Mira stepped out of the shower, glad that Carter and Layla had volunteered themselves to drive the chemical samples into Madison Alder’s lab, Krylotech Industries in Seattle. The rest of the team was getting antsy, but Mira had done a decent job of updating and motivating them by saying the results of the lab would give One World a strong advantage of not only shutting down the Starlight Energy Pipeline in Bellevue, but perhaps put Montgomery’s company out of business entirely. In the meantime, she delegated specific tasks to each member. Ronnie and Samantha were heading over to the site to take pictures of the construction workers should they engage in any activity. Jess and Malcom were drawing up an amendment to the class-action motion their attorney would ultimately file.And Dahlia and Molly were focusing on making arrangements for One World’s next project, exposing a water treatment facility in Nevada, which was suspected of adding unregulated quantities of fluoride to public dri
Soon she was feeling for his slacks, the button and zipper, working his pants open until they fell to his ankles. His thighs and hips felt hard against her, and she reached for the hem of his sweater next, as he undid her shorts, urging them down. All the while their kissing became a series of quick, urgent pecks between their efforts to strip down.He helped her tee shirt up and over her head and drank in the sight of her when it hit the floor. Her bra was black and basic and her panties matched, but soon he freed her, unfastening the hook and eye at her back and peeling the cups away.A hot rush of excitement surged through her when his hands squeezed her breasts then stroked down her stomach, tracing the soft curve of her body. She was tracing him, as well, feeling his arms, his muscles, as she brushed him, shoulder to wrist. “I want to spend hours with you,” he groaned. “Take my time.”She smiled and let out a breathy laugh, eyeing his boxer-briefs, the way they hugged his bulge,
When he lifted up, their eyes met and he brushed her dark hair off her forehead. After a moment, he kissed her, then he eased out of her, rolling onto his back.Mira curled into him, asking, “What really happened at that party?” She felt Nate tense beside her, and he let out a stuttering breath.“I really don’t know. One minute I was sipping a glass of champagne and talking to the dean of medicine from Mount Sinai, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in the hospital. My dad says it was a psychotic break. I had been under a lot of stress.”Mira didn’t feel it was her place to comment, but she didn’t see how a psychotic break could cause him to act bizarrely with no recollection of his behavior, not to mention Nate didn’t strike her as the sort to have a mental breakdown in the first place.She was jarred from contemplation when her cell began buzzing on the nightstand. Reaching over Nate for it, she saw Carter’s name flashing across the screen. “It is one of my guys,” she said.
One World gathered their gear at Mira’s instructions and drove off through the dark night towards the Starlight Energy trench. Carter killed the headlights on his Jeep as they drove the final mile down the dusty, rural road that ran parallel to the trench.“We’ll take pictures of everything,” Mira stated to the entire team that was now standing one hundred yards from the trench. Ronnie climbed out of the cube truck they’d rented to load the barrels into. “And remember, we are not stealing. This is a peaceful demonstration to prevent them from using this particular chemical, which we now know is deadly.” She made a point to touch eyes with every member of her team, then added, “As soon as we are in position, I’ll tell Ronnie on the walkie talkie. The second he backs the truck to the barrels, we will use the dollies to move them up the ramp. Do not attempt to roll the barrels on their sides. The chemical is highly toxic, and if the lids come off and it spills, it’ll be impossible to cle
“Blind?” Mira couldn’t fathom the magnitude of what she was hearing, and yet it resonated the deep sense of dread that had been forming in the pit of her stomach. “Permanently?”Nate’s hand felt warm and strong as he laced his fingers with hers, holding her firmly. It seemed to be his way of responding, as though words would be too small, insignificant, and unable to cut to the core of this life-changing event that no one could’ve seen coming.“It looks that way,” he said finally, but his timber waned, giving Mira an indication that he’d directed his response to her doctor, who had yet to address the prognosis.“We are going to have to take it day by day, Mira,” he said finally, nearing the foot of her hospital bed, while Layla fidgeted beside Carter on the other side of her bed. “The chemicals scalded your retinas in both eyes.We had the best doctors working, but our primary concern was preventing chemical burns across your skin, which would have killed you. After flushing your eyes
Feeling for the edge of the bed and shifting her legs, Mira slid her feet to the tiles, as Layla got to her feet and padded across the room.“If you could narrate what you are doing,” she said. “It would help me.” “Of course,” said Layla, taking pause. “Is that silly?”After a moment of Mira picturing Layla gaping at her, her friend said, “Not at all. Okay, I’m getting a pair of jeans and a sweater off the chair in the corner of the room. These are mine, by the way. Your clothes become saturated in the chemical.”Mira reached behind her back and pulled the string on her hospital gown, helping it to fall to the floor, as Layla approached with the jeans, setting the sweater on the bed.“Here are your jeans, can you feel for them and get your leg through?”“I think so,” she said, surprised to find herself smiling. “In a weird way this reminds me of being a kid. When I was little I used to close my eyes and bumble around my parents’ house pretending to be blind.”“I feel like I used to
As he rolled her over the red carpet and into the air conditioned lobby of the Escala, Mira noticed that because she had been stripped of the ability to see, her other senses were kicking into high gear. The specific scent of the lobby, the chilled marble floors slick with lemon-fresh cleaner, struck her first, then the particular tinge of AC mingling with the distinct scent of lilacs filled her nose. The shape of Nate’s hand, which remained on her shoulder as he rolled her to the elevator banks, held new meaning.She now understood his precise dimensions the length of his fingers, the width of his palm. And when the elevator arrived with a ding, the sound was sharp and hit her ears in a way she’d never noticed for all her years of having perfect eyesight.After he rolled her inside, turned her around, and the doors whooshed closed, the way in which the air pressure changed from that one simple action was so apparent that it made her feel strangely alive, as did rising swiftly to the
Nate lifted out of sleep, feeling Mira’s warm body in his arms.Lying still, he listened to her breathing, the soft flutter of her rising andfalling chest. If he concentrated, he could feel her heart beating faintly, it's rhythm hitting the side of his chest. He stared at the ceiling then angled his eyes towards the bay windows to his left, studying the dim light seeping through. It told him it was dusk. The sun hadn’t yet completely fallen beneath the horizon. The moon hadn’t entirely risen in the sky. The strange magic of twilight was filling the room.He didn’t want to wake her, but needed to tend to a few matters in his study, make arrangements for dinner, and wrap his head around her medical treatment, both managing her pain and recovery and thinking long term. Would she be permanently blind, or was this condition temporary? In so many ways he felt responsible. If she ever regained her sight, it would bebecause Nate did everything in his power to make it so. He wouldn’t give up.