Cryostorm (3 page)

“You don’t want to anymore?”

“No. No. I do. What—um—how?”

“So, people like us, we’re different we—”

“Duh.” I smiled as I crept toward him.

“No, seriously. I’ve seen this before at The Center. When deprived of using their natural gifts, things go a little wonky.”

“Wonky. Never heard that word from your lips.”

“Get that from hanging around you.”

“Go on.” I fell to my knees in front of him and rested my hands on his thighs.

“Um—well—Wonky.” He cleared his throat. “What I meant by that was—” He coughed. “Like you said, they get the itch to use them. Um—”

Okay, Nate never stuttered or faltered like he was at the moment. Was I doing that to him? Or was he holding something back?

“What?” I brushed my hand up and down the top of his thigh. His blue jeans were soft to my touch, but the thick denim didn’t hide his toned, defined legs from me. I’d seen him in shorts before. I knew what lay beneath. At that moment, his legs tightened, and his jaw clenched.

“I’m just saying I understand your restlessness now. I didn’t put it together until you asked about going out.” He drew in a deep breath. The black pupils of his eyes ate up the brown irises and his nostrils flared.

His cinnamon and mint scent tickled my nose. Warmth pooled low in my belly. Suddenly my heart lurched into my throat. He leaned forward, cupped my face, then pressed his lips to mine.

He moved so fast he caught me by surprise. Nice surprise, for sure, but he usually didn’t act like that. He initiated our first kiss after I’d broken up with Zach, but for the most part, he rarely instigated our little make out sessions. Never really thought of it until right now, because he
really
instigated this one.

I liked it.

Or was he trying to distract me? I didn’t care. I scooted forward, still on my knees, and parted his legs with my hips. That prompted a moan. I tasted the Red Vines we’d eaten for dessert after our hotel meal of cheeseburgers and fries, so there was a hint of salt on his lips.

I needed more. I jutted out my tongue and he opened. A stronger wave of sweet Red Vines taste exploded in my mouth. Fingers curled around the nape of my neck, then darted into my hair. Only difference was that he fisted his hand, tugging at some strands and tilted my head.

That was new.

But still good.
Really good.

The angle he’d put me at allowed him to deepen his kiss. He took command of my mouth, and I willingly surrendered it to him. My heart slammed and my pulse drummed. I shot my hands up the back of his shirt.

My fingers feasted on his smooth skin. He didn’t have much hair, rarely had to shave his face, but he just attributed it to part of his make up while they were creating him.

I loved it. My fingers trailed up each groove of his spine until my hands cupped his shoulder blades. I pulled myself flush with him. He trembled within my grasp and pulled away, breathing heavily. I had to gasp for air myself. He’d almost taken all my breath with that long kiss.

I’d never felt such passion from him before. He’d always been tentative when it came to being close. Respectful. Then again, he’d never had a serious girlfriend before. The story he’d fed me about being in love with someone back in Phoenix when we’d first started dating was part of his cover.

Once I’d found out he was a former Agent, he’d copped to all of his lies, claiming he built a false world and memorized it so he had something to tell people to seem more human.

I was glad, though. I’d only been in love once, so we were learning together.

His hand went to his trademark spot, palm to my chest with fingers brushing against my neck. His tongue ran over his shiny lips. I was glad I’d worn a button up long-sleeved shirt so his palm could touch my flesh when it assumed its usual position. It branded me.

I was happy to have it there. Maybe even a little lower would be okay, too. The thought got my heart jumping even more. Georgia and Tim could walk in at any moment. We should probably stop.

But the next moment found me climbing onto his lap. He was all too eager to help me up there. With his strength and my mere hundred pounds for weight, it didn’t take much.

“Okay?” he whispered—er—gasped. His hands settled on my hips as I straddled him.

“Better than okay.” I leaned toward him and captured his mouth.

Fingers clamped onto my hips and even through the jeans I felt the warmth flowing from them. He moved his hands up, beneath my shirt, and to my breasts.

There was something different about him. More intense. Wild almost. Sure, I was only nineteen years old, had had only one boyfriend, but I knew about desire, some about sex, but I saw all of it flashing in his dilated eyes.

Maybe it would happen soon for us. Should it happen? Should I wait for marriage? Was marriage even an option for someone like me? Someone on the run, having fake names every other month.

He pulled me closer, settling me on his core, and my world tilted. His lips brushed against my chest, nipping at the skin. Tugs on my shirt made me look down. His fingers, with a surprising expertise, unbuttoned the top one. He pulled the fabric apart slightly and planted a kiss to my skin just above the next fastened button.

One more. I gripped his shoulders, pulling my core more against his. “Nate,” I whispered. “Oh my gosh. I—we—” My brain refused to work. But my body knew what to do as it grinded against his.

“Mmm.” His lips vibrated against my chest as he kissed, while his fingers worked on the next button. One more and he’d be able to see most of me. Sure, I wore a bra, but still, Georgia and Tim could walk in. “So soft.” His tongue swirled against my skin.

He pulled the fabric away, exposing my chest and he drew in a sweet breath. “Beautiful.” His lips brushed the top of my white, lace bra, so close to my breast my heart pounded. One arm curled around my waist, pulling me closer to his body.

Was I really ready to do this? Go all the way? Georgia said I should wait, that Lois had always told her to wait.
No use giving a piece of yourself away just because it felt good
was what Lois had always said.

But boy, did this feel good. I didn’t want to stop.
Ever
.

But then I felt his fingers on my chest again—more specifically the bra clasp.

He claimed my lips as he worked the clasp open.
Oh, God.
More vision tilting dizziness followed as he worked his very talented lips along my neck, and I knew where he was headed.

The thought shot a line of liquid heat right to my stomach. Tender, gentle massaging followed, stealing my breath and sending a shudder down my spine. “Nate.”

I buried my fingers in his hair as he reached my breasts, tasting me like no one had ever done before.

I could only close my eyes and hold on as the gentle strokes of his tongue sent my world tilting.

“Nate.”

“Yeah,” he whispered, pulling his lips from my skin and looking at me. “Does this feel good for you?”

“Oh my gosh, yeah,” I could barely speak.

His hand went around my waist to my butt and pulled me harder against him. White lights burst into my sight. I let out a strangled gasp and grabbed his shoulders. How’d he know exactly what to do? One slight shift, a tender touch, and he catapulted me off the ledge.

“Bed.” I leaned forward and kissed him hard. “Take me to—”

The door lock beeped.

With superhuman speed, Nate fastened my bra and the buttons on the front of my shirt, then hoisted me from his lap into a more cradling position.

Handy having a speedster boyfriend.

Too bad he couldn’t calm my heaving breath. Hell, I still had lights flashing in the corners of my vision.

Darn roommates.

Then again, I was being a little rash with the whole
take me to bed
statement, wasn’t I?

Maybe, maybe not.

The door pushed open and Tim and Georgia strolled through. My slamming heart had to have been heard by all. “Hey guys.” My voice cracked. Could I be more obvious?

The corner of Georgia’s mouth curved up in a wicked smile. “Hey yourself.”

“Nate said we can go play in the snow.” I hopped up and grabbed her hand. “Come on. Let’s get our coats.”

Georgia leaned in. “You missed a button.”

Chapter 4

D
ecked out in all the winter wear Nate and Tim bought for us, Georgia and I dove into the first snow bank we saw. And there were plenty.

We both landed on our stomachs, then rolled to our backs. Big, fat snowflakes drifted onto my skin, cooling the fire Nate had stoked minutes earlier. Wow, my mind was still reeling from it. Such intensity.

Holy cow I wanted to have sex more than I’d ever wanted to before. I couldn’t decide if Georgia and Tim interrupting us was a good thing or not.

“I call a room swap tonight,” I said.

“I figured you might.” A handful of snow landed on my face. “I think you’re on fire, girl.”

I brushed it away and rolled onto my side. “I might have lost my virgin status if you guys hadn’t walked in.”

“Holy shit, Mandy.”

“I know, right?” I rolled onto my back again. “I’m going to combust.”

“No. You need to work off some of that energy…out
here
I mean.” She stood. “Come on, let’s whip some snow and fire balls. That’d cool you off.”

“Not sure I want to cool off that way. What’s wrong with me and Nate having sex? I totally love him.” Even though I hadn’t told him yet.

“Yeah, well, I love Red Vines, but I don’t jump in and gorge myself on them.”

“Dude. That’s not even a good example.”

“You know what I mean though. Just think it through first.”

“So, you and Tim haven’t done the deed yet?”

“No.” She grinned, her cheeks aglow. “Not quite.”

“You going to wait—hey, can people like us even get married? I mean, seriously. We’re on the run like—well, we’ll be on the run forever if we’re being honest here.”

“Sure we can get married.” Georgia packed a snowball with her gloved hands. “And yeah, I might wait. We’re only nineteen, you know, and look at our lives. Things change on a whim. I don’t want sex to screw anything up.”

True. It was us four, if things went wrong relationship-wise between any of us, it could get weird. I couldn’t imagine that ever happening, but still…

Tim and Nate’s voices came within earshot, and I sat up. They stood near the dormant plow and looked around. Snow blanketed everything. Without the banks it had to be up to my hips, maybe even my waist.

The plow had gotten a quarter of the lot done. There were only, like, fifteen cars, from what I could tell with all the snow covering everything, in the entire lot.

“Tim told me when we were getting ice cream that he found another hit on Mom’s maiden name,” Georgia said.

I shot up. “And you’re just telling me this now?”

“I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

“Where is she?”

“Same town. Different hotel.”

“We’ve got to get out of this place and get there.” With my mittened hands, I bundled a bunch of snow and made a ball. I felt so at home in the snow. I looked at Georgia to see how she was doing since she was fire and all.

Her skin had a faint pink glow to it, and each flake that landed on her flesh melted instantly. She was keeping herself warm in her own unique way.

“Tim heard from Martin, too, who has been keeping an eye on Bev and her outfit in Nevada.” Georgia still lay on her back. “He still hasn’t been able to hack into their mainframe or anything. Even with Jess’s help.”

“I’m so glad Martin decided to stay back and keep working with Jess. Did he say anything about Scott and Jasmine? Or—”

“No. Nothing about Zach. But while you were in the shower, I developed a Facebook account for Serafine Frost.”

“Serafine Frost, huh?”

“Seemed to fit.”

“What’d you find out?”

“I couldn’t find Scott. I tried surfing. Found Zach, searched through his friends. Nothing.”

My heart stalled. “You went to Zach’s Facebook page? What’d it say? How is he?”

“Status was blank. No updates in over a month.”

“What?” My heart pounded. Was he okay? He’d always been so active on Facebook. Even when he’d dumped me and started dating my worst enemy, he still did updates. It killed me when he’d changed his status from in a relationship with me to Samantha Jones. But he’d done it. And still posted those dumb quotes and funny jokes he always did.

“Why won’t Martin give us updates on Scott and Jasmine? And if something’s wrong with Zach, he’d tell us, wouldn’t he?”

“No.”

“What?” I hopped to my feet. “What do you mean?”

“Martin isn’t giving updates on the family.” Georgia sat up and slid down the embankment. “We can’t ever go back there, Mandy. And us knowing about something back home would make us want to go back.”

“But, Scott. What if he was hurt or in danger? We’d—”

“Jasmine would protect him. Same with Martin. They’re fine,” Georgia said. “Tim said it’s better this way. They agreed not to get updates on family.”

“Not to get updates period, or get updates and not tell us?”

“I’d have to guess the latter, because they’d need to know if there was Agent activity.”

I whirled around to where Tim and Nate stood. A third person had joined them. Short guy, big around the belly from what I could tell beneath the layers of his bulky jacket.

I stomped toward them, anger boiling with each step closer to Nate. So, he had updates on Scott, Jasmine, and Zach and wasn’t telling us, huh? They were really taking this protecting thing too far. Scott was my brother. I—er—Georgia and I had every right to know how he was. What he was doing.

Nate stepped out from beside the big-bellied stranger and took two long strides in my direction. “Okay, you ready to use your muscles?”

I zoomed in toward him and buried my finger in his puffy-jacketed chest. Sure, I had mittens on, but I still pointed, even though he couldn’t see it.

“What’s wrong?” Nate asked.

“You—”

“Okay, you ready to give this a try?” Tim slapped Nate’s back. “We’re gonna push this thing out for him. He doesn’t think we can, but I got four hot cocoas wagered, so we better.” Tim moved around us toward Georgia.