Seclusion (13 page)

I walked to the landline. How
does someone who unleashes so much lust in me also make me so angry? I ordered
the pizza and a salad and some more Dr. Pepper. I sat on the couch and was
flipping through the channels on the TV when Damen walked back into the room.
His Henley was clinging to every muscle, and I could smell his clean, heady
male scent.

“Hey, the pizza guy is
here,” he said as he opened the door with his mind and grabbed a flannel
blanket and threw it at me.

“One thing’s for sure, your
ability does come in handy sometimes,” I said with a smile. I kicked off my
boots and cuddled up on his black leather couch. He tipped the pizza boy and
then brought the food in and laid it on the coffee table. Paper plates flew
from his cupboard with napkins.

“I’m surprised you have any
muscles, considering your ability.”

“Mmm, I think I’ll just
take that as a compliment,” he said as he picked my feet up and laid them on
his lap. It seemed a little too intimate, but I didn’t want to ruin the evening
with a dumb comment.

Next thing I knew, we were
watching
The Lost Boys
on TV, another old classic, and eating our pizza.
All of a sudden, I could smell the ocean. I looked around, and there were
candles lit. I could tell by his expression that he was checking my thoughts.

“Oh, sorry. Habit. If you
don’t like it, I can put them out, but you seemed cold so I thought it’d add
some heat to the room.”

The lights weren’t out, so
it didn’t seem like he was trying to be romantic or anything.

“No, it’s okay. I like it,”
I said.

By the time the movie
ended, I was leaning against Damen on a pillow, and it seemed as normal as
could be. Even though his presence made me nervous, he had a way of making me
feel comfortable.

Damen flipped off the TV
and pulled me to a sitting position, and our books flew over and opened.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever
get used to that,” I said.

“Oh, you will,” he said.
“In fact, that’s one of the areas Taylor wants you to work on. She says you
have a knack for that, and for prediction. I have some easy things we can work
on.”

“Oh, okay” I said.

It was odd to see Damen in
work mode. He was surprisingly patient and understanding, even when I explained
that I didn’t have those abilities.

“First we need to work on
your imagination. I need you to focus on an object… Let’s try the remote.”

I looked at the remote and
gave him a “you must be crazy” look.

“Come here.” He sat me back
down on the couch and positioned my head on a pillow in his lap. “Now relax,”
he said.

Relax? That’s a joke
. Relaxing with Damen in
the room wouldn’t be possible for any girl.

“Just relax and breathe.
Don’t even think of the remote yet. Calm your nerves…relax your muscles…count
back from twenty.”

He held my hand as he
showed me with his mind how he relaxes. I could see ocean waves crashing.

“Now imagine the remote and
picture what it looks like. Feel the weight in your hands, and now tug with
your brain.”

All of a sudden I felt a
smack against my head. I shot up from the couch and stared at Damen.

“What the heck did you do
that for?” I asked.

He started laughing so hard
that I started blushing.

“You did that, you dork!
You forgot to think of where you wanted it to go, like to your hand for
example. You smacked yourself in the head with the remote!”

He smiled. I rubbed my
head. He pressed his fingers against the spot I’d hit and gently brushed them
down my cheek. The sensation I felt from his touch was indescribable.

“Okay, well, I really
haven’t gotten this aura thing down. Could you maybe block your thoughts and
I’ll try to see only your aura?” he asked.

“
My thoughts aren’t
blocked
?” I thought.

“They haven’t been since
you relaxed. Sorry,” he said.

“Oh, okay.” I said. I could
see him focusing on me.

“Wow,” he said. “I need
sunglasses! You’re bright yellow, Rae!”

“I am? What does that
mean?”

“I’m not sure,” he said as
he opened his textbook. “It says strength.”

“Hmm…I wonder what color
you are.”

Damen jumped up and grabbed
my hand. We walked to his bedroom and looked in his mirror. I could see through
his eyes that he was a golden brown. I remembered reading brown was bitterness,
but I hid my thoughts from him. We looked at each other and then looked at the
mirror, and through his thoughts, I could see fireworks of colors exploding in
a circle around both of us. There was a bold purple and a strong pink with
flashes of all the colors. They were swirling so fast around both of us that
there was no deciphering which colors belonged to whom. With a shock, we both
walked back to the front room.

“That was different, and
kinda wicked.”

“It’s crazy,” I said, and
then realized his warm hand was still wrapped around mine, sending tingles up
my arm. We released each other at the same moment and settled back onto the
couch.

I practiced a few more
times with the remote and slowly got the hang of it. It was easy to be myself
around Damen when we were having fun. He shielded me from my bad aim many
times, especially when I tried to move multiple objects at once. By the time I
had made progress, we were both laughing hysterically at the mess.

“I’m surprised this place
hasn’t caught on fire,” he laughed.

I yawned and stared at him
through glassy eyes.

“I guess I should be
going.”

“Sure. Maybe I’ll see you
again tonight. If I do, bring that bikini!”

Damen gave me a sexy as
hell half grin. I was surprised by how much fun I really had with him.

He got up and walked to the
door.

“There’s someone coming
with a package,” he said as he opened the door and took the envelope.

We read the front:
To
Damen and Raegan from Dr. Zeke
.

“What the heck?” I said.

Damen read the note from
Dr. Zeke out loud:

“Damen and Raegan,

Welcome to our school! Taylor has said so many promising things about you two. She would like me to present you
with this opportunity to help the local community and prepare yourselves for
finals.

If you accept this mission,
you will need to fill out these confidentiality agreements and return them to
my office. In this envelope are two files, one for each of you to study. You
will need to become fictitious characters.

The local police department
has some minor spying they would like to have done, off the record of course.
It’s just minor surveillance. They suspect that a certain prominent figure in
their community is smuggling something of importance. With your abilities, you
should be able to easily locate information.

By all means, DO NOT PUT
YOURSELVES IN DANGER. You are only being asked to attend a formal birthday
function for the suspect’s son, and if you happen to pick up any secrets from
the family, all the better. There are maps of the suspect’s home and of the
area where a safe is hidden. If by any chance you glean what is in that safe,
the local detectives will be most appreciative. The choice is up to you. If you
accept, you will be flying out tomorrow after your class and won’t be returning
for two nights. Pack according to your character outline, and everything you do
not have will be supplied in your hotel room. Also, you have permission to
supersede any curfews that apply to you. We have permission from your guardians
for the two of you to room together in order to complete your assignment.

Sincerely, Dr. Zeke”

Damen and I stared
speechlessly at each other for a few minutes before sifting through our
character files. My character seemed easy enough: an Orange County socialite teen, typical partier.

Damen looked over at me.
“So, let me get this straight,” he said, thinking out loud. “They want us to
spy on someone in order to prepare us for a final? And we get special slumber
party privileges to help us with our mission?” he grumbled.

“This does seem bizarre,” I
said, “but it sounds kind of fun. I mean, we’d really just be going to some
fancy party together, and the file said we get to keep all the stuff we get!
Did you read the part about the fancy hotel and the limo and that you are super
rich?” I asked.

“I did! But did you read
the part where you are ‘loose’ and that we are going to hook up at that party?
Did you read the suggestion that we be as realistic as possible and that
kissing would be inevitable?” he said.

I could feel my anxiety
coming back, and I was also feeling a little defensive.
Was he saying he
didn’t want to play BF with me?

“Well, it’s just a
suggestion, and it’s all fake, just like our dream.”

He looked at me. “I think
you just want to go to some fancy party and be the popular girl. You would go
with or without me. But I can’t let you do this alone!”

We plowed through the
paperwork and discussed our plans over a pot of coffee and old pizza. We
decided that we would go to the party separately and pretend to meet there.
Supposedly, the kid whose birthday it was invited only people he didn’t know,
but apparently he paid them to come – poor kid.

*
* *

It was close to midnight when I felt Damen carrying me into another bedroom. He pulled back the covers and
straightened the pillow using his ability, and then gently laid me down, covering
me with a blanket. I was only partially awake as I heard him picking up our
dishes. I was so sleepy, I couldn’t focus any longer.

Soon I was on the same
beach as before, but I was alone, and this time I was wearing my normal bathing
suit and sarong. I thought that it’d be nice to have a drink and some tanning
lotion, and as dreams go, the items popped up. I sipped my Mai Tai and started
rubbing the lotion onto my legs. In the back of my mind, I knew something was
missing.
Oh well, I’m just going to enjoy this
. I was just flipping to
my back and putting my Dior Delicacy glasses on when I noticed someone in black
and white board shorts walking down the beach with a towel in his hands. He
started laughing when he saw me.

“I guess you can’t stay
away from me, huh?” he said.

“Guess not. Man, I was just
enjoying this dream.”

I secretly couldn’t help
but hope that we’d pick up where we’d ended the night before.

Damen laid his towel out on
the ground beside me.

“How’d you get an umbrella
drink? You’re not even old enough.”

“I just wished.”

“Hmmm.”

Next thing I knew, he was
holding a Sobe and I was in my black bikini again.        

Tricky
, I thought.

Damen smiled. “I like this
dreaming stuff.”

He set his Sobe down on a
table that he made appear and walked toward the water. I watched his muscular
body walking toward the water and pouted. I felt a little disappointed he
wasn’t staying with me.

After his swim, Damen
walked back over and lay down on the towel next to me, dripping salt water on
me.

“Should we go over our
plans again for the mission?” I asked.

“No. Unless you want to
practice the making out part, since you have less experience in that area.”

I smacked him on the
shoulder.

“Ouch! How’s it possible to
feel pain in a dream?” he grumbled.

He rolled over onto his
back, taking me with him. I was lying on top of him, giving him a warning look
as his hands on my waist started roaming lower.

“Okay…” he said and threw
his hands behind his head.

“Don’t you have a
girlfriend?” I asked.

“Don’t you have a
boyfriend?” he responded.

“I’m not the one flirting,
and we are only dating.”

“Chloe knows we are only
talking. One dance doesn’t equal dating anyway,” he said with an absent look on
his face.

“Let’s not be serious. This
is a dream, after all.”

It was easy to get caught
up in the dream fuzziness. Damen put both hands on either side of my face,
running his hands through my hair and pulling my face down to his. I started to
mumble that this was not a good idea, but I succumbed to the kiss. I had my arms
crossed on his chest as he continued to kiss me. His hands began to roam, and
he flipped us over so he was now above me, slowly kissing my face and down my
neck. His hands held my hands behind my head. I could feel the electricity
shooting through my body.

“I really think my feelings
are going to get confused here, Damen,” I mumbled.