Table of Contents
Altered States:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Also by Cheyenne McCray
Cheyenne writing as Jaymie Holland
Excerpt… Rough and Ready: Silk and Spurs
Excerpt… Rough and Ready: Lipstick and Leather
Excerpt… The Auction: Sold
Excerpt… The Auction: Claimed
About Cheyenne
Copyright © 2011 by Cheyenne McCray
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Cover and e-book conversion by Bella Media Management.
Published by Pink Zebra Press
First Edition e-Book
Altered States:
Dark Seduction
Cheyenne McCray
Dedication
To Melissa, Claudia, Patti, Hope, and Cate.
You are the best.
Chapter 1
“Is this seat taken?”
The low timber of the male voice behind Tori sent a shiver down her spine. Despite the sexy voice, she braced herself for yet another pick-up attempt. It had been a long day on the job and all she wanted was a couple of beers and a chance to relax.
Tonight she really didn’t want to be bothered. Maybe she should have come as a homely woman, someone really unattractive, so that men wouldn’t come on to her. It would have been easy enough.
But she’d managed to chase off two drunken idiots. What was one more?
She gripped the nearly empty beer bottle she’d been nursing and slowly moved her gaze from the Seahawk’s game to the presence she felt beside her. She started to say, “It’s taken,” and then got a good look at the man.
Oh, my.
On second thought…
In front of her stood six-plus feet of hard male flesh with muscles in all the right places, and the tiniest quirk of a smile on a face that was all angles and planes. Add blue, blue eyes and dark hair, and she was in total lust.
When she couldn’t find her voice at first, she cleared her throat. “It’s free.”
The smile deepened and he extended his hand. “Hi. My name is Logan.”
“Tori.” She took his hand in hers and assessed his grip. Firm and warm, and enough of a spark between them to send a tingle through her belly.
“Buy you a drink?” Logan gestured to her bottle as he eased onto the empty barstool. “Another Blue Moon?”
“All right.” She didn’t usually let men buy her drinks, but this was definitely a special case.
He signaled to Joe, the barkeep, who was toweling down the bar. “Two Blue Moons.” Logan indicated Tori and himself. With a nod, the barkeep tossed his hand towel over his shoulder and moved away.
In her line of work she easily sized-up men within the first few moments of an introduction and she’d rarely been wrong. Logan wasn’t setting off any alarm bells but he was tripping the wire when it came to instant fantasies.
What would it be like to strip off that black T-shirt, and get a good look at the muscles the cotton couldn’t disguise? Was his chest smooth? Slightly hairy? Or more than slightly? She was betting on a light sprinkling. She could almost feel the hard muscles beneath her palms, the smoothness of his taut abs, his lean hips, and wrapping her fingers around his—
She met his gaze and saw the amusement in them and her cheeks warmed. He’d caught her assessing him and she wondered if the man could read her expression. Usually she was pretty good at disguising her feelings and thoughts, but his eyes told her that he had a really good idea of what she’d been thinking.
A bedroom, candlelight, and two naked bodies slick with sweat…
Maybe he was thinking the same thing.
She turned her gaze to Joe as he placed a bottle in front of her and another before Logan. Beer foamed at the mouth of hers and she used a cocktail napkin to wipe off the liquid running down the side of the bottle.
“What are you into?” she asked as she watched him take a long draught of beer.
His smile did strange things to her belly. “I’m into high tech development. I was supposed to meet a police computer security expert tonight to hire him as a consultant, but he didn’t show. I can’t imagine why he never called, though. What about you?” he asked.
“You could say I’m into security,” she said. In a manner of speaking.
She adjusted herself on the barstool and her knee brushed his. A warm tingling sensation flowed through her body. Oh, yeah. There was some definite spark here.
His gaze moved to the TV monitor on the wall behind the bar. There were monitors everywhere, making it a good place for sports addicts to congregate.
He met her eyes again. “Like football?”
“My older brothers lived and breathed the sport and played from Pop Warner to college.” She brushed short dark curls behind her ear. “I was hauled to every game as kid and loved it.”
Logan studied her. “I bet they are protective over their pretty younger sister.”
“Very.” She rolled her eyes. “Too protective.”
“If I had you for a sister, I’d be overprotective, too.” His grin was so sexy it made her stomach flip. “Parents?”
“Just my dad,” she said. “He lives in Tacoma. Mom passed away two years ago.” She took a drink of beer. “Do you have family in the area?”
He nodded. “Here and in Arizona.”
“Brothers?” she asked. “Sisters?”
“Brother,” he said. “Here in Seattle. My parents retired and moved to Tucson.”
“Are you married? Dating?” she asked. “Have kids?” If a man was going to flirt with her in a bar, she wanted to get the lay of the land, no surprises, so might was well be direct.
“No, it depends, and no.” He gave a slow shake of his head. “I don’t suppose you have a husband lurking in the shadows.”
“Nope.” She took another drink of her beer before setting her bottle down again. “What did you mean by ‘it depends’?”
His gaze locked with hers. “It depends on whether or not a pretty brunette gives me a shot.”
She felt a thrill from her head to her toes. She cocked her head to the side as she made up her mind. “It’s getting a little noisy in here with the game. The Starbucks around the corner on Yesler—how would you like to head on over the
re?”
“Sure.” His mouth curved up into a sexy grin. “I don’t seem to be watching the game right now anyway.”
They downed their beers as bar patrons cheered the home team then booed and shouted at the TVs over a ref’s call in favor of the rivals. Something about the petite brunette with the spunky personality intrigued Logan. Tori’s hazel eyes looked at him as if she could read right through him. The thought made him smile to himself. Given the opportunity she could certainly see right through him.
When she’d taken his hand he’d felt a jolt of lust straight to his cock. A flash of something had come to him in that moment, but it hadn’t made a damn bit of sense. He’d seen her at his company wearing a lab coat and black-rimmed glasses and a lipstick-red dress. Yet this woman was in some branch of law enforcement. Security, my ass. So why was he seeing an image of her at his company?
She slipped into her jacket as Logan tugged his on. He laid a twenty on the bar, under his glass then put his hand at the small of her back as if to escort her out. She stiffened and gave him a look.
He didn’t have to be told that she considered herself independent and that she didn’t think she needed to be escorted out. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his brown leather bomber jacket and she turned her collar up as they walked out of the warmth of the bar and into the frigid Seattle night.
She didn’t hunch over against the wind. Instinctively, she seemed to be alert for anything out of the ordinary. Definitely law enforcement.
When they reached the Starbucks, she let him hold the door open for her and the smell of coffee was rich and strong. They took the sole pair of overstuffed lounge chairs in the corner. He noticed that she put her back to the wall and picked a place to sit that gave her a full view of the front door.
He seated himself beside her. “What would you like?”
“Nuh-uh.” She shook her head. “My turn. You paid for drinks at Joe’s Place.”
He held back a grin. She was so damned headstrong that there would be no fighting her over this.
“Venti, dark roast, no room for cream,” he said.
“My kind of man,” she said with a smile then headed off to place the order.
As she walked away, he took the opportunity to watch her. She’d taken off her jacket and he got a good look at her backside. Petite frame and feminine curves that had his fingers dying to touch her. She wore a white blouse that came down to her cute little ass that was clad in dark blue jeans.
Another vision came to him of Tori sitting next to him in his Jaguar, and she was wearing a sparkling sequined dress. The image was strong and clear. Their futures were somehow entwined…he just couldn’t see it all right now. But then his ability only allowed him to see glimpses of the future or of symbolism that he had to interpret. Seeing her in the lab coat had to be symbolic of something because why else would an agent of the law be in a lab coat in his company?
He continued to study her. When she looked over her shoulder she caught him at it and her cheeks reddened a little. Damn but she made him want to smile. Cute as hell.
It wasn’t long before she was carrying two venti coffees and she returned. She handed him one of the cups before taking the seat beside him.
She blew out what he was certain was a sigh of pleasure as she relaxed and sipped her coffee, and he took a drink of his own. It was a great dark roast that warmed his insides almost as much as her presence warmed him.
She lowered her cup. “You didn’t tell me if you’re a football fan.”
“Lifelong.” He leaned back in the overstuffed chair. “Like your brothers I played through high school. I didn’t continue in college though.”
“What high school?” she asked.
“Washington,” he said. “You?”
“West Seattle,” she said. “Maybe you played against my brothers—they’re four years older than me. Mark and Jake Adams.”
“The twins from West Seattle?” Logan shook his head as he thought of the two big men. “Maybe I’d better run. With those two bruisers for brothers I’m in a world of trouble when it comes to their baby sister.”
Tori laughed. “So you know them.”
“If I remember correctly, Mark gave me a concussion and Jake broke my ankle.” He winced at the memories. “Or maybe it was the other way around.”
She shook her head. “Ouch.”
“Yeah, ouch.” It was so long ago that he recalled the incidents with humor now. “What are they up to now?”
“They’re both in law enforcement,” she said. “We all took after our dad in one form or another. Mark and Jake are both with the NSA.”
He smiled. “So you aren’t exactly into security.”
She pushed her brown curls behind her ear. “If law enforcement isn’t security, I don’t know what is.”
“I suppose so,” he said. “What exactly do you do?”
“What I need to in order to perform my job.” She shrugged. “So what does your brother do?”
“He’s former Navy.” Logan lowered his coffee cup after taking another drink. “He didn’t play sports.” It wouldn’t have been fair if he had.
He leaned back, his gaze taking her in. He wanted to know more about her. Her favorite color, if her toenails were painted, what she ate for breakfast. Ridiculous little things considering he’d just met her.
“Favorite vacation spot?” he asked.
She tilted her head as she thought about it for a moment. “The Caribbean is amazing. I’d love to go back to Cozumel. The diving there is the best.” She looked at him from under her lashes. “But it would have to be with the right person.”
The corner of his mouth quirked as he imagined what it would be like to take her away from the rainy Seattle weather to someplace tropical. “Nice. Especially this time of year when we’re freezing our asses off.”
“No kidding.” She wrapped one of her curls around her finger. “Now to find that right person.”
“I wouldn’t mind a little trip to the Caribbean.” He let her know by his tone that he meant with her. “Maybe a long one.”
“And you?” She adjusted herself on her seat. “Your favorite vacation spot?”
With a smile he said, “I love my skiing vacations. I can’t sleep the week before I go to Telluride.” He paused, thinking about how much he would like to have her join him…in more ways than one.
For a moment his gaze held hers and it seemed like they were trapped in some kind of spell and neither one of them could speak. He imagined moonlit walks on a white sand beach beside crystal blue waters, followed by hot sex on a blanket on the sand.
He pulled himself back from fantasies to reality. “What are your favorite movies?” he asked her.
“Gladiator, the Bourne movies, the Lord of the Rings.” She’d still been playing with her curl and she slowly let her fingers slide away. “Because I love a strong man who stands for something.”
“You would love me then,” he said with a grin. “They borrowed the scripts from my life.”
She laughed. “Oh. And they were humble.”
“I’m out then.” He winked.
“Well, something tells me you are like those men,” she said.
He raised a brow. “Are you flirting with me?”
“Why not?” She leaned closer to him and lowered her voice. “It’s all a game.”
He leaned closer to her, too. “A game of what?”
“A game of cat and mouse. Everyone has their own rules to the game. Let me ask you, are you the kind of guy who’s seeking a conquest and once you win, you move on?” she asked.
He reached out his hand and stroked her wrist with his finger. Her skin was so soft. “I know one thing. If I landed you, I suspect I would not be moving on.”
She shivered beneath his touch. “So that’s what you think. Why is that, especially since you don’t even know me?”
“I would rather not say.” He continued stroking her wrist. “Don’t want your head to swell. I like the size
right now.”
She laughed and he grinned. He was enjoying the flirtatious banter with her, something he didn’t engage in often. Hell, it had been a while since he’d found someone who interested him enough to flirt with. Since Carla had left him, come to think about it.
They talked until they got kicked out at closing time, their playfulness growing more and more into something sexual.
As they walked outside, she looked up at him. With her stretching up to about five-two, he was a good foot taller than her. “I’m not ready to end the night,” she said. “And I’m not interested in going back into the bar and shouting at each other over the noise.”
“What would you like to do?” His voice was low and husky.
She paused then said, “Let’s go to my place.”
Chapter 2
The moment they walked through the door into her house, Tori and Logan tossed their jackets on a couch. She slipped her arms around his neck and pressed herself to him. He felt hot and hard against her.
She gasped as he pushed her up against the wall beside the door, pinning her there with his big body.
The trapped feeling, the feeling of being controlled, only made her more excited. He felt hard and warm against her as her breasts were flattened between their bodies, his erection digging into her belly. He grasped her hips, his fingers digging into her flesh and she squirmed against him, an ache growing and growing between her thighs.
She had never brought home a man the same night she’d met him. Hell, she rarely brought anyone home at all. But she’d never met a man like Logan. A man who she had connected with on some deep level that made her feel like she’d already done this with him a thousand times.
His mouth came down on hers hard and she returned the kiss with matching intensity. His stubble was rough against her face, his hands callused as he pushed up her blouse and moved his palms up and down, slowly, caressing the soft flesh of her waist and belly.
She felt almost frantic as they kissed and she shoved up his T-shirt. He released her hips long enough to shrug out of the shirt, leaving him bare-chested.
A sigh of pleasure swept through her as he took her in his arms again and she braced her hands between them on his hard chest. His muscles flexed beneath her palms as she rubbed them over his pecs, shoulders, and biceps. She’d been right, he had a light sprinkling of hair on his chest, just enough to tickle her fingers.
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