Unforgettable (Talented Saga #6) (6 page)

Because we were working for UNITED,
Penny and I had been assigned a suite on sublevel six, the family
floor. Technically, Penny and I shared our two bedroom, two
bathroom apartment. Since there were an odd number of male agents
being housed on Eden, Erik had lucked into his own suite. That
arrangement had lasted all of one night before Penny and Erik
switched places, which suited all three of us much better. Erik and
I played house, getting lots of the much-needed alone time we’d
both been craving for ages. Since we’d been together, our lives had
been chaos and we hadn’t often been in the same place at the same
time without some imminent threat looming over us. We were making
up for it now.

Penny enjoyed her privacy most nights,
with the occasional overnight guest in the form of Brand Meadows,
her kind-of-sort-of boyfriend. Though a UNITED agent, Brand wasn’t
actually stationed on Eden. His position as liaison between UNITED,
the Coalition, and the former TOXIC states meant he traveled
constantly. He’d negotiated one night off a week, which he always
spent here with Penny. Neither was willing to admit that their
relationship had progressed past friendship, but it was obvious to
everyone.

“
Did you tell Erik about
the meeting?” I asked once we’d boarded the elevator.

“
I tried,” Penny replied,
not meeting my gaze as she stabbed the button for six. “He wasn’t
there.”

“
Oh.”

Penny and Brand weren’t the only ones
not being totally honest about the state of their relationship. On
the surface, nothing had changed between Erik and me. We acted like
we were just as in love as ever. Because we were. The change was
something I felt, though. Something that even love wasn’t strong
enough to prevent.

Since coming to Eden, Erik had become
distant, moody, and anti-social, which was so out of character for
him. In school, he’d been Mr. Popular with tons of friends, both
male and female, and the same remained true after he graduated and
became a TOXIC operative. Despite leaving a number of broken hearts
in his wake, my boyfriend had been well-liked by everyone. Donavon
had been the only person to truly hate Erik, and that was my fault.
Now, though, Erik made excuses to hide in our suite instead of
socializing. The only time he interacted with our fellow UNITED
agents was on missions, even though several on the taskforce were
longtime friends of his.

The change had been subtle, at first.
Erik had gradually reduced the time he spent with our friends and
even me, outside of the apartment. Without fail, I made excuses for
him, claiming he was too tired to eat dinner at one of Eden’s
restaurants or grab drinks at Heaven’s Gate, the island’s lone bar.
Our friends weren’t the only ones I was lying to, however. Even
though I knew better, I tried to feed my aching heart the same
nonsense.

Denial became harder and harder as
more people began to notice.

When Erik spoke to me, his words were
just as sweet and playful as always. His touch was just as gentle
and loving as ever. But half the time, while he was physically
there with me, his mind was somewhere else. His thoughts were
hidden behind mental walls made of reinforced steel, topped with
barbed wire, and surrounded by an electric fence. On the rare
occasion Erik allowed me a glance at what was going on up there,
dark shadows blocked the vitality that usually shone within
him.

The one time I’d dared to mention the
attitude shift, Erik’s temper had gone through the roof. He hadn’t
yelled or anything, which I’d have preferred since at least then
all the tension between us would have been out in the open. But his
walls had slipped, exposing a torrent of rage and fury that scared
me. Then, he walked calmly to the door of our suite and left
without a word or backward glance.

Later, I’d found Erik in one of the
private workout rooms, pummeling a holographic opponent. Unable to
help myself, I’d stood there watching him for a long time, just out
of his line of sight. And, thinking he was alone, Erik didn’t
bother hiding his emotions. Terror and confusion rivaled his
earlier fury, each fighting for dominance and collectively pushing
him closer to the edge of sanity. Instead of seeing the hologram he
was fighting, Erik saw his internal demons. Every hit gave him hope
that he would win the battle, if not the war.

“
He probably went to get in
an early morning workout,” I told Penny, smiling like all was right
with the world.

Penny returned my fake smile with a
sad one of her own.

“
Probably.”

“
I’ll shower and change
real quick,” I said, as we stepped off the elevator at our floor.
“Formal attire, I assume?”

“
She didn’t specify.” Penny
rolled her lime-green eyes. “But it’s Victoria, so, yeah, formal
attire.”

“
Meet you back here in
thirty?”

“
See you soon.” Penny waved
as we split off, her going right and me left, to our respective
suites.

The lights in the living area were off
when I entered the apartment Erik and I shared. The wallscreen was
on but muted, and an overly made up blonde newswoman was front and
center. Text, detailing the latest world news, scrolled beneath her
image. In the upper right hand corner was a live action scene from
Dublin, Ireland, according to the caption. A small girl was
morphing into a hideous half-man, half-beast creature in the middle
of a crowded street. The bystanders gaped in horror as, teeth
bared, she advanced on those nearest to her. Thankfully, the clip
ended before the carnage began. I didn’t need to see what came next
to know.

No wonder Victoria is
coming to kick our butts in gear,
I
thought.

If my nose didn’t deceive me, an
enticing dark roast was brewing in the kitchen. The aroma drew me
towards the back of the apartment. I could hear the faint drip of
the liquid as it drained through the filter into the
pot.

“
Erik?” I
called.

No answer.

“
Erik?” I tried a second
time, louder.

No answer.

I concentrated as I walked through the
living room into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee and
could make out the sound of the shower running inside the master
bedroom’s ensuite bathroom. I briefly debated joining him. Before,
it would have been a no-brainer—Erik loved naked surprises. But
between our impending meeting and his unpredictable moods, I didn’t
want to take the chance. Instead, I fixed two mugs of coffee,
complete with too much milk and sugar, and carried them into the
bedroom.

When the water shut off, I was
rummaging through my closet for something both clean and
appropriate. As if on a switch, my stomach clenched and I braced
myself for whatever version of my boyfriend came out of the
bathroom.

Lavender-scented steam warmed my back
when Erik opened the door. I took a deep breath and plastered on a
smile before turning to face him.

Erik stood, framed in the doorway, his
dark hair wet and messy. A fluffy white towel was knotted low on
his hips, leaving his lean, muscular torso bare. The scars that
blemished the skin there were always hard to see, but I’d come to
think of them as simply another part of him. The steam misted
around his perfect form, giving him the appearance of a god
emerging from the smoke of battle. He was so beautiful.

Turquoise eyes lit up like fireworks
when they landed on me and I relaxed. It was going to be a great
day. Today he was my Erik.

“
You’re beautiful,” he
said, grinning in that lazy way that was so natural for
him.

And just like that, I was living in
the past again. I was transported back to when Erik had graced me
with that same smile countless time a day, each one making me feel
like the luckiest girl in the world.

Erik crossed the bedroom in four long
strides, leaving wet footprints on the sleek white floorboards, and
wrapped me in his muscular arms. I breathed in his scent, a mixture
of my soap and shampoo, and his natural piney aroma. It was like a
balm to my nerves.

“
Careful,” I said, tipping
my head back to give him a quick kiss, “you just got clean and I’m
all gross and sweaty.”

Erik kissed me again and
shrugged.

“
I’ll just take another
shower, with you.”

The huge smile on my lips was genuine
now. He was definitely my Erik today, and in an unusually good
mood.

“
The offer is super
tempting,” I said. “But we have a meeting with Victoria in half an
hour.”

“
No biggie, she loves me,”
he replied flippantly, a mischievous look in his eyes.

Erik was right. For some reason,
Victoria Walburton did love him. She treated him like a son,
indulging his every whim and overlooking his occasional outbursts.
It was funny, too, because Erik hated authority on principle, and
acted accordingly. Yet snooty, impossibly proper Victoria had never
taken offense or become irritated with the disrespectful behavior
he was prone to in those situations. Truthfully, I think she found
him charming. Which, of course, he could be.

“
Right,” I said with a
laugh. “Emphasis on
you
, buddy. Her feelings run a little colder where I’m
concerned.”

As much as she loved my boyfriend,
Victoria disliked me. Actually, it was more that she feared me,
which made her mad at herself. I knew this not because she’d ever
have admitted the truth, but because I’d read her mind. Erik and
Penny were the two most dangerous Talents in the world currently,
having been injected with so much of the Creation drug and so many
different Talent Signatures. I was a distant third, at best.
Nevertheless, Victoria considered me the largest threat. It
bothered her how uncomfortable I made her, and for that she blamed
me. She was a good, maybe even great, blocker. But the stress and
fatigue that went with her job drilled holes in her mental walls,
and I’d seen myself through her eyes.

Truthfully, I enjoyed how much the
mere mention of my name irked the UNITED councilwoman. It gave me a
heady sense of power. Still, I tried to stay off of her radar. I
avoided interaction unless it was absolutely necessary, which was
rare. There was a fine line between being powerful enough to be
useful and so powerful that she had me contained. The latter was
something I still feared. So I had to remain an asset.

“
Fine,” Erik gave a
tortured sigh, as if it had been eons since he’d seen me without my
clothes, “Go shower alone. Later, though, you’re all
mine.”

“
Deal.”

After giving him one last lingering
kiss, I headed to the bathroom.

“
I’M
READY,” TALIA
announced, joining me
in our suite’s kitchenette.

I gulped down the last of my coffee
before placing the empty mug in the sink. Talia came around the
counter and did the same with hers, and then stood on her tiptoes
to place a kiss on my cheek. My eyelids fell shut and I took a
moment to savor the feel of her soft lips on my skin. Wrapping my
arms around her waist to pull her closer, I had to suppress the
urge to work my hands up under the hem of her shirt.

“
Come on, we’re late.”
Talia brushed a kiss across my lips before stepping
back.

Inwardly, I groaned—she had no idea
how much of a temptress she could be.

My girlfriend genuinely did not
understand the effect she had on me. Insecure wasn’t an adjective
usually associated with Talia. But I’d seen the part of her deep
down that worried she didn’t measure up to my past girlfriends.
That she was not sexy enough. That lying around our apartment in
one of my tee-shirts and her workout shorts was inadequate as far
as turn-ons went. That maybe she should sneak off during one of our
missions on dry land to buy lingerie or at least more revealing
pajamas. Which was all absolutely absurd. In reality, all Talia had
to do was exist for me to want her, to desire her, to love her
beyond compare.

Besides, she didn’t need to buy
clothes to make me want her. I just wanted her to take them
off.

Talia’s expression shifted under my
gaze, her small smile fading and a crease developing between her
brows.