Kayla strode into the tech room to find Veridian and Cruncher hunched over one of the computer terminals. Veridian glanced up when she entered and raised an eyebrow at her expression. “You look like you want to hit something or someone. What’s wrong?”
She glowered at him and slumped down in an empty chair. “Alec wants me to go back to the towers.”
Cruncher snorted. “You think? The guy’s been pissing Carl off more than usual lately. He’s had to start giving him our daily scavenging schedules and coordinates. Not to mention he’s been tied into our communication systems. It’s making Xantham twitchy.”
“He what?” Kayla jerked upright in the chair. This was news to her. “He’s been monitoring us?”
“Yup,” Cruncher said with an amused expression. “I guess since you won’t talk to him, he has no way of keeping tabs on you. He just about flipped out when the earthquake happened. Never thought I’d see the High Council leader lose his cool like that. Carl thought he was going to run straight out of those towers and head here himself.”
She slammed her hand down on the desk. Veridian jumped at the sound and shot Cruncher a warning look. “That bastard! I should have known. I’m tempted to go to those towers and kick his ass personally. Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Cruncher shrugged. “Probably to keep you from heading back to the towers and kicking some High Council ass.”
Veridian sighed, running his hand worriedly over his frizzy brown hair. “Well, it’s not like we didn’t see this coming. Alec wasn’t exactly thrilled when you left. You have a tendency to attract the wrong sort of attention. Leo always said you sucked at keeping a low profile.”
When she glared at him, Veridian held up his hands in surrender and grinned. “So… are you going to go back there? Or are you going to keep hiding out here?”
“I’m not hiding,” Kayla retorted and folded her arms over her chest. Okay, maybe she was hiding. A little. Dammit. She was more transparent than she thought. “I’ll just tell Alec to mind his own business and quit checking up on me.”
“Uh huh. Right. I’m sure that’ll work,” Veridian said, turning back to his terminal. Cruncher snorted in agreement. Neither one of them even bothered to pretend that Alec would listen to her.
Kayla huffed, suspecting they were right. The idea that Alec watched her every move was more than a little creepy. It only reinforced her decision not to return to the towers yet. If he was this controlling when she was miles away, it didn’t bode well for when she eventually returned.
Drumming her fingers on the desk, Kayla tried to figure out the logistics of disabling the two-way communications with OmniLab. It would serve Alec right if their contact were temporarily cut off. The lesson would do him some good and give her a little breathing room. Too bad this whole aircraft thing was happening. Cutting off communication with the towers right now probably wasn’t the best idea.
A loud beep emanated from Cruncher’s machine and drew her attention. He studied it for a moment and leaped from his chair, knocking it to the floor with a loud crash. Grinning widely, he gestured to the screen. “Un-fucking-believable. You’ve got some crazy luck, girl. Check it out.”
Thankful for the distraction, Kayla leaned over to take a peek. “You already finished testing the water samples?”
“Yup. They’re clean.” Cruncher pulled her out of the chair and twirled her around. A laugh bubbled out of her at his exuberance. “We ran three separate tests, and the water’s safe. We’ve got ourselves a clean water source here.”
She turned to look at the display more closely. The test results showed the water was completely potable with only minor contaminants. Ever since the war had rendered most of the planet uninhabitable, clean water sources were like mythical unicorns—they just didn’t exist. Even with OmniLab’s technology, traces of contaminants still remained behind. They had to use specially developed hydrating packs for regular drinking use.
However, Kayla was a realist at heart and eyed the screen with skepticism. Things that seemed too good to be true usually were. “I don’t trust it. We can’t afford to make any mistakes on this. Aren’t there some other tests we can run to check for microbial contaminants?”
Cruncher narrowed his eyes. “You’re too young to be so cynical. Besides, we don’t have a spectrophotometer here in camp for that sort of analysis. Although, you could always go flutter your eyes at Alec and get him to send one our way.” With a smirk, he added, “On second thought, maybe not. If you so much as crooked a finger at him, he’d probably send over a dozen, along with the techs to run them. We don’t have that kind of room with all the other crap he’s been sending us.”
Kayla groaned and half-heartedly punched Cruncher in the arm. The former ruin rat chuckled and turned back to the display. Alec’s generosity had been over the top since she returned to Carl’s camp. Over the past several weeks, they’d received several shipments of new prototypes and state-of-the-art equipment from OmniLab. It bothered her that everyone knew OmniLab’s “generosity” was a direct result of her uncomfortable relationship with Alec.
Before she could say anything else, someone cleared their throat behind her. Kayla spun around, surprised to find Carl had slipped into the room. His expression was troubled, and she wondered what Alec had said after she left. At her questioning look, he simply shook his head. “Find out anything?”
Apparently, he didn’t want to discuss it. She could respect that. Kayla sat back down and pointed to the contamination report on the screen. “Cruncher’s gotten three test results back. All of them are negative for toxicity.”
“I would have thought that was impossible,” Carl mused, stepping behind her and leaning over to look at the data. He rested his hands on her shoulders, rubbing small circles as he read through the data. “If this is accurate, do you have any idea what this could mean?”
Kayla nodded, resisting the urge to groan at the way his hands worked her sore muscles. His attentions made it difficult to focus on the conversation. “Mmhmm. OmniLab’s going to freak out when they get this news. We need to do further testing before we get their panties wet. I also want to find out where this river goes.”
Carl considered her words for a moment. Her head lowered seemingly of its own volition as he hit a particularly tense spot on her neck. The man had magical fingers.
“I heard you tell Cruncher you wanted to do some additional testing. As it happens, I need to return to the towers for a few days. I’ll take a sample directly to OmniLab and have them test it using their equipment. That would be the fastest way to get answers. I’ll also see about making arrangements for some underwater imaging devices while I’m there.”
Kayla tensed, negating the past several minutes of work he’d done on her muscles. “You’re going back to the towers? What the hell did Alec say to you? And why didn’t you tell me he was spying on us?”
Carl dropped his hands and glowered at Cruncher. “You told her?”
The older man shrugged. “She needs to know, Boss.”
Carl sighed in resignation. “It’s not what you think, Kayla. Can you come with me to my office? I need to show you something.”
Her curiosity mounting, she followed Carl back to his office and took a seat on the edge of the desk. He sat, entered in a few commands on a small tablet terminal, and then nudged it toward her. It was an official notice from OmniLab requesting access to all of Carl’s information, including communication logs, trade agreements, and financial records. The record request went all the way back to three years ago when Carl first accepted the trader position. It was long before she’d even met Carl, much less begun working at the camp or scavenging in his district.
Confused, Kayla looked up at Carl. “What’s this? What’s going on?”
He sighed, leaning back in his chair, and eyed the tablet with distaste. “I probably should have told you weeks ago about Alec monitoring our camp, but I knew it would bother you. As you know, OmniLab owns the trader camps and we’re all under contract with them. It’s unusual but not unheard of for them to demand access to our daily records and communication logs. Requests for that type of information have been rolling in since we left the towers. Granted, this level of surveillance is a bit unusual. I figured Alec wanted to make sure you were safe, and this was his way of going about it.”
Carl gestured to the tablet and his jaw tightened. “But this new demand is something completely different. After you walked out, Alec sent this over to me. Director Borshin wants to audit all my records. They’re looking into my finances and interactions between the ruin rat camps now. They’ve asked me to return to the towers immediately so I can go through my records with them.”
Kayla glanced down at the tablet again. “I don’t understand. Why would they want those records?”
His expression was grim, and he didn’t respond immediately. Finally, Carl sighed and rubbed his fingers over his face as though tired from the entire ordeal. “I don’t know, Kayla. Your guess is as good as mine. Alec isn’t particularly fond of me, and my first thought was that he might be trying to replace me as a trader.”
She stared at him in stunned shock, her grip tightening on the edge of the desk. Before she could say anything, he held up a hand. “Don’t worry. I dismissed the idea almost as soon as I had it. That tactic seems a little heavy-handed for him, regardless of our differences. In all honesty, I don’t know what he’s looking for in these records. I contacted Rand as soon as I ended the transmission with Alec. They’ve requested his camp’s records, too, but they’re not focusing on him to the same extent they’re focusing on me.”
Kayla frowned. “But Rand’s only been a trader for a month.”
Carl nodded. “Yes, and that might explain why they haven’t ordered him to report to the towers. Rand mentioned he spoke with Warig and Henkel earlier today, and neither one of them mentioned anything about an audit. Something about this doesn’t feel right to me. But whatever it is, I’ll handle it. I have nothing to hide.”
Kayla picked up the tablet and scrolled through the long list of requested information trying to find some clue to Alec’s motivation. Carl was right though. There was no love lost between the two men, but this didn’t make sense. Both Carl and Rand had supported her decision to leave the towers against Alec’s wishes. It troubled her that they were both being targeted. Why not the other traders?
Kayla jumped off the desk and paced, too agitated to sit still. “I don’t like that you’re being singled out. You’re the best trader OmniLab’s got. Some of the High Council even pointed that out when they were interviewing Rand for the trader position. Alec better not be doing this because he’s still pissed that I left with you.”
“We don’t know anything for sure. The High Council has every right to request the information, especially since the towers are under new leadership. Maybe that’s all this is. Either way, Alec has asked me to return to the towers tomorrow to go over my records with Director Borshin. I was asked to extend the invitation for you to accompany me.”
She froze at his words and slowly turned to face him. Their eyes locked and understanding filled her. “He’s using you to try and get me to go back, isn’t he?”
Carl nodded and stood, crossing the room toward her. “That much I agree with. It’s possible he’s just using this request as an excuse, especially after you refused his invitation. If that’s the case, it’s just more of a headache than anything else. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
Kayla frowned and considered Carl’s words. Part of her wanted to stay in the camp and just continue to ignore Alec, but a larger part wanted to go back to the towers and tell him exactly what she thought of his attempts to use Carl to manipulate her. If Alec’s actions were just affecting her, it might be different. But Alec’s interference was also impacting everyone in Carl’s camp, and she couldn’t let him continue to do that.
Unaware she was considering accompanying him, he continued, “Your idea about sending the samples to OmniLab for additional testing is a good one though. I’ll take them with me. I won’t be gone longer than a few days. When I get back, we can head back to the cavern. It’ll take a few days to run more stability scans anyway. In the meantime, would you mind helping Cruncher render those three-dimensional images?”
Aware he was waiting for a response, Kayla brought herself back to the conversation. “Sorry, what?”
Carl groaned. “It figures. You’re thinking about going because of what I said, aren’t you?”
“Maybe.” She looked away, not willing to meet his gaze. “So what if I am? Someone needs to tell Alec to back off, and I can do that a lot better face-to-face. He has no right to use you to get to me.”
Carl ran his hands over his face in frustration. “You’re going to send the message loud and clear that his plan worked. All he needs to do is call me back to the towers and you’ll go back too.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m going to send the message that he’ll never see me again if he tries to manipulate the people I care about. I made my choice already: I left with you.”
Carl was quiet for a long time and just looked at her. “Kayla, are you sure you aren’t going because you want to see him again?”
Shit. Panic flooded through her at the loaded question. She glared at him and held up her hands, gesturing in frustration. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that. I’ve spent the last several weeks trying my damnedest to avoid him and you think I want to see that pompous, arrogant jerkoff?”
Carl reached for her hand as she started to pull away. He gripped tightly, not letting her go. “Yes, I do. In the entire time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you back away from anything. You’ve always met every obstacle and challenge head-on. Something about this situation with Alec is different though. You’ve avoided him for weeks, but you’ve changed your mind all of a sudden? It doesn’t make sense. I think you do want to see him again, but for whatever reason, you’ve been trying to avoid it until now.”
“That’s not true.” Kayla’s protest sounded weak, even to her. Carl might be right, but she wasn’t ready to have this conversation. Not now. Maybe not ever.
Part of her hated how easily Carl could read her. As though sensing her conflicted emotions, he took another step toward her. “I know you’re not still angry over what he said in the towers. Your temper is like a flash fire. It burns, and it’s excruciating to witness, but it’s over almost immediately. You’ve pretended to be angry with him for weeks. Why?”
“He said I belonged to him!” Kayla yanked her hand back. “I don’t belong to him! I won’t ever belong to him. I don’t care about the stupid connection thing. I won’t let him control—”
“I’ll be damned,” Carl whispered. “You’re terrified of that ‘connection thing,’ aren’t you?”
Kayla’s eyes widened, and her hand flew to her mouth. She’d said too much.
“Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell me?”
She shook her head, refusing to answer. With a sigh, he slipped his arms around her. Kayla started to pull away, but the comfort and reassurance Carl offered was irresistible. She leaned against him and squeezed her eyes shut.
His voice was soft as he said, “You can’t change who or what you are. But you can make a choice about how you want to live your life.”
“I already did,” she whispered, curling her fingers into his shirt. She needed this closeness, needed him. “I chose you. It doesn’t make the ache go away though. It hurts all the time.”
Carl tipped her head back and searched her expression. “I want to understand. Please tell me.”
Kayla swallowed nervously and looked away, not wanting to hurt him. How could she admit that part of her wanted to see Alec again? Her feelings for Carl weren’t any less, but the energy… she desperately wanted to feel it again. It was that incessant need that freaked her out and made her avoid Alec.
“I can’t get him out of my mind.” She hung her head, ashamed of her admission and weakness. “It’s this pull that won’t go away. Every day, I think of another reason to go to the towers, and then I have to talk myself out of it. It’s hard enough to deal with it on my own, but when I saw him earlier on screen, it brought everything to the surface. I remember the energy and want to experience it again. I hate feeling that way though. I don’t want to live like that.”
Carl’s arms tightened around her. He was quiet for a long moment as though battling an internal war. Squeezing her eyes shut, a sick feeling grew in the pit of her stomach at his continued silence. Finally, he sighed and threaded his fingers through her hair. “Maybe you should go back to the towers for a visit. It’s possible you’ve been going about this the wrong way.”
Kayla peeked up at him, not sure she’d heard right. “What? What do you mean?”
“Alec told you this would happen,” he reminded her. “He knows far more about it than we do. Maybe there’s a way to turn it off or make it easier to deal with. We won’t know until we ask him.”
Her brow furrowed. “You want me to see Alec even after I told you that? The two of you were throwing off enough testosterone and angry guy vibes to make me think we were headed for another nuclear fallout.”
Carl smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear in an affectionate gesture she’d begun to treasure. “You said yourself that you chose me. You also said you want it, not him. You’re drawn to the energy. I still don’t like him much, but I can deal with that.”
She frowned, still not completely convinced. “You really think I should go?”
“I do. You’ve been distracted lately, and I know you’re not sleeping well. I can’t help but wonder if this is the reason. If there’s a way we can either get rid of this bond or figure out how to keep it from hurting you, we should do it. Besides, we need to run the water tests and get some extra equipment to finish exploring the cavern.”
Kayla bit her lip, considering his words. Avoiding Alec hadn’t made things any better up to this point. She still wasn’t sure she trusted him or this energy stuff, but she did trust Carl. He’d bailed her out of more than one tight spot before, and she just hoped he’d be willing to do it again if things went bad. “I guess you’re right. If I go, I want you to promise me something though.”
He looked at her in surprise. “What is it?”
“No matter what happens, I want you to get me out of there. Even if I tell you something different, make me leave with you. Knock me unconscious if you have to, but when you leave, I want to be with you.”
His eyes warmed at her words. “I’m not going anywhere without you. I don’t think that’s going to be an issue though. You’re not going to want anyone else to touch your river.”
She relaxed a bit and returned his smile. “Yeah, that’s a good point. That river is mine.”
Carl bent down to brush his lips against hers. His kiss was gentle and offered her promises of a future if she’d only open herself up enough to embrace them. One of his hands wound its way through her hair as the other pressed against the small of her back, drawing her closer.
This was what she feared losing if she went back to the towers. The understanding, patience, tenderness, and passion he offered were more consuming than anything she’d ever experienced. Carl might not have Alec’s ability to entice her with energy, but he had a way of touching her that transcended the physical and caressed her soul. Carl was her balancing point in so many ways.
Kayla needed him like a breath of air. Fear gripped her at the thought that the strange metaphysical connection she shared with Alec might threaten the precious bond she’d chosen to forge with Carl. In the face of returning to the towers, she needed his touch and reassurance that she wouldn’t lose him.
Desperate to touch bare skin, she slipped her hands under his shirt and slid them across his stomach and then upward across his muscular chest. She shivered at the feel of his heated skin under her fingertips. The need for more was overwhelming.
Kayla parted her lips in invitation, saying without words that she accepted everything he offered. With bold strokes, Carl swept in eagerly, possessing her mouth in the same way he’d claimed her heart. The passion between them flared as his kiss became even more demanding, consuming her with its heat.
Carl broke the kiss suddenly, capturing her wrists in his hands. Leaning his forehead against hers, he took a deep breath and struggled to regain his composure. “You have no idea what you do to me, Kayla.”
She had a pretty good idea if it was anything like what he did to her. And so help her, if he stopped touching her now, she’d have to hurt him. He always talked too damn much. Kayla nipped at his lower lip. “I’m willing to find out.”
“You’re a wicked woman.” Carl released her wrists and rubbed his nose along her jawline. His hot breath fanned against her neck as he murmured, “If you’re going to go with me tomorrow, we should go pack before you distract me completely.”
She shivered at the sensations coursing through her. To hell with packing. She’d go naked if it meant she could stay in his arms. “Why bother? Seara dresses me when I’m there anyway.”
“You won’t hear me complaining.” Carl chuckled, and his fingertips brushed against the bare skin under her shirt, sending delicious tingles through her. If he didn’t shut up soon, she was going to tie him to the bed and gag him. “Your mother has phenomenal taste. Although, I think you look incredible no matter what you’re wearing.”
He trailed his lips downward, and Kayla tilted her head to give him better access. It was getting more difficult to form coherent thoughts. “And what—” Her breathing hitched as he reached a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. “What about when I’m not wearing anything?”
He pulled back slightly and raked his gaze over her figure. “It’s hard to say. I think I’ll need to see that in order to give you a fair assessment.”
That was a suggestion she could work with. She took a step back, immediately missing the warmth of his touch. With a playful smile, Kayla reached down and slowly pulled off her shirt. She dropped it on the desk and watched as his eyes flared with heat.
He swallowed. “That’s definitely an improvement. But you might want to remove all your clothing so I can make a more accurate evaluation.”
Kayla gave him a sultry smile and took another step back. His eyes followed every movement as she reached down and slipped off her pants. Kicking them aside, she looked up at him. “Is that better?”
Apparently, it was. Instead of responding, Carl yanked off his shirt and threw it on the floor. Kayla squealed in delight as she was quickly airborne and carried into his private quarters. She laughed as he tossed her onto the bed.
He stalked toward her like a powerful predator. She arched an eyebrow and propped herself up on her elbows. “I’m guessing you see something you like.”
Carl ran his hands lightly along her thighs, trailing upward to her hips. Pulling her down so she was pinned underneath him, he said in a husky voice, “That’s putting it mildly. Kayla, you’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met.”
Her heart fluttered as Carl bent down and kissed her. Unable to resist him or the promise of everything he offered, Kayla wrapped her arms around him and gave herself to him completely.