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  I rolled my eyes this time. “First, I can’t make you do anything or feel anything you don’t want to, tough guy.” Biting my bottom lip, I corrected myself. “At least I don’t think I can. Oh, and second, even if I could, I would never do that to you. You know that, right?”

  His sigh was thick and put-upon even through the voice modulator. “Yeah, I do, but …” He shook his head. “Fine, whatever, let’s go.” He pulled me close to his side, and I could feel the warmth of his growing desire, buried under his frustration and the many feelings of Ohm, growing, even as my want for him started to smolder hotter. “Where exactly are we going? Because I’m carrying you this time.”

  I bit down on my arousal, wondering if this was betraying my feelings for Robert, or whether it had been John who I had betrayed years ago. The growing power in me and the voice in my heart of hearts came to a different conclusion that I wasn’t betraying anyone. Listening to that, holding on to it, I embraced the heat in my core and let my smile grow. “I’d expect nothing less. As for where, how about where this all started?”

  Without a hint of resistance from me, he scooped me up like a child, the cool smoothness of the Omniarmor caressing the hot skin of my thighs. John’s faceless helmet stared at me for a moment, and I could feel his eyes boring into me, remembering. “Fine. Hold on, we’re going to go fast.”

  Draping my arms around his neck, I held on tight as parts of the Omniarmor shifted, thrusters erupting from the boots as the back expanded and stretched into a winged jetpack. We launched into the sky, the thrill of flight rising in me. I had felt something similar in Robert’s arms, though we were in the midst of an entirely more overwhelming passion at the time. This was different, more visceral. There was no distraction and none of the subtle protectiveness that Robert still held over me. It was unchecked speed, wind, and fury as we tore through the night sky.

  I was smiling, not so shy as to not let out a cry of joy as we burned across the sky, and I was even happier to see where we wound up. John understood perfectly what my veiled suggestion had been as we touched down on the south side of the city, on the rocky beaches adjacent to the quiet neighborhood of Coastline.

  “You know, Chris,” John said softly as he sat me down, his faceplate turning clear again, “when you first asked me to meet you here, I was expecting something way different than what happened.”

  I took in a deep breath of tangy ocean air, choppy Atlantic waves crashing into the rocks in front of us. “I can bet.” I looked back over my shoulder at him. “You know, I almost asked you out a half-dozen times, back when I first started on the story about Omnitech, but … with how it turned out …”

  John’s eyes narrowed, the tempest growing behind his brow. “Yeah. It wouldn’t have been ethical, would it? Wouldn’t have been honorable to be sleeping with the man at the heart of your story.” He shook his head, his hands on his hips. “A fat lot of good that did me in the end. Playing by the rules, being the good soldier. All it got me was a dishonorable discharge and, well, Ohm here.”

  With a snort of a laugh, he glowered at the rocky ground under his boots. “I’ve got nothing but an all-powerful shapeshifting killing machine that doesn’t want to kill anything, and your boyfriend is trying to get me to be a selfless knight again. It’s a crock of shit.”

  I turned towards him, chewing on my lip. “Robert doesn’t understand your situation. How can he?” Stepping closer, I came up to stand almost nose-to-faceplate with him, putting my hands on his chest. “But I do. You might think you’ve got nothing, but that’s not true.”

  There was the last pang of concern, worry as to what Robert would think of what I was about to do, but I knew the truth, what my heart and power were telling me. As much as Robert needed me to hold back the darkness of his loneliness, John needed me just as much, to bring him up into the light again, to hold back the demons that clawed at his soul. Running my hands up the sleek metal over his chest, I put my arms around his neck, leaning in closer, my breasts pressing against his sculpted muscles.

  “You have me.”

  The storm in his grey eyes seemed to clear for a moment as his helmet peeled back, the nanomachines drawing it back into the mass of the trans-statial metal. “Chris, wait, what are you …” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head, even as I could feel the intense want for me rise inside him. “You’re with Bob, right? You guys kissed and —”

  I took in a deep breath through my nose, the salty air mixing with John’s spiced cologne and the strange alien metal of Ohm. “We are. He needs me to be there for him … but that doesn’t change how I feel about you. It doesn’t change the fact that you need me too.” I leaned in now, our noses touching as the spark of power danced, bridging our hearts and souls.

  The ache in his soul came through, his loss and the chivalry still left in him worried as to the morality of his desire for me. I let him feel the flood of love, yes, the love I had harbored for him all these years, and the equally matched love I felt for Robert. I let him see what my own powers told me, that they both deserved what healing, what comfort I could give them.

  Those grey eyes softened as understanding raced through his heart and mind. John slowly cleared his throat, staring deeply into my piercing emerald gaze. “I do want you, Chris, and I do need you. If the best way to have you, the way that’ll do the most good, is to share you, well …” He inhaled himself, taking in my own perfume. “Ohm and I can deal with that.”

  I hadn’t even realized that I hadn’t just been looking into John’s heart, but the million voices of the Omniarmor as well. Well, if they both needed me, stranger things had happened. Heat rising into my cheeks, I nodded slowly as I cupped the back of John’s head, him doing the same as we pressed our lips together into a deep, passionate kiss.

  23

  As we broke from that kiss that had been waiting within us both for years, I was already breathless. The gunmetal grey of the Omniarmor peeled back from John’s skin more, pooling and dancing as my hands clutched at the ex-Marine’s strong back. Staring into each other’s eyes, I couldn’t help but notice that Ohm wasn’t just peeling back its liquid metal, it had taken away the clothes John had been wearing.

  His powerful body wasn’t absolutely perfect like Robert’s, marred by a lifetime of war and hardship. A scar from a knife wound ran along a rib, the craters of two old gunshots marred his chest and left shoulder, but I didn’t find them ugly, not at all. I could feel the stories in those war wounds, and that excited me in every conceivable way. I wanted to know those stories, to know every inch of John Munroe, and the throbbing need in my core wanted those world-wise hands to do things to me.

  “I was such an idiot,” I whispered as I leaned into him, eager to taste him again. “Ethics be damned, I should have —”

  John cut me off with another fierce, rough kiss, one of his thick-fingered hands cradling the back of my head, the other clutched around my waist as if I was his everything in that moment. His hands weren’t alone, either. Metallic tendrils, a dozen cool, smooth fingers, caressed my body as well, alien yet strangely arousing all the same.

  Passion dominated John’s heart as we finally pulled back for air, Ohm’s tendrils holding me close so that John could caress my face and run a hand through my fiery hair. “You’re not the only one who’s been wrong, Chris,” he almost growled. “But we’re gonna make it right, aren’t we?”

  My core ached for him as I grew wetter, and I could feel metal fingers search my back for the zipper of my uniform. “Yes,” I purred as I leaned in, pressing my breasts up against his now-bare chest so I could nibble at his ear. I hesitated a moment, though, as the worry that I could hurt John accidentally the same way I hurt Jackson. “But … I could, well …”

  “Oh, the old woman of steel, man of flesh thing?” John said, his hot breath on my neck as he kissed it. “Ohm’s got that covered. The Omniarmor synchs with you, bonds with you if it wants to, and even when it’s not around you, the nanites flow through you.” He pu
lled back just enough to look deep into my eyes, smirking faintly. “I may not be bouncing bullets like Bob, but Ohm will strengthen me enough for our purposes.”

  His chest wasn’t the only thing bare now, as I could feel his rock-hard length pressing between my thighs. Any fear that I would hurt John accidentally evaporated, washed away by the electric fire in my core. Between John’s assurances and my own growing familiarity with this new body of mine, I was sure he was safe. Every instinct sang to me that this was right, so much so that as I pulled back, safe in Ohm’s metal arms, I began to pull at my mask, my costume, willing to shred them off if I had to.

  John grabbed hold of my frantic hands, his strong thumbs massaging the insides of my wrists. “I bet that cost a fortune, so let me handle that.”

  I could have easily resisted, but I felt safe, secure with him, and let him snatch one of my gloves in his teeth. Yanking it off with one practice pull, he twisted us down into the coarse sand of the beach, even as Ohm’s clever tendrils worked the zipper of my suit and began to peel back the skin-tight Duraplex. After a moment of adjustment, John divesting me of my other glove amidst an onslaught of kisses along my neck, I could feel the beach on my back and the chill of the sea breeze on my bare breasts.

  A moan escaped my lips as I arched back in pleasure as John loomed over me, straddling me now, his member teasing at the entrance of my silky folds. Holding my arms over my head with one hand, his other caressed the side of my cheek, my neck, my breast and nipple. The Omniarmor now left John almost entirely, but from the way its silvery fingers danced over John, I guessed it was still attached somehow.

  “I hope this doesn’t sound wrong,” he grunted as he tweaked my nipple, bringing out another groan of desire from my lips, “but I want you with the mask on.”

  Flush with heat, I smiled up at him, eyes burning with desire. “As I seem to be at your mercy, you can do what you’d like.”

  “Oh, Chris, you’re a damn good liar,” John smiled lustily as he lowered himself, his thick length easing into me. I arched my back, bringing my pelvis up to hungrily bring him in, proving his point as I easily slipped one wrist free from his grip to clutch to his tight ass.

  Filling me up, John’s grip on my other arm turned into iron as his whole body tensed with pleasure. He leaned into me as I pulled myself into him, Ohm wrapping around both of us like a comforter. Even though it was made entirely of liquid metal, the Omniarmor filled with warmth and softness, and I couldn’t tell if we were still on the rocky beach of Coastline or in my own bed.

  My hands roamed as he began to thrust rhythmically, his grunts of pleasure matching in perfect time to my moans as I tightened around his length. We tumbled, rolled, and twisted for position as we continued, and though I could have hurt him badly with every clench and thrust, the warm tingle of my powers lit up, filling both of us as he had filled me.

  I didn’t know then, and I still don’t really know if it was my powers or my growing knowledge of my body, but whichever it was, it was enough to keep our moment of passion from being ruined by my own strength.

  So, wrapped up in our passion, neither of us noticed as one last tumble brought us into the crashing surf. The cold Atlantic waters splashed over us as John continued unrelenting and I felt my passion about ready to explode. Though still wrapped in Ohm’s soft warmth, the briny water still found a way in over our naked forms, but we didn’t care. Magnetaur himself could have stomped across the beach roaring, and we wouldn’t have stopped for a moment.

  Through the wash, I clutched John’s shoulders and pulled him, drinking him in as I kissed him with abandon, even as he thrust forward with one massive stroke, pushing into the very depths of my core. Tearing my lips away from him, I shouted his name, my back starting to arch away from him as the orgasm shuddered through me, delicious pleasure echoing out to every corner of my body.

  Not ready to let me go, John’s chiseled arms and Ohm’s metallic warmth clutched on for dear life, his lips crushing against my cheek, my neck, searching for my lips as he continued thrusting. I was wrapped up in his furious passion, matching it with my own, pumping my own hips as I worked my head around. As our lips met again, tongues searching one another’s mouths, he reached his own climax, filling me with his warmth as a shuddering gasp came from his throat and into mine.

  As another wave crashed over us and receded, the chill water cooling the sweat on our bodies, John slipped out of me and rolled to one side, Ohm’s steely blanket spreading below both of us. Panting softly, we looked over at each other, the dark storm lifted from his grey eyes.

  “My God, Chris,” he gasped with a carnal smile. “That was worth the wait.”

  I laughed between breaths, wet hair sticking to the gunmetal beach blanket below. “I’m glad to hear that. It would have been horrible if I had disappointed you.”

  John’s smile softened, and I could feel the pain in his heart melt away with it. Reaching out to me, he took my hand, our fingers intertwining. “You could never have disappointed me. I’m … I’m just glad you’re here now. With me.”

  “I’m happy too, John.” I squeezed his hand lightly, even as I patted the Omniarmor spread out underneath. “And Ohm’s not half-bad either.”

  John laughed now too, shaking his head but never letting his eyes peel away from mine. “Next time, they might want to get more involved. All I’m hearing in the back of my head is curiosity about human reproduction.”

  I know I was blushing at that, but that tingling power in my core and spine sang at the very thought of what that would entail. But that would have to wait. For now, I wanted to focus on one man. Without another word, I pushed off of Ohm with one elbow, rolling over to straddle John’s body.

  “I’m more than willing … next time,” I purred as I grabbed John’s other wrist, his other hand still grasped in mine. “But right now, I just want you. Are you up for round two?”

  John gazed up at me hungrily, even as sweat still rolled off his brow. “You do realize that I’m just a mere mortal? I’m lucky I survived round one.”

  I leaned in close, rock-hard nipples pressing against his powerful pecs. “It wasn’t luck. It was skill.” My lips brushed his cheek as they hovered next to his ear. “You showed me yours. Let me show you mine.”

  “Do I have a choice?” he growled back. “Because I’m at your mercy now, if you hadn’t noticed.” As if to tempt me all the more, he struggled just enough to be enticing.

  “With me, John, you always have a choice,” I said, sealing that covenant with a kiss on his cheek.

  “Well then, Chris, show me anything you want.”

  24

  Despite the time we spent making love on the beach and lingering afterward to simply enjoy our closeness, it wasn’t quite midnight when John and I arrived at my apartment for a quick pit stop. It had been at my insistence, being closer than Washington Manor, our final destination. After being shocked within an inch of my life, tearing through a robot’s body, and furious sex amidst the waves, I needed a shower, not having the advantage of a suit that could self-clean itself and its wearer at a mental command.

  It was under the pulsing water that I felt not only my unbreakable connection to Robert, awake, wrapped in thought with a lingering worry for my safety but a fresh bond just as strong to John, still in a happy state of shock at this amazing turn of good fortune. More than that, no matter how much I should be in agony and collapsing with exhaustion, I felt not only fantastic but … better. The tingling glow inside me of my power was now a sparking storm of energy, buoying me up as it ran through every nerve in my body.

  Savoring that feeling as I dried off, the conclusion was obvious. The power in me was growing, and the trigger seemed clear. Sex … but not just sex. My gut instinct curdled at the thought of random sex as the key. No, with both Robert and John, I had wanted it, and the spark inside me had as well. There was a connection that power flowed down, and it wouldn’t work with some random, one-night stand.

  Even if it
had, I wouldn’t have wanted that. Not that I didn’t love a good roll in the hay, but this … was special, as stupid as that sounded. Flexing my hands as I stared down at them, a soft smile played across my lips. What I had wasn’t something to be shared carelessly. It was something to be nurtured, something to connect with special people, and to do good. As I hung my towel, I turned as John opened the door, Ohm now back to its original configuration around him with the helmet retracted.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he said with a grin.

  “Not that I’m complaining,” I said with a wry smile, “but it’s polite to knock first.”

  John chuckled. “Sorry, but I thought you’d want these.” He held out his arms and my costume, glove, boots, leotard, and all, sat there neatly folded. More importantly, I could smell from here the clean, fresh scent off of them, far different from the salty, musky mess they had carried. “One plus of having a suit that can duplicate any kind of technology is that Ohm can clean clothes like a pro.”

  Laughing, I padded up to him and took the bundle. “Some people would argue that cleaning a uniform is a waste of that kind of power, but me,” – I leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the nose – “I think that’s sweet.”

  A surge of desire ran through John, but he bit it back with a smile. “Thanks. Now, we’re going to let you get dressed, or else we’ll be delayed another hour.”

  I warmed with that same desire and nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably wise.” I shooed him out the door. “I won’t be long.”

  As I closed the door behind John, I leaned my bare back against the door, costume clutched to my breasts. Was I leading some kind of charmed life now? Maybe, but I was going to keep trying to prove myself worthy of the power and the love I was receiving.

  That was when a spark of inspiration flashed through my brain. This power definitely had a mental component, my empathic senses informed me as much, and as strength seemed to flow both ways, it seemed symbiotic. All of that pointed to one source and one person. Dr. Blair might be the one that had answers about this power in me and maybe … maybe more. There was something about the way our mystery villain had talked that made me wonder. It was all a hunch, based on circumstantial evidence, but it could pay off big.