"Oh, Kyrian," she moaned against his lips as she felt her pleasure building again.
No sooner had his name left her lips than something strange started happening to her. Something shifted inside her and she felt an erotic surge. "Oh my," she breathed.
Suddenly, she could feel him feel her. It was as if they were really one person. She felt him inside her and she could feel herself around him. Kyrian struggled to breathe as he felt it, too. They stared into each other's eyes.
Amanda ran her hand down his back. She felt the caress down her own spine. It was the most incredible thing she'd ever experienced. He quickened his strokes, and she clung to him, both of them out of their minds with volcanic need. They came together in one fierce moment of sublime pleasure. Kyrian threw his head back and roared as he buried himself deep inside her. Amanda cried out as he shook in her arms.
She held him close as he collapsed on top of her. She cradled him with her body while she floated back to herself. Then, to her deepest regret, she could feel him receding from her.
"What happened?" he breathed.
"I don't know, but it was wonderful. Incredible. The absolute best."
Laughing softly, he lifted his head and she frowned at the sight of his eyes in the dull candlelight. They were no longer black, but a strange hazel-green."Kyrian?"
He looked around the room, then grimaced. "My powers are gone," he whispered. And it was then she felt weakness overwhelm him. He could barely move. Worse, she felt intense agony invade his skull as he placed the heel of his hand over his right eye and hissed.
"Oh, my God," she breathed as he lay beside her in complete misery. "What can I do?"
"Call Talon," he said between clenched teeth. "Dial two and a pound sign on the phone."
She rolled over to reach the nightstand and pulled the phone to her, then quickly dialed. Talon answered on the second ring. By the sound of Talon's voice, she could tell he'd been fast asleep. "What's wrong?" he asked calmly after she told him who she was.
"I don't know. I've done something to Kyrian."
"What do you mean?" he asked in a tone that told her he found it hard to believe she could do anything to his friend.
"I'm not sure. His eyes are a different color and he's doubled over in pain."
"What color are his eyes?"
"Green."
Talon fell silent for several rapid heartbeats before he spoke again. "Let me talk to him." She handed the phone to Kyrian. Kyrian gripped the phone as another wave of pain racked him. He'd never felt anything like this before. It was as if his Dark-Hunter and human halves were at war with one another.
"Talon," he breathed.
"Hey, buddy," Talon said. "You okay?"
"Hell, no. What's going on?"
"Offhand, I'd say you just found the way to drain out your Dark-Hunter powers. Congratulations, bud, you found your out-clause."
"Yeah, and I feel peachy keen about it, too."
"Don't be a smart-ass. The thing to remember is it's temporary. I think." Not comforted by the doubt in Talon's voice, he asked, "How long?"
"I have no idea. I've never had my powers drained."
Kyrian hissed against another wave of pain. "Stop fighting it," Talon snapped. "You're only making it worse. Just relax."
"Oh yeah, like you know."
Talon snorted. "Trust me, there are times to fight and this isn't one of them. Just go with it."
"Go with it, my ass. It's not that easy. It happens to feel like I'm being cleaved in two."
"I know," Talon said, his voice thick with sympathy. "What were you doing when you lost your powers?"
Kyrian cleared his throat as he cast a sheepish look to Amanda. "I… urn…" He hesitated with the explanation. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass her. But then, he didn't have to.
"Great Diarmuid Ua Duibhne," Talon roared, "you slept with her and it drained you, didn't it?"
Kyrian cleared his throat louder, then realized the futility of trying to hide something from a Dark-Hunter who could find out most anything he wanted to. "Nothing happened until the end."
"Ahhhh, I see," Talon said, dragging the words out as if something had become clear to him. When next he spoke, he sounded strangely like Dr. Ruth. "You know that moment you have after you come? When you're completely spent, sated, and helpless? Want to bet that's what sucked your powers out?"
Still, none of it made any sense to Kyrian. "The rest of you sleep with women all the time without this."
"Yeah, but every one of us has a different pressure point, you know that. In your mind you must equate that pinnacle moment with what made you a Dark-Hunter. Either that or maybe it was her powers. Maybe they fluxed with yours and sucked them out."
"That's insane."
"About as insane as the headache you have which is making my head hurt for you, by the way. Now hand me back to Amanda."
Kyrian did. "He wants to talk to you." Amanda took the phone.
"Listen," Talon said, his voice stern and sharp. "We have a serious problem here. Kyrian is down until his powers return."