Secrets

by Dana Lyons

  His kiss came swiftly, and she took his lips and loved him, opening and sucking his tongue. She pressed her lips against him until they swelled, seeking the depths of his mouth, offering him hers in exchange. While her mouth proclaimed her intent, she slid against him, riding his cock with her other wet and swollen flesh.

  He broke the kiss, brandishing his shark smile with all the teeth, and picked her up. The bed was a giant hotel king and he placed her at the foot of the mattress. She was alive with wanting him, every cell in her body participating with heightened awareness as they consummated this new bond.

  The touch of his skin, the heat in his breath against her flesh, even his taste drew her in. His lips kissed with adoration. He sucked at her tongue as he circled and massaged her thighs; emotional high and erotic sensation joined to create an ecstatic state of euphoria.

  The telepathic connection between them opened wide, delivering his emotions on top of hers. Tears of ecstasy filled her eyes. Joy bubbled in her heart; she stopped him.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Do you feel it?”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “Woman, what are you talking about?”

  “The connection. Make love to me with your body and your mind. Close your eyes and come into my mind.”

  He did as she asked, and settled in. Ready?

  Yes.

  Now, our minds are in touch.

  She stroked her breasts, massaged and pulled on her nipples until her core twitched with longing.

  “Oh,” he whispered. “I see.”

  “What the body feels, the mind knows. So, we’re in each other’s mind and body. ” She slid her mouth over his flesh, filling her nose with his scent, her mouth with his distinctive taste, all working to drive her into frenzied desire. The opening rumblings of his orgasm teased her mind, and she stopped.

  He pulled her all the way up into the bed, and straddled her with a knowing look that spoke of promises. She pushed back into the pillows and gripped the sheets. Building tension, building desire, and rising passion screamed for satisfaction; his promises spoke of a release beyond her wildest dreams.

  Taking his time, his lips descended to her belly, and her stomach flinched at the first touch. One of his hands cupped a breast, gently squeezing while his other hand stroked her thighs. Her legs opened, and he brushed his hand over her lips, separating them before dancing away. He nipped at her soft inner thigh, her taut belly, and back again to her other leg.

  Please.

  His fingers spread her throbbing lips and his wet mouth descended to suck on her clit. Gently, barely moving, nudging the fat swollen nub, he circled, drawing her closer.

  She made a mental note to reprimand herself … later, for waiting so long and fearing what came next. “This is going to be exceptional. Now come up here and make me come. I want to know what that feels like when we are connected mind to mind.”

  On his knees, his erection bobbed ready, full and red, throbbing with its own desire, driven by a mind seeking the ultimate connection. He gripped his cock and came forward to fill her. Once the head touched her lips, she dropped back and reached for him as he slid deep into her body.

  Her back arched to bring him in. Her breasts flattened into his chest and her hips lifted to take more. She gasped. The sensations from his mind pushed her toward overload. She received all this along with her own electrified impulses. Mixed with this physical sensory wave were the emotions. Exaltation. Joy. Adoration. Fierce protection.

  She clutched his back and rocked her hips, grinding against him. He withdrew and she gasped, tears squirting from her eyes. She could feel the tension building in his mind perfectly matching the building tension in her core.

  He slid back and forth, pumped into her faster and faster. The first tendril of her orgasm flitted through her belly. The opening surge of his orgasm flared in her mind. She clung harder, took him deeper, bucked faster.

  Their orgasms came together perfectly. Sensation racked through her body in successive waves, racing from her core to her fingertips and toes. Her back arched before she went rigid with the last stroke. Ripples of aftershocks rocked along her nerves. She twitched and jerked with flaring spasms of ecstasy.

  Rhys collapsed flat on top of her. She felt similar spasms shoot through him, rattling down his arms and legs. His face mashed into her shoulder, his breath tickling her arm pit.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I never knew anything so incredible as you.” He paused and kissed her shoulder. In a rush, he whispered, “I love you,” and squeezed her tight.

  Quiet came and they crawled under the covers. He held her next to his chest, giving her his heartbeat under her ear. She was content for the first time since Nobility. Her body had reached a state of euphoria she’d never known.

  And there are two more to go.

  “I heard that,” he teased.

  She giggled. “I have to give kudos to Lazar for what we just did.”

  He pulled her in and nipped at her shoulder. “We did it, not Lazar.”

  They snuggled, and she fell asleep. She woke in the mid-afternoon to the pleasant aroma of waffles and syrup. A pang of sadness for Martin ripped through her, but she pushed him away for the moment. She’d seen enough of sad and lonely to last her a lifetime.

  “I’m starving. What time is it?” She scrambled up to sit. A bag by the door from the exclusive dress shop in the lobby caught her eye and she rushed over to inspect the contents. Inside were delicate underclothes, a sundress, and a nightgown made for a hooker. “Nice,” she said holding it up. Rhys waggled his eyebrows and produced the shark grin, and she laughed.

  Eating brought the stupor of fatigue again. After licking syrup from her fingers, she crawled under the covers. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her in; she wiggled her butt to fit into his groin. Their legs laced, and she pulled the pillow under her head. “It’s nice sleeping with you in human form.”

  “You took the words from my mouth,” he said softly.

  She slept deeply. Her mind closed off her memories, leaving her in peace, giving her time. In the dark of night, she woke. Rhys breathed close by her head, their legs still entwined, his warm chest against her back.

  There was not a single light anywhere in their suite. The heavy drapes were pulled, the clock said 3:10 A.M. She closed her eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Rhys whispered.

  She’d never told anyone this before, but she needed to share, had to tell him. She smiled, he always drew out her troubles. “I spent four days in Fallujah wearing an executioner’s hood. Yet one night in the basement without any of you in my mind was infinitely worse.” She rolled in his arms and kissed him.

  “You taste like maple syrup.”

  His voice was husky. His excitement rose between them, his rigid flesh nudging her in the thigh. He continued kissing her lips and chin and nose, turning her into a boneless heap as she fell back into the bed. “You are a bright light in my mind. Make love to me again, Rhys.”

  She grabbed his erection and pulled him in to her. Holding him, she rubbed her wetness on his already engorged head until he growled and covered her. She scooted under him until they met at both hip and heart. He entered her slowly.

  He moved deeper and deeper. She wanted him to make her forget.

  You can’t hide from me. I feel you.

  Make me forget.

  Don’t carry his pain. His suffering wasn’t your fault. Let Nobility absorb your empathy. “Open your eyes. I’ll make you forget, but you have to show me your beautiful, freaky eyes.”

  Face to face they met, now joined at the hip, the heart, and the mind. Her initial reads of his face brought tears of joy.

  “When the time is right,” he whispered, “take Simon and Quinn. Until then, I am here for you, to bring you light, to make you laugh, and to make you cry out in ecstasy.”

  He’d been sliding in and out with her eyes captured while he spoke. The
ir combined approach to orgasm lifted her into a carnal euphoria. Her orgasm flared at the same time as his and her back arched. United in the rigors of completion, they shook.

  She went limp, even as her body rippled with aftershock tremors. He kissed her neck below her ear and declared, “You will never be alone again, I promise.”

  12

  Dreya dressed and walked out of the hotel bedroom suite they’d stayed in since Martin’s capture. Contact with Rhys’ mind was a clear bell in her head, amazing her as Nobility worked through the ‘hard-wiring’ process. The question, ‘What happens next?’ that had kept her from moving forward was silly procrastination. She had been an utter fool.

  I should have trusted Lazar.

  She shook her head, amazed at her revelation to trust the madman. Since mating with Rhys, not only was their connection far clearer, her ability within the telepathy had greatly expanded. She delved deeper into his mind, and, as he predicted, improved her ability to control the portal allowing others’ emotions in.

  Simon and Quinn waited in the front room; her connection with them begged for fulfillment. She longed for the day they would finally all be one. Until then, Rhys was her rock. She may be alpha, but Rhys was the stability and strength that molded the pack through example.

  “Here’s the princess,” Simon called out. She read his face. He was more relaxed than ever, as was Quinn. It was as though they were relieved at not being the first to mate, yet eager to join in, when the time was right, for the benefits of being hard-wired.

  Quinn gave a soft wolf-whistle. “Good to see you’ve recovered.” He held out his hand. She took it and planted a quick kiss on him and Simon.

  “Are you ready for this?” Rhys asked.

  “I have to come out of my hole sometime. Best to get it over with. Do we have all our reports and information ready?”

  “We’re prepared,” Quinn said.

  “Robert will have the staff deliver our belongings as soon as I let him know where.”

  “Yes, somewhere,” she mused. She refused to return to her apartment, and Rhys’ place was too small for the four of them. “One problem at a time. Let’s get Jarvis out of the way, then we’ll have to do something about housing.”

  At the office, she walked out of the elevator into a wall of agents. She came to an abrupt stop. Rhys bumped into her. She asked, You knew about this?

  Yep.

  You could have warned me. How did you keep it a secret?

  Be a good girl and I’ll share.

  He lifted his eyebrows in comic threat. She laughed.

  Now, take your bow.

  Jarvis emerged from the crowd, reaching to shake her hand. “Well done, Agent, well done.”

  He shook hands with each of them, then motioned them into his office. She sat, flanked by Rhys and Quinn. Simon stood in back.

  “I’ve read your reports, but I do have a few questions, if you’ll indulge me.”

  Dreya plastered an attentive smile on her face while sending out the warning, Watch out!

  “How,” Jarvis began, “did you—” He pointed to Rhys. “Find her?”

  She didn’t have time to read Jarvis, figure out what he was up to, and send help; Rhys was on his own. She kept her mouth clamped tight and prayed he had his story straight.

  “Well, Simon’s the one who put it together,” Rhys said. “He found the contusions on all our victims, and Quinn helped correlate that data through historical records.”

  Simon shrugged. “Once we had a name, Elizabeth Nash, bearing the exact same injury, we cross referenced that against van owners, based on an eyewitness account. The surname Nash was a match.”

  Quinn added, “That gave us an address—”

  Jarvis held up his hand. “I read all this in your reports. What I want to know is how did you communicate with her to know she was coming out with Nash?”

  A prickly silence began to settle. She said, “I saw Rhys outside the window, and gave him hand signals.” She tried to read Jarvis’ face. “It’s part of the synchronicity, sir. We think alike, yet with our own direction.

  “Simon looks at a crime scene and sees the medical data. Quinn sees the scene through a different lens, as does Rhys. We each bring a facet to complete the whole. It’s what makes us a good team. We end up at the same conclusions but from different approaches. As I said, synchronistic.”

  Abruptly, he nodded and said, “Rest assured I have collected all the evidence and I’m keeping it under lock and key.”

  She nodded politely to keep from frowning.

  Why would he do that? That’s not standard procedure.

  His reads were too rigid to decipher, worrying her. She didn’t know where he was going, something else was clearly on his mind.

  “I understand you won’t be returning to your apartment,” he said.

  She felt all three of her men emotionally lean forward in expectation. She shifted in her seat, sensing Jarvis’ rise in excitement in spite of his closed reads.

  He sat back and pursed his lips. “Yes. A nice job, all of you. I’ve put commendations into everyone’s file. In fact, I’m promoting Kingston, Sinclair, and Morgan to Special Status with the FBI.”

  She didn’t understand. Was Jarvis taking them away from her? “Sir?”

  “I’m reassigning all four of you to a special command task force. Dreya, you’ll be in charge and under my direct orders.”

  Her mouth dropped open. She shot a glance at Rhys and Quinn, saw they were as stunned as she. Before she could muster a response, Jarvis opened a desk drawer and pulled out a ring of keys. He passed them to her.

  “There’s an old compound north of the District. In the early days, it was used for a variety of nefarious CIA deeds. After the end of the cold war it became a residence for diplomats, but has been unused for some time.

  “The main mansion is closed up, but there’s a custodial cottage that was converted to security quarters. I believe it will meet your housing needs.”

  She had so many questions, but had no idea where to start. A glance around showed matching faces also filled with questions. “What about the case you mentioned? Out of town?”

  “Go check out your new home. Get moved, get settled, but I’ll be in touch. Be ready to go to work by week’s end.” He scribbled on a piece of paper. “I had your office packed up and sent along. You’ll also find an array of advanced electronic and surveillance equipment installed on the property. Here’s the address, and the code for the gate.”

  “Gate, sir?”

  “Yes. The property is thirty acres surrounded by a high security fence. It’s completely private.”

  She rose with a surge of elation. The boys jumped to their feet, already going for the door. She quickly sidestepped out of the way. “Thirty acres?”

  “And nary a neighbor to pester you. Does that suit your ‘housing’ requirements, Agent?”

  She resisted jumping for joy. His words, or lack of words, told her as little as his micro-reads. He definitely knew something, but it wasn’t worth breaking a sweat. Not in the face of this magnanimous promotion and living quarters upgrade.

  “We appreciate your consideration,” Rhys said, shaking Jarvis’ hand. “It’s a pleasure to work on this team.”

  Jarvis rose and shook hands with Quinn and Simon. “Save the appreciation, Agent. You haven’t gotten your first case yet.”

  They were bottle-necked at the doorway when Jarvis’ tone sent a chill down Dreya’s spine. But too much was afoot for her to challenge what he meant. Overriding her concern about Jarvis was the chorus of Let’s go! bombarding her mind.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Jarvis said again, before waving them out the door.

  They walked straight to the elevator and casually waited for the doors to open. Once they entered and the doors closed, she coughed and drew her finger across her lips.

  Rhys drove. The mid-afternoon traffic hadn’t slowed down yet and they reached Jarvis’ scribbled address in Rhys’ typical fast fash
ion. As they cruised along the backside of a $5.5 million and higher neighborhood, they almost drove by the imposing gate. Rhys punched in the code and the great wrought-iron fixture opened silently and then closed quickly after they drove through.

  “Thirty acres, boys. What do you think of that?” she asked. Rhys followed a circular drive that veered to the left towards the main house, a three story Colonial with eight columns. A separate drive curved right, and took them to a smaller structure of classic red brick that matched the main house, with smaller, single story columns in front.

  She opened the door and they entered a large foyer. A sunken living room lay ahead, flanked by two long hallways with three doors on each side. She wandered through another set of doors into a gourmet kitchen stocked with stainless steel appliances, a gas range with a grill, and a center island with stools on one side. To the right was a dining table large enough to seat eight.

  Simon stepped to her side and clapped his hands together. “Gonna do some cooking in here.”

  Quinn bounded up, breathless. “All the bedrooms are alike.” He grabbed Dreya and kissed her on the cheek. “And each room has its own bath.”

  Rhys entered from a side door, grinning. “There’s a pool out back. And I found an electronics room with all the on-property surveillance, which I turned off.”

  That was the trigger. Shirts came out, shoes kicked off, and their pants hit the floor. A spike of delirious joy speared her, and she laughed. “Run, fly, have fun. Don’t get into any trouble. I’m going shopping for food.”

  At the grocery store, the bag boy joked as he pushed a cart filled with meat. “You feeding a zoo?”

  “Just a couple hungry boys,” she answered.

  She had the meat and groceries put away and the massive sink filled with vegetables by the time they returned. Over her shoulder, she announced, “I’m taking the room that opens onto the pool deck. You guys fight over the others.”

  A silence built behind her.

  For a moment, she felt like she was in one of those horror movies with the scream factor, only this was a happy movie with the wonderful factor. “I know you’re behind me. Don’t need freaky eyes or telepathy to figure that out.” She set down a head of lettuce and dried her hands before turning. Instant tears filled her eyes when she did.