Power Trip(9)

“It was just a hospital function.” Sam opened the door of the sleek black car and helped her girlfriend inside.

“Take good care of him!” the doctor called to Audrey just before the door slammed.

“Nice to meet you, Audrey.” Sam gave her a friendly nod and walked around the car. In seconds, the car roared away and she was left standing on the curb as if nothing unusual had transpired.

Reality returned. Now it was time to go home and cancel all her credit cards since that creep had gotten her purse. Screw work. The mice could live without their nightly treat.

“Goodnight,” she muttered and began walking down the street.

She felt him following her.

“Go away,” she said over her shoulder.

“No way, I want to make sure you make it safely to your car.”

She kept walking. “Because you did such a stellar job of that earlier? No thanks. I was fine, you know. You shouldn’t have interfered.”

“Yeah, you really looked like you were about to kick his ass.”

“Actually, I was about to break his nose. The gun complicated things, but he didn’t pull that until you came along,” she grumbled.

“That wasn’t a gun.”

She stopped walking. “What do you mean? He blew your arm apart.” And that sparkly woman had fixed it. Somehow. Sweat prickled her armpits. Now that the emergency was over, the weirdness was setting in. It wasn’t impossible that she could be in a bit of shock herself. She glanced back down the street to the club. Maybe she should go back to Jake.

Matrix man glanced over her shoulder. “Isn’t that your purse?”

She whirled. Her bag was on the steps of an apartment building, contents scattered. She grabbed her billfold and opened it to see if her credit cards were there. They were. Gratitude for the near miss sent tears to her eyes. She kept everything in her purse—money, credit cards, cell phone, iPod, Kindle—and having it disappear because some asshole wanted a bottle of cheap whiskey or a crack fix had upset her more than she wanted to admit. Her cash was gone, but losing a hundred bucks was getting off easy. She felt a wide grin split her face. She looked up at him. He was staring at her closely, blue eyes roving over her face.

“What?”

“You have a beautiful smile.”

She glanced back down at her purse, embarrassment overwhelming her glee. “Um, thanks.” She shook her head, dismissing the compliment. Guys like him did not go all googly-eyed over girls like her. Well, not unless they were into smart chicks obsessed with mice alleles.

His large gloved hand broke her field of vision. “Allow me to introduce myself. Calvin Davis, master electrician, physics professor and sexual Dominant.”

His smile challenged her to respond in kind. She was completely out of her league with this man, but she wouldn’t lie to herself. He had fascinated her from the moment she saw him. She felt her heart beating faster than normal. Her pulse throbbed in her wrists, throat and groin. For God’s sake, her body was coming alive, blood rushing to places it hadn’t been for far too long. Out of her element? Undeniably.

Up for the challenge? Absolutely.

She took his hand. The leather was soft and supple. She didn’t know how to retreat, nor did she want to, so she laid down a challenge of her own. “Audrey Fallon, geneticist, Tae Kwon Do black belt and utterly vanilla.”





Cal didn’t believe her for a minute about the vanilla part. Even if her clear response to him hadn’t clued him in, Truman had picked her out of the line-up in the Lair. He didn’t know how his buddy did it, but he was never wrong.

It wasn’t only Tru’s assurance that made him certain she would be receptive to a little negotiation. It was the lack of fear in her eyes and the fact that she was talented too. This one wouldn’t be afraid to experiment. She was strong, maybe strong enough to bend, strong enough to break.

A sharp blue flash exploded from his left palm.

“Sorry.” He winced. “Forgot to put my other glove back on.”

Her eyes widened. It only took a couple seconds for her to put it together. “Electrician?” she asked.

“Always better to have talent for your life’s work. But it’s not the only way I like to use my skills.” She shuddered—not the response he had been hoping for, but at least it was a place to start. He had never scened with anyone who knew his secret. Electrical play was edgy enough, even without a supernatural element. Why hadn’t she been harmed when she touched his skin?

“Can I touch your arm?” he asked.

Slowly, she nodded. “You may.”

The regal way she granted him permission turned him on, almost too much. It was difficult to keep his charge beneath the surface of his skin, and he didn’t want to go off again like a short-circuited teenager.