Page 26

She nodded quickly, pressing her thighs together a bit anxiously as I pulled my shirt up and over my head. I stripped and turned the shower back on, glancing over my shoulder to catch her watching me too.

Naughty girl.

I didn’t know if I was going to be able to walk away from her after all this.

I knew I didn’t want to and from the glittering excitement in her eyes, I didn’t think she wanted that either.

I turned back and tilted my face under the spray.

I grabbed the bar of soap and washed up thoroughly.

The hot water felt good on my sore muscles.

I turned off the shower when I was done and walked out dripping wet.

When I searched the cabinets, I was happy to find a few towels preserved in plastic wrap.

Someone had bought new ones more than five hundred years ago and they’d never been used.

I ripped one open and dried off before I wrapped another around my waist. I knelt beside the bathtub and slowly rubbed Naomi’s shoulders.

She groaned with appreciation. When the water grew cold, I helped her climb out and wrapped her in a towel of her own.

She padded off into the bedroom, looking over her shoulder coyly to see if I would follow.

“It is time for bed, little girl,” I said sternly.

She cocked an eyebrow, likely trying to think of something sassy to say, but she ended up yawning instead. I stripped the top blanket off the bed, coughing a little at the dust. Quickly, I shook out the pillows and the rest of the blankets before lifting the covers for her to slip in.

She crawled underneath them like a good girl. She squirmed a little as she lay back, peering up at me. Very tentatively, her fingers wrapped around my wrist.

“Will you… maybe?”

I knew what she needed. This girl was everything I wanted and more.

I slipped my hand under the covers and between her thighs.

“One orgasm and then you’ll go to sleep. Any argument and I’ll have to punish you; do you hear me,” I said firmly, and she nodded quickly.

When I slipped my fingers between her sensitive folds, I found her soaking wet for me already. I rolled a single fingertip over her clit, and she shuddered hard, crying out softly with fervent desire. She clapped a hand over her mouth, and I worked my hand between her thighs more quickly.

If she wanted to come, it was going to be hard and fast for me.

It didn’t take her long.

Her entire body arched clean off the bed and I decided that once wasn’t enough. I made her come twice more after that and I only decided to stop when she begged for mercy. I decided to grant her that, thoroughly enjoying the aftershocks that continued to hold her captive.

I kissed her forehead and pulled the covers up, tucking her in as though she were mine.

In my heart, I already knew she was.

Her eyes fluttered closed.

“Goodnight, my sweet girl,” I murmured. As I pulled away, I realized that she was already fast asleep. With a satisfied sigh, I returned to my apartment and pushed the door between them closed.

I didn’t lock it.

I woke up the next morning to find Naomi next to me in bed.

As much as I shouldn’t enjoy waking up that way, I did. Her body was warm against mine. Her bottom was nestled against me, making my cock rock hard.

I wanted to flip her flat on her back and slip inside her. I wanted to punish her with my cock for risking sleeping in my bed.

I glanced to the door, finding it still shut and locked like I left it. I curled my arm around her waist and kissed her cheek gently. She groaned quietly, trying to turn away and cocoon even further beneath the covers. She blinked her eyes open and looked back at me with confusion.

“How? But I…?” she asked.

“You snuck into my bed last night, naughty girl,” I said, keeping my voice gentle. She blushed when she realized that she wasn’t wearing any clothes, and neither was I.

“I don’t remember…” she began but her explanation tapered off. I chose that moment to kiss her, not really caring if she did it on purpose or if she had sleepwalked here. Either way, it didn’t really matter.

She had chosen me.

“I need you to go get dressed before I do something I’ll regret, Dr. Vaughn,” I murmured.

My tone had turned more serious now. I didn’t want to be the man that took her virginity and then walked away when this was over.

She deserved so much more than that. She was the kind of woman that deserved the world.

When she didn’t move right away, I cocked up my right eyebrow.

“Do you need your little pussy spanked to remind you that I expect to be obeyed?” I warned. She blushed enough to make her whole face turn red, but she reluctantly did as she was told.

Honestly, that made my cock so hard that it hurt.

I watched as she tiptoed back into the other apartment, her bare little bottom far too pale for my liking.

I liked it bright red, especially before I fucked it.

I threw my head back with a groan. The moment she pulled the door closed, I hopped out of bed and put on my clothes, tucking in my rock-hard cock to the best of my ability. There was no time to do anything else before there was a knock at the outer door.

“One minute!” I yelled out. I pulled on my boots and practically ran to answer it. Seth and the others were waiting. They already looked annoyed.

Fucking fantastic.

“Hope you slept well,” I offered, trying to maintain some modicum of professionalism, at least for Naomi’s sake. She might have to work with these guys back in New Englandia.

“It was better than sleeping on the ground,” Seth replied flatly.

I really didn’t like him. I stood there and grinned while I imagined the sound he’d make if I kicked him right in the nuts.

We walked out to the large central room and Naomi joined us several minutes later.

Neither of us mentioned the night before as we all consumed a quick, small breakfast, then continued the search for the fusion reactor.

We made our way down several more floors, taking note of a variety of interesting things along the way, including a pressurized room that could simulate underwater situations or the lower forces of gravity in space. I’d never come across anything like it.

When we reached the bottom level, we found that the entryway was locked. It looked like a scanner provided was the only way inside.

Naomi passed a plastic badge in front of it.

“Where’d you find that?” I asked.

“It was on the counter in my apartment, so I thought I should grab it. I’m glad I did,” she winked, the glee written all over her face.

I could hear the mechanisms working from behind the walls and the door slid open, allowing us to continue inside.

It was clear that we were finally in the right place.

I quickly collected several solar cells knowing that they’d be useful, keeping an eye out for any other tools we might need or want.

We all continued the search for the fusion reactor.

It definitely appeared that the equipment here was associated with assembling the components of one, at least.

There was a half staircase leading down to another locked door and my heartrate picked up.

Naomi passed the plastic badge to me, and I waved it in front of the scanner.

The door opened, revealing a compact nuclear fusion reactor at the center of the room.

It was still humming, an endless source of power still to this day.

Astounded, I just marveled at it for a moment before saying anything at all.

“There it is,” I murmured.

The sound of a gun cocking behind me made me freeze.

“The two of you have gone far enough,” Seth’s voice rang out.

Fucking hell. I hadn’t wanted to be right about him.

As swiftly as I could, I grabbed Naomi and pushed her behind me, shielding her from whatever this was with my body. All six men had guns pointed on us and I angled my arm behind my back, needing to keep my hands on her to ensure that she was still safe.

I guided her several steps back into the room, hiding the badge behind me. The team stepped forward, following us inside.

“What is this, Seth?” I said, wanting to delay him long enough so that I could come up with some sort of plan.

“My orders are to see to it that Pacifica never gets a hold of this technology and now that you’ve finally found it, it’s time to dispose of the two of you,” he explained further.

“I saved your life, Jamie,” Naomi blurted out behind me, her anger and shock bleeding through in her voice.

“Orders are orders,” the asshole shrugged. There wasn’t even a glimmer of regret on the man’s face as he said it, his previously guilty countenance notwithstanding.

There were no emergency exits from this room. There was one way in and one way out. We needed to get out of this room and fast.

Seth’s finger tightened on the trigger.

“Are your orders to secure the reactor and bring it back?” I asked haughtily.

“Yeah. Why?” Seth exclaimed. He was annoyed, but my question had been enough to give him pause.

“You need to cut the power before you move it. If you try that without knowing how, you’ll cause the whole place to explode, you lot along with it,” I was attempting a bargain banking on the fact that I knew as much about this technology as any living person, and he didn’t.

“How do I do that?”

I was right.

“We need to find the control room. I think it’s somewhere on this level,” I continued. I squeezed Naomi’s wrist, telling her in silence that she needed to trust me. Thankfully, she stayed quiet.

“Listen. I’ll help you. Just spare Dr. Vaughn. She has nothing to do with any of this.”

“Help me shut it off and I won’t hurt her,” Seth sighed. “Vince, keep her here. The rest of you, come with me.”

I wandered off into the hallway like I was a little lost, but I had a plan in mind. I’d seen another room off to the side with badge access. I waved the badge in front of it and scuttled in first, slipping around the corner and taking advantage of Seth when he entered first.

I grabbed his gun and kicked his wrist hard enough to break it. He cried out and I quickly brought the butt of the gun down on his head. With a pained grunt, he slid down to the floor, knocked out cold.

Martin and Roger barreled into the room, and I took aim.

I couldn’t let any of them out alive. They’d come for us both, but more importantly, they would kill Naomi, and there was no way I could allow that to happen.

I pulled the trigger twice. I didn’t miss.

Three down. My heart was pounding, but I felt a calm determination wash over me.

After a few moments, Jamie and Brandon crept cautiously through the door. Poised behind the door, I was ready for them. My first shot caught Brandon in the thigh. In a panic, he swung wide and squeezed off a wild shot, but he was on the floor, dead, a heartbeat later.

Two more left.

“She saved your life, and you were just going to kill her, you fucking bastard,” I spat at Jamie. He raised his gun and I dipped behind a desk, using it as cover as I listened to the sounds of his boots scraping against the tile floor.

“What do you care? She’s just a woman. Barely even a human to you men back in Pacifica,” he taunted.

He couldn’t have been more wrong, about me and about Pacifica.

Without a second thought, I sprang up and squeezed the trigger for a fifth time, shooting him right in the middle of his forehead. The shock was permanently etched into his eyes as he slumped to the side and crashed against a metal desk before landing in a heap on the floor.

“To think that she could have died saving you, you worthless motherfucker,” I growled.

Hurriedly, I rushed toward the door but couldn’t stop myself from spitting in his face before I left that room, shutting the scan locked door behind me.

I was silent as I made my way back to the reactor. Vince had Naomi in his grip, his forearm locked against her throat and the barrel of his handgun pressed firmly against her temple.

“Don’t,” I said boldly.

His wild eyes locked on mine.

“What did you do to the others, asshole?”

“They’re back there in the control room,” I said, using my thumb to point backwards over my shoulder.

“I thought I heard gunfire,” he said, suspicion all over his face.

“We had to shoot up the mainframe to cut the power,” I lied. I met Naomi’s gaze, taking a deep steadying breath. Her eyes were wide with fear, and I could tell that she was doing everything in her power to stay strong.

“On your knees, little girl,” I commanded, and she dropped to the floor instantly. Vince wasn’t ready for her sudden change in position, but I was.

I lifted the gun, aimed, and squeezed the trigger, shooting him point blank.

Vince stared at me with disbelief before his eyes rolled back in his head.

After a long tenuous moment, he finally collapsed to the floor.

Naomi crawled forward, her face a mask of terror. She practically hurtled into my arms.

“Shhh… You’re safe. They’re all gone. No one is going to hurt you, not ever,” I assured her. Her arms closed tightly around my waist as if she didn’t want to let go. I didn’t make her; I was too busy holding her as close as possible.

“The control room?” she finally asked, her voice shaking.

“There never was one. I can power down the reactor from here,” I explained.

I led her over to the reactor and slid open a panel.

Carefully, I shielded her as I went through the steps to power down the reactor.

When it was ready, I disconnected the whole thing and slipped it into my backpack along with the other solar cells I’d already collected.

“Let’s get out of here,” she suggested. She was trembling against me.

“That sounds like a great idea,” I agreed.