Kayla woke up the next morning curled up next to Carl. Surrounded by pillows softer than anything she’d ever touched and lying next to a sexy, naked man, she was feeling pretty content. She’d been even better the night before, though, when Carl had managed to entice her away from the computer.

With a lazy smile, she stretched and climbed out of bed. She slipped into the bathroom and went through her morning routine before pulling on the clothes Seara had provided the night before. Careful not to disturb Carl, she crept out of the room. Heading down the hall toward the safe room, Kayla paused when she saw Alec and Seara sitting together talking in the living room.

Alec turned to look at her, giving her a warm smile.

“Good morning, Kayla,” Seara said cheerfully. “We were just having breakfast. Would you like to join us?”

“Sure,” she replied and sat down just as Seara placed a plate in front of her. It was some sort of scrambled egg mixture with seasoned vegetables. She took a bite, continuing to be amazed at how incredible the food tasted.

Alec smiled at her reaction. “Did you get any rest last night?”

Kayla nearly choked on her food as she remembered the surveillance system and her extracurricular activities with Carl the night before. She nodded and managed to swallow. Taking a hasty sip of water, she decided she’d have to figure out how to circumvent the cameras and do it soon. “Yeah, thanks.”

Now she just had to keep Alec out of her head. She forced herself to think about her food and only her food. Alec raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, but Kayla ignored his look. “This is great, Seara. Thanks.”

“I’m glad you like it. Everyone else is still asleep. I’m surprised you’re awake so early. You were still up when I headed to bed.”

Kayla nodded. “Yeah, I was up late working on stuff. Everyone else will probably be trickling out soon.”

Alec reached out and placed his hand over hers. “Were you able to finish the program?”

“Yes. I want one more look at it, but it’s finished. We can upload it to the system whenever you want.”

She pulled her hand away and finished eating. “Thanks again for the food. I’m going to go check on something really quick.”

Seara nodded and cleared away the plates while Kayla headed to the safe room, Alec trailing behind her. He looked around curiously. “Impressive. No one knew this existed.”

Kayla activated the terminal and sat in the chair. Alec leaned over her to get a better look at the screen.

Wow, he smells good, she thought to herself and then sighed when she realized he probably heard her.

Alec leaned close to her ear and said softly, “I was thinking the exact same thing about you.”

“Okay then.” Determined to focus on the computer, Kayla pulled up the program she had finished the night before and scrolled through it.

Alec looked at it in surprise. “You did this?”

She nodded. “Cruncher and Xantham started it, but I finished it.”

“Carl had written in your bio that you could code, but I didn’t realize you could do this sort of work.”

“He wrote about me?”

“Yes,” Alec replied. “It’s standard practice when anyone signs an OmniLab contract. He had to submit an assessment of your skills. When I realized who you were, I took a much closer look at it.”

Kayla wasn’t thrilled about the existence of a dossier floating around with her name on it. She also wondered what Carl specifically had said about her. “I want to see this bio.”

Alec chuckled. “I’ll send you a copy. He had his eye on you for a while, according to the notes. I can’t say I blame him.”

“So I’ve heard,” she replied dryly.

Alec gestured to the screen. “How does this program of yours work?”

She turned back to the computer and explained, “It’s a masking program. Once we upload it to the system, it’ll show the energy levels as remaining stable. I went ahead and added a feature so there will be slight fluctuations to make it appear more realistic. I had to go through and analyze the fluctuations over the past several weeks to get an idea about typical usage.”

Alec nodded. “That makes sense. Whenever you’re ready to upload it, we can try to remove Seara’s bracelet.”

“Fantastic,” Kayla said. “Let me go wake up Carl and Cruncher. I’m going to need them to keep an eye on the system to make sure it’s working properly.”

Alec smiled at her enthusiasm as she jumped up and ran out of the room. She darted down the hallway to her bedroom. Carl was still sleeping, but that hardly deterred her.

He grunted and opened his eyes sleepily when she climbed on top of him. “What time is it?”

“Early,” she replied and kissed him.

Carl wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Hooking his leg over hers, he rolled over and pinned her down. Propping himself up, he looked down at her as she ran her fingers through his loose, dark hair. “I like it when your hair is down.”

“You do, do you?”

“Mmmhmm.” The texture was softer than it looked. The fact he rarely put it down, and she was the only one able to run her fingers through it, made it so much more intimate and special. “It’s sexy.”

He gave her a long, slow kiss, running his hand along her thigh and up under her dress, and nuzzled her neck. “You’re wearing too many clothes. You’ve been up for a while, haven’t you?”

“Not long,” she admitted, arching her neck to give him better access. The man’s lips and fingers were magical. “I came to wake you up because we’re going to try deactivating Seara’s bracelet. I need you and Cruncher to monitor the system.”

His eyes widened. “Already?”

When she nodded, he sat up and looked at her in concern. “Are you sure this is safe for you to do? I admit I don’t know much about this, but I know you have to connect with Alec. That worries me.”

Kayla ran her fingers over Carl’s bare chest. It was nice to have someone concerned about her well-being. He wasn’t trying to make demands or force her into anything, but he simply shared his reservations and trusted her to make the right decision. It made her respect him even more. “That’s why I want you there. I don’t know much about this woo-woo stuff, either, but I think I can handle it. Alec’s not a bad guy, he’s just different.”

And he gets in my head and gets me worked up. I probably shouldn’t share that though.

Carl frowned. “He wants you to stay in the towers. I suspect he’ll do almost anything to keep you here.”

Kayla shrugged. “I don’t care. I belong on the surface and down in the ruins. You know that.”

Carl considered this for a moment and nodded. “Let me get dressed, and I’ll grab Cruncher.”

“Just a second.” She pulled him back for another long, passionate kiss. “Thanks. I just needed something to hold me over until I get you alone later.”

Carl raised an eyebrow. “You sure you don’t want to wait to do this bracelet thing? I wouldn’t mind taking you back to bed.”

Kayla laughed in delight. “Go get dressed. We can pick up where we left off later. I need to do this for Seara.”

With a nod, he stood and headed for the lavatory. Kayla watched him go, admiring the yummy view. Sighing wistfully, she climbed off the bed and headed back out to the living area, where Seara and Alec were sitting.

“Carl’s awake,” she announced and swiped a muffin off the table. Even though she’d already eaten, they were calling her name. “He’s going to get Cruncher up in a minute. Can you let me know when they come out?”

Seara nodded, and Kayla headed back into the safe room. She sat in the chair and pulled up the code again, studying it line by line to make sure it would work flawlessly. Satisfied it was perfect, she turned on an adjacent terminal and connected her computer to the energy monitoring system.

Munching on her muffin, she wrote a quick script to inject the masking program into the energy monitoring system. Carl and Cruncher came into the room a short time later, followed by Seara and Alec.

“Morning, Kayla,” Cruncher greeted her. “How does it look?”

“It’s ready. It’s a freaking brilliant piece of work. You just have to execute the script when we’re ready. The bracelet will still appear to work. Only those of us in this room will know it’s no longer working.”

Seara looked apprehensive and admitted, “I’m a little nervous about this.”

“It’ll be fine, Seara,” Alec said and pulled out a chair for her. She sat and put her hands in her lap, anxiously twisting the bracelet around her wrist. Alec turned and held out his hand to Kayla. Carl’s jaw clenched as Kayla took Alec’s hand, but he didn’t say anything. Alec put his other hand on Seara’s wrist. “Whenever you’re ready, Kayla, go ahead and begin.”

Kayla nodded and sent her energy threads in Alec’s direction. She was becoming much more comfortable with this intimate connection with him. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Alec turned to Cruncher. “Activate the program now.”

Cruncher nodded, pressed a few keys, and announced, “It’s online.”

Alec gave Kayla an encouraging smile. “When you’re ready, I need you to send me a steady stream of energy. That’s all you need to do. I’ll handle everything else. I’ll let you know when to increase it.”

Kayla concentrated and did what he asked. She felt his desire to match her energy with his own, but he struggled to keep his feelings in check. His self-control was admirable. She didn’t think she would be capable of doing the same if their situations were reversed.

Alec took a deep breath and focused on the bracelet. He located the two target areas and gently probed them with Kayla’s energy. “Increase it now.”

She willed herself to tap into her energy resources. Amazed at the way the energy seemed to flow around her, she gathered it close and directed it toward Alec. It seemed as though the more she sent to him, the more loose energy drifted toward her, eager for her to scoop it up. It seemed to be attracted to her. Delighted with the playful energy seeking her out, Kayla focused on the loose strands floating around her and channeled it toward him.

Completely immersed in the game she’d made up—gathering lost energy and giving it a home—Kayla closed her eyes to get a better sense of the energy around her. Fairly humming with the power flowing through her, she stopped paying attention to Alec’s reaction to the increased energy she was feeding him. Instead, she became intrigued at the path of energy he was channeling through the bracelet.

Kayla followed its path and was surprised when she found herself in an enormous hub of energy. It pressed against her, swarming her senses and threatening to overwhelm her. She tried to pull back and was surprised when the pooled energy seemed to gather around her, not willing to let her leave.

Panic set in, and she reacted instinctively, trying to channel the entire flow of energy. It was too much. Nothing in her experience had prepared her to handle something of this magnitude. She screamed Alec’s name in her head, desperate to find their shared connection amidst the onslaught of energy threatening to drown her.