by Aubrey Ross
Her mouth gaped then she snapped it closed. She’d had little doubt he’d witnessed the incident, but to hear him say it out loud left her oscillating between anger and lust. “Can you read my mind or do you just float around like some freakish ghost?”
“When I intentionally scan your mind, I can sense basic emotions. I don’t know if you consider that mind reading or not. You’ve reacted to thoughts I’ve sent you, but you’ve never responded telepathically. Have you chosen to ignore me or are you unable to access the link?”
“I’m only half Dichotomy,” she muttered, stung by his careless question. “There are a lot of things I can’t do.”
His expression softened, but his hold remained secure. “Why did your father want you to know I have Dichotomy DNA?” She narrowed her gaze and raised her chin. “Don’t look so indignant. Your father knew I was there. Why did he bring it up in front of me?”
“It’s complicated.” She was basically naked and firmly in his grasp. Why was he so damned interested in conversation?
“Do we need to postpone this until after the council completes the study?” He didn’t sound at all pleased by the possibility.
“My contraceptive injections are current. Even if we happen to be compatible, which is doubtful, you can’t get me pregnant.” Of course pregnancy was only one concern when strangers had sex for the first time. “I’m immune to all known STDs, so…”
“Fucking you isn’t a problem?”
“That has yet to be seen, now hasn’t it?”
“If you’re not ready to admit you want me—” his sexy smile flashed in the moonlight, “—I’m willing to convince you.”
Excitement jolted her already reeling mind. Patience was a laudable quality, but she was anxious to taste his mouth and feel his strong body pressing over and into hers. The illusion had been amazing, in a darkly erotic way. She couldn’t help wondering if reality would compare.
“You’re not giving me a choice?” she whispered, carefully concealing her dreamy smile.
His expression tensed. “I never go where I’m not wanted. Are you going to try and convince me you don’t want this?”
She wasn’t that much of a hypocrite. Her entire body thrummed with desire. “You know I want you, but won’t giving in to this distract you from your responsibilities?”
“I think it will be more of a distraction if we don’t give in to this.”
His mouth settled over hers and Mara parted her lips, greeting his tongue with a tentative stroke from hers. He tasted faintly of wine and a dark, smoky flavor she couldn’t quite define. All hard muscles and warm skin, he pressed against her side. His long fingers still clasped her wrist, making her feel unbearably eager.
The unmistakable hum of her vibrator disturbed the stillness. How the hell had he rotated the base with one hand? She tried to separate their mouths, but he followed her halfhearted evasion. Instead of touching the toy to her sex as she’d expected, he brought the tip to one of her nipples. The vibration made her gasp and shiver. Sensations spiraled through her chest and kept right on going, churning up heat and liquid expectation as they descended through her body.
He circled one nipple and then the other; all the while his tongue ravaged her mouth, stroking and exploring with bold hunger. She’d always gotten right down to business with the toy, bringing herself to a fast, shallow climax so she could fall asleep. He trailed it across her belly, sliding it slowly from hip to hip. Her muscles quivered as tension gathered, becoming more insistent.
She dragged her mouth away from his and gasped in a ragged breath. “You’re driving me crazy.”
A throaty chuckle was his only reply. Her legs parted of their own volition, giving him plenty of room to navigate. Ignoring her obvious want, he drew the vibrator along the inside of one thigh and circled her kneecap.
This was retaliation, she realized. She’d teased him mercilessly and now it was her turn to squirm. He moved the toy up the inside of her other thigh, touching her everywhere but where she really needed to be touched.
His lips pressed against her temple and an illusion formed within her mind. Silken cords wrapped around her wrists, curling and twisting like mystic snakes. Once her wrists were secured, the enchanted cords fastened themselves to the headboard. He moved his hand to her shoulder and she tugged against the mental restraints, not surprised to find her physical body imprisoned by the vivid image.
With both hands free now, he tore off his shirt and tugged off his jeans, tossing the garments aside with careless abandon. Either he hadn’t been wearing underwear or they’d come off with the jeans because he was suddenly naked and savage in the moonlight. Without a word, he returned to escalating her arousal. He teased her beaded nipples, rolling and tugging until she moaned in frustration and pleasure. Her breasts felt heavy, yet all the smoldering heat congregated in her feminine core.
He finally moved between her legs and she trembled, the empty ache nearly unbearable. She canted her hips, brazenly drawing his attention to her pussy. He traced her damp crease with his fingers, then the cursed vibrator. Why in the world had she ever taken the stupid thing out of its hiding place?
“Does that feel good?” The predatory gleam in his eyes told her he knew how desperately she wanted the teasing to end.
“It will feel a lot better when you let me come.”
“I’m sure it will, but I’m not ready yet.”
“When will you be ready?” She might have started this game, but he was obviously more experienced. Her senses were attuned to his every move, obediently following his commands.
“You’ll know.”
He eased two fingers into her core and she moaned. If he’d thrust inside, it might have been enough to send her over the edge, but he’d introduced the slight penetration with cruel care. Then he drew the vibrator up one side of her sex and down the other, caressing her swollen folds while avoiding her clit.
“Grip my fingers, hellion. The tighter you squeeze, the bigger they’ll feel.” She squeezed as hard as she could, her hips arching off the bed. Her desperation made him smile. “Very good. Now do it again. And again.”
“Give me something bigger to squeeze.” She panted. “I’m tired of teasing.”
“You started the teasing.” He withdrew his fingers and paused to lick her cream off his skin. “I just decided to make it more enjoyable.”
He held her open with his fingers and excitement surged anew. Finally! He would push inside her and—he slowly inserted the vibrator and she went wild. “I meant your cock, you asshole! Stop playing with me!” Her abdomen clenched with pre-orgasmic spasms, but the peak stayed just out of reach.
He left the toy gently buzzing inside her pussy while he turned his attention back to her breasts. As if her nipples weren’t hard enough, he sucked and licked until each crest stood tightly puckered and deeply flushed.
His warm hands never stopped moving. Up and down her sides, across her hips and along her thighs, he touched, squeezed, and caressed her.
“I hate you,” she whispered. No matter how hard she squeezed or how much she wiggled, she couldn’t trigger an orgasm.
He kissed his way down to her bellybutton then looked into her eyes. “Ask me nicely.” The tip of his tongue circled her navel.
At least he hadn’t told her to beg. “Please, let me come. I’m sorry I called you an asshole.”
He parted her folds with one hand and gripped the vibrator with the other. She closed her eyes, waiting for the burst of sensation, the end to this sensual misery. He drew the toy out of her pussy and pressed his lips against her clit. Better, but trepidation held her suspended between pleasure and pain. She refused to surrender more than she’d already given.
His tongue stroked over her clit, the touch much too gentle. Sensations swelled and receded, matching his careful strokes. He rotated the tip of the vibrator inside her core, accenting her body’s demand and gathering cream.
She figured out his intention a split second before the to
y pushed against her back passage. His lips closed around her clit, sucking on the sensitive nub with careful insistency. She arched against his mouth as much to avoid the probing toy as to finally find release.
The vibrator breached her opening and the elusive climax burst. Her inner muscles rippled, pushing the pleasure higher with each rhythmic wave. His lips eased and his clever tongue prolonged the blissful ride. She shuddered and moaned, savoring each hard-won tingle.
Thrilled by her uninhibited response to his attention, Steffen lifted Mara’s feet to his shoulders and rotated her knees farther out. Her pussy was flushed and shiny. He couldn’t resist touching her creamy folds one last time before angling his cock toward her opening.
The toy was still buried in her ass, the handle peeking out between her rounded cheeks. He rubbed against her clit then slowly pushed into her passage. Snug, slick and unbelievably hot, her body closed around him. He gritted his teeth against the overwhelming pleasure, half afraid he’d come before he even started moving.
She rolled her hips and the vibrator pressed against his balls. He gasped and shivered. “God, that feels good.”
“Me or the toy?” Her dreamy smile indicated the quality of her recent orgasm.
“Both together.” Unable to resist any longer, he pulled back and thrust hard, filling her with one forceful drive.
“Careful,” she yelped. “That toy’s deep enough already.”
With measured strokes, he moved inside her. The teasing buzz against his balls combined with the firm grip of her pussy, challenging his control. Her back arched and her breasts quivered.
He rolled his shoulders, shifting her knees to the bend of his elbows as his rhythm increased. Her arms extended above her head, secured by the illusion. She hadn’t objected to the restraint, seemed to enjoy it.
His dominant nature surged, frustrated by the shallow thrusts. He pulled out and flipped her over, pulling her up to her hands and knees. With an impatient hiss, he withdrew the toy and thrust into her core.
Her inner muscles gripped him tightly as a spontaneous climax burst. She liked being handled, was aroused by his aggression. Unwilling to ignore the signs, he grasped the back of her neck and pushed her shoulders down, arranging her in a starkly submissive position. He held her in place with the weight of his body and the deep penetration of his cock.
With one hand he cupped her breast, savoring the weighty feel of her warm flesh. His other hand eased between her thighs and found her clit, rubbing the puffy nub then carefully rolling it between his fingers. She shuddered, her inner muscles contracting with aftershocks.
His balls drew up tight and his shaft pulsed with demanding need. He pulled back, nearly out of her clinging heat, then rammed his full length back inside her. Two slow rotations were all he could endure before his control snapped entirely.
He grasped her hips with both hands and fucked her fast and hard. She pushed up into each thrust. Their mutual cries blended with the rhythmic slap of flesh against flesh. He wanted it to go on forever, to build and soar until they were consumed by the flames.
His head dropped back and his fingers dug into her hips. Molten sensations burst from his balls and shot down the length of his cock. He bit back a scream as his seed jetted deep inside her. She clawed at the bedding, her orgasm gripping him in distinct spasms.
For a long moment he held his weight off her, struggling to catch his breath. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t do this, had honestly meant to wait until the danger passed before he pursued her.
“Feeling guilty already?” Her whispered question held a hint of amusement.
“I don’t regret fucking you, but as you pointed out earlier, the timing could have been better.” He wrapped his arms around her and rolled them to their sides.
With a firm yank, she broke free of his mental restraint and rubbed her wrists. “Is that ability a gift from your mother? How many species contributed to your genetic makeup?”
“If you’re not sleepy, let’s take a shower.” He gently separated their bodies and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
She followed him into the bathroom then took the lead, setting out towels and turning on the water. “Do you sleep or can you absorb energy while you’re non-corporeal?”
“Both.” He motioned to the waiting spray. “I know you don’t transform, but do you still have two personalities?”
“Non-transforming halflings are almost always blended. The two personalities become different characteristics, like in the human psyche. There have been a few who have two distinct personalities yet retain the same form. Some believe people who develop multiple personality disorders have a Dichotomy somewhere in their ancestry.”
He guided her beneath the spray then wrapped his arms around her so they could both enjoy the warm cascade. “My father was born in a laboratory. The interspecies project that created him, and others like him, was destroyed. Actually, he and his best friend organized a riot and freed as many of the inhabitants as he could before he detonated charges all over the complex.”
“Interspecies, as in a cooperation between human and non-human scientists?”
“That’s right.” Needing a distraction from her warm curves pressed so snugly against him, Steffen reached for a bottle of shampoo.
“I had no idea anything like that had ever been done. Humans are suspicious of anyone they can’t control.”
He turned her away from the spray and began to lather her wet hair. “According to my father, the project started out with good intentions, but ambition gradually transformed their vision, and outside influences warped what they had originally set out to accomplish.”
“A common cycle that’s been repeated all through history,” she said wistfully. She tilted her head back and rinsed the shampoo from her hair. “Tell me about your father.”
Steffen went to work on his own hair while he explained, “His genome combined human, Dichotomy, and vampire DNA.”
“I knew you were part vampire!” She took the soap and worked up a lather before stroking his chest with her slippery hands. “That’s why you can manipulate thoughts.”
“Not necessarily.” He enjoyed her casual touch while the shower saturated his sudsy hair. “Certain Dichotomy have similar abilities.”
“True. But this is why you were selected for this case.”
“Yes, but I thought we were talking about my father.”
“Sorry.” Setting the soap aside, she wrapped her arms around him and continued the tantalizing caress with her breasts. “Go on. What happened to him after he escaped?”
With her warm body subtly rubbing against him, he could hardly maintain a coherent thought. “The debris flew farther than he anticipated. He was knocked unconscious and would have bled to death if it hadn’t been for my mother.”
Mara stepped back and met his gaze, compassion clear in her beautiful eyes. “She’s a healer?”
“Most of the sylph are able to heal.” Their playfulness was postponed by the bittersweet memories. “Still, she had to treat him in secret. Sylph law forbade her from getting involved.”
“He must have survived long enough to create you.”
Angling the shower head, he rinsed the soap from their skin. “He never fully recovered. Mother did everything she could, but the damage was too extensive. He regained his strength for a time. Long enough to create me, as you so aptly put it. Then infection set in and he died before I was born.”
“Then you never knew him.”
He refused to let the past encroach on the future. Life was uncertain enough without expending energy on things that couldn’t be changed. “I know my father through the eyes of those who loved him. He was respected and admired by many.”
“Did your mother ever love again?” She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, handing him one of the towels.
“She has always been a bit of a rebel. When the people in her village shunned me, she married a dark elf.” He chuckled, rubbing the towel
across his chest. “The sylph find dark elves nearly as objectionable as vampires.”
“Was your brother born of this dark elf?”
“Yes. Lukas is considered a sylphite just like me.” He smiled. “Well, maybe not just like me.”
“Do you know what happened to the others like your father?” She wrapped the towel around her body and tucked the end between her breasts.
“They were organized into a paramilitary network by my father’s best friend, Max.”
“The Sentinels?”
“The organization is called the Preternatural Sentinel Network or PSN. The operatives are called Sentinels.”
“I see.” Her gaze heated as she watched him finish drying off. “How long have you worked for Max?”
“Twenty-seven years.”
She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “How old are you?”
“A hell of a lot older than I look.” He smiled. “How young are you?”
“I’m considered an adult even by the Dichotomy.”
“Good—” he unwound her towel and used the ends to pull her toward him, “—because I’ve just begun to corrupt you!”
Chapter Six
Raze was jarred from his solar trance by a shrill scream. Blinking away the mental haze, he ordered his reluctant muscles into action. He stumbled out of bed, rushed down the hall, and threw open the door to the bedroom he had once shared with his master.
Expecting Valerie, he was brought up short by the sight awaiting him. A woman huddled on the floor beside the bed, her slender fingers clawing at the collar securely fastened around her neck.
“Where am I?” Her voice broke and tears glistened in her baby-blue eyes. “Why am I chained?”
Taerok had explained that the Dichotomy could transform, but Raze hadn’t realized the change would be so complete. This woman bore little resemblance to Valerie. Her features were more refined, her hair several shades lighter.
“You must be Emily.” He took a step into the room and she cowered against the wall.