Chapter Six
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Pleasant Dreams
Joshua's
Seattle, Wa., September 9th, 2021
Curling steam, and the heady, tantalizing scent of warm, damp flesh embraced his
figure with an abruptness that set Alec's head to spinning. He blinked aside clinging
moisture, and the mists parted around his body, revealing a lithe, slender figure behind
the frosted glass partitions of the shower.
The shaded form of her body arched softly beneath the overhead stream of water,
liquid beading and flowing voluptuously over each curve.
He swallowed hard, and felt the air plunge from his lungs in a single, breathy
exhale.
*Holy shit.*
He tracked the ascent of her hands to long sable hair with wide eyes, dark in their
desire, hazel clouding to emerald. *Holy shit.* he thought again, and found himself unable
to look away. A drifting haze of rose-scented condensation settled across his frozen
body.
And now the shower doors parted with agonizing lethargy, and her head thrust
into the steamy confines of the bathroom, full lips bowed in an inviting smile. A finger
hovered coyly before her naked body, and beckoned him to her with an agile flick of the
wrist. Her body glistened in a sheen of moisture, concealing nothing as beads of liquid
slithered sumptuously over glossy caramel flesh.
"Come here, big boy."
He ripped his shirt free of a hard-muscled torso with an urgency rivaling that of a
man fleeing pursuing bullets.
"Umm, Max..." His voice erupted in a husky purr.
"What?"
He jerked fully into wake, the last remnants of sleep slipping quietly into oblivion
as his eyes snapped open to her startled face.
*Did I just say that aloud?*
Her eyebrows arched, the flesh of her brow rippling in a thousand tiny wrinkles of
confusion. "What did you say?"
"Uh...nothing." he said, averting his eyes as his hands fumbled for the twisted
knot of blankets lurking at his ankles. "Nothing at all. Just mumblin' in my sleep."
"You said my name."
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't. What reason would I have for screamin' out your name in sleep?"
he asked, jerking the covers over his lap. *I can think of a few...*
"You didn't scream it. It was more like a...moan."
*For Christ's sake, woman, you'd have been moanin' too if some incredibly hot
member of the opposite sex was standing naked in the shower right in front of you and
invitin' you to share the goods.*
"Maxie, Maxie, I think your fantasies are startin' to cross over into reality. Now
far be it for me to deny a woman her heart's desire, so if you're dreamin' about makin'
me moan, go ahead and go for trying it-no complaints here."
She scowled. "Pig."
"What are you doing in here anyway?"
"Well I'm certainly not here for the intelligent conversation." she remarked,
smirking.
"That hurts, Max. Right here." He thrust a hand dramatically to his chest,
keeling back against the pillows as he did so. The abrupt gesture pulled the wound in his
shoulder, thrusting tendrils of pain all throughout him. He fell gasping against the
headboard.
"Be careful, you ass." she scolded, crossing the room to his side.
"I'm fine." Alec panted, plunging a hand out to halt the fingers that reached for
him. "It's just a little sore."
"You're not fine. Being a transgenic doesn't make you some sort of fucking
superhero. You still need time to heal, and if you're flopping around like some dead fish,
it's going to take longer."
She checked his dressing, the soft pinpricks of her fingertips lighting a fire deep
within him. He pulled back the moment her grip loosened, a bit disturbed at this effect
she was having on him.
"Should be ok for another couple a' hours. Just don't go trying to do handstands
or something."
Her gaze flickered over his pallid features, coming to rest on the beautiful glint of
those soft hazel eyes. She sensed something within the swirling mists of verdant, an
unnamed emotion that wavered insecurely, until he blinked, and it disappeared.
He watched her throat constrict in a hard swallow, and now, studying her face, he
glimpsed the unexpected haze of moisture glittering over mahogany orbs.
"Max?" he queried uncertainly.
She blinked and looked away.
"What is it?"
"Nothing." she said quickly.
"Sure. Nothing." He shrugged. "Sure seems like nothing."
"It's just..." She paused a moment, and drew breath. "I think it's time for me to
leave Seattle. Make a start somewhere else."
He was silent a moment.
"Leave Seattle."
"Yeah. I've been thinking about it...and this last time at Jam Pony...it was just
too close a call. White knows where I work, he knows where I live. OC stopped by
yesterday, while you were sleeping, and told me about our trashed apartment. If she'd
been there...White would have hurt her. To get to me. I'm putting the people around me
in danger."
"Max, there are people here who need you."
*Like me.* he added silently, surprised at the vehemence in that thought.
"It's going to be hard, leaving Seattle, leaving all my friends...my whole life."
Her eyes grew liquid as she spoke. "But I've done it before."
"Max, any one of your friends would be willin' to risk their life for you. The
norms all know there's a risk in bein' associated with our kind. They're takin' that risk
for you, because you're their friend."
"I know. But I'm not willing for them to take that risk. I don't want them getting
hurt because of me. So it'd just be better if I packed up and moved on."
"White's just gonna' follow you. No matter where you go, Max, that man will
always be after you. He won't stop until he's dead, or until you are."
"I know, Alec. But at least this way, it would get the rest of you out of danger. I
just can't deal with this shit anymore; wondering if I'm going to accidentally kill Logan
one day, if White will get ahold of OC, or maybe Sketchy, and torture their asses until
they tell him where I am. And the media's having a field day with this; starting all these
stories about the 'transgenic rogue' wanted for arrest. People are gonna' turn me in.
They know I'm transgenic."
He shrugged. "So we'll work around it. The police don't want you. White does.
The arrest was just a cover-up for the news anchors to have somethin' to play with."
Alec sighed. "And what about Joshua?" he asked quietly. "You think the big guy's just
goin' to let you leave? Max, you're everything to him. First Annie, and then you...he'd
never be able to take that."
Her voice dipped and quivered now as she spoke, and the heartbreaking slump to
her shoulders tore at his chest. "It's just...Alec, I can't. It's not safe, for anyone, for me
to stay in Seattle." A single trail of wetness twined the length of her face. "I'm not
doing this to-"
"Come here." he said softly.
She looked over to him, eyes luminous in the frail lighting. "What?"
"Come here." he said again, and held open the covers as she approached
cautiously.
She dropped tentatively to the edge of the bed, and he snugged an arm around her
slender waist, pulling her to his side despite the grief it caused his shoulder. She tensed
against him for a moment, and the blankets tumbled to lie still across their entwined legs.
Alec tugged her against the hardness of his bare chest, and the tension eased
reluctantly from taut muscles, until she settled her head beneath his chin. His hand
trailed the curve of her back, to the sleek waterfall of hair.
"Think about this, Max." he whispered, nestling his lips within the thick strands
of her locks. "You'll find another apartment, another job. You don't need to leave
Seattle." *I don't want you to leave.* "Granted, it would be a lot less detrimental to my
health if you left, but..." he trailed off before he could confess things he didn't want her
to know.
She laughed softly into him. "Probably. You wouldn't have some bitch around
always hounding your ass and smacking you around."
He caressed the top of her head with light, feathery strokes of one hand. "Now
why am I tryin' to persuade you to stay again?"
She tilted her face to look up at him, glaring in mock anger. "Shut up." Her head
slanted once more to his chest.
The gentle, soothing pressure of his hand soon lulled Max to sleep, and not long
after, Alec joined her. Their bodies relaxed as one in peaceful slumber, limbs tangled
with a lazy serenity that curved both sets of lips in unbidden smiles.
"Brought some information for Eyes-Only."
Logan spun from the glow of his computer monitor to her soft smile, his nostrils
inhaling the enticing scent of her perfume as he stretched one hand out for the folder she
clutched. He offered a somewhat strained smile.
"Thanks. He'll appreciate this."
She drew her coat free of narrow shoulders, and draped it lightly over the back of
his immaculate couch.
His fingers resumed their intricate dance across the keyboard.
"So how's Alec doing?" The Jam Pony incident had been all over the news these past few days.
Logan shrugged. "As well as can be expected. With Max to...look after him,
he'll be better in no time."
"You're jealous."
His head whipped around to her. "What?"
"You're jealous." She crossed both arms over her chest, easing back against the
couch. "It's obvious."
"You mean I'm jealous that Max gets to take care of Alec? I thought your
women's intuition was better than that, Asha."
She snorted lightly, rolling her eyes. "Don't give me that, Logan. You know
what I'm talking about. You're jealous that Max is pushing you away and turning to
Alec. Because you've always tried so hard to make sure that she knows you understand
her, and that you don't care that she's different."
He sighed tiredly, removing his glasses to rub at fatigued eyes. "I've accepted
that Max has moved on. Guess I couldn't expect her to wait for me forever, when we
can't even touch." The words resonated deep within his chest, sending a pang of
loneliness through his heart. "I just never expected her to move on to...him."
"I think she needs to be with her own kind right now, with all that's been going
on. No matter how much you respect her, and overlook the fact that she was
manufactured in a test tube, there's still that bridge between you. Because the truth is, no
matter how much you say you 'understand' Max, you can't. Not really. But Alec can,
because he's been through the same thing. I think Max needs that kind of...safeness right
now." Asha explained carefully.
Logan smiled ruefully. "Never thought of Alec as safe."
"Look, Alec's a self-centered, womanizing...pig. But he's still learning how to be
normal, he's still adjusting from his years at Manticore. And you have to admit, he's
really matured a lot in the past few months. I can see that, and I don't even see the guy
that often. And he cares about Max a lot."
"Does he?" Logan asked, a touch of bitterness resounding in his words. "Or does
he just want to add her to his conquests? This is Alec we're talking about, Asha."
The blond standing before him nibbled thoughtfully at the soft flesh of her bottom
lip, studying him intently as she did so. "No. Trust me on this, Logan. Women know
about these sort of things. And I can tell...the way he looks at her sometimes..." She
lifted both shoulders in a nonchalant gesture. "I think this has been coming for a while."
She looked directly into his eyes now. "And I think it's time for you to move on too."
"Yeah." he sighed, picking up his glasses and nudging them back into position.
"Maybe."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Pleasant Dreams
Joshua's
Seattle, Wa., September 9th, 2021
Curling steam, and the heady, tantalizing scent of warm, damp flesh embraced his
figure with an abruptness that set Alec's head to spinning. He blinked aside clinging
moisture, and the mists parted around his body, revealing a lithe, slender figure behind
the frosted glass partitions of the shower.
The shaded form of her body arched softly beneath the overhead stream of water,
liquid beading and flowing voluptuously over each curve.
He swallowed hard, and felt the air plunge from his lungs in a single, breathy
exhale.
*Holy shit.*
He tracked the ascent of her hands to long sable hair with wide eyes, dark in their
desire, hazel clouding to emerald. *Holy shit.* he thought again, and found himself unable
to look away. A drifting haze of rose-scented condensation settled across his frozen
body.
And now the shower doors parted with agonizing lethargy, and her head thrust
into the steamy confines of the bathroom, full lips bowed in an inviting smile. A finger
hovered coyly before her naked body, and beckoned him to her with an agile flick of the
wrist. Her body glistened in a sheen of moisture, concealing nothing as beads of liquid
slithered sumptuously over glossy caramel flesh.
"Come here, big boy."
He ripped his shirt free of a hard-muscled torso with an urgency rivaling that of a
man fleeing pursuing bullets.
"Umm, Max..." His voice erupted in a husky purr.
"What?"
He jerked fully into wake, the last remnants of sleep slipping quietly into oblivion
as his eyes snapped open to her startled face.
*Did I just say that aloud?*
Her eyebrows arched, the flesh of her brow rippling in a thousand tiny wrinkles of
confusion. "What did you say?"
"Uh...nothing." he said, averting his eyes as his hands fumbled for the twisted
knot of blankets lurking at his ankles. "Nothing at all. Just mumblin' in my sleep."
"You said my name."
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't. What reason would I have for screamin' out your name in sleep?"
he asked, jerking the covers over his lap. *I can think of a few...*
"You didn't scream it. It was more like a...moan."
*For Christ's sake, woman, you'd have been moanin' too if some incredibly hot
member of the opposite sex was standing naked in the shower right in front of you and
invitin' you to share the goods.*
"Maxie, Maxie, I think your fantasies are startin' to cross over into reality. Now
far be it for me to deny a woman her heart's desire, so if you're dreamin' about makin'
me moan, go ahead and go for trying it-no complaints here."
She scowled. "Pig."
"What are you doing in here anyway?"
"Well I'm certainly not here for the intelligent conversation." she remarked,
smirking.
"That hurts, Max. Right here." He thrust a hand dramatically to his chest,
keeling back against the pillows as he did so. The abrupt gesture pulled the wound in his
shoulder, thrusting tendrils of pain all throughout him. He fell gasping against the
headboard.
"Be careful, you ass." she scolded, crossing the room to his side.
"I'm fine." Alec panted, plunging a hand out to halt the fingers that reached for
him. "It's just a little sore."
"You're not fine. Being a transgenic doesn't make you some sort of fucking
superhero. You still need time to heal, and if you're flopping around like some dead fish,
it's going to take longer."
She checked his dressing, the soft pinpricks of her fingertips lighting a fire deep
within him. He pulled back the moment her grip loosened, a bit disturbed at this effect
she was having on him.
"Should be ok for another couple a' hours. Just don't go trying to do handstands
or something."
Her gaze flickered over his pallid features, coming to rest on the beautiful glint of
those soft hazel eyes. She sensed something within the swirling mists of verdant, an
unnamed emotion that wavered insecurely, until he blinked, and it disappeared.
He watched her throat constrict in a hard swallow, and now, studying her face, he
glimpsed the unexpected haze of moisture glittering over mahogany orbs.
"Max?" he queried uncertainly.
She blinked and looked away.
"What is it?"
"Nothing." she said quickly.
"Sure. Nothing." He shrugged. "Sure seems like nothing."
"It's just..." She paused a moment, and drew breath. "I think it's time for me to
leave Seattle. Make a start somewhere else."
He was silent a moment.
"Leave Seattle."
"Yeah. I've been thinking about it...and this last time at Jam Pony...it was just
too close a call. White knows where I work, he knows where I live. OC stopped by
yesterday, while you were sleeping, and told me about our trashed apartment. If she'd
been there...White would have hurt her. To get to me. I'm putting the people around me
in danger."
"Max, there are people here who need you."
*Like me.* he added silently, surprised at the vehemence in that thought.
"It's going to be hard, leaving Seattle, leaving all my friends...my whole life."
Her eyes grew liquid as she spoke. "But I've done it before."
"Max, any one of your friends would be willin' to risk their life for you. The
norms all know there's a risk in bein' associated with our kind. They're takin' that risk
for you, because you're their friend."
"I know. But I'm not willing for them to take that risk. I don't want them getting
hurt because of me. So it'd just be better if I packed up and moved on."
"White's just gonna' follow you. No matter where you go, Max, that man will
always be after you. He won't stop until he's dead, or until you are."
"I know, Alec. But at least this way, it would get the rest of you out of danger. I
just can't deal with this shit anymore; wondering if I'm going to accidentally kill Logan
one day, if White will get ahold of OC, or maybe Sketchy, and torture their asses until
they tell him where I am. And the media's having a field day with this; starting all these
stories about the 'transgenic rogue' wanted for arrest. People are gonna' turn me in.
They know I'm transgenic."
He shrugged. "So we'll work around it. The police don't want you. White does.
The arrest was just a cover-up for the news anchors to have somethin' to play with."
Alec sighed. "And what about Joshua?" he asked quietly. "You think the big guy's just
goin' to let you leave? Max, you're everything to him. First Annie, and then you...he'd
never be able to take that."
Her voice dipped and quivered now as she spoke, and the heartbreaking slump to
her shoulders tore at his chest. "It's just...Alec, I can't. It's not safe, for anyone, for me
to stay in Seattle." A single trail of wetness twined the length of her face. "I'm not
doing this to-"
"Come here." he said softly.
She looked over to him, eyes luminous in the frail lighting. "What?"
"Come here." he said again, and held open the covers as she approached
cautiously.
She dropped tentatively to the edge of the bed, and he snugged an arm around her
slender waist, pulling her to his side despite the grief it caused his shoulder. She tensed
against him for a moment, and the blankets tumbled to lie still across their entwined legs.
Alec tugged her against the hardness of his bare chest, and the tension eased
reluctantly from taut muscles, until she settled her head beneath his chin. His hand
trailed the curve of her back, to the sleek waterfall of hair.
"Think about this, Max." he whispered, nestling his lips within the thick strands
of her locks. "You'll find another apartment, another job. You don't need to leave
Seattle." *I don't want you to leave.* "Granted, it would be a lot less detrimental to my
health if you left, but..." he trailed off before he could confess things he didn't want her
to know.
She laughed softly into him. "Probably. You wouldn't have some bitch around
always hounding your ass and smacking you around."
He caressed the top of her head with light, feathery strokes of one hand. "Now
why am I tryin' to persuade you to stay again?"
She tilted her face to look up at him, glaring in mock anger. "Shut up." Her head
slanted once more to his chest.
The gentle, soothing pressure of his hand soon lulled Max to sleep, and not long
after, Alec joined her. Their bodies relaxed as one in peaceful slumber, limbs tangled
with a lazy serenity that curved both sets of lips in unbidden smiles.
"Brought some information for Eyes-Only."
Logan spun from the glow of his computer monitor to her soft smile, his nostrils
inhaling the enticing scent of her perfume as he stretched one hand out for the folder she
clutched. He offered a somewhat strained smile.
"Thanks. He'll appreciate this."
She drew her coat free of narrow shoulders, and draped it lightly over the back of
his immaculate couch.
His fingers resumed their intricate dance across the keyboard.
"So how's Alec doing?" The Jam Pony incident had been all over the news these past few days.
Logan shrugged. "As well as can be expected. With Max to...look after him,
he'll be better in no time."
"You're jealous."
His head whipped around to her. "What?"
"You're jealous." She crossed both arms over her chest, easing back against the
couch. "It's obvious."
"You mean I'm jealous that Max gets to take care of Alec? I thought your
women's intuition was better than that, Asha."
She snorted lightly, rolling her eyes. "Don't give me that, Logan. You know
what I'm talking about. You're jealous that Max is pushing you away and turning to
Alec. Because you've always tried so hard to make sure that she knows you understand
her, and that you don't care that she's different."
He sighed tiredly, removing his glasses to rub at fatigued eyes. "I've accepted
that Max has moved on. Guess I couldn't expect her to wait for me forever, when we
can't even touch." The words resonated deep within his chest, sending a pang of
loneliness through his heart. "I just never expected her to move on to...him."
"I think she needs to be with her own kind right now, with all that's been going
on. No matter how much you respect her, and overlook the fact that she was
manufactured in a test tube, there's still that bridge between you. Because the truth is, no
matter how much you say you 'understand' Max, you can't. Not really. But Alec can,
because he's been through the same thing. I think Max needs that kind of...safeness right
now." Asha explained carefully.
Logan smiled ruefully. "Never thought of Alec as safe."
"Look, Alec's a self-centered, womanizing...pig. But he's still learning how to be
normal, he's still adjusting from his years at Manticore. And you have to admit, he's
really matured a lot in the past few months. I can see that, and I don't even see the guy
that often. And he cares about Max a lot."
"Does he?" Logan asked, a touch of bitterness resounding in his words. "Or does
he just want to add her to his conquests? This is Alec we're talking about, Asha."
The blond standing before him nibbled thoughtfully at the soft flesh of her bottom
lip, studying him intently as she did so. "No. Trust me on this, Logan. Women know
about these sort of things. And I can tell...the way he looks at her sometimes..." She
lifted both shoulders in a nonchalant gesture. "I think this has been coming for a while."
She looked directly into his eyes now. "And I think it's time for you to move on too."
"Yeah." he sighed, picking up his glasses and nudging them back into position.
"Maybe."