Oh God, no. Not another one. Not now.
The vision sucked her out of place and time. Fast flashes. Vivid, unmistakable images. Lights and shadows. It was like a movie in fast forward, and she a trapped viewer. A reluctant voyeur. She could sometimes discern where the vision took place, based on the surroundings she caught glimpses of, but she never knew when it would happen, only that it would. Events she could not avoid no matter what she did to prevent it.
A future she could not change.
She saw herself. And she saw Gideon. He had her pressed up against a wall. She couldn’t tell where, didn’t recognize the wallpaper. Then again, she had trouble tearing her vision from the naked couple writhing in reckless abandon. Gideon held one of her wrists clamped above her head. Her face was tipped up, her eyes closed, her mouth open as she gasped in ecstasy. He devoured her neck.
His free hand was clamped on her bottom, firm and unyielding, possessive, gripping tight. The muscles of his arms and back were taut. Fine beads of perspiration glistened on his skin. And on hers. Maggie had wrapped her legs around his lean waist, locked her ankles over his tight buttocks. His back flexed and bunched as those lean hips pumped in a primal, unstoppable, brutal rhythm.
Just as quickly as the vision hit her, it disappeared. She was slammed back into the here and now. Maggie stumbled back a step, panting softly. Her body ached, trembling with need. Her blood sang in her veins.
Never before had she experienced a vision like that. Ever. Not one so sensual, so corporeal. Normally it was like watching a movie with familiar faces. Very 2D. Sometimes even 3D with action going on all around her. But this vision had been anything but. She swore she’d actually felt his teeth rake over her skin. She could still feel the slight sting on her flesh. She’d felt him pressing into her, felt his heat fill her. Felt him moving inside her, stretching her, stroking her. She shivered at the delicious phantom sensations.
Her mind raced, swirling with so many thoughts she was a bit lightheaded. But one thought kept coming back to her, over and over. In that vision, she’d been mindless with passion, oblivious to all else. Angels could have descended en masse from Heaven. Demons could have risen from Hell in droves. Armageddon could have happened all around her, and she wouldn’t have known.
Wouldn’t have cared.
She’d never experienced that, a complete and utter loss of control, loss of awareness.
The very idea scared the living hell out of her.
Try as she might, she couldn’t escape the vision. Couldn’t put it from her as she did the others visions, couldn’t store it away until she could sort it all out later. Her body was strung out. Her emotions were tangled.
Without thought, she reached out once more and whispered her trembling fingers across his brow. His hair felt like silk against her skin. Feeling brave now, or maybe it was the vision that drove her beyond all good sense, she gently eased her fingers along his jaw, savoring the rasp of his sandpaper stubble. What would it feel like to have that stubble scrape along the side of her neck? Along the curve of her breast? Her sensitive nipples?
She’d be finding out, soon enough. Her visions never lied.
Forcing a swallow, she jerked her hand back. Touching him only made her body ache for more. She had to clear her head. Had to think this one through. He’d come so close to kissing her in the study. And she’d come so close to letting him. In that moment, she had never wanted anything more. Not even her freedom.
But then he’d pulled back. Just like he always did. Why was he so careful never to touch her? Not even an accidental brush of his fingers?
According to her vision, he’d get over that aversion. With a vengeance.
He shifted in his sleep, and she jolted back. Clarity swept over her. She should be waking him up. Should be hurrying him along so they could get back to Portland. She wanted to go home, needed to see familiar things around her. Pack some of her own things to bring back with her for the short time she intended to stay with Gideon.
But she couldn’t shake the unsettling vision of them together.
Biting her lip, she stepped back, turned and silently slipped from the room.
Space. Time. Distance. She needed to get out of here. She needed to think things through. Vaguely, she realized she was panicking. Nearly hyperventilating. She couldn’t rationalize. Couldn’t breathe.
She needed air.
Her feet flew down the grand staircase, and Maggie hit the door running.