by Mallory Rush
And just how far could he trust Raven?
Though Raven sympathized, his ultimate fealty lay with service and honor, and his reluctant assistance was as borrowed as the time running out with each tick of the clock.
Time. How swiftly he was changing. His thoughts and emotions were in metamorphosis, working an odd effect on his abilities.
He hadn't been able to read Zar's mind or influence his decision to visit Earth—an idea more desperate than plausible. It seemed when he needed his talents the most, they had deserted him. The only logical explanation was that he couldn't control another when his own mind was in chaos.
Eva was a haven, one he sought as he laid beside her, gently turned her onto her back. Beneath the thin white gown her breasts sloped gracefully, beckoning him to tug loose a pink satin ribbon and lay open the beauty of her flesh.
"Urich?" she murmured groggily.
"Here, Eva." For now. And if the gods were merciful, for always.
"I was dreaming of you. Something about a kiss." She opened her arms to him. "Kiss me? A kiss to make up."
"Then you're not mad at me anymore?"
"All I'm mad about is you."
Her lips, her embrace, the whole of her was like holding heaven in his arms while all around them was the nightmare he had spun better than a Dreamweaver from hell.
I need you, Eva. God, how I need you. Hold me, just hold me and give me some of your peace.
"Anything I have is yours," she whispered, urging him to her breast. "Nurse me and find some peace there."
Urich blessed her for those powers she had returned to him. She cleansed his mind and brought pure vision to his heart. The vision of her breast, where her own heart beat, was beyond resistance.
His lips descended and he filled his mouth with her, suckled like a hungry babe drinking in a sweet, deep peace.
Chapter 13
What to do with himself until Eva returned home from work? Another video didn't hold much appeal after watching ten on fast-forward in less than an hour. A book? He supposed he could scan what little remained in the local library that he'd yet to read. Or, he could make a lunch of Milky Way bars—
"Damn," he muttered, remembering he'd finished off the box last night.
With a sigh of frustration, Urich wondered if what he was feeling was boredom. It would be the first time he had experienced it in the two weeks he'd lived with Eva.
She made even little things seem like fun. The time they spent together was always special, whether exploring the city she didn't want him to venture about without her, or conferring on that rudimentary project of hers that she wanted to compensate him for.
He didn't want her money for something he found so simple yet so pleasurable in working towards a mutual goal. They'd argued about the pay issue and even that had been exciting— their logical debate giving way to an emotional clash, then kissing to make up once they'd reached a compromise: He'd take just enough to take her out and buy a few necessities.
So far that included sodas and candy bars, video rentals and little presents for Eva when they went shopping. A dozen pair of stockings after she'd ranted over a run in her new hose. Ten tubes of the lipstick she had raved over because it stayed put for hours and didn't kiss off on him or a glass.
Urich clinked the ice cubes in his empty. A six-pack of colas downed since she'd left for work; he'd hit his sugar-high limit. A beer was tempting but he knew better than to take so much as a sip.
One sip and he'd surely go over the edge he was skating. To look at her, just to think of her was to be seized with the compulsion to mark her. Was she ready?
It was the question he asked himself each night that ended with the passionate kisses he cooled—only for Eva to be so frustrated that she sent him out the bedroom door he'd yet to fix. A reminder. He'd left it to impress upon her just what she'd be dealing with if they crossed the line from kissing companions to what they both ached to be.
Lovers, of course. The problem was, he dared not make love to her like a man, knowing it would trigger the transformation. And once transformed, if she had the courage to witness that, then she'd have to ask for The Kiss.
The kiss of the beast. That's what she had to be ready for. While it would put an end to their mutually miserable yearning to mate, it would be the beginning of a bond that only death could sever.
Enraptured as she was with him, was she prepared for such a significant commitment? For as long as it lasted, anyway. To give Eva his mark was beyond taboo, and while it would protect her for as long as he lived, his days would be numbered should the Tribunal discover his crime of passion.
As they would unless he could come up with a solution—and he was no closer to a workable one than he had been the last time he'd seen Raven.
Two days to go before his scheduled visit. Eva was looking forward to meeting this "colleague" of his who had relayed a wish to join them for reasons of curiosity.
Deciding to put the afternoon to good use, Urich took to the streets that Eva didn't want him wandering by himself. He wouldn't get into one of those jams she worried about him being stuck in without her there to play mediator. And he'd make sure he was back before she returned from work.
He had some work to see to himself. A sweet treat for Raven wasn't a bad idea.
Especially if she was amply desirable to make him want to take more than a nibbling bite of his own.
* * *
"Jeez, Eva, 3:00 and you're out of here? The party's just getting started. Don't tell me you've got a hot date."
"You could sound a little less amazed by the possibility, Ethan."
With an edge of distress he said, "so that is the rush after all."
More like six phone calls in two hours with no answer from Urich, was the rush. But Ethan's unguarded expression stopped her flight out the door.
He looked crushed.
Eva was stunned. After five years of working closer with Ethan than she'd ever snuggled in bed with John, she realized he had a thing for her. All his worrying about her safety, the cajoling to get together after work, had been personal.
How she'd missed something so obvious, Eva didn't know. Then again, a world of self-truths had been staring her in the face but she hadn't seen them until she'd fallen into Urich's looking glass gaze.
Her own softened on Ethan. "Actually, that's not why I'm leaving early." He looked hopeful.
Too hopeful. Tempering his expectations, she said, "four experiments in as many days and I'm ready to celebrate with a hot bath and a good book."
"Wouldn't you rather celebrate together? I mean, the holodeck's about as perfected as it can get and our funders are thrilled, raving about our success."
Success? Her brain-child was a crude invention compared to Urich's technology. Yet he found her work enchanting, delighted in giving her "hints" to refine their project, and expressed admiration for her mental acuity after she'd fried her mind to come up with what was as easy as 2+2 to him.
Success? The way she figured, having Urich in her life was the kind of personal fortune that put professional achievement in its proper perspective.
"You're right, Ethan, as hard and long as we've worked together, we should celebrate together—another time. Sorry to be a party-pooper, but I'm beat." Against her better judgment, she kissed his cheek.
Ethan touched it as he watched her race away. Just as well since he could feel himself blushing. Not that he was a virgin or something, but this was Eva. He was nuts about her, had been for years.
Come her divorce, he'd been overjoyed. But it hadn't changed anything. She never let him get closer than the picture he'd ripped from a VR World magazine. The two of them huddled together over a computer, he kept it beside his bed.
Shutting the door to her office, he went to her desk. He'd picked the lock several times in search of a tube of her lipstick or a brush with a few threads of her hair. Testing the drawer, it slid open. Wherever she was in such a hurry to get to, her haste had worked to his advanta
ge.
Fingering her calculator, he imagined them crunching math formulas together. Mmm. Late into the night. Oh yes. He'd ease behind her and rub her shoulders, massage her neck, slowly work his way down...
Whew. Better put that calculator back and go take a cold shower. But first, he'd play with her brush. The handle was wedged under a book. Curious as to what she was reading, he pulled out a textbook. On telekinesis?
Flipping through, a folded page of graph paper fell out. Some of her secret calculations? A love letter?
Unfolding it, his brow furrowed as he read, "Mind Over Matter." Big scrawled letters, but at the bottom she'd doodled hearts around the word, "Urich."
Putting everything back as he'd found it, Ethan had the unsettling hunch that he'd stumbled on something a lot more intimate than a love letter or a tube of lipstick.
* * *
Where was Urich? He'd promised not to wander the city alone until she was certain he could cope on his own. Trying to calm herself, Eva reasoned that he was somewhere within walking distance since he'd promised not to do any zapping, either. Much as she worried about any sticky situations he might encounter here, if he got into trouble on the globe's other side, there was no way she could help bail him out.
Leaving the house, she went in search. No sign of him strolling the streets. And his cravings for soda and chips and candy bars hadn't sent him to the grocery store for a junk food fix. Maybe he was checking out the video stands. His appetite for musicals and westerns was right up there with greasy popcorn.
"Sorry, he hasn't been here." The clerk who'd waited on them several times before sighed wistfully.
Eva knew she was sorry, all right. The girl fawned over him every time they came in. So did the elderly librarian who gushed over his apparent love for books.
No matter the age, women couldn't take their eyes off him. It was to a point that Eva wanted to put a bag over his head in public so she wouldn't have to deal with her private distress.
But she couldn't do that anymore than she could keep him locked in the house while she went to work.
All she could do was trust him. Trust him not to break her heart. Trust he could take care of himself without her guiding presence.
He wouldn't need her to guide him much longer.
She didn't want to think about that. And she most certainly didn't want to think about what would happen to them once Urich had gotten all that he'd come for.
Passing an outdoor cafe, Eva hit the brakes.
Her stomach twisted. She was queasy, dizzy. She couldn't breathe. A horn honked behind her and Eva forced her foot onto the accelerator.
By some miracle she made it home. She hadn't seen the stop signs or traffic negotiated. All she'd been able to see, continued to see, was Urich. Urich sitting at a table, his attention riveted on another woman.
A very pretty woman who had laughed and touched his hand.
* * *
One glimpse of Eva's car in the driveway and Urich knew he'd been caught.
Testing his acquired skills, he considered a variety of human responses: He could take the defensive and bluster about her going to work while he twiddled his thumbs and she had no right to be mad when he had every right to spend his hours alone as he pleased.
Too... juvenile and aggressive.
Should he just simply apologize for what he wasn't at all sorry for? That one he dismissed even faster than the first. Besides being dishonest it implied his need for her permission, as though he were a child and not a man who could make his own decisions.
Yes, it was time Eva accepted his ability to interact with others and not worry about his social skills. Why, they were becoming impeccable. He hadn't taken his eyes off Justine from the moment she'd asked to share his table. Eva would be proud that he'd mastered that lesson—one that had led to his winning Justine's eager acceptance for a date with Raven. Not only did she profess a weakness for older men, she couldn't wait to meet him since Urich had assured her that Raven was just as "yummy" and charming as she thought he was.
Charm. That was it! He'd sweet talk his way into her arms and they'd get this settled easy as pie.
"Eva? Oh honey, I'm ho-ome!" Chuckling at the domestic greeting, savoring the endearment, he bounded up the stairs that led to a bedroom filled with feminine smells and trinkets, frivolous furniture and enticing attire.
Oh, but he loved it, loved it all. But more than anything, he loved Eva. Once Raven met her, he would understand why. As for himself, he couldn't wait to kiss her as senseless as she'd rendered him. Tonight. Tonight could be the night that ended with more than human kisses.
His teeth were still tingling from the thought when he came to her knobless door. Shut. Surely she wasn't still upset about his departure last night. Or his string of profanities when she broke his ravenous kiss to make up this morning. After all, he had promised to curb his foul language.
Whatever the reason for her shutting him out, he didn't like it. Clamping down the urge to smack open the door and demand immediate possession of her mouth, her breasts—sweet heavens above, her breasts. One look, one taste of a woman's breasts and there wasn't a Deducian male in existence who'd have a stitch of logic left.
What little logic he had remaining advised him to block out the emotions he lacked mastery of and politely knock.
No answer.
But he could hear her moving about.
He knocked again. Still no answer. Urich booted open the door.
She was riffling through her closet. He wanted to know why she hadn't asked him in, but there was a stiffness to the back she kept turned to him that advised him to proceed with more caution than charm. A warm greeting seemed wise.
"I missed you today, Eva."
Ignoring him, she pulled out a little black dress. Then went to her chest of drawers. There, she deliberated over the variety of panties and bras and hosiery which she dangled within his vision, one-by-one, before settling on the most arousing of the contents.
He was aroused from simply watching.
"You're teasing me, aren't you?" he asked, moving behind her and catching at the lacy panties she held.
She yanked them away and the gaze she turned on him could have chipped ice. "If I wanted to tease you, I'd do this." She put a palm to his crotch and squeezed.
A bit too hard. He winced and she let go.
"If you must know, I'm going out. Now get out so I can change." She was half-way to the door he was certain she meant to slam behind him when he swung her around to face him.
"If that's what you're wearing to go out, you're not leaving without me."
"Sorry, Urich, but you're not invited."
She was meeting a man, her selected items leaving no question of it. An awful sensation gripped him, clawing and tearing at his heart, blinding him with jealous rage.
"Who is he?" Gritting out the words took enormous control. He wanted to shake her, go hunt down the man and rip out his throat. "Tell me!" he demanded.
"I don't have to tell you anything." She shoved at his chest and he tightened his grip. "Damn you, let go."
Once he'd dropped her onto the bed, he did. "There."
When she started to scoot off, he shoved her back. Looming over the bed's side, he warned, "move again and I'll be on you. The beast within is demanding his due and the only thing that's stopping him is a fragment of reason. I suggest you nourish it by explaining just what the hell is going on."
"Why don't you read my mind and tell me? No need to knock, come right on in."
His own mind was too crowded to get into hers, and so he said flatly, "No."
"Then I guess you'll just have to draw your own logical conclusions."
She looked away as if she couldn't stand the sight of him. Was she deliberately trying to drive him mad with the riddle of her behavior? If so, Eva was dangerously close to succeeding. So many feelings welling inside him, he could barely think past the instinct to pounce, proclaim his possession of a mate who would bare her throat
in submission.
A snarl escaped him, trembling the charged air.
The hair on her nape prickled. Eva glanced warily at Urich. His gaze was on her neck and his upper lip curled above those gleaming, canine incisors.
He had warned her and she had provoked him, too hurt to be honest and too angry to take heed. The hurt wasn't gone and neither was the anger, but those teeth of his had a way of putting both into perspective.
"Maybe we should talk, Urich."
His answer was another snarl, hands going to his shirt, a savage yank stripping buttons from thread. Gaze to her eyes, fixing her there, she felt like a bird held in thrall by a predator, a doe blinded by glass green lights.
She couldn't move but at least her vocal chords still worked, just barely, allowing her to stutter, "I—I saw you with a—another woman."
"For Raven," he growled, his hands going to his pants.
Relief washed over her while the tide of alarm rose.
Eva began talking. Fast. "I'm sorry, really sorry for thinking you were sneaking around with another woman but after John I don't trust men or aliens or anything male and it's a problem I've got that I thought I was past but I'm apparently still dealing with. I'll learn from my mistake and trust you next time, okay?"
She heard the whisper of his belt sliding from denim, metal buckle hitting the floor.
"N-now that we've got that settled, why don't we talk about this woman you found for Raven? Or—or we could talk some more about his visit." The pound of a war drum seemed to echo from wall-to-wall, matching the thrum of her heart. "Hey, I've got an idea! Want to see if we can get tickets to next Sunday's game? My treat, even at scalper's prices."
Hiss of his zipper. She would have looked if she could. But even her peripheral vision was locked on his dilated pupils, two black full moons sucking her in.
In a tremulous whisper she said, "I'm suddenly starved. Let's go out to eat. What're you hungry for?"
Teeth bared, he licked them. "You."