She kissed her way across his cheek to his neck, fastening her mouth there. Again, the usual thrill he got from having her lips against his skin was missing.
Maybe I’m just focused on getting out. This is a distraction we don’t need. In any other situation, my cock would be standing at attention.
But would it be? Something was odd about this whole situation.
“Gemmaline, stop,” he said, adding a little force to his tone. “We don’t have time for this. Any other time, sure, but now we’ve got to concentrate.”
She sat back on her heels, her face taking on a pout that was somewhat unattractive. Cal had never once been turned off by anything his beloved had done, but something about her now was rubbing him entirely the wrong way.
“Head over to that cabinet and find something to help get these chains off me.”
She crossed her arms. “Why should I? They’re imaginary chains.”
Cal’s mouth dropped open. What the fuck was she saying? “Well, right now they feel pretty damn real. So find something to help me pry them off.”
Gemma stood up with a sigh. “I thought you knew how to show a girl a good time,” she muttered, then started slamming her way through the cabinets. “Can’t even break his way out of imaginary chains by himself.”
Cal shook his head. Her behavior was entirely unusual. Could the trauma have caused her to act out in this way? He hoped she’d soon find her way back to the sweet woman he’d fallen for.
“Look for something with wiring. Something that I can use to try and short out the locking mechanism with.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said, still crashing through the cabinets. It seemed her genius was going to be of little help in the simplest of things.
Closing his eyes, Cal focused again on breaking through the chains. Although he was no longer in possession of his Vartik powers, he still had a keen mental ability and a hyper focus. He felt the chain start to loosen again, and he felt hands slide over his shoulders and down his chest. Then something was dropped into his lap.
“A spoon?”
Gemma stepped around from behind him and shrugged. “It’s all I could find. Maybe you could use it to short out the wires or whatever.”
“It’s made out of plastic.”
Gemma frowned. “I don’t like your tone. You’re being mean to me.”
Cal hung onto his calm by a thread, exasperation threatening to overwhelm him. “Honey, I just want to get out of here. I’m not trying to upset you.”
“But you did,” she said, tears starting to tumble down her cheeks.
He hated to see that beautiful face wreathed in tears. Setting the spoon aside, he pulled her back into her arms. Tilting her head back, he wiped the tears from her fair skin.
“There, there,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose. “All better.”
Without warning, her lips were pressed against his again. This time, it felt like she wasn’t taking no for answer.
