Chapter 28

Krista

Everything’s going smoothly since the tire-slashing incident, and frankly I’m pretty relieved about that fact.

The guys are super helpful, and I know I wouldn’t be making all this progress without their help.

They’re always there for me, and they add a few touches of brilliance to the factors at hand—a quality that I’m desperately struggling to achieve on my own accord.

In my opinion, the progress is significant so far, and I’m loving every minute of the climb.

Think about it: we all have expert qualities and talents that we bring to the table that hash out a perfect goal in the end.

The four of us really are a perfect balance, and we blend to make the cleaner coal research absolutely perfect from start to finish.

Walking to the research room, I notice a bounce to my step, and I’m actually fucking humming.

Yes! Humming.

Am I really that happy now? Things seem to be going so well that my subconscious is just following right along, giving me hope and prosperity for the future ahead.

I get to the entrance door of the research room, ready to go in when I stop dead in my tracks.

There’s a man in there, looking around.

I don’t recognize this man.

I gulp and glance back down the hallway from the same direction I first came and toward the right in the opposite direction.

The hallways are empty, and I get a prickly feeling on the back of my neck, like something’s not right. It’s ominous and unsettling, so I stand there and observe the man with a weary and watchful eye for a few seconds.

Finally, the suspense builds up so much that curiosity consumes me. I take a careful step inside the room and clear my throat.

The man guiltily spins around in shock, but he quickly redeems himself with a flash of a smile in my direction.

“Hello.” He gives a timid wave.

“Can I…help you with something?” I ask guardedly.

The strange man with a bald head and a black trench coat merely shrugs with nonchalance. “I’m just looking around.”

“Are you looking for anything in particular?” I ask with confusion as the man’s confidence blossoms again.

“What’s this room for, exactly?” He glances at me.

I sigh with relief, gladly noting that this is a question I can answer without issue. I take a few steps closer to him as my trepidation meter lowers.

“Well,” I say as I pat the desk in the front of the room. “This is a research facility.”

The man furrows his brow. “What sorts of research do you do in this room?”

“All kinds of things, really,” I state proudly. “My colleagues and I are working toward a very specific goal right now.”

“What might that be?” The man quizzes me further. I’m not alarmed yet. Perhaps he’s interested in studying at this university and is just gathering information to come to an informed decision later.

“My team’s currently paving the way for a world where the coal mines can use cleaner resources for the outputs they produce. Not only will it be cleaner for the environment, it will also be safer for the miners working inside, and there will be less likelihood of accidents.”

When I talk about my research, without even realizing it, my heart begins to race with pride, and I want to conquer the world.

I imagine a life where I can have my medals and trophies for all my accomplishments—along with the guys—splashed all over my walls.

“It sounds like there are a lot of benefits to it.” The guy flashes me a smile, and I notice that his top teeth are yellow.

I recoil a little, almost too visibly, and the man frowns. I quickly try to recover from my mental misstep.

“Yeah, it’s really great.” I nod with bubbly enthusiasm. “I’ve been working really hard at the tasks at hand. It’s not an easy job, but I can’t wait to see the results if we’re successful.”

The man gives me a wild grin. “You sound really proud of your work and excited for the finished product.”

“I am.” I nod with a polite smile. “I have a specific reason I chose to dive into this field,’ I admitted, not really understanding why I feel the need to sprout out my life story and purpose to this stranger.

“What might that be?” His eyes light up with intrigue.

“I’ve lost several family members in the coal mines due to how unsafe they are to operate,” I admit with regret.

“I’m sure that makes you feel even more determined,” the man offers.

“It does,” I say and give him a wan look.

He seems really interested in my field of study, and I just give him the benefit of the doubt and keep my friendly face moving.

After all, like I said, he might be interested because he wants to participate in his own research career. Who am I to judge?

After a few minutes of talking, the guys walk into the room, cheerily greeting me and then stopping when they notice I’m not alone.

King casts a suspicious glance at the man and then eyes me with concern.

“Hey, guys.” I wave with a bright smile.

“Hi…” Simon files in directly behind King and looks confused. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh…” I spin around and point to the man. “We aren’t…he’s just…” I trail off when the man interrupts me.

“I was just leaving.” He chuckles nervously and quickly scampers from the room at the sight of the three guys joining me.

“Well, that was fucking weird,” I say and shake my head, feeling a little perplexed.

“Who was that guy?” Dylan asks and points his thumb back out the door where the man has already hurried away.

“I’m not sure, exactly,” I say. “I didn’t catch his name.”

“What was he doing here?” King asks.

I shrug and pull out my books. “He was just asking me questions about the research.”

The guys exchange a glance that makes me sweat as a nervousness forms in my belly. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“No, of course not,” Simon reassures me and pats my hand. “Why don’t we get started on our work?”

“Great idea,” Dylan agrees. “We don’t want to find ourselves falling behind when we’ve worked so hard to get ahead of the game.”

The guys and I dive right in, burrowing our heads into the work as we gather and begin to apply the formulas we’re so diligently trying to apply and match up to our experiments.

“I think we’ll be ready by this weekend,” King states nobly.

I glance up at him. “Really? You mean for experimentation?”

“That’s right.” He nods proudly. “We’re almost there, sweetheart.”

The guys grin at me, and my eyes fill with tears. I’ve come so far from the small-town farm girl with huge, unstoppable dreams.

“I have a big lawn,” King reminds us. “I can volunteer to conduct the experiments at my house.”

We all agree to that plan, stating that it seems the most feasible and will work the best for us right now.

We continue working laboriously through the morning hours and well into the afternoon.

That’s when I notice that King has been working on his laptop nearly the entire time. He’s not relaxing, and it’s not healthy. I don’t want any of the guys to get burned out just because of my goals.

Walking up to him, I gently place my hand on his shoulder. He’s so focused on his work that he startles a little at my touch.

Smiling up at me with a fond gaze, he greets me. “Hi.”

“Hi.” I smile back. “You need to take a little break.”

King protests, “I’m fine, really.”

“No.” I close his laptop screen. “Stop for a little while. You don’t want to stress yourself out.”

“You don’t have to do this. I’m used to working twenty-four hours a day.” King chuckles, continuing to protest.

Saying nothing, I begin massaging his sore neck and shoulder muscles in the effort to get him to relax.

“You’ll feel better after a break, I promise.” I kneed my hands into his muscles, and he groans with pleasure, succumbing to the good feeling.

In the heat of the moment, King lifts his face and begins to kiss me. His fingers slowly crawl to my legs and up between my thighs.

Next thing I know, he’s pushing my panties to the side as I climb on top of him.

We’re both panting and breathing hard.

His fingers are like lightning bolts of pleasure shooting up my spine. I moan with desire as he pushes two fingers into my fleshy, pink slit.

He finds his way to my clit, where the magic happens, and the ecstasy builds within me. I’m in a trancelike state of mind. I want him, and I’m craving him; my cheeks are burning for him.

My hips shake and my thighs tremble as he skirts his way between my legs, using complete precision and talent.

The rise of orgasm is building up inside me, oozing out as pre-cum in my pussy, which gives him even more ammunition to slip and slide with his fingers.

He’s frantically tickling my clit with his thumb as his index finger pushes inside me.

“This feels so good,” I breathe out and squeeze my legs together, then open them up again.

King’s hand is between my legs and up my skirt. It’s amazing and intoxicating, and I never want this feeling to end.

He plays with my clit until my body shakes and convulses with climax. I moan out, crying wildly. “I’m going to come!” I announce as he pushes his fingers into me, burying them in my warm, wet hole while he continues to rub and swirl his thumb on my clit.

He holds me in place while I orgasm, and then when I finish, he slides his slippery fingers out of me while I giggle.

He makes me watch as he licks every last drop of my cum off his fingers, as if he’s savoring the taste of fried chicken or something.

“You’re incredible with your hands.” I grin at him and laugh.

“Thanks.” He gives me a wink and then presses his lips to mine so I can taste my own sweet nectar.

By then, Dylan and Simon arrive again, prepared with the things we would need in order to conduct the experiments.

King and I exchange a private knowing glance.

Oh yeah, in case you were wondering, the reason why we had that alone time is because Simon and Dylan left briefly to gather materials.

Now the next step is to put everything in place, and I can’t wait for the journey.