Jill Shalvis - Out of This World

His talent was clear, and a bit startling, given that I’d pegged him as slow and inept, but apparently there were some things he could do, and do well.

That one of those things was wield a knife somehow didn’t make me feel much better.

He and Marilee had gone oddly silent. I knew there was something really weird going on, but I was so fried, I couldn’t seem to summon the energy to get to the bottom of it.

Kellan pressed me into a chair, Marilee handed me a plate and, before I knew it, I was stuffing my face. Unable to help myself, I glanced at the freezer, concentrated and saw right through the door to the boxes of Girl Scout Cookies.

I think I had a miniorgasm.

“Do you have any dessert?” I asked as casually as I could.

“No, not yet, sorry,” Marilee said with apology. “But I’m going to bake brownies tonight.”

Axel choked out a cough that sounded like “God help us,” and Marilee glared at him until he went back to being silent.

“So you have nothing?” I said. “Not anything like, say, cookies ?”

“I’m sorry,” she said again.

Damn it. I wanted to go to the freezer and whip it open, but I controlled myself-barely-promising myself a midnight sleepwalk to the freezer, and when I did, this time I wouldn’t hold back.

I was going to eat them all.

Every.

Single.

Last.

One.

“I was thinking of calling Dot,” I said to Kellan, “just to check in.” And to see if she could help us make some plans to get out of Crazy Town.

Marilee shook her head. “Phones are down, too.”

I pulled my cell out of my pocket. No reception. “I don’t suppose you have wireless Internet?”

Both Marilee and Axel burst into laughter.

“Yeah.” I sighed. “What about radio? We could call Jack and get him back here.”

Marilee looked startled. “You want to leave early?”

Axel shook his head. “Not going to happen.”

“Why not?”

“Jack never returns early.”

“Oh,” I said, and suddenly felt extremely powerless. Hated that.

Kellan put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. “So there’s no way to communicate with the rest of the world?”

“We’re self-contained,” Axel said. “That’s what Gert loved about this place.”

Of course she had. Oh God, this felt bad. Very bad.

“There must be some sort of evacuation plan in case of emergency,” Kel said with quiet calm.

No sparks of temper, no kicking ass, not Kel. Just a cool, easy way that somehow soothed me.

Odd, since I’d always been attracted to the wildly passionate, temperamental sort. But I was extremely grateful that it was Kel at my side, because he gave me something few others ever had.

Security.

How he did it under such pressure was a big mystery, but I wished whatever it was would rub off on me.

“Oh, I can radio Jack,” Axel said. “But it has to be life-and-death for him to respond.”

“So other than one of us dying, there’s really no way out?” I asked in a very small voice. “Because I thought this was the twenty-first century. How can we actually be stuck here?”

Axel smiled. “Now see, that’s why they call this God’s country, boss. No one gets in and out of here but God.”

Marilee and Axel exchanged another long look.

And suddenly I wished I had gotten a lot closer to God over the years.

After I realized how stuck here we really were, and that I wasn’t going to get any Girl Scout Cookies until I could sneak them myself, things sort of caught up with me.

I was so tired that I had to prop my head up with my hand, my elbow on the table, and still I kept drifting off in the middle of eating my cheese and apples. I nearly snapped my neck while I was at it. I swear, my eyes just kept closing on me. The warm fire didn’t help, nor did the lack of bright overhead lights-cookies would have helped-and I closed my eyes while Marilee and Axel talked to Kellan about…

The sexual healing powers of the mountain?

Huh?

I tuned into the conversation in time to hear Marilee say, “It’s true, there’s just something about this place. When people come here, they find a renewed spirit. It brings out the passion.”

“Wild passion,” Axel said, sounding like he’d experienced this firsthand.

“ Sex? ” Kellan said, sounding doubtful, clearly wanting to clarify. “You’re telling me your guests all get sex?”

“Well,” Marilee started. “Not necessarily-”

“Yes,” Axel said over her. “Seriously, dude. I think it’s in the water, dude.”

I managed to concentrate, and by accident, I looked right through Axel. Damn, I could still do that. But his heart hadn’t picked up speed, nor his pulse, which I supposed meant he actually believed every word, that this place was truly some sort of…sexual healing zone.

I drifted off for a moment, picturing that, getting sexually healed by… Kellan ?

Damn, the guy needed to get the hell out of my fantasies.

“So,” Kellan said, sounding amused now. “You’re telling me what? That I’m going to have the sex of my life here?”

Axel laughed. “Hey, dude, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

In spite of myself and my interest in this topic, I drifted off again, dreaming about Kellan getting the sex of his life. With that girl he’d dated a few times at work, that cute little blonde, what’s-her-name-

No. I didn’t like her. Too perky.

I tried someone else. Maybe that actress on that TV show he had such a crush on.

No, I didn’t like her either.

Concentrate, I told myself. Concentrate on getting Kellan sex with…

Me.

I could see it so clearly, too: His long, rangy body towering over mine, him leaning in for a kiss as he sank into my body, taking us both to heaven and back-

Whoa. But it was too late. The image stuck. And not only did it stick, it was…hot. My face heated. I sighed dreamily.

And grinned stupidly.

“Rach.” Kellan gently shook me. “Come on.”

Come? Yeah, I think I could probably handle coming right about now…

“Let’s get you changed,” he said. “And then-”

“Yes?” I murmured hopefully, waking all the way up. “And then?” More coming?

“Sleep.”

Sleep. Right. Only problem? I think I was experiencing the sexual healing powers of the place already. My body was tingling from head to toe, and in all the good spots in between.

And then came the thump that made us jump. It came from directly overhead, and I jerked upright. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Marilee asked, careful not to meet my gaze.

I looked at Axel, who shook his head.

“You didn’t hear that?” I asked.

“I did,” Kel said, and stood.

Then the thump came again, louder this time.

Kellan raised a brow. “Was that nothing, too?”

Marilee looked at Axel. Axel looked back for one long beat before affecting a lazy smile. “Probably a raccoon.”

“Doing what? Trying to sneak into one of the beds?” I asked.

Marilee laughed. “Oh, you never know.” She pulled me out of my chair and nudged us toward the back door. “You look exhausted. Why don’t you go catch some shut-eye?”

“I think we should look upstairs first,” Kellan said.

“Oh, I’ll do that.” Axel opened the back door for us. It was pitch-black outside, and he handed us two flashlights.

“You two just get some shut-eye,” Marilee said.

“And maybe some of that healing,” Axel quipped, and shut the door.

Silence reigned.

Kellan looked at me.

I looked at him.

“They’re up to something,” I said.