Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(104)

Ha! But still, not good in a room full of people.

"I'm glad. I was worried about you."

Sweet man. "What were you saying about Sherridan?"

"You mean Siren? That's her new paranormal name. Because she now has a superpower," Rome explained, stepping into the room. He didn't stop until he was beside my bed. There was a chair there, and he eased into it, leaning back and stretching out his legs.

Siren? The smell of soap wafted from him, distracting me. I was willing to bet he'd left me only long enough to shower. I smiled. My dear, sweet man. Who once dated Desert Dirtbag and never told me.

My smile disappeared.

Rome reached out, twined our fingers. I was stiff, but didn't pull away. "What?"

"Nothing." Everything. My upcoming dates with Jean-Luc were approaching. Could Rome and I make it?

The question slammed through me - when would it leave me? Of course we'd make it, I told myself.

We'd made it through his memory loss. And yet, he hadn't even hinted about whether or not he could see himself with me forever, now that I was putting the agency first.

I dragged my thoughts back to the matter at hand. "I still don't understand." I looked over at Sherridan, who had tears in her eyes. "Whatever it is, we'll make it better," I vowed.

Rome's fingers squeezed mine. "Candace had her scientists mess with Sherridan's voice. Now, when she speaks, anyone who hears her will fall under her spell. Male and female alike. They'll be her slave, do anything she asks."

Oh, Sherridan. Poor Sherridan. She'd wanted a superpower, but hadn't thought about the consequences. And there were always consequences. I'd come to realize that bad always balanced good and good always balanced bad. Otherwise, the world would swing too far to one side.

"What about Lexis?"

Something in his eyes hardened and he answered before Lexis could. "They didn't mess with her. She already had a power."

As he spoke, I tried to throw my legs over the side of the bed. I wanted to wrap Sherridan in my arms.

But Rome had anticipated such a move from me. He released my hand and locked onto my ankles, tossing them back onto the bed with a flick of his wrists.

"Don't even," he said.

Fine. I wasn't sure I could walk, anyway. "Someone tell me how Desert Witch planned to use a spell-binding voice against me." And I knew it had been for my benefit. Why else take my friend?

"Sherridan would have commanded her to go to hell, and that would have entranced her. " Rome was shaking his head. "The only way to not fall victim to Sherridan's voice is by having special filters surgically added to your ears. Filters Candace has. She wanted Sherridan to call you before her procedure to worry you, then after it was done so that you were guaranteed to answer and assuage your fears. But Sherridan wouldn't do the latter, even upon threat of death." Candace, was it? Ugh. "Surely Sherridan's voice wouldn't affect me. Surely - "

"I guess we have to prove it. Lexis and I had filters implanted when we went through all our enhancements, and Tanner got his this morning, so you and Elaine are the only ones in the room without them. Brace yourselves. Show her, Sherridan."

"I'm so sorry, Belle," she said on a sob, and her voice was heaven. Absolute, utter heaven.

I shivered, my gaze drawn to her, my body leaning toward her. No, not leaning. I was trying to stand again, had to reach her. Touch her. She was so beautiful, and if I could just trace my finger over her skin, I knew I would be transported to the paradise I heard in her voice. It would be better than Rome's kiss.

Hooked as I was to the IV, I couldn't move fast enough, couldn't move close enough. But I tried, oh, I tried. Until a hard restraining hand pushed me back on the bed and held me down.

"What are you doing?" I batted at the offending restraint. "Let me go. Sherridan, I need you. I love you."

A heavy weight descended, pinning me down. I fought and bucked and bit and scratched, all to no avail.

"Let me up, damn it!"

"Belle. Stop."

My struggles increased. If I could just reach Sherridan...hold her, kiss her perhaps. She was everything I'd ever wanted. Everything I needed. Sherridan. Even the name made me shiver.

Warm lips pressed into my ear. "Calm down, baby. I'm here. Rome's here. I've got you. Concentrate on my voice. Do you hear me? Your body feels so good pressed against mine. Lush and sweet." Rome's husky tone penetrated the love-lust haze thing I had going. I stilled, tendrils of horror sneaking up on me. I was panting, sweating, but my head was clearing. "Oh, God." Slowly Rome's delicious weight lifted off me. I remained in place, though I wanted to latch onto him and take comfort.

"See," he said, settling back in the chair.

I shared a watery smile with Sherridan. "It'll be okay," I told her. And then I looked away, because her sadness was more than I could bear.

My gaze landed on the other "happy" couple in the room. Tanner must have entered while I'd been trying to score with Sherridan. He'd been forced to hold Elaine down just as Rome had held me.

Thankfully, she was covered in another full-body stocking, preventing them from any skin-to-skin contact.

"Look on the bright side, Sher," Tanner said with a grin. "You've finally got a shot with Jessica Alba." Rome reached up and traced a finger over my arm. "Now you see how powerful Sherridan's voice is.