Seara looked hopeful and asked, “You remembered something, didn’t you?”
“I think so,” Kayla whispered. “The garden room, I think. Did you take me there when I was little?”
Seara nodded. “You used to play in there while I was gardening.”
More memories and faces flooded Kayla’s mind. The suddenness of the images was disorienting. She dropped Seara’s hand and stepped back. “Are you doing that?”
Seara shook her head. “No. It might be the connection.”
Kayla frowned. Alec walked over to her and asked in concern, “Are you all right?”
She was quiet for a moment and then said, “Yeah. I think I started remembering little flashes.” She looked up at him and cocked her head. “Did I…push you into a fountain?”
Seara burst into laughter. Alec gave a wry smile and nodded. “Yes. You were a rather precocious nuisance even at five years old.”
“Actually, it was well deserved if I recall correctly,” Seara added. “You were teasing her.”
Alec chuckled. “Yes, well, apparently I was a rather precocious nuisance too.”
The door beeped and Seara headed to the door. Alec looked down at Kayla. “I expect those are your friends. I doubt they'll appreciate my presence. I should probably take my leave, but I’ll be back in the morning.”
He took Kayla’s hand and kissed the top of it gently. She felt him send a slight trickle of energy over her. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”
“So when you’re with Carl, you’ll remember what I can offer you,” he said in a low voice.
Oh crap. He’s doing it again. He’s too damn sexy for his own good.
Alec smiled at her knowingly and Kayla muttered, “I don’t know why I even bother thinking anymore. Go. Get out of here. You’re nothing but trouble.”
Seara led Veridian and Carl into the room followed by Cruncher and Xantham. Cruncher let out a low whistle. “Damn, Kayla, you’ve got a nice place here.”
Alec turned to look at the newcomers. “You’ll be expected to take your leave the day after tomorrow. Your entrance to this area will only be authorized until then.”
Alec turned to Kayla and said more warmly, “If you need me for anything, please call. I’m right down the hall.”
With a brief nod at Carl’s crew, Alec bowed to Seara and took his leave.
* * * *
Carl crossed his arms, glad to see him go. It hadn't escaped his attention that Alec seemed to take every opportunity to touch Kayla in some way. He didn't consider himself to be a jealous man, but there were limits. He just wished he could get a read on Kayla's feelings.
Xantham leaned toward Carl. “I don’t like that guy.”
Carl nodded and muttered, “You’re not the only one.”
Seara offered, “Let me show you to your rooms.”
They followed her down the hallway and she showed them to each of the prepared rooms. After putting their things down, Seara opened up the safe room for them. “I know you have things you want to do so I’ll get out of your way. I’ll have some food out in the living area whenever you get hungry.”
Kayla set up one of the computer terminals and asked, “How far did you guys get with the program?”
Cruncher finished plugging in one the terminals. “We were able to get into the system easily enough with Alec’s access codes, but their monitoring system is pretty complex. There are a few loopholes we discovered though. I started coding a few things. We could definitely use your help in exploiting them.”
Once their systems were up and running, Kayla set to work reading Cruncher’s code and making modifications. Carl watched as Cruncher began debating back and forth with her about possible changes. Her adeptness with technology continued to impress him, especially given her camp's limited resources. Xantham occasionally threw in a few comments, but primarily amused himself by reading through OmniLab’s sensitive data with Alec’s passcodes.
Once he was confident they were engrossed in their project, Carl headed back into the living room with Veridian. Seara looked up from placing a tray of food on a table and smiled at them. “Please help yourself. If Kayla’s anything like her father, she’ll end up immersed in whatever she’s doing and forget to eat.”
Veridian laughed and reached for a plate. “Yep, that’s her. Kayla forgets everything when she gets started on a project.”
Carl looked at the expanse of food. “I’ll take something to her.”
“Thank you, Carl,” Seara said, handing him an empty plate. She looked at him, her gaze hesitant, and asked, “I know it’s none of my business, but most people wouldn’t have gone to the lengths you have for my daughter. You jeopardized your entire future. You care about her, don’t you?”
Carl paused, assessing Seara carefully to gauge her reaction to his words. He was well aware that many Inner Circle members didn’t care much for outsiders. He wasn't sure if she was one of the ones who harbored conventional views, but decided it best to keep his answer conservative. “Your daughter is an incredible woman. I’ve never met anyone like her.”
Seemingly unaware of his concerns, Seara smiled happily. “She is, isn’t she? The more time I spend with her the more she reminds me of her father. I wish she’d been able to get to know him.”
Relaxing somewhat, Carl began making up a plate of food. “I can’t help but wonder how different her life would have been if she had grown up here instead. But I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to get to know her.”
Seara started to say something but changed her mind. Instead, she handed Carl a fork and napkin to take to Kayla. Armed with a plate of food, Carl carried it to the safe room while Veridian stayed behind with Seara. Xantham looked up when Carl came into the room. His eyes widened when he saw the plate. “Real food? I’ll be back.” He jumped up and ran out of the room.
Carl chuckled and put the plate down next to Kayla. “You need to eat something.”
Kayla nodded absently and took a bite without bothering to look away from the screen. She continued typing on the keyboard and Carl waited patiently for her to resume eating. When she continued to ignore him, he cleared his throat to get her attention. “One bite isn’t going to cut it, Kayla. Have you eaten anything today?”
“Huh? What?” she asked in confusion, giving him a blank look.
“You need to eat something,” he reminded her.
“Oh, right.” She glanced down at the plate as though seeing it for the first time. She dutifully took another bite before turning back to the computer. Carl stopped her. “If I have to physically remove you from the computer, I will. Take a short break, Kayla.”
She scowled. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
“So you’ve said,” he agreed. “Repeatedly.”
Cruncher looked up, pretending to be affronted. “What? You didn’t bring me a plate?”
Carl raised an eyebrow. “Next time you’re locked up against your will, I’ll consider it. In the meantime though, you can get off your ass and get yourself something.”
Cruncher chuckled, stood up, and headed out of the room. Kayla ate a few more bites before pushing the plate away. She looked at Carl expectantly and he sighed in resignation. He took her plate while she turned back to the computer. Within a few minutes, she was back to being totally engrossed in her computer.
He shook his head, heading back into the common area.
“Well, she ate a few bites,” Carl informed Seara. The woman took the plate from Carl and gestured to the table. “Why don’t you have a seat and fix yourself something?”
He obliged and sat down with the rest of his crew. When they finished eating, Cruncher and Xantham headed back to the safe room while Carl, Veridian, and Seara remained behind talking. After several hours, both Veridian and Seara headed to their respective rooms to get some rest.
Carl walked back into the safe room. It appeared Cruncher and Xantham had already gone to bed. Kayla was still sitting at the computer, reading intently.
“Still working on it?”
Kayla jumped at the sound of his voice. She turned to look at him and relaxed slightly. “No, it’s finished. I wanted to take another look to make sure we didn’t miss anything. It looks like it’ll work.”
He walked up behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. He started massaging her tired muscles and she lowered her head, biting back a moan.
“You have no idea how wonderful that feels.”
He continued rubbing her shoulders. Leaning down close to her ear, he said, “Everyone else has gone to bed. Why don’t you turn this off? You can finish looking at it in the morning.”
“Mmmm,” she murmured and turned off the monitor. Standing up, she turned around to wrap her arms around his neck and purred, “Was that an invitation?”
“It could be, if you’re interested.”
Kayla ran her fingers lightly across his chest. “I’m definitely interested.”
He smiled at her and tilted her head back to kiss her. “Then let’s go to bed.”
Kayla woke up the next morning curled up next to Carl. Surrounded by pillows softer than anything she'd ever touched and lying next to a sexy naked man, she was feeling pretty content. She'd been even better the night before, though, when Carl had managed to entice her away from the computer.
With a lazy smile, she stretched and climbed out of bed. She slipped into the bathroom and went through her morning routine before pulling on the clothes Seara provided the night before. Careful not to disturb Carl, she crept out of the room. Heading down the hall toward the safe room, she paused when she saw Alec and Seara sitting together talking in the living room.
Alec turned to look at her, giving her a warm smile.
“Good morning, Kayla,” Seara said cheerfully. “We were just having breakfast. Would you like to join us?”
“Sure,” she replied and sat down just as Seara placed a plate in front of her. It was some sort of scrambled egg mixture with seasoned vegetables. She took a bite, continuing to be amazed at how incredible the food tasted.
Alec smiled at her reaction and then asked, “Did you get any rest last night?”
Kayla nearly choked on her food as she remembered the surveillance system and her extracurricular activities with Carl the night before. She nodded and managed to swallow. Taking a hasty sip of water, she decided she'd have to figure out how to circumvent the cameras and do it soon. “Yeah, thanks.”
Now she just had to keep Alec out of her head. She forced herself to think about her food and only her food. Alec raised an eyebrow at her questioningly but Kayla ignored his look. “This is great, Seara. Thanks.”
“I’m glad you like it. Everyone else is still asleep. I’m surprised you’re awake so early. You were still up when I headed to bed.”
Kayla nodded. “Yeah, I was up late working on stuff. Everyone else will probably be trickling out soon.”
Alec reached out and touched her hand. “
Were you able to finish the program?”
he asked her, his fingers caressing the back of her hand.
“Yes. I want one more look at it, but it’s finished. We can upload it to the system whenever you want.”
She pulled her hand away and finished eating. “Thanks again for the food. I’m going to go check on something really quick.”
Seara nodded and cleared away the plates while Kayla headed to the safe room, Alec trailing behind her. He looked around curiously. “Impressive. No one knew this existed.”
Kayla flipped on the monitor and sat down in the chair. Alec leaned over her to get a better look at the screen.
Wow, he smells good,
she thought to herself and then sighed when she realized he probably heard her.
Alec leaned close to her ear and said softly, “I was thinking the exact same thing about you.”
“Okay then.” Determined to focus on the computer, she pulled up the program she had finished the night before and scrolled through it. Alec looked at it in surprise and asked, “You did this?”
She nodded. “Cruncher and Xantham started it, but I finished it.”
“Carl had written in your bio that you could code, but I didn’t realize you could do this sort of work.”
“He wrote about me?”
“Yes,” Alec replied. “It’s standard practice when anyone signs an OmniLab contract. He had to submit an assessment of your skills. When I realized who you were, I took a much closer look at it.”
She wasn't thrilled about the existence of a dossier floating around with her name on it. She also wondered what Carl specifically had said about her. “I want to see this bio.”
Alec chuckled. “I’ll send you a copy. He had his eye on you for awhile, according to the notes. I can’t say I blame him.”
“So I’ve heard,” she replied dryly.
“How does this program of yours work?” he asked, bringing her attention back to the task in front of them.
She turned back to the computer and explained, “It’s a masking program. Once we upload it to the system, it’ll show the energy levels as remaining stable. I went ahead and added a feature so there will be slight fluctuations to make it appear more realistic. I had to go through and analyze some of the fluctuations over the past several weeks to get an idea about typical usage.”
Alec nodded. “That makes sense. Whenever you’re ready to upload it, we can try to remove Seara’s bracelet.”
“Fantastic,” Kayla said. “Let me go wake up Carl and Cruncher. I’m going to need them to keep an eye on the system to make sure it’s working properly.”
Alec smiled at her enthusiasm as she jumped up and ran out of the room. She darted down the hallway to her bedroom. Carl was still sleeping but that hardly deterred her.
He grunted and opened his eyes sleepily when she climbed on top of him. “What time is it?”
“Early,” she replied and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Hooking his leg over hers, he rolled over and pinned her down. He propped himself up so he could look down at her as she ran her fingers through his loose dark hair. “I like it when your hair is down.”
“You do, do you?”
“Mmmhmm.” The texture was softer than it looked. The fact that he rarely put it down and she was the only one able to run her fingers through it made it so much more intimate and special. “It’s sexy.”