Chapter Five
Five
Her RV trigger. That was an essential key to her remote viewing.
Any viewer had a code or a series of images to keep his or her hold on reality.
Remote viewing was free-form…dangerous; without an experienced human monitor or a trigger code, the viewer could be lost in the ether.
Mind…reality…ended up somewhere in the twilight zone.
A gust pushed Helen forward, closer to the edge of the building, and she tightened her hold on his arm. She willed herself to ignore the drop below. “No,” she said. “Nice trick, but my mind can withstand trick questions.”
The wind stopped just like that. They remained standing at the edge of the tall building. “I know. GEM’s NOPAIN’s a wonderful tool,” Hades said, “but that wasn’t a trick question.”
Very few people outside the most covert ops could casually bring up NOPAIN in conversation.
Most operatives asked its meaning or its usage.
Obviously, Hades already knew, and seemed to be trained in a form of it.
The KGB and CIA each had their versions of NOPAIN.
So, was her trainer once from the CIA? That was highly possible since COS Command recruited all its operatives from the different branches of covert government. Something else to file away.
“What do you call that wind?” Helen demanded. She didn’t like the fact that he still hadn’t moved an inch. “A finger itch at your end? You’re constantly trying to scare me. I haven’t forgotten our first meeting, you know.”
Or forgiven. But forgiven was an intimate word, pushing a training incident into the realm of the personal.
She’d told herself that she wouldn’t make anything during her training personal, even down to the times when she knew they weren’t supposed to be watching her.
She was going to be exactly what they were training her to be—a supersoldier-spy.
But there were times, what Hades did with her in the CAVE, that almost crossed the line.
She had a feeling that the person behind her avatar did that a lot.
A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. “A test.”
“Of?” It irked her that he didn’t address her comment about how he’d introduced himself.
“Your reflexes. You didn’t show much surprise at the sudden temperature changes. And you also aren’t afraid of heights. That’s good to know.”
Helen stared hard at him, then laughed. “Reacting to temperature changes? Excuse me,” she pointed out in between chuckles, “but I’m not the one naked here. You…ummm…didn’t react much to extreme heat and height, either. That’s good to know.”
She was still holding on to his arm. When the wind was gusting hard, his solidity was very reassuring. An image of an anchor materialized in her mind.
“That’s good to know.”
Helen glared at the man beside her. She was getting terribly tired of his reading her thoughts.
What she needed was…pure adrenaline. Without allowing herself to deliberate, she tugged at Hades’ arm and stepped off the building.
It was a heart-stopping moment. His eyes met hers for that split second just before the free fall.
He twisted his body and held her in his arms. There was no surprise in his gaze. Or fear. Whoooooosh.
Rush of air. Heart pounding. Her eyes closed as her head spun.
In the back of her mind, the good Helen was already scolding her stupidity.
Helen, you dumb-ass, you can die from this, you know?
VR is simulation of reality! A fall can result in fatality.
And the wicked Helen, despite knowing how bad her decision was, still grinned back.
By logic, a falling body from atop a high-rise tumbled down. She wasn’t tumbling; she was floating. Panic should make her claw the air. Scream. Kick out. She was enveloped in warmth and there was no fear.
The spinning stopped. Helen opened her eyes. And saw nothing because she was buried in somebody’s chest. She heard the pounding of his heart. He was warm; he even had a scent. She turned her head. The scenery around them had returned to the white nothingness.
“Don’t move,” Hades instructed softly.
She had a feeling that if she disobeyed this time, she would regret it. “Don’t make a habit of ordering me around,” she said, and was a bit annoyed at the huskiness of her voice. Dammit, did his arms around her have to feel so real?
He didn’t answer. There was a short silence as they sort of floated. Helen didn’t mind. Now that her body had caught up with her head, she felt a bit weak-kneed and breathless. Her arms, she discovered, were between their bodies and if she moved her right hand just a bit lower…
“That was a good test of me, but wrong time,” he told her, his voice vibrating in her ear.
“Why?” She forced the former suggestion from her mind.
“Because you alarmed poor Derek and Dr. Kirkland. The spike in your stats was unexpected and I didn’t tell them we were doing anything too dangerous today.”
Today. Something else to mull over later.
Hades must have some kind of communicating device with Dr. Kirkland and Derek.
“So am I suffering cardiac arrest in real life?” She felt pretty calm about that.
Besides, she was busy trying to stop her right hand from checking out something more interesting.
“No. You didn’t go splat. I turned that reality off. That’s the easy part. Stopping your mind from thinking that you’re falling to your death, however, is an entirely different thing.”
She slowly slid her head up to look into his face.
His skin was smooth against hers and she ignored the urge to lick it to see whether he had a taste, too.
He looked incredible up close, chiseled cheekbones and perfect lips.
His eyes were half-open, sensual. And all those lovely blond locks cried out for her hands to run through them.
This was a great way to have a heart attack.
There were more horrible ways to die, she supposed. Perhaps having a logical and calm conversation about simulated reality would settle her mind.
“What kind of incredible tech machine is the Portal, anyway? You can’t push a button and create a new reality? A net to scoop us up? A shorter jump?”
“You wanted to test me,” he pointed out, one golden brow lifted in mockery. “No more thoughts. Just reflex…you wanted to see what I would do in a situation where you put yourself at risk.”
“So you just let us fall?” she countered, imitating his mockery by lifting her own brow. She was going to ignore the little dig about putting herself at risk.
“No, Elena,” he replied softly. “Think of how you felt right after the falling sensation.”
She stared thoughtfully at him. “The adrenaline was there. My body believed I was falling. But my mind told me I was floating.” She frowned.
“No, you told me I was floating. My head was spinning like crazy. You told me to close my eyes. I didn’t react like someone falling off a high-rise and I should have.
I don’t have that much control over my body. Somehow, you made me feel…safe.”
He was silent again as she continued staring at him, absorbing her own analysis. The realization that she had been undergoing training all along was…a bit galling.
“And now,” he said, and she swore she felt something in his mind, like a switch, “we fall—”
Helen gasped as the sudden speed of falling came back.
There was no more floating sensation, just a chaotic jumble of emotions as she tumbled.
All she could do was grab hold of Hades tightly, focusing on him.
The fall felt like forever and she rebelled at the thought that he was forcing the trust issue on her. She held on tighter anyway.
She let out an “ooooommmff” as she landed unceremoniously on something soft. And Hades was all hard and masculine on top of her.
“—onto a bed of feathers,” he finished and for the first time, smiled.
If she hadn’t felt so pissed off at having been tested and tricked again, Helen would have taken the time to admire that glorious mouth. “You could have done that the first time,” she accused, trying to gather her scattered breath and wits together.
“What would that do?”
She didn’t have an answer. Well, she did, but it had nothing to do with feeling safe.
“Would your mind have accepted the sudden change?” Hades continued. “You aren’t that used to VR games yet, my sweet Elena.”
The endearment rolled off his tongue like hot honey. Helen was suddenly very aware of the softness of the bed below her. And the hardness of the body on hers. He was telling her that he was the expert in virtual reality and this game was under his control.
She met his dark gaze defiantly. “Okay, I got the lesson. I’m to depend on you to keep me safe. Now let’s change scenery.”
Oh, man. She was beginning to think creating her dream man was really a bad idea. Well, not bad, not with that slow smile he was giving her. But definitely not to her advantage. It suddenly dawned on her that he was quite comfortable using her creation to manipulate her.
“Who said the lesson is over?” he asked in a low voice.
A naked man. Correction, a very hot-looking naked man.
In bed with her. This was one lesson Helen didn’t need to understand.
“Look, Hades,” she began, batting her eyes innocently at him as she pushed at his chest, “I really think you’re really sexy but it’s too soon in our relationship to really do anything about it.
You have to give me time to get to know you better. ”
His amusement crinkled the corner of his eyes. “Which brings us back to the beginning. What’s your RV trigger, Elena?”
Her eyes rounded. “Oho, seduction now, Hades? Surely your knowledge of all things NOPAIN tells you about that, too? It didn’t work the first time.”
“That wasn’t seduction. We’re done with the nonpersuasive portion; we’re now into the innovative negotiation part.” He shifted, putting more weight on her. “Didn’t Hades do that with Persephone?”