Reluctant Protector

by Nana Malone

  Seth’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, heal me? How many powers have you got?” He held up a hand. “Wait. Never mind. This is all kinds of complicated.”

  She sighed. “It's been a while since I took inventory. Different powers showed up for a while then would disappear as they changed up the cocktail. The powers that stuck are the mind pushing and mind reading. Those are the strongest. I'm also mildly telekinetic and have some healing ability. The base skills are increased strength, agility, and keener senses. But that's about it.”

  His brows smoothed out and he smiled, as if playing along with the crazy lady. “Are there others like you?”

  “Peter’s definitely done this to others. Sometimes I can hear their screaming in my dreams.”

  Seth stared at her. “Okay, let’s just say I believe you. I have seen your serious Buffyesque fighting skills after all. What's your plan?”

  “You mean besides putting more distance between me and those labs? Once I know you’re safe, I’m going after the others. But right now, I'm mostly thinking about sleep. We both need the rest. If you lie down I’ll do my best to heal you. If I can’t, then we'll need to take you to a hospital.”

  He eyed her, his gaze level. “They will ask questions at a hospital.”

  She eased off the bed to change into the T-shirt she commandeered from his duffle bag. “I won’t let you die because of me. Even if you are a pain in the ass.”

  Chapter Six

  Seth registered the scent of heaven as he woke. Citrus and something sweet. Maybe vanilla? Feminine. His searching hands met warm, silky-smooth skin and he wrapped his whole body around the satin softness. Her skin scorched him like the hottest kind of fantasy. But as he stroked her skin, he knew this was different. More substantive.

  He dreamed of long raven hair and icy green eyes that bored into his soul. In her eyes, there was no duplicity, no treachery. Only strength and caring. The urge to hold on tight was fierce.

  She nuzzled him as he trailed kisses along her forehead to her jaw. He cupped her cheek and turned her face to him. Her lips had that permanent bee-stung look women paid thousands for. He wanted to taste them the moment he bumped into her at Gentech.

  He stroked her hip in gentle, unhurried motions. She had the softest skin. Smooth to the touch, but she had hard muscles beneath—the epitome of a contradiction. He snuck his hand under her T-shirt and she rocked her hips against him. With his thumb he teased a circular pattern around her belly button. She clung to his shoulders—drawing him closer.

  He could spend hours touching her, savoring every inch of satin skin, but her breathy moans urged him on. When his hand grazed the underside of her breast, the rest of the blood in his brain migrated south, making his cock like iron steel. He throbbed. She was bliss in his arms.

  He closed his palm over her full breast and she ground against him, riding his thigh, working her moist core against him. With every tilt of her hips, more of her slick juices dampened the fabric of her cotton panties.

  He teased the tip of her full breast to a hardened peak. Dipping his head, he kissed her. He didn't dare to think she would taste like he imagined. But then her lips parted on a sigh and her tongue peeked out to meet his. The answering roar of his boiling blood made him forget to go slow. His head swam with the heady scent of citrus and vanilla, the way her body bowed against his as she rocked with him. How her nipples tightened at his touch and her breasts swelled in his palm. How she tasted like the sweetest honey dew of the summer season.

  Cassie moaned and his whole body jerked. The way she said his name sounded like chocolate lava pouring over ice-cream. She rocked her body against his—lift, retreat, lift, retreat—made his brain fog. All he thought about was the droplet of fluid easing from his erect cock. He craved more. Needed more. His hips jerked of their own volition, desperate to get closer, be inside her and possess her. He needed to be buried so deep inside her neither of them would know where he ended and she began.

  Reluctantly, he released the perfect full globe of her breast and smoothed his palm back down to the edge of her panties, where the elastic met her inner thighs. He wanted to spend years exploring her body. He dotted kisses down her stomach, until his lips joined his questing fingers.

  He kissed along her panty line then paused as if asking for permission. When she shifted her legs to allow him access, he assumed her acquiescence. Seth slipped his hand past the elastic, loving the way she parted her thighs for him. Her hips rose again, bringing her damp panties and slick core closer to his fingers. Sliding his fingers under the fabric, he found her welling center overheating and ready for him.

  He slid his fingers in to the hilt, exploring her slick channel first with one, then two. He varied the pace, smiling as she gripped the sheets and moaned. He imagined his questing finger was his cock, throbbing and aching as it slid inside her velvet home. With each catch of her breath, he traced lazy circles around her clit with his thumb. As gently as he could, he parted her tender flesh, preparing her to take him. Her body yielded as if she were made for him.

  Trailing kisses up her smooth belly, Seth’s sought out her nipple. Through the thin cotton fabric of her T-shirt, he suckled and drew her in deep with his tongue and lips. With the barest hint of teeth, he grazed the turgid tip.

  Her whole body went rigid, and Seth murmured to her, “Just let the orgasm happen. Don't fight it.” Her inner walls quaked and he increased his tempo. Faster, faster, faster. With his fingers buried deep, he angled them to find the hidden bundle of nerves inside her. As he stroked, the quivering in her core increased, until she clenched, grasping his fingers in an attempt to keep him a part of her.

  “Seth!”

  He froze. His body buzzed with desperation and need as his heart thudded against his ribs. He was frantic to hold onto the dream. Hold onto Cassie. But something told him to open his eyes. He peeled his lids open and blinked several times to get his bearings. The only illumination in the darkened room was the dim light of the moon from the window.

  The scent of long-forgotten nicotine and an intoxicating citrus vanilla filled the air. But mostly, the scent of sex wrapped around them like a summer breeze. Sex? On that realization, his cock jerked painfully against a smooth, bare thigh.

  “What the—”

  Cassie’s brows were furrowed and her lips were parted in what looked like the throws of orgasm. And he was wrapped around her like a spider monkey, the fingers of his right hand buried deep inside her. Oh holy shit. “Cassie, I—”

  When she opened her eyes to meet his, they were bright and pleading and they pierced his soul. “Seth, please. Don't stop”

  ***

  Cassie’s whole body trembled. Lingering waves of ecstasy rolled through her, but she knew there was more to experience. She wanted more.

  Seth’s face flushed red and he tried to pull away. The length of him brushed against her thigh and she bit back a groan. Cassie ground her hips against him in an effort to keep him with her. He couldn't leave her like this. She needed to know what he felt like on top of her. His fingers only hinted at the ecstasy she could feel. She knew it. She wanted to be filled by him.

  Even if this was nothing but a fantasy in the middle of a nightmare, for an hour she needed to forget about who she was and what her brother had made her.

  He might have been dreaming, but Seth wanted her. He’d called her name as he kissed her, touched her, whispered words that stoked the fire between them.

  “Cassie. I—I—I’m so sorry.” His voice, thick and gravely, strained.

  “Please, Seth. For a night let me pretend I'm normal, not some freak.”

  His gaze fell on hers as he withdrew his fingers from her soft flesh. “You're not a freak. None of this is your fault.” He sat back and groaned as he rearranged his penis. Seth’s eyes never left hers. They narrowed as he sucked in a breath. He wanted her. But he wouldn’t take her. He was the epitome of a good man, which was why she trusted him in the first place.

  She held the she
et up, covering her breasts. “If you don't think I'm a freak, then why won't you make love to me?” She put up a hand to ward off his protest. “There's no risk of pregnancy. Peter, he uhm—” She slid her gaze to the paisley comforter before speaking again. “He fixed that. And with the self-healing, I’m impervious to disease.” She didn't add that she'd never done this before, so she couldn’t offer anything other than her enthusiasm.

  His eyes roamed her body and her skin prickled everywhere they touched. “Believe me, I want to. I'm sorry about how it started. I thought I was having the most incredible dream of my life, then I…” Instead of looking in her eyes, he fixated on the beige lamp shade over her shoulder. “I didn’t realize until you started to come in my hands.”

  If she wanted this to happen, she would have to make it happen. She could seduce him. Even though her heart galloped in her chest, even though she could barely breathe. She craved him so much she ached.

  She sat up on the bed and dragged the T-shirt over her head. Seth mumbled a complaint and Cassie smiled. He liked how she looked. She already saw how aroused he was. The scent of sex filled the air. She leaned over him, trying not to think about her inexperience.

  The instant their lips made contact, she sighed with relief that he didn't draw back. What she wasn't prepared for was the speed of his response. With a growl, he flattened her on her back underneath him.

  When his lips met hers again, his kisses held no patience. No gentleness to coax out her response. He took, plundered, tasted. He demanded her tongue mate with his. In a series of shifts and wiggles, he drew down her cotton panties and shucked his boxers. When he settled between her thighs again, he looked her in the eyes. “Cassie, are you sure?”

  “Yes,” she answered softly. Her hips rose to meet his and he growled. He tucked a hand under her ass and shoved her hips forward to align with his. Kissing her, he let his hands roam freely, running them through her hair, over her face, back to her breast. When he lowered his mouth to one of the stiff peaks, a slow sexy smile spread across his face. “You are amazing. Complete perfection.”

  Heat suffused her body, making her skin tingle. Seth was a man who knew his way around a woman. He teased first one nipple, licking it, suckling it, while his fingers played with the tip of the other. Every tug sent a stab of desire to her core.

  Unable to get enough of him, Cassie raised her hips to get closer to him, rubbing against him like a cat. Each time her folds came in contact with the rigid length of him, he cursed. As he slid his cock right to the center of her body, he paused at the entrance, dragging in deep breaths.

  “God, you're so wet.”

  She wanted more of what she felt before. She craved it all. Needed to know what it was like to be loved, if even for a moment.

  He gripped her hips. “Baby, please stop moving. Otherwise, I'll come all over you and that won’t be very pleasurable for either of us.”

  She jerked with an involuntary thrust of her hips and he cursed again. His grin was quick, lopsided. “Seems you can’t follow directions.”

  Cassie froze. Had she done something wrong? He seemed to like—all thought ceased as Seth moved his lips down her torso to her belly button. He pursed his lips and gently blew a heated caress along the top of her mound.

  When his tongue found her slick folds, she grabbed two handfuls of his hair and held on. His unrelenting fingers and tongue parted her folds, licking and touching. His thumb traced circles over her clit and she cried out. Like before, the heated desire slammed though her. The desperate need. Blazing fire skipped over every nerve ending. Then he did the unexpected. Running his tongue down her slit to her dewy core, he didn’t stop. Instead, he stroked to the stretch of skin between her pussy and anus and he flicked the sensitive skin with the tip of his tongue.

  “Jesus.”

  “Do you trust me, Cassie?”

  She was too shocked to answer, in too much desperate need to form the words.

  He licked the sensitive flesh again. “Do you trust me Cassie?” He repeated. This time his voice was lower, more guttural.

  She answered with a breathy, “Y-yes, I trust you.” But the words didn’t sound like her own. His tongue stopped lapping and went back to lazy stokes of her clit, teasing her. Disappointed, she wiggled against him and he chuckled. Moving back down her slit, he stopped at the tight stretch of skin and drew slow deliberate circles around her anus with his tongue.

  Her orgasm hit her with the force of a sledgehammer. He held her thighs wide as he licked her. As Cassie started to come down from the euphoric high, he crawled up her body and held her face in his hands while he lined up his cock to her heated core. “You are beyond beautiful.”

  The bulbous tip nudged her entrance. She stilled and tried to relax. As he slid into her, resistance stopped his forward movement. Both of their eyes popped as they stared at each other. His brows furrowed and he blinked several times. She tried to adjust to the size of him.

  His face flushed, as if once again, he tried to regain under control. “Cassie, I—”

  “Please, Seth. I need you.”

  Turmoil and need waged war in his eyes. He wanted to continue, but he didn’t want to hurt her. After several beats, he cocked his hips and bypassed the resistance. Both of them expelled steady breaths.

  Cassie reached up and stroked his face. He fit like a key into a lock and she never wanted him to leave. This was what her body craved, needed.

  Eyes locked on hers, he withdrew to the tip of his cock and sank back in. He cursed and dropped his forehead to hers. “Do you have any idea how good you feel?”

  Her response was to move her hips against him. Every time he slid back in the ridge of his cock brushed those nerves he hit with her first orgasm. And she was desperate to have that again. She rotated her hips.

  “God damn, Cassie, keep moving like that and I won’t last very long.”

  Wrapping her arms around his back, she bucked, daring him to fill her, to go faster, to brand her. She knew the moment his control snapped. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled as his hips moved in faster and faster.

  Cassie’s body neared the edge of oblivion—so close. He reached around, scooped her bottom in his hands so they fit together more snugly. As he rode her, he whispered her name. Just as her body drove closer to that cliff, one of his deft fingers found the tight bud of her clit and gently stroked her tender flesh. She came apart in his hands.

  He roared her name as the heat of his release spread inside her and his body melted into hers.

  Chapter Seven

  Lancing heat woke Seth out of his post-sex stupor. Enough fire radiated through his body to make him gnash his teeth together. The act of lifting his head made him feel like someone poured gasoline on his hair and lit it with a blowtorch. What the hell was happening to him? A side effect of whatever he'd been shot with?

  “Stop trying to wake yourself up, dumbass. This is happening, deal with it,” he muttered. A brilliant flash of images filled his mind. Cassie underneath him, writhing and panting as he drove into her. Her sharp nails scoring his back. He smiled, then immediately stopped when the act made him feel like his face was falling off.

  He kicked off the sweat-soaked sheets and inspected his leg. The wound was mostly healed. All that remained was a tender, bright patch of flesh. “What the fuck?”

  Slowly craning his head around, he stared at Cassie, her dark hair fanned out on the white pillow. How was this possible? Consider for a minute what she says is the truth. By no doing of his own, he'd stumbled onto the biggest story of his life. Superhuman soldiers? His life wasn't normally an episode of Fringe. This stuff wasn't supposed to exist.

  He tried to push himself up on his elbows, but the burning sensation singed his arms and torso. Talk about lighting him up. Every nerve cell did the samba with lighter fluid. “Cassie,” he called out.

  She didn't stir. He watched and waited as her eyes jittered back and forth in REM sleep. “Cassie, please wake up.” He placed his ha
nd over hers and tapped lightly.

  Her dark lashes fluttered against her cheek and he braced for her icy green stare.

  She blinked several times before her eyes focused and she sat up. “Seth? Are you in pain?”

  At the sight of her lithe, nude body, a wave of heat hit his groin and his hips involuntarily jerked. “Shit. I—uhm. I'm burning up.”

  Her delicately arched brows drew down as she probed his shoulder and leg wounds. “I thought you were healed.”

  She chewed her bottom lip and for the barest hint of a moment, he forgot all about the blaze in his upper body. But as he tried to reach for her, that skin-licking flame spread, oozing its way down his body. The pain was so great, he feared he might cry. He met her eyes. “I—I, don’t know what's happening. My skin's on fire.”

  She touched his bare chest, shaking her head. “I don’t understand. This shouldn’t be happening.” Her expression was wary, guarded, like there was something she didn’t want him to see.

  She ran a hand down his back and his skin cooled where she touched him. But that did nothing for his pectoral muscles. As the seconds ticked by, they seemed to be shredding and re-knitting, ripping and mending.

  “Feels, better when you touch me, but…” Another wave of pain bit through him and sliced through his shoulders.

  Cassie stared at him, mouth open. She traced her hand over his pecs. Eyes wide, she sat back. “What's happening to you?”

  Another pain hit his forearms like they'd been battered by a baseball bat. Through clenched teeth, he said, “Don’t know. Feels like someone is mincing my muscles.”

  He looked into Cassie's eyes. All pride gone, he reached for her, but his feeble arms flopped to his sides. “Help me.”

  Another jolt of searing pain slammed into his brain like a semi-truck. Images flashed, overloading his synapses. The headache was like a migraine on some kind of titanium injection. Men with guns in their room, shooting Cassie, breaking his neck.