Night Betrayed Part 17

Then she came through a clump of bushes and found herself in the clearing with all of the machinery.

She stopped, stunned and fascinated at the sight that greeted her. Much of the overgrowth had been cleared away from the center of the s.p.a.ce, now stacked in large brush piles beneath the trees. A large upright wheel, taller than the house, taller than the trees, was randomly lit with small lights. And it was turning, slowly, with groaning protest ... but it was moving. There were boxes hanging from it, like swings with sides ... Selena had seen that before, in DVDs. A fairies' wheel.

Who in the- But she didn't even need to finish the thought. Of course it was Theo. She knew it had to be him. He'd fixed her DVD player and rewired a light that had been giving Frank trouble, and did something to the was.h.i.+ng machine that made Vonnie weep with grat.i.tude.

It wasn't long before she found him-near the base of the fairies' wheel, sitting on the ground, swearing at a metal box fixed on legs, filled with wires and levers. Tools cluttered the ground around him and his hair was standing up every which way. His dragonless arm was in view, taut and flexed deliciously as he struggled with something in the box.

For some reason, Selena's palms grew damp as she approached. Those d.a.m.n b.u.t.terflies started up in her stomach again.

How is he going to react when he sees me? Still angry?

Her mouth was going dry and her heart was pounding. She wasn't certain how to approach him, or whether he'd be annoyed if she interrupted. So she just walked over and stood there. Her feet would be in his peripheral vision and eventually he'd notice.

When he did, it was with a little jolt and a start, and then his gaze traveled slowly up from her rope sandals, over her long loose skirt, and higher to meet her eyes.

"I thought you were Frank," he said.

"I'm not," she replied, relieved that he hadn't ordered her to go away.

"There's definitely no mistaking you for Frank."

And there was definitely no mistaking the inflection in his voice. That made the b.u.t.terflies a little more excited.

Theo pulled to his feet and she found herself looking up at him and stepping back a bit. His expression was reserved; just a bit warmer than merely polite. "Want to try it out?" he asked, gesturing toward the big wheel.

Selena couldn't hold back a gasp of surprise and delight. And terror. "I don't know ... it's so high."

He chuckled a little, softening, and the low rumble sent a little frisson of warmth down her spine. "Don't tell me you're afraid of heights."

"I don't get very high very often," she said, and for some reason that made him laugh again. She liked the sound of it, and realized she'd heard it quite often.

"Come on, Selena," he said. "What's another risk in your already dangerous life?" There might have been a warning edge to his voice. Or maybe it was sadness.

"Is it safe?" she asked, following him onto the little ramp that led to the lowermost seat.

"Of course. Well, at least this one is," he said, jiggling the seat a little. "I just rebolted it and double-checked its weight-bearing load. See those boulders over there? They were the first to take a ride."

The sight of the three ma.s.sive boulders comforted her. How he even got them into the box was a mystery, but if they'd made it on the ride, then she and Theo should be okay. "All right," she said. She saw now that the wheels' "spokes" were covered with tiny lightbulbs. Only a few were lit-intermittent glows of red, blue, green and yellow.

He gave her a smile and opened the box with a flourish. "Beauty before age," he said, gesturing for her to climb in.

Selena laughed and gave him a you're crazy you're crazy look as she stepped onto the little cradled seat. It swayed and wobbled and she froze with one foot on and one foot off. "It's rocking," she said. look as she stepped onto the little cradled seat. It swayed and wobbled and she froze with one foot on and one foot off. "It's rocking," she said.

"It's supposed to. Go ahead, pick a side."

She scooted over to one side of the box and then was nervous, waiting to see if he'd sit next to her or across from her. When he climbed on, she was more than a little disappointed that he chose the opposite seat.

"I want to make sure it's balanced," he said, mollifying her a bit. Then he bolted the little door to the cart and settled back in his seat. He lifted a small gadget that looked like a DVD remote control, but it had a stiff wire extending from it. "Normally, there's a guy down there running the machine. He throws the lever and it starts up, and he stops it when it's done. But that's not going to work in this situation-unless you want to go alone?"

"Not on your life!"

He grinned. "I didn't think so. So I have a remote control for the machine. Are you ready?"

"Yes. I think." Selena braced herself, sitting in the middle of her seat, arms extended so that her fingers could clutch each side of the box. She closed her eyes and braced her feet against the edge of Theo's seat.

She thought she heard the rumble of his chuckle again, but if so, it was lost in the long, low groan of the machinery beginning to turn and lift the seats.

Selena didn't know what she'd expected-probably some crazy-fast liftoff or some sort of sharply-upward-vaulting motion. But all she felt was a little delicious breeze and an odd, weightless sensation. The seat swayed gently, not violently as she'd expected it would.

When she opened her eyes, she found Theo watching her. There was a half-smile curving his lips, but the expression in his eyes was anything but amused. Hot and heavy. Hot and heavy.

Her stomach's b.u.t.terflies shot into full flight, and it wasn't, Selena realized, just because the wheel had reached the top and was now falling in its full descent. She swallowed and s.h.i.+fted her gaze, feeling the breeze rush gently over her face.

Wow, she thought.

"You like it?" Theo asked. He'd settled back into his side, arms extended casually over the back of the seat instead of bolt outright like hers were.

"Yes. It's marvelous. I've never experienced anything like this." Selena relaxed her grip and even released one side of the box. She s.h.i.+fted as if to drop her feet to the floor, but he moved suddenly and stopped her.

Closing his fingers around her ankle, Theo said, "You don't have to move your feet." He didn't release her foot, and before she could protest, he'd removed her frayed rope sandal and dropped it to the floor of their swing. His fingers s.h.i.+fted on her ankle, and the next thing she knew, he'd s.h.i.+fted her her so that her foot was positioned between his knees and he was using both hands to ma.s.sage her sole. so that her foot was positioned between his knees and he was using both hands to ma.s.sage her sole.

Oh, heaven. Absolute ... Absolute ... heaven! heaven!-Those strong fingers.

He was kneading the ball of her foot with just the right pressure, then moved along the delicate arch more gently, so as not to tickle her-and pressed with a firm thumb and forefinger at the back of her ankle. Ohhh. Ohhh.

"You have really s.e.xy feet," he said, glancing up at her as the trees scrolled down behind him and the breeze teased her hair.

"Thank you," Selena managed to say. Her knees were turning into soup and she couldn't draw her attention away from the sight of his elegant hands and the long dark fingers cupping her lighter, honey-colored foot.

"I mean, really really s.e.xy feet. That was one of the first things I noticed about you." s.e.xy feet. That was one of the first things I noticed about you."

She couldn't swallow. And then her scattered mind remembered his question from the other day. "The red paint on my toenails? It's made from clay and honey and some other things. Dandelion root for the color."

"I like it." He bent forward suddenly and captured her other foot, which had slid to the floor between them as she relaxed.

Selena didn't resist as he began to give it the same treatment as the other. She closed her eyes and settled back against the seat, let the breeze and the pleasure wash over her. If only she could make this moment last forever.

"How long have you been working on this project?" she asked, opening her eyes after a minute.

He didn't release her feet. Now he was stroking the top of one, up to her ankle and easing to her calf. Selena couldn't help but wonder where this might lead ... and she wasn't altogether uninterested.

In fact, if the spreading warmth in her body and the tingling down low were any indication, she was more than a little interested. But she wasn't impatient, nor did she feel any pressure.

"For a few days," he replied to her question. "I decided I would make myself scarce for a while-and there were a few things I thought I might do while I'm here, and this was one of them."

While I'm here. She ignored the pang of disappointment she felt at that reminder, and forced herself to nod and look interested. She ignored the pang of disappointment she felt at that reminder, and forced herself to nod and look interested.

"I thought I might coax you out here for a surprise when it was finished ... but you beat me to it. I'm surprised you found me. The only person who comes out here is Frank, and that's only because I asked him to show me. What were you doing all the way out here, a mile from the house?"

Of course, his question had the effect of bringing the problem with Sam and Jennifer back to the forefront of her mind and wiping away most of her enjoyment of the ride. "I needed to walk off some anger," she finally answered, s.h.i.+fting in her seat and trying to return her feet to the floor.

He held firmly, but gently. "Anger? At who?"

Selena looked away, and realized with a start that she could see all of the grounds of the estate from the highest point of the fairies' wheel, and that the sun had dipped half below the horizon. The view was beautiful and intriguing-she'd never seen it thus. And now they were on their way back down again, a little tickle in her belly joining the uprush of breeze. With the lowering of the sun, the tiny lights seemed to glow brighter above and around them.

"Selena."

She turned back to him. "I just noticed the view."

He nodded. "You aren't going to tell me who you're angry with?"

She s.h.i.+fted. This wasn't really a conversation she wanted to have with him ... yet. Maybe he'd have a different perspective, being in a similar situation himself. Sort of. But beside that, she wanted wanted to talk to someone. She needed to. to talk to someone. She needed to.

Hadn't she just been thinking about how lonely she was?

"I came upon Sammy and Jennifer making out, just now over by the roses."

Theo's eyebrows rose very high and he stopped rubbing her foot for a minute. "Oh." Then he s.h.i.+fted and began to press his powerful thumb just below the ball of her foot, strong and circular and so heavenly that she wanted to groan and slip into a coma. "That must have been awkward."

"I heard your conversation with Jennifer the other day. The day you-uh-helped me move my bookshelf."

Theo grinned briefly. "That's a new euphemism: 'move your bookshelf.' But it doesn't really do justice to the activity, in my opinion." Then the grin slipped away. "I know-you told me you heard us."

"Oh, yeah. Well ... I think she's trying to make a point. And I don't want Sammy to get hurt."

Theo considered her foot for a moment, his thumb now stroking gently over the top just where it met her ankle. Slowly and tenderly. "You think she's jealous? Or you think she's trying to compare her relations.h.i.+p with Sam to ... us?"

"The way she looked at me ... it was smug and sort of like Ha! See how you like it? Ha! See how you like it? I just don't want her to use him to get back at me. To make a point. He's had an Orange Crush on her for a long time." I just don't want her to use him to get back at me. To make a point. He's had an Orange Crush on her for a long time."

"An Orange Crush?" He looked at her with such affection that, despite the fact that she was the elder here, she felt like he was the older one. "I like it."

Suddenly, he moved. The next thing she knew, he was up and over to her side of the box, wedging in next to her and leaving the car swaying with too much gusto for her taste. Selena stifled a little squeak of surprise, but when his solid body had settled next to her, large and warm, she felt better.

"And," she said quickly, to fill the moment, "what if she gets pregnant?"

"Don't want to be a granny just yet?" he asked, turning to smile at her.

He was so close. Right there. But, they were hardly touching-just the brush from his arm's hair against hers. "It's not that," she said. "I don't think he's ready to be a father, and I know Jennifer's not ready to be settling down with a seventeen-year-old boy."

"You know this the same way you know that I couldn't be at all interested in hanging around a woman who seems to be twice my age. Right?"

Selena rolled her eyes. "The situation is a lot different. He's hardly a grown man yet, first of all. She can't really be interested in him. She never even looked at him before. And I'm sure if you were to give her any attention at all or show any interest in her, she'd drop him like a rock. You know?"

He looked at her steadily. "I hope you're not suggesting that I give her some attention in order to distract her from Sam."

She bit her lip and looked at him hopefully. "You could."

His brows drew together. "And how would that make me look? I've already had the pleasure of being lectured by your son in regards to my intentions. He wasn't pleased."

"What?" Selena felt a mixed wave of shock and delight. Theo was smiling at her. "He wasn't pleased, but he was very polite. And very firm. And in regards to Jennifer-I'll tell you what I told him: there's no interest there on my part."

"Well ... okay. But if you just gave her a little attention-just to see if I'm right? It would be for a good cause. The naive, tender heart of a seventeen-year-old boy."

"Not a chance. I don't hang around women I'm not interested in. I don't flirt with them, and I certainly don't make love with them." His voice bordered on annoyed but was laced with a dusky edge that made her mouth dry again. "And besides that, heartbreak is part of life. It sucks, but it makes you stronger. Helps you to see things more clearly ... at least, after the pain goes away."

She wondered if he was talking about the woman named Sage. The one who seemed to have broken his heart. Selena swallowed hard and scrambled to redirect. "And what do you mean when you say 'a woman who seems seems to be twice your age'? So maybe that's an exaggeration, but I'm fifty, Theo. And you can't be more than thirty, maybe thirty-five at the outside." to be twice your age'? So maybe that's an exaggeration, but I'm fifty, Theo. And you can't be more than thirty, maybe thirty-five at the outside."

"I've said to you before, I'm not as young as I look."

She settled back in her seat and puffed the air from her lips so that it joined the breeze in tousling her bangs. "Like I I said ..." said ..."

He shook his head slowly and kept looking at her. As if he wanted to say something. Finally, he spoke. "I have to ask you something. What happened when you brought me back to life? Exactly? How did you do it?"

"Well, I ..." Selena said as she turned a little, arranging herself in the corner of the seat. And while she was adjusting, he reached for her calf and lifted her left leg to settle over his lap, where he once again held her foot.

She bit her lip. How much should I tell him? How much should I tell him? "That crystal that I was wearing ... the other night." "That crystal that I was wearing ... the other night."

"The one that burned? When you were out by the zombies?"

Selena nodded. "I touched that crystal to your ... to the eye of the dragon on your back. It's ... what is it, anyway? It was metal or something. You gave this big... jolt, and sort of shuddered. And then you opened your eyes."

"Well, that explains that," he muttered. "You just touched it to me?"

"Yes. It was like a spark or something. But what is that thing in you?"

"Yeah. See, Selena," he said, settling into his respective corner, too, his knees turned to face her, b.u.mping her right one. "There are a few things you don't know about me either. I have my own secrets."

She waited, expecting him to continue. But he didn't. Instead, he ma.s.saged her big toe with great attention, as if it were the most important thing in the world. A precious jewel or piece of metal that he was rubbing and polis.h.i.+ng.

Theo looked up all of a sudden with a sheepish smile. "I'm getting really turned on doing this," he said. And he looked at her with eyes that proved his statement.

"Rubbing my foot?" Selena managed a little chuckle, but it came out more like a husky breath. Those b.u.t.terflies again ... Those b.u.t.terflies again ...

He laughed a little too. "I know. It's a bit weird. But I think it stems from this photo spread I saw once, a long time ago, when I was just about Sam's age. Very impressionable. It was a series of pictures of a couple making love-nude, of course, in most of them. Really tasteful, though, as those sorts of pictures go. But the last photo was one with just her feet showing. Elegant and feminine, with the same sorts of smooth curves as the rest of her body. The nails painted bright red like yours, just sticking out from the white bedsheets. The sheets were all rumpled and messed up, and you knew what had just happened ... and one foot was straight up, and the other one was c.o.c.ked to the side. I don't know. It just ... got me."

It 'got' her a little bit, too, listening to him talk that way.

Their car was just about to the top again, and she felt a sudden rush of breeze as they crested ... then that flippy, dropping feeling as they started down again. A wonder that she'd been so nervous, when this was such an enjoyable, sensual ride. The sun was nearly gone, and a generous moon had appeared in the southeast. The world was turning from muted color to every shade of blue-gray and mottled with shadow.

"That little metal thing in my back is what's called an integrated circuit. Or IC," he said finally. "It was embedded in my body during ... during a ma.s.sive underground explosion."

Selena didn't speak. She just waited for him to continue.

"It healed in my skin, integrated into my body somehow ... and it changed me." He'd stopped rubbing her foot and now simply held it in his warm hands, cupping her heel and the ball of her foot. "I don't know how or why, but the circuit gave me this ability to produce electrical power at will."

She blinked, staring at him. The sun had sunk low enough that she couldn't really see his features; she couldn't tell if he was serious, or making a joke. "And...?"

"And, all of a sudden, now that I've been resurrected, I seem to have lost the ability. Which, incidentally, I've found to be quite handy in the past."