Forgotten by Kailin Gow Page B

look too. It’s the same apartment I was in with Grayson, so nothing has really changed. It’s modern and elegant, with the sofa and the TV, the doors leading through to the bathroom and the bedroom.
                “It’s kind of tacky,” I say, “putting us in the same place I was in before. It’s like they want to remind us about Grayson.”
                “Maybe,” Jack says. “More likely, this is the only room they have stocked with food and ready to go. Plus, it makes the surveillance easier.”
                I’d almost forgotten that, if they used cameras to get footage of me and Grayson, those cameras would still be there. “So we have to assume that they can see and hear us?”
                Jack nods. “I’m not too worried about that. They’d spot us in the corridors if we left anyway. Besides, there are some things that I want the whole world to hear.”
                He moves to stand in front of me, and the way he looks at me then is so intense. “I want you to know that I love you, Celes. I love you, and I’m willing to fight for you. For us. I’m not going to let anyone take you away from me. Not the Others. Not some senator. Not… anybody.”
                He doesn’t say Grayson’s name, but I know it’s what he means.
                He kisses me gently then, planting a second kiss on the tip of my nose when he’s finished. “Johnny says that you came back for me.”
                I look around. “I guess that makes us kind of even. I mean, you came back for me too.”
                “You followed me through time, Celes. I don’t remember it like you do, or like he does, yet, but I can… it’s like I can feel the memories in me, like I’m some kind of deep pool, and they’re swimming about near the bottom. I don’t actually remember them yet, but it’s like every time we touch, they swim a little closer to the surface.”
                “Then we should be touching a lot more often,” I suggest, half joking.
                Jack smiles. “That’s just what I was thinking. I was also thinking that we should get out of here soon, but those two are almost the same thing.”
                “What do you mean?” I ask.
                By way of an answer, he kisses me one more time. This kiss is as hard and as passionate as anything I’ve had from him before. He kisses me like he plans to keep on going until we both forget to breathe, and his hands press me tightly to him while he does it. I don’t even hesitate; I just kiss Jack back as completely, and as thoroughly, as I can.
                I feel the first stirring of the energy between us then, growing into something bigger. I kiss Jack’s mouth hungrily, wanting more of him in that moment than I have before. Jack’s the one who keeps control of the kiss though. His hands find mine, his fingers intertwining with mine as his lips tease me, moving over my mouth, my jaw, my neck.
                The power in me rushes to the surface in each spot he kisses, and I can’t blame it. Right then, I want to be as close to Jack as I can be too. We kiss, and I know then it’s not just about doing what we have to in order to bring out the power that is glowing around us. Jack’s kissing me because he wants to, desperately, as though his life depends on it. Because I’m as important to him right then as he is to me. The fact that energy is glowing around us both, so bright that I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to look at it without my talent, is just a very useful byproduct.
                Jack moves back from me, catching his breath. “Try the door.”
                “Are you sure about this?” I ask. “Before, in the cell, it didn’t work, and these doors will be as strong.”
                “Trust me, Celes,” he replies, “if you can melt their