by Marie Harte
Now. Yes. This is what I need.
“I tried, but I can’t wait any longer.” He backed her against the hovercraft, and she felt the apology radiating from his soul, along with a desire so deep she couldn’t believe it to be real.
“What does veyou mean?” she breathed, trying to hold onto thought, to anything that would keep her grounded.
“It means sweetheart, beloved,” he growled and slid his fingers through her folds. “You are so wet.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and when he opened them, she saw her future staring down at her. “This is just the beginning,” he promised and lifted her higher. He pressed the head of his cock into her and surged deep.
“Yes, yes,” she hissed as Romy pushed past her tight walls. He was so big, so hard, and all hers.
“Veyou.” He filled her, inch by inch, until there was nothing left of her, only pieces of them needing fulfillment. She felt no pain, only growing anticipation and a wonderful fullness she’d been missing for too long.
Her energy lit, and the excitement, the satisfaction of having this man, Romy, inside her turned her focus inward. Now nothing existed for her but the two of them. He cursed and rocked against her, fucking her with brutal strokes as he claimed her for his own.
Everything he felt, she felt as well. And the depth of his feeling for her broke through the cautionary wall she’d wanted to keep between them.
His thick cock stroked that spot deep inside her that made her body tingle, while his pelvis brushed her clit with every thrust. The pleasure she’d given herself had nothing on this, and she knew she’d never be the same again.
“When we have time, I’ll lay you down and show you how much you mean to me.” He groaned and pumped faster. “I want to taste you, to feel you come over my tongue. To fill you with my seed, everywhere.” As he spoke, his breathing quickened, and his shaft felt like iron inside her.
“Romy, I can’t take any more. It’s too much.” Nearly overwhelmed with the physical and mental stimulation of his psychei merging with hers, she suddenly felt adrift from her body, at one with the energy around her. There, to her surprise, she sensed a splintering of energies within Romy—and a need only she could fill.
Before she could wrap her mind around that anomaly, ecstasy rocked her world. She slammed back into her conscious being to feel Romy shuddering as he jetted inside her while her pussy clamped down on him. She convulsed around him and felt his orgasm as if it were her own. It slammed through her like a freight train, and in that instant, something between them clicked.
Before Romy she’d always felt adrift and unsure about herself. But now she knew confidence, at peace with the world around her. The aching need to always heal faded, as did the notion she didn’t belong, had never belonged. The baby no one wanted had become a woman desired by a most special man. With Romy the universe seemed right. She’d finally found a man who fit her.
She slowly grew aware of the fact she was naked against his hovercraft, her lover still buried inside her, and that anyone passing by might see them going at it. Her embarrassment was slow to surface, but surface it did.
“Romy,” she moaned. “I’m naked to the world. What if someone sees?”
He kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her nose. Anywhere he could reach, and he started fucking her all over again. The notion she’d driven him wild empowered her, and she held him tighter even as she felt the need for cover.
“Veyou,” he whispered and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Let me…” He pushed inside her hard and stilled, groaning as he came once more. “Fuck. This is going to take a while. You have an amazing effect on me.”
Her body revved as well, when she should have been too tired to stand.
“At least that should hold us until we get where we’re going.” He withdrew and pulled up his jeans but stopped to stare at her, lingering over her pussy. “You are without a doubt the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. My cum dripping down your legs makes me so hard I want to fuck you again, Trotter be damned.”
She shivered under his stare, bemused at how much she wanted him too. “Is this normal?” She couldn’t help asking.
He grinned, his smile sincere, his eyes so bright they made her blink. “Oh, baby, I have a feeling we’re so outside of normal it’s not funny. But since I’ve never had an iriu before, I couldn’t tell you what’s what.” He moved around her and retrieved the blanket from the front seat of the car. He wrapped it around her. “To preserve your modesty.”
“And hide the mess,” she said with a blush.
“I like that mess. My cum all over you. Inside you,” he said in a deeper voice. “I can’t wait to own every bit of you.”
The possessive words should have alarmed her, and uttered by anyone else, probably would have. But when Romy said them, she wanted to believe in them. “Oh?”
He chuckled. “I can’t wait to shove myself in your ass. To watch you suck me down, see you take the head of my cock to the back of your throat and swallow my cum.” The crudity shocked her, and aroused her anew.
“Stars, you’re lethal.”
He groaned. “You know, all this heat is making us both sweat.” His voice was thick as he parted the blanket to stare down at her chest. “Your nipples are hard, large and pink. And I have the sudden urge to bite them, to suck on you until you come again.”
Her clit pulsed and she rubbed her thighs. A glance down at him showed a bulge between his legs once more.
“I should be too tired to be hard again, but I swear, if we had more time, I’d—”
Headlights flared, and she held up a hand to shield her eyes.
“Shit. Get in the craft, veyou.” He gently tucked her back into the vehicle and wrapped the blanket around her, and as Tara sat there in silence while the other vehicle approached, she realized she hadn’t protested a single thing he’d done since leaving her house. When the hell had she lost all sense or reason? She’d never in her life let a man call all the shots, not even Mannie. Yet with Romy she’d been so meek and accommodating. And slutty. Hell, she’d seduced the man by playing with herself naked in the hovercraft. Tara didn’t do exhibitionism. Yet right now she’d drop everything and let Romy fuck her in front of the others if he asked.
Had he somehow messed with her mind, as well as her body?
He stepped around the car to wait by the hood while the occupants of the other craft got out. Four men stood staring at him.
“Oh good,” one of them said. “We didn’t miss you after all, Luke.”
Romy waved a hand back at her, and suddenly the doors locked and cool air filtered through the vents as the engine started. Stunned, she stared at Romy’s back, comprehending her lover had more than one psychic gift. He was Otra, she reminded herself.
Just like me.
Being Otra certainly accounted for her ability to heal, to at times push others into doing what she suggested. No psychic human with an odd burst of power, but a full-fledged Otra, by Romy’s accounting. She glanced at the Otra looming near him and wondered if she could help him deal with these troublemakers.
Romy? she sent him, not sure if he would hear her or not.
Sit tight and don’t leave the hovercraft. Don’t worry, veyou. This will be over soon.
Both pleased and a little astonished at his thoughts in her mind, she nodded, then replied so he could hear her, Be careful. Focused on Romy, she saw the odd bands of energy that before had been splintered within him. Now the energy intertwined, creating a bright, thick shield that encased him from head to toe.
“Trotter’s pissed. You might as well just give her to us.” The largest of the Otra approaching sniffed, and his eyes widened. He mumbled something to the others, and they all angled to look at her. “Fuck Trotter. She’s in Selection. Tell you what. You give us the female, and we’ll make it sporting.” The malicious grin on his face made her want to pound him into tomorrow. He looked at the male nearest him. “Fifty creds says he makes it around the bend before I blow his
ass up.”
“You’re on, Pachi.”
The others laughed, but Romy shook his head. “Fellas, I don’t want to hurt you. But I will. Tara Drake is no longer Trotter’s concern, or yours. Back off and you’ll live longer.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Pachi’s eyes narrowed. “She’s in Selection. Just how the hell do you think you’re going to leave with her against four tougher, stronger men?”
Pachi thrust out his hands and energy lit his fingertips. None of her friends had ever seen the energy she often saw in the Otra. She could only hope Romy saw it.
Romy, look out. As soon as she spoke, she saw that the warning hadn’t been necessary.
Romy put up a hand at the same time Pachi shot a second wave at him. Deflecting both bursts, Romy forced the rebounds at two of the silent muscle in the group, knocking them unconscious.
Pachi fumed, as did the remaining Otra on his feet. “You fucking freak. Fica, toast his ass.”
Fica grinned and his eyes turned white. Startled, she watched in awe and fear as lightning met his outstretched hand.
Romy sighed. “Seriously, is this the best you can do?” He stared hard and the Otras’ hovercraft exploded. Fire shot high into the sky and metal flew everywhere, except for the small shield around her and Romy’s vehicle. Romy then turned the lightning bolt sent his way into the ground and mentally lifted Fica several feet in the air before throwing him into a nearby tree. A loud snap indicated he’d probably broken a bone, if not several.
“I’m giving you a last opportunity to leave.” Romy’s voice did that odd echo thing again.
Pachi looked alarmed. “What the hell are you?” He backpedaled. “I’m leaving.”
“Go.”
“And I’m not coming back. If you’re smart, you’ll get out of here while you can. Trotter’s got it hard for the female. And he won’t stop pushing the Majesty while he’s making so much currency.”
“I know.” Romy pointed to the woods. “Now get the hell out of here before I remember how you looked at my iriu.” His fingertips sizzled, and a tree next to Pachi crackled as lightning hit a low-hanging branch from out of nowhere.
Pachi took off, running hard.
Romy waited until they could no longer see Pachi, then he settled back into the hovercraft as if nothing had happened.
Tara stared at him in shock. The man had set fire to trees, blown up a car, and deflected energy blasts he too could apparently see. And he’d completely melted her resistance to boot. How the hell had he done all that? Was he controlling her now? And would she know if he were?
“Don’t be afraid of me, Tara,” he said quietly, driving the vehicle back onto the main road. “I’m not like other Otra. But then, neither are you.”
She shivered, more due to his nearness than the power he’d exerted to protect her. She didn’t want him to have control over her. He’d called her his iriu, and she knew enough about the Otra that they took their mating very seriously. How could she belong to someone she knew so little about, and that seemed to have more power than any one man had a right to? She didn’t want a partner who could read her mind or force her will. But could he read her?
I’m going to jump out of this vehicle as soon as you slow it down. She let the thought linger in her mind but didn’t broadcast it.
Romy slowed at an intersection without a worry and didn’t speak. If he’d thought to prevent her from leaving the vehicle, slowing down hadn’t been wise.
“You can’t read my thoughts, can you?” she asked.
“Not yours, no. Not unless you want me to. For some reason, around you, I’m both stronger and weaker than I normally am.”
“Explain.” Damn, a glance at him had her aching to feel him inside her once more.
His eyes flashed with heat before he concentrated on the road. “Most Otra have one or two psychic abilities.”
“Your psychei.”
“Right. It’s an ability that shows itself early in Otra. Most of our kind can manipulate energy in small amounts and share thoughts if both parties willingly agree. Otra clans typically communicate without words, a closeness of familial and affectionate ties.” He let go of the controls to squeeze her knee. “But there’s usually one particular ability that stands out. For instance, my oldest brother forecasts the future. My other brother moves things with his mind.”
“Telekinesis.”
“And I…”
“You?” she prodded, feeling oddly protective of him. She sensed his hesitance, his concern that she wouldn’t like what he had to tell her.
“I can do a lot of things. Scary things.” His mouth turned down. Trotter would have been bragging about his power, but Romy didn’t seem to like it.
“Like what? Setting fire to hovercrafts? Calling on lightning? Lifting men up without a finger and throwing them into trees?”
“Yeah, that. I’m not sure exactly what I can do. Every time I think I’ve reached my limit, a new doorway opens. It’s hard to keep my energy suppressed. It’s draining. I know it makes my family uncomfortable, and I hate that fear I can sense but can’t see. If my family, who loves me, can’t handle my power, think how others will see me.” He looked at her again. “I don’t want to be a monster.”
“You’re not. You’re odd and annoyingly persistent, but you’re no monster.”
His wide grin made her feel worlds better. “It pleases me to hear you say that. Especially because I think you’re much of the reason for my recent control. From what I’ve seen, you have a dampening effect on other Otra. Trotter couldn’t compel you to sleep with him, Min couldn’t read your thoughts, and Daket couldn’t work his telekinetic energy around your place at all.”
She blinked. “Then how did you just do all that to those guys?”
He drove into the northern section of town, well away from the shipyard. “I don’t know. The first time I met you I felt at peace, able to command my energies easily. The more I’m around you, the stronger I feel. It’s as if you’ve cast a spell on me, veyou,” he said thickly, his emotions buzzing around the vehicle. “I feel so much around you.”
Her stomach dropped. “So the attraction, the connection between us, it’s because my energy levels yours?” Nothing more?
“It’s more than that.”
Yet she felt foolish wanting anything else. Love? Affection? From a man she’d just met? One who worked for Trotter? She groaned. Her taste in men had not improved.
He pulled into the parking lot of a grand hotel, one of the more expensive uptown, and turned off the vehicle. Then he turned to face her, and she tried to equate the patient, charming man in front of her with a murderous drug dealer.
Romy caressed her cheek with a finger. “Energy is a fact of life in the universe. Humans treat it as if it’s not there, but our kind knows it is. We feel it, live it, embrace it. It’s in all things. When a man and woman resonate with harmonized power, we call to one another. Call it fate, destiny, chemistry, but our energies are fine tuned to each other, Tara. You can sense that, can’t you?”
She nodded. “But what does that mean?”
“It means you and I have been matched by the universe. We’re joined now. Mostly.”
“Wait. What?”
His gaze shifted from her face to her throat, and to the part of the blanket shielding her chest from his sight. “Veyou, I don’t want to scare you, but I’m feeling such a wave of heat it’s all I can do not to fuck you in here, in this miserable little conveyance. The Testing, the Selection, all of it is a natural progression to a permanent joining.” He swallowed hard and glanced away. “I realize this is sudden. That it’s all too much, too soon.” He took a deep breath. “I would give you time to think this through, but the universe doesn’t make mistakes. You’re ready to bond, as am I. And I want you.”
“How convenient.”
“Not at all.” He huffed. “I’m here on important business that I—”
She saw her opening and took it. “Yeah, let’s talk
about that. Your boss, Jonah Trotter, a man running Majesty and corrupting half the city. So your important business is selling drugs?”
“Shit.” Romy wiped his face with a large hand. “It’s not what you think. I’m not who you think I am.”
“Oh?”
He swore again. “Dammit. Look, I’ll tell you the truth. All of it. We can talk about this upstairs, or I can fuck you in here. You might not like me right now, but your body wants me all the same.” His voice lowered. “I can feel how much you need me. Your Selection would make it easy to control you, Tara. But I want you of your own free will.”
“I thought you said it was fate?”
His grin caught her off guard. “Fate’s a bitch, but in this case, she and I agree. I couldn’t have picked a better mate than you if I’d tried. Look deep inside you, veyou. You’ve seen the real me. Hear the truth.”
A force pushed against her mind.
Read me. See what and who I am. Romy opened himself to her, and she saw an energy that was clean of malice and decay. She didn’t need to heal an addiction or a battered heart. In him was the same loneliness she felt, the same love and devotion to family, to right wrongs and protect the innocent. But could he lie about these things? After all he’d done to the other Otra, knowing how much power he wielded, could she trust him?
Only you know what you should do. I offer myself to you, without regret, without falsehood. I would have you for my own, Tara Drake. I am Romec Talson ’Or Fal, and I am your mate.
Talson?
Yes. And if you want to know the whole of it, say yes to me. To the Romy you know as no other ever has.
She stared at him, could feel and see his frustration as he waited for her next move. The thought of what he would do to her in his room should have spooked her. Hell, she didn’t know you could make love in some of the ways on his mind. But she couldn’t help feeling intrigued, hungry, drawn—to him. To Trotter’s drug pusher who wasn’t a drug pusher, if she could believe him. A Talson?