Dominated By Desire (13 page)

“Are you okay?” asked Storm’s mother.

“I’m fine.” She gave her a bright smile. “It’s just been a hectic couple of days.”

Storm came up to her side. He wrapped his arm around her waist.

“What is going on?”

“She is complaining of a headache.” His mother looked concern.

“I know, the doctor gave her a shot at the table.”

“And she got another one just a few seconds ago.” They looked at Heather.

Goodness, she had to calm both of them down now. “I promised the doctor I would stop by the lab as soon as I could. It’s no big deal. I have these headaches from time to time. It’s okay, there is nothing wrong with me.”“How about we go to the medlab right now?” He started to steer her toward the door.

“How about not embarrassing me like that.” She got out of his hold.

“Isn’t that what upset you with your mother not too long ago? This can wait until our guests leave. It’s only a headache.”

“Can’t help but worry.” He looked into her eyes. She knew he was trying to see how bad the pain was. “I have plans you know.” She had to laugh at him. “And heaven forbid if I mess those plans up.

No need to worry. I’m fine. I promise.”

The evening finally wound down and they were free to head to their rooms.

“But first you must go by the lab.” Storm escorted her down one corridor then another.

“Anyway I can change out of this suit first?”

“Sorry. It would make us backtrack and once we’re in our rooms I’m not letting you out for awhile.” He brought her to the doctor on call. “She’s still having headaches.”

“Yes, sir. I have been told what tests to run.” He held a small device in his hand. It took him seconds to use it. “The doctor will call you once he has had a chance to go over the information.”

Storm scooped her up and strode down the hallway to their room. He didn’t let her feet touch the ground until the doors closed.

“Please help me out of this thing.” She tugged at the collar as she kicked off her shoes.

He took the small device the fitter had given him earlier and waved it over the seals on the jacket. Then he helped her pull it off. The skirt was easier to release and soon she stood in just her shirt. The seams separated on that quickly and after removing the cufflinks she was able to slip out of it as well.

“What is that?” His fingers rubbed against the delicate straps of her bra before he noticed the same lace on her panties.

“Something I thought you’d enjoy taking off me.” The sparkle in his eyes let her know she had made the right choice. They weren’t the most comfortable things and not needed with the way clothing now did all the supporting a woman would need but if he liked her wearing his shirt she knew the undergarments would meet his approval.

“And how do I do that?” Like a kid with a gift he wanted to tear into his present but didn’t want to tear the wrapper. He liked it too much.

“There is a snap upfront.” She undid it so he would know how it worked before redoing it.

A bell sounded but Storm decided to ignore it.

“Door.” She reminded him.

“It can wait.” He released the little piece of plastic and palmed her breasts.

“It’s probably the doctor.” The heat of his hand on her breasts made her close her eyes, but she knew they couldn’t ignore the door. “He said he would get back to us.”

Storm sighed. He had taken off his jacket but that was as far as he got before she caught his attention.

Heather snapped it back and pulled a shift out of a drawer. How she was always the one underdressed made her wonder but it didn’t take long for her to slip the shift on. Once she was covered she opened the door. A nurse stood there. She gave Heather a sympatric look before turning on her heels and heading back to the medlab without saying a word.

“Let’s find out what the doctor has to say.” She walked out of the room and followed the nurse down the hall. Storm came out of the room a few seconds later. He wasn’t happy to be interrupted.

The doctor, his mom and a few other people were waiting for them.

Heather didn’t like all the extra people. It probably meant there was a problem.

“So this isn’t just a simple headache, is it?”

“What do you know about that device in your back?”

“Only what I’ve been told. It’s been there all my life.” She took the seat Storm offered her. “The doctors couldn’t figure out what it was for other than some sort of inhibitor and it doesn’t like being too far away from me.”

“So what would happen if it was removed?”

“The headaches, mainly.” She looked up at Storm who placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked back at the doctor. “I’m not quite sure what you want to know. Anything the doctors along the way learned should be in my records.”

“That’s just it,” said the doctor. “There is nothing in your medical records about it.”

“What?” She stood up. “There should be, I saw the doctor looking at it not too long ago.”

“What doctor?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve seen so many over the years. That little device is a bit of an oddity.” She went to the computer. Her file held several folders and she worked her way through them before finding what she was looking for. There on the bottom of her last physical was another file. She pulled it up and entered her password. The file about her device opened up. “Sorry. I figured you people had already figured out where it was and how to open it.”

“Thank you.” The doctor looked over the file for a moment. “There are two things I have learned about the device. One, it’s beyond our technology because it is ancient in design. The other is that it is disintegrating now.”

“Is that why the headache didn’t go away?”

“Is it still bothering you?” The doctor ran the scanner over her once again.“It’s tolerable.”

“The device is being absorbed by your blood so the metal and all will always be with you. It kept you reading as human, but I’m not sure you are.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your blood work says human. Anyone who doesn’t know what to look for will believe you’re human. But you have several markers that humans don’t have. I’ve never seen these markers before. I need to do more research before I can really pinpoint your race. But I think you were put on Earth to keep you safe as a child.”

“So why is it disintegrating now?” asked Storm.

“I have no real answer.”

“How long will it take to disappear?” Heather rubbed her back absentmindedly.

“I’m not sure when it started. Based off of the readings I have I’d say within the month it will be gone.”

“And whatever it is hiding will show itself then.”

“I can only assume at this point. I need to read the file you unlocked and run a few more tests of my own before I feel safe answering that question.” He looked at Storm apologetically. “I know you wished for some time to yourselves but the sooner I run the tests the faster I’ll have answers.”

“How long will these tests take?”

“A couple of hours.”

****

Heather had fallen asleep during the tests. He knew the day had taken its toll on her and she had dozed off about fifteen minutes ago. She was curled up on her side looking so peaceful.

“So how long have you suspected this?” He knew his mother stood beside him. She had remained to keep him company.

“Believe it or not we didn’t have a clue.” His mother watched her sleep as well. “This whole thing was because of your uncle. He’s the one you need to talk to.”

“And you will keep an eye on her?”

“I will guard her as my own.”

He kissed his mother on the cheek. “She is one of your own now.”

“Just seeing if you were paying attention.”

He headed to his uncle’s room. He had conversed with him so rarely he wasn’t sure what to say to the man. He had no real power yet was the most revered man of the race.

His door opened. “Ah. Wondered when you would show up. Where is your mate?”

“Sleeping on a gurney in the medical area. Mother recommended I come speak to you.”

“Come. Sit.” He stepped aside so Storm could enter the room. The door closed behind them. “You wish to know why her? You have already asked me that question.”

“Well, yes. But what do you know about her no one else seems to?”

“I don’t.” He sat in a chair opposite Storm. “When I was young, long before you and your sister were born I had a vision of you and this woman.

I had no idea who either of you were until you grew into a man. I’m not sure how to explain it but I knew she would be important to you.”

“That’s why you came along on this trip. You knew I would run into her.”“What can I say. Are you upset you met her?”

“No. I have enjoyed my time with her.” He wasn’t about to go into detail about his sex life with their religious leader. “But I don’t understand how my presence has started a series of events that has made her life hard.

There have been attempts on her life and now she has a strange device that is disintegrating in her system.”

“I have heard.” He gave him a grin. “I wish I could give you more but I have learned in the past that when I reveal the future I change the future and it has always ended badly. Keep her safe and everything will work out in your favor. I promise.”

Chapter 9

Heather stretched. Opening her eyes, she realized she was in their room and their bed. Storm held her close, his deep breathing like music in her ears. He looked so peaceful sound asleep like that. She brushed a lock of hair out of his face. He probably had stayed up all night listening to the doctors drone on about what they didn’t know.

She didn’t want to wake him so inched herself over so she could slip her feet onto the floor. A cup of coffee would be great right now.

“And where are you going?” He hadn’t opened his eyes, but his grip around her waist tightened, pulling her against him.

“Was going to look for some coffee.”

He released his hold on her and opened his eyes. “Get two. You know how to use the replicator?”

“Learned that yesterday.” She stepped over to the replicator. “I thought you were in a deep sleep.”

“Learned how to sleep with one eye open while in the military. Comes in handy when your mate tries to sneak out of bed on you.”

“Blame the coffee. It told me to sneak out.” She programmed it to give her two cups and she carried them back to the bed. “So glad your computers can synthesize coffee. It will be the one thing I would miss the most.” He leaned on one side and took the cup from her.

Heather sat on the mattress next to Storm and cradled her coffee in her hands. “So now that the device is starting to dissolve, you starting to question your decision to be with me?” She tried to be nonchalant about it.

He sat up took the cup out of her hand, placed both on the floor then pinned her beneath him. “I regret nothing other than the time we’re losing because of that stupid thing. The doctors asked me to bring you back the moment you woke up and they would know if I hadn’t followed their explicit orders. I’ll probably get into trouble over the coffee but they didn’t say you couldn’t eat or drink anything and I know how cranky you get without your coffee.” He reached down and grabbed the two cups. “So drink up before they send security after us.”

She laughed and hugged her cup to her. Taking a sip she realized she had a few articles of clothing missing. Her night gown lay in a heap next to her on the floor, but she wasn’t sure what happened to everything else.

“Where’s the underwear? You know those little pieces of lace that had you drooling last night.”

“Under my pillow, waiting patiently for you.”

“Bet that gave the doctors something new to talk about.” She had planned that only for him, not half the medical staff.

“They never saw them.” He winked at her.

“And how did you remove them without anyone knowing.”

“Those doctors don’t pay attention to everything.” He pushed up to a sitting position before setting down his empty cup. “You ready?”

“Guess, but didn’t it show up in their scans?”

“You are worrying about something you don’t need to.” He pulled on a pair of trousers before pulling on a shirt. “Now, you going like that or getting dressed?”

She knew he would love to keep her naked but she didn’t have the confidence to walk around with nothing on so she quickly pulled out another shift.With other visits the doctors always made her change to something that wasn’t formfitting and she hoped this gown would be perfect. Lifting her arms above her head she let the gown slide down her body. Once the gown fell to her feet she turned to face him.

His face was priceless. He wanted her so bad he couldn’t move. “God, woman, do that again and we won’t be going anywhere but to that bed.”

“All in good time. Let’s find out what is going on with me. I’d like to get to the bottom of this.” She walked past him and through the door into the corridor. Their room wasn’t far from the lab. “Good morning, Doctor.” He smiled at her as he picked up his scanner. “Good morning. Any headaches?”

“Same one.” She looked around the place. Last night she was so tired she really didn’t pay attention to her surroundings. The center wasn’t very big but to her a medlab was a medlab and she hated them all. “What have you learned?”

“Not as much as I would have liked.” He pulled up her DNA strand up.

Parts were still blank but she watched as newer data filled in. No one had gotten this far before. Maybe there was hope.

“Most of what the device is inhibiting hasn’t come to life in you yet so I still don’t know a whole lot.” He isolated one particular strand of her DNA and brought it to the forefront. “I have learned you have ancient blood in you.”“And what is ancient blood?” That was new too. The odd markers in her blood had stumped the other doctors.

“The blood line of the elders. We all have it.” Storm stepped up to the screen. He tapped a section that broke down the DNA to show what race she was from. That still hadn’t been filled in yet. “Yet you can’t prove she’s Vespian. You want to explain that?”

“It is possible that they were involved with more than our race.” The doctor shrugged. “We just have never run across anyone else with that blood in them who wasn’t Vespian until now. We know so little about the ancients I’m not sure what to tell you. It just means more tests.” Storm took a step toward the doctor.