VISIONS OF HEAT

“If I can’t finish this, will it hurt you?”


“Hell, yeah. But my balls turning blue won’t kill me. So don’t worry about it. When you can’t handle it, get up and get the hell out. If I look like I’ve gone cat, lock the door behind you and take the car. Hyperspeed.” He showed her the keys. “Car’s in the left cavern as you enter. Do you remember the way out? You have to follow it without deviation or you’ll set off the defenses.”

Oddly, there was no fear in her scent. “My memory’s highly trained. Don’t worry about me being caught in a trap.”

He had a sudden thought. “Did you see this in a vision?”

“N-no!” Her Psy facade cracked. “I’ve never seen anything this pleasurable.” Night-sky eyes went to his hands as he pulled off his jeans and threw them aside. Her intense focus made his already painful erection pound in echo with his heartbeat.

“How do you know it’ll be pleasurable?” He got on the bed and lay down.

Breath a whisper, she came closer and tied one wrist to the headboard. The cat growled but didn’t try to make him wrench free.

“Because just looking at you gives me the most extreme pleasure I’ve ever felt.”

“Christ, baby, tie me up before you start talking like that.” He wasn’t joking. He knew his beast, knew its limits, knew its demands.

She went to the other side of the bed to tie up his free hand before coming to his feet. The jaguar didn’t think this was okay anymore—claws pricked at his inner skin and a roar pushed at his throat. Forcing the beast to back down, he spread his legs to help her. But he knew there would come a point when he’d lose the battle with the cat. “The doors are closed,” he told her, voice very low. “If you have to run, don’t give me any warning and don’t stop to get dressed. Just go!”

Faith stood at the end of the bed and met his eyes. “Why do I trust you more than you trust yourself?”

“You don’t know the beast. Do what I tell you.”

“Vaughn, I can fight back.”

“Yeah, but can you kill? Because as far as I know, that’s the only way you have to incapacitate me.”

“You won’t hurt me. But”—she held up her hand when he would’ve spoken—“I promise I’ll do everything you’ve asked if you go cat on me. Promise.”

He nodded, satisfied that she’d keep her word. Then he watched her as a cat watches prey. Except this time, he couldn’t pounce. He wondered what she’d do, whether she’d torment him. The thought wasn’t unpleasant—a little tormenting in bed could be very interesting. The one thing he didn’t allow himself to think was that she’d complete the act and accept him into her body.

She crawled onto the bed to sit on her knees beside him. “May I touch you?” Such a polite question, but there was an inferno in her eyes. A Psy not sure she could fully break conditioning. And yet gutsy enough to try. Was it any wonder she was his mate?

“Anywhere.” He wished he could kiss her. Unable to gratify the wish, he indulged himself with thoughts of how the softness of her lips would feel against his. The tart sweetness of her mouth was a remembered sensation that tightened his already impossibly taut body.

Lightning-shot eyes met his. “I like your kiss, too.”

He loved being able to arouse her with his most erotic thoughts. “Then come here.”

“Vaughn, should I drop out of the Net before—What if my shields collapse?”

“You can drop out the second your shields fail. I’ll catch you.” He’d already caught her, but she wasn’t ready to accept the depth of their connection.

“Then I’ll wait until it becomes unavoidable,” she whispered, “I have things to do.”

He smiled, using sex to banish the taint of sadness. “Yes, you do. Kiss me.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea.” She braced her hands palms down beside his head and placed her mouth over his. It was an utterly feminine kiss, gentle and exploratory, not ravaging but coaxing. To his shock, Vaughn found he enjoyed being coaxed. The cat settled, too, pleased. It liked being petted and this was the most intimate kind of petting.

When her tongue whispered across his lips, he opened his mouth and allowed her to taste him as he tasted her. He could feel her knee against his side, but she remained out of reach, her breasts not pressing against his chest where he wanted them. He imagined her kissing him naked, her body pasted along his, a sizzlingly intimate meeting of mouths that might short-circuit all of her nerves.

Gasping into the kiss, she broke it. Her eyes were filled with white lightning, her lips moist from his kiss, her skin flushed with a soft glow that signaled arousal. He took pleasure in the markers though he didn’t need them—the scent of her acted like a drug to his senses. Breathing deep, he fed the hunger, stoked the fire, and waited.





CHAPTER 21