“Are you stalling?” he asked, surprised the ever-curious scientist hadn’t blasted away immediately.
In response, she pressed the conductor to the top of the cell and pulled the trigger.
He heard a pop.
A second later, smoke rose lazily from the circuit attached to her chest. Excitement and fear tangled inside him.
“I’m so sorry, Cal! Did I break it?” She turned to face him.
He shook his head. “That’s what happens every time I try to use it too.”
Her expression was sympathetic. “Back to the drawing board?”
“Not exactly.” He unwrapped the tape and pulled the smoking unit from her body. “I’ve got too much power for silver wire. I was planning to try it out on Truman next, and see how it worked for him. He should have a normal amount of electricity coursing through his body. Unlike you, apparently.” He stared at her, thinking. “If you are holding onto even half of the energy I expended, you are…hot.”
How was she storing it? And was there a metal that could handle that much power without burning to a crisp? The bio-enhancer had blown as easily as the fragile filaments of a light bulb plugged into an unprotected circuit. Was that the answer? A surge protector? No, that would flip the circuit.
She waved a hand in front of his face. “Earth to mad scientist.”
He blinked, wondering how long he had been standing there. “Sorry. I was wondering if there’s a way to measure how much energy you are storing…and if I can create a bio-enhancer to tap into it. Maybe I could use a different wire…” A bio-enhanced Audrey would be invincible, safe from dangerous talents and normals alike.
She waved her hand before he could get lost in thought again. “Hello, I’m naked here and I’d love a shower. Won’t Jake be back soon? And your buddy Truman?”
A shiver of unease made him frown. Why had Tru been able to read her in the Lair the other night when all other talents didn’t affect her? Was that one of her limits? Did her talent have blind spots? If so, she needed to discover them quickly—a false sense of security could be dangerous, especially if the people threatening her were talented.
He dropped the enhancer on the table and led her out of the lab, locking the door behind them. When they emerged from the basement, he discovered late afternoon had turned into evening. He took her into the guest bathroom and adjusted the lights for her, turning on the taps and making sure she had enough towels. “Mind if I watch? I want to see what happens when the water hits you.”
She hesitated, one hand on the shower door, and he rushed to reassure her. “It should be fine. The water is purified, but you might sizzle a little.” If she stored that much power, she would definitely throw a few sparks.
She reached into the shower to hold her hand in the spray. “Nope, not even a tingle.” She sounded disappointed.
He nodded and left her to shower.
Her performance with the bio-enhancer proved she was storing energy somewhere, even if they couldn’t see it. He wanted to dive back into the basement and build another prototype immediately, but he headed for the kitchen instead. It was past dinnertime and Jake would expect to be fed again when he arrived.
A fantasy of him and Audrey spending their days working side by side in the lab and spending their nights playing energy games filled his head as he stared into the fridge. He forced himself to think about food, instead. Vegetarian food. He wasn’t equipped for tofu, and he’d already fed her eggs. Pasta primavera, he decided, pulling vegetables out of the fridge. And he’d grill a steak for her meathead brother.
With that decided, he let his mind wander back to Audrey in the shower. Damn, she’d looked sexy with her ass still slightly pink from his hand. He remembered the way she’d begged for more, so perfectly frustrated by the flogger.
The nichrome flogger.
His hand froze on the knife, sticking halfway through an onion. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? A high resistance wire could handle more voltage, more current, and more heat. He had a huge spool of the stuff in the basement, leftover from making the flogger.
He grinned, thinking of the way Audrey had taunted him about losing control, wondering if she would understand just how much control it took not to abandon the vegetables on the counter and race into the basement to wire up another prototype.
Then he set the knife on the cutting board and headed for the basement, chuckling. Audrey was a scientist. She wouldn’t expect him to resist.
Chapter Ten
Audrey tilted her head back and sighed. The water felt amazing. She ran her hands over her slick skin, reaching behind to squeeze her butt to see if it was sore from the spanking. The dull pain made her tingle, so she slipped one hand between her thighs, wishing Cal had stayed in the bathroom. He probably wouldn’t touch her if he had. There had to be a way to safely discover the limits of her talent. How could she get close to him if she were always afraid he would pull back and leave her wanting more?