctor?” he asked in concern.

  I shook my head then had to grab the door to keep my balance when my head spun dizzily. “I think it’s just the flu.” My head was thumping and my entire body ached. They were sure signs that I was being attacked by a virus.

  “Maybe you should stay in bed,” Mark suggested. “Drink plenty of water and I’ll check on you later.” He stopped me as I was about to shut the door and gave me a final order. “Don’t lock your door. If you fall unconscious I’ll have to break it down and I’m not built like Agent Garrett.”

  I gave a half smile at that. Mark had a much smaller muscle mass than Reece and he’d never be able to kick down a solid metal door. Somehow, I didn’t think Garrett would have much trouble with it. “Yes, Mom,” I joked and closed the door. I left it unlocked as per his request.

  I spent the day in bed and slept for most of the time. Mark roused me after a couple of hours and forced me to drink some chicken soup. I pushed the bowl away when I’d only finished half of it. He made me drink a glass of water, then took the bowl away and left me to sleep.

  We went through the same ordeal at dinner then he thankfully left me to rest. Succumbing to sleep again, I fell into a nightmare of being hunted by something that was far larger and stronger than me. Running for all I was worth, branches scratched my face and arms as I fled. I could feel the hot breath of my pursuer on my neck and ran even harder.

  Tripping, I sprawled to the ground and rolled over onto my back. Shielding my face with my hands, I screamed myself awake. Instead of the plain gray concrete ceiling, the inevitable brightness of the moon shone down on me. Nothing was chasing me and I was alone in the woods. Feeling foggy and feverish, I stood and walked back in the direction that I’d been running from. I was close to the fence this time and used it to guide me in what I hoped was the right direction.

  After I’d been walking for a few minutes, I realized something was shadowing me on the far side of the fence. I stopped walking and so did whatever was on the other side. Moving closer to the electrified barrier, I peered into the darkness and a pair of golden eyes stared back at me. It had to be a wolf, surely. Frozen with fear and a strange compulsion to move closer to the animal that was watching me, I started when a scream came from somewhere behind me.

  I whirled around with my heart thudding rapidl
y in my chest. A big feline of some kind was in the woods on the far side of the compound. I reminded myself that the fence was high enough and strong enough to keep any wild animal out. Turning around again, the golden eyes blinked once before their owner loped away through the trees.

  Only when I was back in my room did I realize that it couldn’t have been a wolf staring at me through the fence. The eyes had been more than two feet higher than my face. Whatever the creature was, it’d been far taller than a man.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Again, I spent the day in bed. My fever came and went and Mark alternately plied me with water and soup. My appetite was still missing, but I consumed the soup to keep him happy. Even in my near delirium I could see that he was worried about me.

  Falling into a deep sleep, I woke up in the middle of the night just as I was opening the door that would take me to the back of the compound again. I hesitated in the doorway with some strange instinct urging me to forget about my petty worries and to run through the woods. Fighting the compulsion, I closed the door and returned to my room. I didn’t know what was wrong with me and I slept shallowly, expecting to wake up lost in the forest again.

  By morning, I felt almost normal again. I took a long, hot shower and washed my hair for the first time in days. Most of the chill that had persisted in plaguing me was gone and I was left with only an occasional shudder. The cut on my foot must have been shallower than I’d first thought and it had already healed.

  Dressing in jeans and an old gray sweatshirt, I dried my hair and took stock of my reflection. My eyes were over-bright and my face was pale, but I looked almost well again. Hearing voices downstairs when I opened my door, I realized that the rest of the team had returned. I couldn’t continue to hide in my room and I had to face Garrett sooner or later. One look at his face should tell me whether he remembered what had transpired between us or not. If he did, I was pretty sure I’d instantly die of shame.