Power Trip: Double Helix, Book 1 (11 page)

The tightening of his jaw told her he was annoyed, but she couldn’t care less. A deal was a deal.

“I’ll make coffee,” Cal said. He gestured at the room behind the kitchen and she led Jake into a well-appointed living area. Floor to ceiling bookshelves lined two walls. The other wall was taken up by a huge flat-screen TV. Although the furniture was broken-in black leather, the warm hues of the rug, the throw pillows and the comfy-looking blanket on the couch lent the room a cozy air. She settled onto the couch and Jake took the arm chair. He braced his forearms on his knees, leaning toward her.

“I have to start at the beginning,” he warned. “It was before our father…left. It was night, but something woke me up, a sound. I got out of bed and crept down the hall. I heard it again. I went into Mom and Dad’s room. He wasn’t there and Mom wouldn’t wake up, so I went to your room and you were gone. I was crying. Then I heard you scream.”

Audrey was cold and she was glad when Cal dropped down beside her. She leaned into him as Jake kept talking. “I found you in the basement, sitting in a chair. You were so small, barely two, and he had you blindfolded and strapped into a car seat. I didn’t know what he was doing to you, but it was making you scream. I screamed too. I told him to stop. He grabbed me, and I looked up at him. I yelled
stop, leave her alone, go away!
” Her mountainous brother shivered, dwarfed by the big black chair. “He left, Audrey. He walked right up the stairs.”

“He was the first person you hypnotized,” Audrey said, horrified by the realization.

“Yes.” The anger in Jake’s voice sent a chill down her spine. “You were hysterical. I took the blindfold off of you, got you out of the car seat and took you upstairs to my bed where you sobbed for an hour before you fell asleep. Then I went back downstairs and I took everything he had on the table and I put it in the garbage can outside—the blindfold, the rope, the lighter, needles…there was some other stuff, too, but I didn’t know what it was at the time. I got back in bed with you. When Mom woke us up in the morning, I pretended nothing had happened, and I waited for our father to come home.”

“But he never came home,” she said.

Jake shook his head. “And if you expect me to be sorry about that, I’m not. I think he was experimenting on you Audrey, trying to discover a talent, just like you used to do when you were a kid.”

“Did he do it to you too?”

“I can’t remember. If he tried anything, I probably just told him to stop. Depending on when I actually came into my talent, he might have thought I didn’t have any power. But you, you were screaming. He was hurting you.” Jake’s voice was choked. “He left because of me, Audrey. I made him go away, but I’m not sorry because he was hurting you.”

She slid off the couch and onto her knees in front of his chair, reaching up to wrap her arms around his thick shoulders. Peripherally, she was aware of Cal leaving the room.

“It’s okay. You kept me safe.” She tugged Jake’s glasses from his eyes. They were wet, regretful and furious. She clasped his cheeks. “You did what you had to do, Jake. We’re safe.”

“Not anymore,” he said. “But at least we’re not children. You are a brilliant scientist and I have connections in places most people don’t know even exist. Hiding isn’t going to work anymore, Audrey. We need more information. And then we need to find the bastards who are looking for you—before they find us.”

“We’ll get information,” she promised him. “As soon as I figure out how to get back into the lab.”

“No problem.” Cal came back into the room, balancing a tray of coffee mugs, cream and sugar. “We’ve got an unusual skill set.”

Audrey laughed in spite of the dread filling her. He was right. If she’d had Jake with her today, the security guard would have opened the door for her. As a backup plan, Cal could probably work some magic with the lab’s electronic lock. And the security cameras. Oh God, could they really break into Genecorp? She was almost certain her research subjects would give her valuable information, but was it worth breaking the law?

She added cream to her coffee and sat back on the couch next to Cal. His arm dropped down around her shoulders and she snuggled into his side. Clothing separated them, hers and his, but a buzz of energy connected them.

“One last thing, Aud,” Jake said.

She stiffened.

Her brother dropped his shades back down into place. “I pushed you toward science and medical school in our father’s footsteps, hoping you would learn something useful. I forced Charlotte to sign you up for Tae Kwon Do with me, so you could learn to protect yourself. I deliberately made you feel uncomfortable around my friends so that you wouldn’t discover things I didn’t want you to know. It seemed like the best way to keep you safe. I hoped he would never come after us if you didn’t show any signs of talent.” He shook his head and sighed. “I was so damn glad when I discovered you were a neutral. I don’t know what I would have done if you’d started setting things on fire all the time like poor Cal used to do. Or getting in fights like Truman.”

No, she hadn’t done anything like that. She’d been too busy trying to be perfect so Jake’s misbehavior wouldn’t get them thrown out of their foster home, or worse, separated. “You should have told me.”

“Yeah, maybe, but I was hoping it wouldn’t matter. If you were never threatened by a talent, then you’d never need yours.”

But it was more complicated than that, and they both knew it. The subtle shift of Jake’s head told her he was looking at Cal, not her. She kept her eyes on her brother as she said, “I guess we know why I don’t like to be blindfolded. I wonder why I didn’t have a problem with the restraints?”

Cal’s arm tightened around her shoulders and Jake grimaced. “Thanks for that little visual. Speaking of kink, I need to run by the club and make sure my manager is tight for the night. Tru’s coming here when his shift is over at eleven. Probably best to save our burgling for the dark of night, anyway. And police backup might not be a bad idea.”

“For a break-in?”

Innocent was not a look Jake did well. “Technically, you’re allowed to enter. You’ve just misplaced your ID.” He pushed himself to his feet.

Audrey stayed on the couch while Cal walked her brother to the front door, wondering what to do. Jake would take her car, leaving her stranded again. She didn’t have her data, so she couldn’t work. Her life had been threatened. Her career was in jeopardy. And she was supposed to wait until it got dark to do anything about it?

She tugged the band out of her hair and slumped back on the couch, closing her eyes, feigning sleep. She heard Cal come back into the room, felt his weight settle next to her. She kept her eyes shut and listened to her heartbeat begin to speed. She
was
pretending, making believe she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to do for the next few hours. If she opened her eyes, would he be looking at her the way she knew she was going to look at him—with desire, with need?

She opened her eyes.

Cal’s eyes glowed. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked.

God, she hoped so. The ice that had taken up residence in her center began to melt. A steamy melody ran through her head and she felt a smile curve her lips.

He stood, looking down at her. “Let’s get you set up in my lab downstairs. We can order any equipment you need from my private sources and you can get to work right away,” he said briskly.

She blinked, forcing the smile to stay on her face as she switched gears. “Right.”

Cal raised an eyebrow. “That wasn’t what you were thinking?” He glanced at his watch. “It’s three o’clock. We’ve got hours to kill. I can’t think of anything to do with that much time but work…can you?” He cocked his head to the side and she realized he was teasing her. Apparently, innocent was something Cal did extremely well.

“Nope, I’ve been dying to get a look at your…lab.” She stood, but didn’t touch him. He’d asked her not to. Energy crackled, a tangible force, drawing her closer, keeping her away. She wanted him to kiss her again and held her breath as he reached out.

His fingers stroked through her hair, loosened from its pony tail. She bit her lip, trembling with the effort of holding still under his caress.

“It isn’t just for safety’s sake,” he whispered. “I like this. I like you holding still and letting me do whatever I want. It’s a huge power trip.”

“I imagine it is.” She tried to grumble but the husky note in her voice ruined the effect. “You have all the power.”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “You do.”

That was hard to believe. She would have pulled away but his hand was still tangled in her hair.

“Think about it,” he urged.

“I can’t think when I’m near you. That’s the problem. My brain slips out of gear. I feel stupid, nothing like myself.”

“God, that turns me on.” His eyes sparked and he groaned, pulling his hand out of her hair. She heard a crackle and reached up to smooth her hair, now standing on end. She couldn’t look away from his bright blue eyes. “You know you’re not stupid, Audrey, but you
are
submissive and that’s why your brain slips out of gear.” She would have argued, but he held up his hand. “Hear me out.”

She nodded slowly, not even trying to tell herself she wanted to do anything else.

“Most BDSM practitioners have a conversation in a vanilla space so they can think straight while creating the rules of their game. There are elaborate checklists to go through that make sure each person’s needs will be met. I play on the extreme end of the scale because of my talent. My subs like pain, electrical play and being totally dominated. I work hard to get them to the place where their brains slip out of gear and they float. When they are honest about what they want and they trust me, a bond is created that we can both enjoy. Everybody wins.”

“Why do you keep calling it a game?”

A fierce grin flashed across his face. “Because it’s fun. I get to be Dominant while you indulge in a fantasy of being powerless.”

“A fantasy? It felt pretty damn real when I was strapped to the table.” A shudder shook her.

“Everything ends if you call red. And when the scene ends, you go back to being Dr. Audrey Fallon, black belt, utterly vanilla, the moment you wish. Engaging in BDSM doesn’t change who you are, but it’s a hell of a good time. That’s why it drives me wild that you begin to float so easily. It isn’t always like that. Your trust is a gift, and I appreciate it.”

Is that what it was between them? She trusted him? She did, she realized. Even before Jake had said she could. Something about him connected with something deep inside her. She couldn’t explain it; it didn’t make sense. But she trusted him.

She didn’t believe these experiences wouldn’t change her or that she could ever go back to being utterly vanilla, but the rest of his explanation made sense. Last night had been amazing, but the whole powerless, strapped to a table thing didn’t match up with her self-image. For her, that was the sticking point. She wasn’t weak. She was trained to fight, not submit. But if Cal was correct, admitting these things gave her pleasure wasn’t a weakness. Could she play this game with him and not
feel
weak? Was she brave enough to find out?

“All right,” she said.

“Thank God.” His eyes glowed. “If you had said no, I really was going to have to work this afternoon. I’ve got enough energy to fill two dozen fuel cells, and it’s all your fault,” he said, pointing a finger at her.

Audrey stared at him. Suddenly the enormous house and the expensive gadgets made sense. “Davis Energy. You own Davis Energy Company, don’t you?”

“I do,” he said with a wicked chuckle. “I don’t always pour myself into the bodies of willing women. Sometimes I fill fuel cells. And sell them.”

“For millions.”

“It’s not a crime,” he protested.

She led the way toward the basement door. “Now I really am dying to see your lab.”

Chapter Nine

“Wow.”

Cal grinned, pleased that she was impressed with his set-up. Although the room was crammed with equipment, there was plenty of room for whatever she wanted to add.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing at a full-size mannequin across the room. It wore the latest version of his bio-enhancer, a skullcap of black straps connected to a leather vest that housed a still-too-complicated circuit.

“A prototype of the electrical enhancer I was telling you about the other night in the car.”

She pointed at the conductor in its hand. “That looks like a gun.”

“It is a gun, a green gun. No batteries, no chemicals. It’s powered solely by the electrical impulses of the human body.”

Her jaw dropped. “Does it work?”

He nodded slowly, watching her eyes go wide. “It’s a little clunky and I haven’t tested it out on anyone but myself. Unfortunately, I have the opposite problem as the rest of the world. I have too much energy.”

She raised her hand, then paused. “Can I touch it?”

“Sure.” Her fingers traced the wires, stopping every so often to explore the connection points. As her hands moved over the mannequin, he imagined her hands touching his skin. He heard a sizzle. Yes, he definitely had too much energy.

Audrey looked at him. “Is it safe? Can I try it out?”

He stifled a groan at her professional enthusiasm. “I should have known better than to bring you in here. Scientists are so predictable.”