Freak of Nature (23 page)

“I’m looking at it.” His hand came forward as if he were going to touch her, and without considering whether she was doing the right thing, Kaitlyn grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder. He hit the hardwood floor hard on his back, and a long, low moan escaping him.

Lucas rushed up, his eyes wide as he leaned down to help the guy, who, winded, was struggling to get to his feet.

“What the hell happened?” Lucas asked, glaring at the man.

“He tried to touch me,” Kate said, her voice flat. Now that she’d laid him out flat, her indicators had switched to not a threat.

“That’s it?” Lucas groaned.

“Your girlfriend is a freak, man. I just wanted to say hello, that’s all, and then she went all ninja on my ass.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“I thought he was a threat,” Kate mumbled.

“She doesn’t like to be touched.”

“No kidding.”

“You need to leave.” Lucas tilted his head towards the door.

“You’re lucky I don’t call the cops on her for assault.” The guy stalked off, his ego probably hurt more than his body.

Lucas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You’re not ready, Kate. We need to get out of here. Now.”

Panic coursed through her veins. She grabbed his arms. “Don’t say that! I can get ready. I promise. Please don’t make me go back.” Her eyes glistened by the neon lights.

“We have a lot of work to do,” he said gently. “As you are right now, you pose a danger to the population. We’ll bring in help. Specialists. You need to relearn the rules of society.”

“I can’t go back there.” Kaitlyn lowered her eyes. “I just can’t. Not to live.”

“Aw, Kate.” Lucas put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “I would never make you move back there. You can still stay with me, but we can’t have any more of these outings until we get some help.”

“You promise I can stay with you?”

“I promise. But Kate, this is serious. If you do something bad, you could get taken away from me.”

The seriousness of the situation hit her hard. “I’ll learn, Lucas. I don’t want to lose you. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”

“Let’s get out of here.” Lucas grabbed her hand, and they went back to the safety of his house, their first official date over.

Chapter Twenty- Eight

Six months later

D
r. Olivia Chambers looked up from behind her desk as Lucas walked into her office. She was an attractive woman in her late thirties with long, dark hair. Today, it was piled into a messy bun. “Good morning, Lucas.”

“Thanks for seeing me.”

“You know you’re always welcome. I still think we should talk about setting up regular sessions.” She leaned back in her plush leather chair and nodded to the seat across from her.

Lucas reluctantly sat down. He always felt uncomfortable around the doctor. She had an uncanny ability to see right through people.

He didn’t bother to reply to her statement. They had gone over it many times before—Lucas had no interest in therapy. He’d had enough of it when he was younger after his father left. But he knew Dr. Chambers was vital to Kate’s progress.

Her expertise was in treating patients with Aspergers. She was at the top of her field, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It was a field based on the idea that how we think, how we feel, and how we act are intertwined and all interact together. Specifically that our thoughts determined our feelings and our behavior. At the suggestion of a colleague, Harrington brought the doctor in to work with Kaitlyn, and already they had seen amazing changes. Kate was less anxious out in public, was learning to react reasonably to certain social cues, and overall seemed more at ease with herself.

Dr. Chambers had been instrumental in Kaitlyn’s reintegration.

“Kate’s made tremendous progress. It’s quite remarkable really,” Dr. Chambers said.

“Do you think she’s ready? Harrington is itching to get her in the field.” Lucas wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold off Harrington. So much money had been dumped into the program getting it ready for Kaitlyn; all they needed now was for Kate to be ready to move the project forward.

“I think she’s as ready as she can be, given the circumstances. Pairing her with Erik was a brilliant idea. He will be sure to keep her in check.” Dr. Chambers said, leaning back in her chair and folded her hands on her abdomen. “They make a great team.”

Lucas felt a twinge of jealousy at the mention of Erik, even though he knew the pairing was the right thing to do. They needed someone with her at all times, and sadly Lucas did not have the skill-set to be her partner. Erik was a super-solider in his own right without any enhancements. A highly decorated former Marine Recon. Lucas knew the soldier would be able to handle any situation thrown their way; making sure Kate was able to do her job was Erik’s main priority.

“Do I sense jealousy, Lucas?”

“I’ll get over it.” He wished it didn’t bother him that the two spent so much time together, but that was required to form a partnership. They had to have each other’s back. And it was Lucas that Kaitlyn went home with every night, he reminded himself.

Dr. Chambers smiled and didn’t reply, which pissed Lucas off.

“So you are giving the go-ahead?”

“I am. I’ve already let Harrington know. As you can imagine, he’s very pleased.”

“I’m sure he is.” Lucas tried to keep his apprehension off his face.

“She’ll still need to see me on a regular basis. This is a long term solution.”

“I know. Thank you for everything you’ve done. She really has made drastic improvements. Every day she seems a little more comfortable.”

“You’ve been a huge factor in that as well, Lucas. You’re her anchor.”

“Anchor?”

“Yes, you keep her grounded.” Dr. Chambers eyed him in her knowing way. “I really don’t know if she could have done this without you.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s the truth.”

With a parting nod, Lucas stood up and walked out of the office. Dr. Chambers had said exactly what he needed to hear. She seemed to have a knack for that.

Lucas found his way to Harrington’s office. The moment they had all been waiting for was finally here. He knew Kaitlyn was capable of doing whatever was required, but he would still be on edge until she returned from her first mission.

Behind the U-shaped desk in the outer office, the secretary smiled. “He’s waiting for you.”

Harrington grinned when Lucas walked in. “We’ve done it, Lucas!”

“That we have, sir,” Lucas replied.

The man walked over from where he’d been gazing out the window and clapped a big hand to Lucas’s shoulder. “Keeping Kate for ourselves was a brilliant idea. We are going to be the envy of every organization out there.”

“Let’s not celebrate until we see how it goes.”

Harrington waved him away. “I’m sure it will go smoothly.”

“Famous last words.” Lucas ran his hand through his hair, surprised to find it was shaking. “When will they leave?”

“They fly out in the morning. Six am. They’ll touch down by noon our time.”

“Will they be safe?” Lucas asked, using Harrington’s ‘they’ even though he really only cared about Kate.

“We’ll have eyes on them at all times,” Harrington said.

At least that was something. He would go insane not knowing if Kate was okay.

Harrington slid a manila envelope across the table. “I’ll let you do the honor.”

Lucas hesitated, and then accepted the envelope. “Now or in the morning?”

“Why wait?” Harrington boomed. “Let her beautiful mind sleep on it and play out all possible scenarios.”

“I’ll bring it to them now,” Lucas said calmly. Inside, he trembled.

This is it.

It was training time. Lucas found them in the combat room, and stood watching through the window as Kate and Erik stalked in a circle around each other. Erik moved forward swiftly, but Kate was faster. They were both so intent on each other it was as if they were lost in a dance that no one else was allowed access to.

Erik pivoted from his back foot to his front. He threw a flurry of punches, all which Kate blocked with ease.

Kate flipped through the air and locked her legs around Erik’s throat dropping him to the ground. Erik somehow managed to get free and sprang back to his feet.

Lucas had seen enough. He couldn’t watch them function so smoothly, so perfectly together—both powerful and deadly. He pushed through the door, but neither even glanced his way. Kate was aware he was in the room; she was programmed to know. But he wasn’t a threat: Erik was.

A flurry of punches were exchanged, and next thing Lucas knew, Kaitlyn was splayed across Erik’s body, and he was tapping out.

The sight of her body pressed against Erik’s made Lucas’s blood boil, but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to accept that Erik was part of her life now. He was also a lifeline, of sorts, for her.

Kaitlyn jumped up and walked towards Lucas. She was so alive; energy radiated off her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but they were at work.

Lucas held up the envelope. “You leave tomorrow.”

“Really?” Kate’s eyes danced with excitement.

Erik came closer, leaning his craggy face over Kaitlyn’s shoulder. He certainly wasn’t a handsome man, but his intensity seemed to draw women to him. Lucas had overheard the nurses talking about Erik on more than one occasion.

It bothered Lucas that Kate didn’t mind the Marine in her personal space.

“Where are we going?” Erik asked gruffly.

Lucas shrugged. “It’s all in there. I’ll leave you two to go over the details.”

Kaitlyn looked like she was about to explode with excitement. She bounced on the tips of her toes and clutched the envelope to her chest. “Thank you, Lucas. For believing in me.”

“I will always believe in you,” he said softly, but she had already turned to open the envelope with her partner.

Lucas left the room, his heart aching. He really needed to get his jealousy in check.

Kaitlyn laid her head on Lucas’s shoulder, breathing in his musky scent. There was a time she had thought happiness was impossible for her, but she had been wrong. Life was better than she could have ever hoped. She had come to terms with her past and looked forward to the future. She still missed her parents, but she felt it was best they thought she was gone.

Lucas ran his hands through her hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be worried about you.”

“Don’t be. You know I can take care of myself, and Erik will be there.”

“Right. Erik.”

Kaitlyn stared at Lucas, his face bathed in the moonlight that filtered through the curtains. His dark hair curled at the nape of his neck, and his strong jawbone drew her closer. She lightly kissed her way from the tip of his ear down his jaw and made her way eagerly to his full warm lips.

“Croatia is so far away.” Lucas said softly as he traced his finger around the plastic coating on her arm.

“You saw the file. Human trafficking. All those young girls sold into slavery,” Kaitlyn said disgusted.

“He’s a monster, and he has to be stopped.” Lucas agreed.

“I’ll finally be able to use these skills for good.”

Lucas turned to his side, his face serious. “Kate. I need to tell you something.”

“Yes?” She propped herself on her elbow and stared down at him.

“I’m in love with you, Kate.” The words came out in a rush. “I love you so much. The thought of losing you is like a weight crushing my chest.”

She smiled, pushed him back, and climbed on top of him. “I know you love me, Lucas.” She pressed her lips to his and ran her hands along his muscular chest. She could never get enough of him. Being so close, skin to skin, drove her completely crazy.

“You know?” he asked, smiling against her lips. “I’ve wanted to say the words for months. I didn’t think you were ready.”

She leaned down and whispered in his ear. “I love you, too.”

“You do? Are you sure?” He gripped her by her arms and pushed her back so he could look her in the eye. “You don’t have to say it back just because I said it first. I just wanted you to know. In case anything happened on the mission.”

“I feel like I’ve always loved you. I thought that was obvious?”

Lucas smiled. “I guess I needed to hear it out loud.”

“I love you, Lucas. Should I say it again?”

Lucas wrapped his arms around her, rolling her beneath him. “Maybe one more time.”

To Be Continued