Divine Artifact in a Scientific World

"And what about me? Am I peripheral?" Katie asked Jack.

Her tone felt a little too serious to be teasing.

He'd already soul bonded Samantha, and if Katie felt about him the way Samantha claimed, then he'd probably soul bond her as well.

Without soul bonds, he would never move this fast with a relationship. With the exception of Madison, he had spent very little time with any of his other girls, so soul bonding them after such a brief time might seem careless.

But soul bonds allowed them to transcend normal relationship dynamics and skip straight to intimate acceptance.

Even his interactions with Nora felt healthy. Sure, she was concerned, and probably a little conflicted about her feelings towards him, but neither of them felt trapped or at odds.

Instead of answering her question, he asked, "Are you asking because you want to be part of my harem? To be one of my inner circle?"

She swallowed, then nodded, but remained silent.

"I realize this might be a difficult question to answer, but, can you explain why? Why would you want to join the harem of a guy you barely know?"

"I don't know," she whined. "I just do. Ever since the first time I got near you, I've felt drawn to you. When Madison claimed you were hers, I tried to act like it didn't bother me, but it did."

She laughed wryly.

"It's funny. The only things Samantha and I have in common are harem fantasies and you. After we met at that summer camp, we rarely communicated. But then I met her again in the principal's office and learned that she, too, was asking to have her classes rearranged so she could gain some distance from your tempting presence."

She sighed.

"We sort of bonded over our mutual struggle to get over you. There were times when I wished I had never met you and, unlike Samantha, I thought I had mostly gotten over you."

She chuckled.

"That's such a funny thing to say, 'gotten over you,' we didn't even date and yet I still felt like I was pining for you like a love struck fool. And then Madison called, and all those feeling I thought I'd managed to put to rest came flooding back."

He was no expert in human relationships, but he was fairly certain that her and Samantha's behavior towards him was a bit extreme. It was not normal for a girl to be that obsessed with someone she barely knew.

If they had first met after he received Genesis Heart, he'd chalk it up to his enhanced soul strength. But she was describing events that happened well before he received Genesis Heart.

She continued, "I tried to keep them stuffed in a box, but then you called. I thought maybe if we met I could find some sort of resolution, one way or the other. But then I saw you dominating Chad and ..."

She took a shuddering breath.

"I'm terrified you'll..."

She swallowed again, trying not to cry.

From her reaction, he could tell she was worried he would reject her, or keep her at a distance.

Wanting to reassure her, he reached over and gave her thigh a squeeze.

"Hey. I'm happy to have you in my life. And my harem."

She gasped a sob, and her hands scrabbled at her seatbelt.

It was a good thing he'd just pulled into the Stetle Yacht Club parking lot because as soon as she managed to unlatch her seatbelt; she lunged at him and practically climbed into his lap while kissing him.

He slammed on the brakes for fear of hitting something while his vision was obstructed by her head.

The car lurching to a stop pulled her face away from his, and she gasped before pulling back.

"Sorry, sorry," she exclaimed. " I just couldn't help myself."

He was going to pull her into a hug to reassure her, but she returned to her seat.

As she fussed with her hair, she said, "My mom said she had her first time with Dad in the back of his car. If you want, we could..."

She was as eager as Samantha. But something about the way she carried herself made him think she did not share Samantha's sexual tastes.

"But is that what you want?" he asked gently.

"No. Not really. I do have an idea, if you're interested."

"Sure, I'm interested," he said enthusiastically.

"Our yacht is docked at the club, and I thought maybe..."

"Hmm, that sounds fun. Did you want to do that first, or spend some time at the party first?"

"I hate to say this, but we need to mingle for a bit first. People will see us if we head straight to the docks, and I'd rather not be that obvious. Once it's dark out, we can head there without everyone seeing."

He assumed she wasn't embarrassed to be seen with him, but was instead worried about her, or her family's, reputation.

"Then that's what we'll do."

He took his foot off the brake and continued down the Yacht Club drive to the front entrance, where they had a valet parking attendant.

After handing the attendant his valet key and collecting a receipt, he and Katie walked into the club.

The lobby was small, with only a few armchairs, and had a nautical theme.

There were three hallways leading off from the lobby, and Katie led him down the hall that was directly across from the entrance.

They passed several doors before the hallway opened up into a large room with a spectacular view of the lake and the docked boats below.

There was a small parquet dance floor in the middle surrounded by tables, and in one corner was a small bar.

Music played in the background just loud enough to create a relaxed ambiance.

There were approximately fifteen people in the room when he and Katie entered, and every single one of them turned to look when he and Katie entered.

The people were grouped into four clusters. Three of the clusters were all women. But the fourth cluster was all men standing around a single girl: Lily.

Fuck. What's she doing here?