Safe (The Shielded Series Book 1) (7 page)

Estoria’s hand went to her mouth, and a few gasps slipped from those
listening intently to Foster.

“You’re going to get killed,” Estoria said. “You’re going to get killed, and
we won’t even know about it. You’re gone too long from here, Foster. When are
you going to realize you should stay here with us and screw the rest of the
world?”

Darina admired the woman’s fire. The Boston Police Department could use
fire like that. If it accepted GECs.

“Essie, we’ve been over this before. I can’t turn my back and allow the
globe to suffer.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking exhausted. “Not when
I can do something about it.”

A few people sitting closest to Foster nodded their agreement, but
Estoria’s hardened expression didn’t change.

“I’d like to introduce Officer Darina Lazitter, her son, Zeke, and her
friend, Ghared…” Foster looked to Ghared.

“Timms. Ghared Timms.” He gave the group his best see-I’m-harmless smile.

Darina had to fight to keep a straight face. While her buddy had never
shown any aggression toward her or Zeke, she knew he had a temper that could
strip the skin right off his opponent and the muscles to match. Looking at him
trying to be non-threatening was comical, especially with the slashing scar
across his cheek and that barbed-wire and skeleton sleeve tattoo. She’d been
there with Deo and Dixon when Ghared had gotten that tattoo. Actually all three
of the males had gotten tattoos that day. Deo and Dixon had gotten identical
wolf head tattoos except for the eyes. Deo had opted for yellow eyes, Dixon
red.

Ghared had offered to let her pick his tattoo because he felt guilty she’d
been injured with him in his hovercopter. At first, she’d selected a delicate
fairy sitting atop a sunflower. She’d been busting his balls, but he’d been
ready to let that be the image. When she’d told him she couldn’t be friends with
a man who had a fairy on his forearm… or a man who carried guilt around, he’d
scrolled ahead on the tattoo artist’s tablet until he landed on the barbed wire
and skeleton design.

“What about this?” he’d asked. “Can you be friends with a guy who has
this?”

“Forever,” she’d replied.

Flexing her left hand now, she looked at Ghared standing next to her. 

He elbowed her and whispered, “Stop it. I can do soft and cuddly.”

She did laugh quietly at that, and Ghared smiled along.

“You two are going to get us kicked out before the day ends,” Zeke said,
giving them both a stern look.

“We’ll behave,” Ghared said, grinning at the kid.

Zeke’s expression relaxed, and a look of curiosity took over the boy’s
face as he scanned the people in the room. What must it be like to finally be
among people who were also genetically engineered? Zeke never talked about
being a GEC, and Darina was in full support of considering him to be just like
her. That was often hard to do when he was overcome by a seizure, but thanks to
Foster, those days could be a thing of the past.

She glanced to Foster’s pocket where the outline of the medicine bottle
protruded. She’d have to get that back from him along with a copy of the
ingredients. She never wanted Zeke to suffer from a seizure again.

“I wouldn’t be standing here right now if Officer Lazitter hadn’t come to
my aid in the city. She helped me elude my pursuers and got me to Emerge Tech
safely.” He paused in his movement around the room. “Until my domicile within
Emerge Tech walls was consumed by fire.” He held out his hands to quiet the
group when they started talking all at once.

“Officer Lazitter is also responsible for getting me out of harm then and
Ghared and Zeke here flew us all to Vermont. I stand before you now in one
piece thanks to these three individuals.”

Thirteen sets of eyes—Estoria still wouldn’t look at them
directly—flicked to Darina, Ghared, and Zeke. An awkward moment of silence
stretched on until one of the GECs got up from his seat and held his hand out
to Darina.

“I’m Roben. Thanks for bringing the big guy back to us.” He smiled
pleasantly as Darina shook his hand.

“It’s my job.” She didn’t particularly care for being in the spotlight.

“And you did it well.” Another man stood and approached her. “I’m Pike.
Welcome.”

Darina shook his hand as well and soon a line of people formed in front
of her. She, Ghared, and Zeke shook more hands than any of them probably ever
shook in their lifetimes. Each person was nicer than the next. Some of them
looked like ordinary humans. Others, like Estoria, couldn’t hide their bad
genetic code. Skin conditions causing odd complexions, limbs that weren’t
formed correctly, strange coloring in the eyes, and other unusual traits
comprised the group. Foster had his work cut out for him if he ever hoped to
help them all.

When the meet and greet wound down, Foster dismissed the group, promising
to check in with each of them later. Darina admired the way the GECs regarded
him as their leader and the authority exuding from him was damn sexy. This job
would be easier if he was an old, ugly dude.

Foster Ashby, unfortunately, was the total opposite of an old, ugly dude,
and she couldn’t stop noticing that fact.

“Roben,” Foster called as the man passed by.

“Yes?”

Resting a hand on the man’s shoulder, Foster asked, “Could you show
Ghared and Zeke around? I want our guests to feel comfortable here. They
might,” he shot a quick look at Zeke, “even want to be put to work.”

Ghared slung his arm around Zeke’s shoulders. “Me and the kid don’t shy
away from work, do we, Z?”

“Nope.” Zeke’s eager smile could have powered a hovercopter for eons.

Darina’s heart almost couldn’t take the joy she felt at seeing him so
happy.

“What about Darina?” Ghared eyed Foster suspiciously. “Shouldn’t she get
the tour too? It will help her keep your ass safe if she knows her way around
and sees if we need to fortify this place.”

“She’s getting a tour,” Foster said. “I’ll handle it.”

Ghared’s blue eyes narrowed to thin slits. “See that’s all you
handle
,
buddy.”

Darina gave him her own narrowed glare. “Ghared.”

“What? I didn’t fly you here so Dr. Smooth could put the moves on you.”

“Gross.” Zeke looked away, shaking his head.

“He has no time for moves, Ghared. Besides when have you known me not to
be able to take care of myself?” She threw her hands on her hips.

“Well, there was that one time…” He shot her a teasing grin.

“Get out of here.” She turned to Zeke. “Mind your manners,” she said,
feeling the need to mother him suddenly.

“I’ll keep him in line,” Ghared said, giving her a wink.

She watched them go off with Roben who had already launched into tour
guide mode.

“He’ll either intrigue them with every detail of this place or bore them
to death,” Foster said, standing close to her again.

“I’ve yet to see either of them bored to death.”

“Good.” Foster looked down to his boots for a moment, then met her gaze.
“I hope I wasn’t being presumptuous in assuming you’d allow me to give you a
private tour.”

She looked at the already empty great room around them. “So just us?”

He nodded slowly. “I wanted to give you my full attention.”

“Right. Good. I should probably stay close to you anyway. To protect you.
Keep you safe, you know.” Did she sound as stupid to him as she did inside her
own head?

Get it together, moron.

“Staying close sounds like a good plan to me.” He smiled and Darina’s
knees felt not quite capable of holding her weight. “This way.”

He guided her down the hallway that led to a huge kitchen and dining
room. The slate tile floor, in various shades of gray with a few reds mixed in,
continued into the dining room where stone wainscoting met mustard-colored
walls.

“Some of the people here are in charge of cooking. We’re mostly
vegetarian,” he said. “We grow everything right on site so anything prepared in
this kitchen is good for you and tastes absolutely wonderful. Pike, who you met
a few moments ago, is one of our best chefs, but many of the others know their
way around this kitchen too.”

“Do you cook?” The vision of him surrounded by ingredients, slicing,
dicing, chopping, made her suddenly hungry… and horny.

“When I have time, which lately is never.” He gazed longingly at the
stove. “Do you?”

“No. Generally, after I get my hands on food, Ghared cooks for me and
Zeke.” She shrugged. “I forget to eat half the time.” Right now, however,
devouring something—or someone—was definitely on her mind.

“You wouldn’t forget to eat if you lived here. You’d look forward to
eating. Everything that comes out of this kitchen tastes incredible.”

Everything?

She couldn’t stop her gaze from combing down the length of Foster.

He caught her and smirked. “Wondering what I’d taste like?”

His candor caught her off guard. “Oh… umm… I…”

Laughing, he said, “You don’t have to answer that. I couldn’t resist.” He
motioned to a door at the back of the kitchen. “C’mon. We have enough daylight
left to see the grounds.”

“Lead the way.” Hopefully to a wide open space where she didn’t have to
be so close to him.

She fell into step beside him instead of letting him lead, but maintained
at least a seven-foot gap between them. He showed her all the crops they grew—everything
from strawberries to things she’d never heard of. He explained they used
science to create hybrid produce they could grow in Vermont’s climate or in the
property’s many greenhouses. His description shouldn’t have turned her on, but
the guy was a freaking genius. Darina had no idea she’d find brilliance so damn
attractive, but holy shit, she did.

Foster led her to the barn she’d seen in Estoria’s painting. The woman
had really captured the building, and Darina felt a familiarity when looking at
the structure.

“What are these flowers?” She fingered tall, orange blossoms that lined
the barn. Nothing in the city was that vibrant.

“Those are day lilies. They’re all over this land.” He said it like they
weren’t anything special.

Darina disagreed. Crouching to touch her nose to the fragrant petals, she
asked, “You don’t like them?”

“I guess I don’t really think about them. They’re so abundant here.”

“They’d sure make the city look better.”

Foster picked one bright blossom and tucked it behind Darina’s ear. “And
you make them look better.”

 They stood in front of each other for several silent seconds, their
gazes connected, and Darina’s pulse drummed in her ears.

“Do you have animals?” she asked, hoping to get back to the tour and away
from the way Foster’s staring made her feel.

Blinking slowly, Foster said, “Sheep, horses, cows, chickens.” He ticked
off the list on his fingers. As he ushered them into the barn, something barked
behind her, its low raspy, neighing making her turn around.

A large, four-legged creature loped toward her with long strides. Black
and white with big, pointed ears and a long muzzle, the critter’s pink tongue
lolled over the side of its mouth.

“What in the world is that?” Too big to be a dog. Too small to be a
horse. Darina had never seen anything like it.

“Oh, that’s Homer.” Foster stepped around her and threw his arms out by
his sides. “Hey, boy!”

Darina held her breath as Homer bounded toward Foster and knocked him
down.

“Homer!” she yelled, fearing Foster had been hurt.

“No, no. I’m okay. He’s just saying hello.” Foster reached his arms up as
he lay on the floor in the barn and scratched the sides of the mammoth beast’s
head. “Homer’s a dorse—combination dog and horse. Rescued him too. Did you know
the government dabbled in hybridization of animals as a warfare option?”

“I did not.” What else didn’t she know? “So he’s a GEC too?”

“Yep. He got cast off like the rest of us here. Dorses didn’t learn
commands well, so the government didn’t want them.” He gave the critter a few
extra scratches. “But he’s got a home now. He’s a good fellow with a big heart.
Did you miss me, Homer?”

That big pink tongue unrolled and sloshed across Foster’s face.

Darina laughed as Foster struggled to his feet, still petting Homer. “You’re
soaked.”

“Homer gives the best kisses.” He raised an eyebrow at Darina. “So far
anyway.”

Emerge Tech Building Crumbles to the Ground.

Now there was a headline Mikale could applaud. Official news wasn’t
broadcast any longer, but freelance writers often penned stories of interest
and circulated them underground. Mikale’s sources had picked up this story, and
he loved knowing his associates had been the ones to cause the blow to the
world’s largest, functioning corporation. Of course, no one else would know his
people were the catalyst for Foster Ashby’s domicile to be reduced to soot, but
he still reveled in the satisfaction of knowing he’d run the doctor out of his
protected cocoon.

“Nowhere is safe, Foster.”

His former colleague, however, had done a good job of disappearing. That
fire should have scorched him and ended Mikale’s primary obstacle in completing
his mission. The help Foster was receiving had to be phenomenal.

Mikale had spent the day gathering intel on Officer Darina Lazitter, but
it’d only taken him moments to know she was the one. For his plan to work, he
needed not only to cleanse the planet of the humans now in existence but
repopulate the vacated planet as well. To achieve that phase of his mission, he
needed a suitable—no, an
exceptional
—female with which to mate. His
specifications for such a female had been detailed, and he feared he might
never find what he needed.

Until he received the lovely officer’s file on his tablet after losing
Foster in the city.

She was beautiful, intelligent, resilient, had a glowing police work record,
and just looking at her picture made Mikale’s whole body respond. For some
reason, he felt as if he knew her already. She was… familiar and enthralling. The
women he normally interacted with didn’t even begin to offer him stimulation.

A soft knock sounded on his office door, and he knew that would be yet
another woman who would fail miserably at arousing him.

Still, a release was a release. He was tense and nothing let him unwind
like sex.

He got up from the couch and answered the door. A short, blonde woman
leaned against the wall opposite him. She wore an almost transparent sleeveless
dress in shimmery silver that complemented her fair skin nicely. By regular
standards, she was gorgeous.

By Mikale’s standards—ones only solidified after seeing Darina’s picture—this
woman was mediocre at best.

“Are you Mikale?” Her voice was on the high side and sounded a little
fabricated. She was merely trying to be what she thought he wanted. He had to
give her points for effort.

“Yes. Come in.” He stepped aside and let her pass.

She smelled like flowers, and he wondered how she’d managed that. No
flowers grew in the city. As far as he knew, the only place to get flowers was
within Emerge Tech. Scientists there grew them to use in cures.

Or deadly plagues.

The ground petals of some flowering plants could be toxic. Mikale knew
exactly which ones.

“My name is—”

He silenced her with a finger to her pouty lips. “You name isn’t
necessary, love.”

Her brows lowered, and for a minute, Mikale thought she was going to give
him trouble. Though he paid for the activities these women provided, some of
them insisted on being treated in a civilized manner.

He wasn’t feeling very civilized today.

The woman shrugged, grabbed the hem of her dress, and slowly peeled the
garment from her body. She dropped the dress on the floor, and standing in only
silver high heels, she cupped her own breasts then swept her hands over her
stomach, and down to her thighs.

Widening her legs, she asked, “Do you want to touch me first or watch?”

Options. He liked options.

“Touch.” The sooner he finished with her, the sooner he could get back to
searching for Foster and the good officer.

He took the woman’s hand and led her deeper into his office. After
removing his clothes, he sat on the couch, rolled on a condom, and pulled her
down onto his lap. She wiggled slightly to get comfortable, and Mikale closed
his eyes, instantly picturing Darina in her place. That had him going rock hard
in record time.

Deciding to keep his eyes closed and not spoil the image, he coasted his
hands over this woman’s shoulders, down her arms, around to her breasts, which
filled his palms to overflowing. Using only his fingertips to guide him, he
continued traveling over her body until he felt the heat of her ready core. He
dipped a finger into her wetness and reveled in the deep, throaty moan she
released.

What sounds would Darina make?

He couldn’t wait to find out. That day would come. He’d make sure of it.
Together they’d build a new human race, and he’d have that future his mother
had always wished for him.

He buried his length inside this woman sitting atop him, but it was
Darina’s name that looped in his brain. It was her surrounding him. It was her
digging her fingernails into his shoulders. It was her gasping in pleasure. It
was her bringing him to the edge and pushing him over as he thrust into her
again and again.  

“Wonderful.”

The sound of the other woman’s voice wrenched him out of his fantasy. He
opened his eyes and stood, giving her barely enough time to dislodge herself
from him.

“That was amazing.” She fluttered her eyelids at him as she sat on the
couch and folded her legs beneath her.

“And now it’s over.” He picked up her dress and handed it to her. “You
can go now.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he turned away, and whatever she was
going to say died on her lips. She must have gotten up because he heard the
sound of skin shifting on leather. A few huffing breaths escaped from her as
she slipped on her dress, and her heels clicked on the floor. Their quick
tap-tap-tap
let him know he’d pissed her off.

The slam of his door let him know he’d probably done more than piss her
off.

After removing the condom, cleaning up, and getting dressed, he settled
at his desk and brought up Darina’s picture on his tablet. She probably had too
much patience to get so pissed over nonsense. She definitely reminded him of
someone, but who? Tracing the edge of her jaw, he vowed to find her.

Find her and claim her.

****

Foster had shown Darina almost every corner of the cultivated property
from the farmland and gardens to the greenhouses to the hydro-electric station
that ran off the powerful stream cutting through the land to the field of solar
panels used as additional energy. He’d taken her into the woodshop where Roben
and some of the others who were skilled with building things worked. They’d
toured an outside area where a ring of smaller cabins sat, and he’d explained
that some of the GECs chose to live together, while others had their own
places.

He only had two more spots to show her—his lab and the rest of the main
house. His house.

“What do you think so far?” He wasn’t sure what was going through her
head. She’d been quiet through most of the tour, only asking practical
questions about electricity, water, and roles and responsibilities of those who
lived there.

She stopped walking. “It’s impressive. I mean, you’ve got a
self-sustaining community here, Doc.” She turned in a circle, looking out at
the land around them. “And if you can build this here…”

“It can be built elsewhere,” he finished, nodding. “It takes time and
hard work, but it can certainly be done. It could easily be unplug proof. Fuck
the Anarch and what they did to the globe.”

“I like the sound of that, but in order to prove it can be done to the
government,” she turned back to him, “you’d have to provide evidence.”

She fit the pieces together perfectly.

“And if I provide evidence, I have to reveal this place.” Foster shoved
his hands in his pockets. He couldn’t recall how many times he’d had the
internal debate on this very dilemma.

“And all those you keep safe here would be at risk.”

“I’d like to think the government would look beyond my illegal harboring
of GECs in light of the fact that we could have a solution to rebuilding our
nation here, but you and I both know it won’t go down that way.”

 “Emerge Tech wouldn’t help?” she asked.

“Emerge Tech serves the government, just as all the other corporations
had before the Unplug, the fighting, and Mikale’s plague. When Emerge Tech was
the only one left standing, the government took more control of it. After the Unplug,
we only worked on restoring technology. During the fighting, we worked on
weapons. When the virus was unleashed, I got assigned to find a cure. We’ve
been reacting, not looking for solid solutions.”

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and Darina stepped closer.
Throughout the tour, she’d been careful to keep a distance away from him. Had
it been because of the Homer’s kisses comment? He probably shouldn’t have said
that, but she’d been standing there, looking truly intrigued by Homer, and he
couldn’t help himself. As that silly dorse slobbered all over him, he’d been
wondering how much slobbering he could get Darina to do.

“My line of work is similar,” she said softly. “I get sent out to deal
with people who have already become criminals. Wouldn’t it be damn nice if I
could get them before they broke the law? If I could stop them from making
stupid choices?” She shuffled her boots in the stones on the path. “But people
are probably always going to be making stupid choices.”

“Probably. It’s human nature.”

She squinted a hazel eye at him. “It is in a genetically engineered
human’s nature too.”

“Indeed.” He motioned to the main house. “Up for seeing my lab?”

“Sure. Then we have to talk security. This place, though remote, is also
wide open.”

As the sunset outside colored the darkening sky with deep pinks and
purples, he led her into the house and down a set of narrow stairs behind a
bookcase off the kitchen.

“Someone was thinking of security when building this lab though,” Darina
said from behind him.

“I thought it best.” He waved his tablet by a screen at the door to his
lab and the door unlocked. Pushing it open, he said, “This is where I’ll be
spending most of tonight. The sooner I can find this damn cure, the sooner I
can make Mikale’s plague a thing of the past. If people weren’t so afraid to
come out into the city, maybe we’d have a chance at rebuilding everything we
once had.”

“Only better.”

He liked the determined glint in her eyes. “Only better.”

She wandered deeper into the lab when he held the door open for her.
“This is set up like the lab in your domicile.”

“It’s more efficient to organize every lab in the same way.”

“Neatness must have been a trait they were after when genetically engineering
you folks,” she said. “I’m told teenagers are supposed to be messy, but Zeke is
so tidy. Except for his hair. That he won’t let me touch.”

“But you’ve tried?” He smiled, picturing Darina attempting to give Zeke a
haircut.

“He used to let me buzz cut it for him, but when he turned fourteen, that
was it. I no longer had haircutting rights.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I
think he asks Ghared to trim it for him now and then, but I don’t pry into
their beauty regimens.”

She circled his worktable and paused at one corner, leaving a side
between them, keeping her distance as she had for most of the tour.

He’d had enough of that distance.

Walking slowly so as not to cause her to step back, he joined her at the
corner. “And what’s your beauty regimen?”

“Me?” She looked up at him. “I just wake up looking this good, Doc.”

The grin on her lips was too much to resist. He took another step closer,
and when she didn’t back up, he reached out a hand and pushed her hair off her
neck.

She swallowed loudly, her eyes locked on his.

“You do look good,” he whispered. “You also know how to save a guy’s
life.”

“Twice,” she said, holding up two fingers.

“Twice.” He nodded. “I should probably say thank you.” His other hand
went to her waist and tugged her closer.

“Unless you want me to think you’re a rich bastard.”

“I told you I’m not a rich bastard.” He stroked the pad of his thumb
against the silky caramel skin of her cheek and stopped breathing altogether
when she put her hands on his hips.

“Prove it.”

His lips were on hers faster than his mind could tell him to stop. Just
as he’d thought, her lips were soft and intoxicating. When she opened her
mouth, granting him access, he nearly fell at her feet.

She must have sensed his weak knees because she backed him up to the
table and pushed him against it until he sat on the edge. She was a little
taller than him now, and she took command of the kiss, going deeper, taking
more.

He was perfectly willing to give her more.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he corralled her against him and
feasted on her mouth. She tasted like danger and security all rolled into one.
He was both scared to death and comfortable as hell in her presence. How could
she stir such different emotions in him?

Probably because the last woman you touched was merely a hologram.

Being as busy as he was, Foster didn’t have time for the company of women
and most of them didn’t have the tolerance for his single-mindedness when it
came to working in his lab. Holograms didn’t nag him to spend more time with
them. They didn’t require much attention or conversation.

They also didn’t feel half as good as Darina did in his arms right now.

He tangled his fingers in her hair and she let out a little moan that
surged through him like an electrical charge. The heat from the flames in his
domicile had been nothing compared to the fire sparking wildly inside him now.

She hooked her left hand onto the back of his neck and gave him a few
more sizzling kisses before breaking free of his hold. Breathing as heavily as
he was, she said, “If they bred you to be a phenomenal kisser, they succeeded. Superbly.”