Gifted Connections 2

He mocked growled at me before lunging at me. I squealed and tried to run from him. He was faster and bigger. “You know that’s not what I meant,” he gently nipped my ear.

I squealed again. “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it.” I paused dramatically. “Although, with the right guy, I can imagine it might…intrigue me.” I flirted with him.

“So, help me, Blake,” he growled in my ear. “If I find out you allow one of them to spank you, before me, I…I…”

I pushed away from him gently and placed my hands on my hips. I wanted to tease him, but I was slightly perturbed at the idea that they would share our most intimate moments. “You’ll what? Are you telling me that you guys act like a bunch of old woman in a knitting circle, swapping stories about me?”

He had the grace to blush and duck his head. “No,” he held up his hands. “Honestly,” he insisted. “We never tell each other what goes on behind closed doors, but that doesn’t mean we don’t assume things.”

I wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easy. “And you assumed I haven’t been spanked yet?”

“Well I—” He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts. “I don’t know. I just.” He looked down at his feet before digging his hands in his front pockets. “I just want to know what it’s like to be with you, completely. Left to my imagination, I assume none of the other guys would want to rush you into stuff like that.”

I sighed and went to him, embracing him. “We will be,” I promised. “And I’ll even let you be the first to spank me,” I breathed in his ear as he lifted me up into his arms.

He squeezed me momentarily, and I knew he was reassured by my promise.

We came downstairs as the children, teens, and some of the adults were carrying their pumpkins out to the patio. Drake was pulling a tray of pumpkin seeds out of the oven. Jace and Troy were cleaning up the newspapers that littered the bar with pumpkin guts and chunks of pumpkin. Noah was sweeping the floor of everything that hadn’t made it to the newspaper.

I watched the scene in front of me and gave a silent prayer of thanks. I was lucky. I could be dead right now. I could be with Horatio right now.

Will looked over at me, where he had been picking some of the warm pumpkin seeds off the sheet pan. Will gave me an assessing look as I entered the kitchen. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, but I don’t want you ever out in public by yourself again, understand me?”

I saw the concern and relief in his eyes, and I almost teared up at his care for me. In that moment I knew he saw me as one of his own. I knew he would want to protect me and was treating me like he would any of his other children. I nodded and hugged him. I didn’t know who I surprised more, him or myself. “I will never go anywhere by myself ever again,” I said with conviction. “I learned my lesson.”

“Now,” I said as I turned around and saw everyone watching me. My heart sank when I noticed Remy still wasn’t around. “Who’s going to help me learn how to protect myself when I’m too hurt or frightened to?”

“What are you suggesting?” Troy asked warily before drawing me into a fierce hug.

“I’m suggesting I learn how to protect myself when I can’t use my powers,” I explained before returning his hug.

“That’s what our martial arts classes are about,” Noah stated.

“No, she was taken by surprise, then put through pain,” Jaxson elaborated as he warily eyed the patio door, ensuring the younger children were still out there. “She wasn’t able to use her gifts. We need to find a way to recreate the experience in a controlled environment so she knows how to react next time.”

“Not that there will ever be a next time,” Jace stated emphatically before pulling me from Troy’s embrace and into his. I thought I felt a tremor run through him, but chalked it up to my imagination. Remy and Jace loved holding their cards to their chest, even if Jace had admitted to having deeper feelings for me last night.

“We can never guarantee that,” Will said slowly. “I like her way of thinking. It’s time we bump the level of difficulty in our training. We need to be prepared for anything.”

Troy nodded. “I have some guys working for me that used to work for the navy seals, the Green Berets, spec ops, and other elite military groups. I’ll bring some of them in and they can help me with ramping up our self-defense techniques. I have a few in mind that I can interview. They’re not gifted, but I have a feeling if they were to see someone accidentally use their gift, they wouldn’t blink an eye with what they’ve seen.”

“Why?” Jemmy wailed from the doorway. “Just kidding,” she rushed over to me with tears in her eyes. “I hate you, don’t ever scare me like that ever again,” she said fiercely. “We shouldn’t rely on our gifts all the time.” She said maturely and so un-Jemmy like. She pulled back and kissed me on both cheeks.

I turned and hugged Gavin and Micah. “Thanks guys,” I whispered fiercely to them.

“Why do I let you talk me into this stuff?” I groaned half joking, half serious as I looked at myself in the mirror.

I was Wonder Woman. My red and gold heart-shaped bodice was in danger of allowing the girls to spill out at any moment. The blue skirt barely covered my lady bits, so I insisted on wearing a pair of blue spanks under it, despite Jemmy and Rachel’s protest. I slid on my red knee-high boots (since they haven’t been worn outside yet) and zipped the sides up.

“Because you look hot, chica,” Jemmy smiled sweetly as she threw me the gold forearm bands, the “W” gold belt, and the matching head band with red star in the middle of it. “Don’t forget these,” she said in a high sing song voice.

“Why couldn’t I be Cat Woman?” I eyeballed her outfit. It was skin tight, but at least she was covered completely. I didn’t think I could pull it off like she did, with her tall, lithe frame, but I would have tried. She looked sexy and beautiful as she slid on her mask that covered the top half of her face.

“Because Gavin’s Batman,” Jemmy scoffed as if it made perfect sense.

“I thought we were keeping our costumes a secret,” I narrowed my eyes on her as I slid my headband on my straightened hair.

She grinned slyly before she lamented. “Did you really think I would let him be a gladiator? He wanted to be a gladiator.”