Her phone ringing again brought her head up, and with it fear of who was on the other end. Was it Damon again? Slowly, Devra picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Devra, honey, are you okay?”
“Joshua.”
He must have picked up something in her voice, because his next words confirmed it.
“Devra, I called to warn you about Damon. He might try to call you. If he does, don't…”
“He called.”
“What did he say?”
Devra couldn't speak. She simply sat there with tears spilling down her cheeks, her body shaking uncontrollably.
“Devra. Answer me. What did he say?”
“I'm sorry. I tried not to listen, to respond, but I…”
“Baby, I want you to leave there, get in your car, and come to me. Now! Do you understand me? Come to me.”
“Okay,” she said in a soft, hushed tone.
“I love you, honey. Don't worry, everything will be okay.”
She sobbed and hung up the phone. What the hell was going on? What was Joshua's relationship with Damon and why would Damon do this to her? Was it to get back at Joshua? Answers! She needed answers and she needed them now. Joshua would tell her, he just had to.
Grabbing her belongings, Devra left the office and headed for the one man who could take away the ache inside.
* * * *
After hanging up the phone, Joshua closed his eyes and tried to control the burning anger threatening to choke him. Slowly he paced back and forth, wearing a path in the carpet waiting, wondering what he could do to make things better. It took every ounce of self-control he had to sit here and wait for Devra when all he really wanted was to wring Damon's freaking neck. The bastard had gone behind his back and mind-raped his mate. The woman he loved. Joshua groaned. He would lose her for sure. Damon's little act would ensure that. Damn him. Damon would pay. He would pay dearly. Anger raged through Joshua's body, his hands clenching into fists as he waited for Devra to get home. About to reach out to her with his mind, he heard a car pull up. Instinctively, he knew it was his mate, his woman, and she needed him. He strode across the room and pulled open the door, catching her as she launched herself into his arms.
“Joshua,” she sobbed, burying her head in his chest, her body shaking uncontrollably.
“Shh … it's okay,” he whispered as he rubbed his hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. He pulled her tighter into his embrace and rocked her back and forth, whispering nonsense until finally she quieted down, sniffling every now and then.
He leaned back, pushed her hair back from her face and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her gently.
“Tell me what's wrong, baby.”.
“Damon called me on the fucking phone and made me come. That's what's wrong.” She screamed jerking from his grasp. “Your pal talked me into an all-out, heart-stopping orgasm, making me feel like a well-used whore.” She wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands and glared at him. “Who the hell is he, Joshua. and why did he do that to me?”
Outrage filled him. He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, counting to ten before he spoke. “I don't know why he did it. I told him Friday night you were mine.” There was a slight shift in the air and Joshua opened his eyes to find Devra with her arms crossed and her delicate brow arched. Uh-oh.
“Yours?” she asked in a deceptively calm voice. “What gives you the right to call me yours?”
His hackles rose at her question. She was his, and that was that. “You gave me that right when you let me into your body, heart, mind and soul,” he said through clenched teeth, and when you entered mine, he added silently. Of course, he hadn't told her that part yet. There were still some things he had to share with her. There were things he wanted to know about her. He stalked toward her, satisfied when her eyes widened slightly and she took an involuntary step back.
He kept on walking toward her, backing her against the wall, caging her in with nowhere to go, and no place to hide. “Let's get something straight,” he said, his voice velvet-edged and strong. “You are mine and don't you forget it.” He leaned into her, pressing his lower body against hers, grinding his arousal into her soft stomach. “Do you feel that? That's what you do to me every time you look at me with those big, sultry eyes. When you smile, I want to rip off your clothes, throw you to the ground and fuck you senseless. And afterwards I want to take you in my arms and hold you while you sleep, to feel your warm, smooth skin against mine and know that when I open my eyes, you are there beside me.”
He watched her eyes widen and a look of shock cross her features. “Joshua. I don't know what to say.” She looked away for a moment, her teeth chewing her lower lip. He couldn't stand it. Would she push him away again? Or would she accept her fate? There was only one thing to do. Wait. So he waited. Finally Devra turned to look at him and the world seemed to brighten.
“I don't know if what I feel for you is love or not. I've never really been in love. I see that now. My marriage to Trevor wasn't love, it was lust. I never felt for him what I feel for you. But listen to me. I don't like high-handedness or a man who runs roughshod over me. If we are mates as you claim and you love me as you say, then I need to feel like an equal partner.”
His heart overflowed with happiness. She was willing to give him a chance. To give them a chance. He grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her. By the time he broke the kiss they were both breathing hard.
“I'm sorry for what Damon did to you. I promise you that it won't happen again.”
Devra nodded, but he could tell by the gleam in her eye that she had questions. Always the reporter.
“You still have questions. What are they?”
“How could Damon do what he did? Can you do that? How can I hear you in my mind?”
Joshua felt his stiff body relax now that Devra was back into fighting mode, or maybe should that be questioning mode.
“I'll try to answer all your questions, but some I'm not even sure about.” Like how in the hell could Damon do that to his mate without touching her? His parents never spoke of this ability. Did he have it, too? He did know they could enter a woman's mind and feed off her emotions, the arousal rushing like drugs through their blood, their veins. It was the ultimate high. But, not once had Joshua ever brought a woman to orgasm without touching her, without being in the same room. From what his parents told them of true mates, once they were mind-linked, then they could do this. But, only with a true mate. So how in the hell did Damon do it?
Fury flooded his body as he thought about his childhood friend. He would never have believed Damon capable of this. To do this to another's mate was unforgivable. He deal with Damon.
“Joshua?”
“Right, sorry. Answers.” He motioned toward the couch and both of them sat down.
“First off, I'm not sure how Damon did that. From what we were taught he shouldn't be able to enter your mind unless you were his true mate. Which you are not. You're mine!”
She cleared her throat and arched a perfectly trimmed brow.
He grinned sheepishly.
“Okay. Next question.” Devra ticked them off on her fingers. “How come I can hear you in my head?”
“That is easy enough to answer. Because we made love, we are now mind-linked.” He could see the question in her eyes and hurried to explain. “It's a special link between mates. I can feel your emotions just as you can feel mine.”
“So, I can talk to you the same way?”
“Yes.”
He watched her eyes light up with a curious glint before she tamped it down.
“Can Damon…” she swallowed hard. “Can Damon read my thoughts as well?”
“No. Only true mates can do this.” Joshua waved his hand. “Don't worry about Damon. He won't bother you again.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I will deal with Damon.” He spoke in a cold, precise tone that startled even him.
“What are you going to do?” sh
e asked.
Joshua took a deep calming breath before turning to face her. “It's none of your concern. Just know that it will never happen again. I'll do everything in my power to protect you.”
He held his breath when she narrowed her eyes and frowned. “Fine, for now. But know this, Joshua. I will not be kept in the dark. Either you share all of you or get the hell out of my life. And about Damon?”
“Yes?”
“If I see him first, I will kick his arrogant ass to Georgia and back.”
Joshua broke into a grin. “I bet you will.” He held out his arms and waited to see if she would come to him. Relief rushed through him when she walked into his arms and burrowed against his chest. He rested his chin on top of her head and held her tight.
His woman!
Chapter Twelve
Held tightly in his arms against his chest, Devra inhaled his scent, a wave of raging lust assailing her. She loved his smell—all male. Burying her head in the curve of his neck, her nose pressed against his skin, she let his warmth surround her, invading her every pore. His hands rubbed up and down her back in a comforting gesture, bringing tears to her eyes.
“Don't cry, my sweet. Everything will be fine.” His voice filled her head and her heart, easing her tension and her guilt.
Devra frowned. “Stop that!”
“What?”
“Talking in my mind. It's weird.”
“Sorry. It's a natural occurrence between mates. You'll get used to it.”
Satisfied for the moment, but with still more questions, Devra cataloged that one to ask about later. Right now she wanted to know about Damon.
“Tell me about Damon,” she shivered just speaking his name. “He made me feel so dirty.” She burrowed closer to Joshua, seeking his heat.
“Don't,” he murmured against her head. “What he did was wrong.”
“But how could he do that? Does he have some sort of power that allows him to overpower a woman's will?” So many questions she wanted answers to, and by damn she would get them one way or the other. She wiggled free from his embrace, stepped back, crossed her arms, and gave him her best Devra look, the look that said “give me the answers or else, buddy.”
She watched his frustration and hurt that she'd stepped away from his arms. While he searched for the answers to give her, she observed him silently. His shoulder-length hair was silky soft and she loved it loose and flowing like it was now. Her fingers itched to weave paths through that gorgeous mane and she barely restrained herself from doing just that.
She ogled the rest of his body, the lean muscular frame causing her heartbeat to accelerate and her mouth to water. Geez! The man was way too sexy for his own good and for her peace of mind. Whenever he was near all she could think about was ripping his clothes off and going at it like bunnies.
At that moment, he chose to push his hands into the pockets of his too tight jeans and her mouth watered at the outline of his cock, clearly visible.
She groaned aloud and his gaze swept up to meet hers. His eyes narrowed and his mouth hitched up in that sexy smile she knew all too well. “What's the matter, baby? Am I bothering you?” His voice melted over her skin like warm butter on a biscuit. Gone was the man trying to figure out what to tell her and in his place stood the seductive, elusive Joshua Thomas, the man who could make a woman climax with one stroke of the piano keys, or one stroke on her pleasure button. Which at this moment was beginning to throb like a distant drum beat.
“Joshua,” she said in a warning tone. “I want answers and then we'll get to the hot, sweaty sex.”
His smile faded a bit and he nodded. “All right. Answers first, and then sex.” Removing his hands from his pockets, he pulled his hair back and wrapped it in a ponytail. Motioning for her to sit, he sat down on the sofa, resting his head against the back.
Devra wondered at his reluctance to give her the answers she wanted. Surely it couldn't be all that bad. Hell, he'd already told her he was pretty much a vampire. Not the blood-sucking kind, sure, but one that fed off the heightened sexual emotions of others. He said he could read her mind and she could read his. Did that mean he was reading hers now? Did he hear all her thoughts? Oh man! She had to know right now. Clearing her throat, she voiced her question aloud. “Joshua, do you read my thoughts all the time?”
* * * *
He knew the question was coming, but not because he'd read her mind. No, it was simply because he knew his woman. And now that she'd voiced it, he found himself angry with her and himself. “No.”
How could she think he would do that without her knowledge? Of course, there'd been the time when he'd sought her out, finding her writhing on her big bed, masturbating and screaming his name as she climaxed. But, that was the one time and he would not regret it. To see her in the throes of ecstasy was breathtaking and beautiful. “I only enter your mind when we are making love or when you are upset like you were today. We have an open link that works both ways. But I will never invade your privacy.”
He opened his eyes and found her watching him with a mixture of wariness and curiosity. He bit back a smile. That was his Devra, always curious, always wanting to know. That little quirk made him want her all the more. “Come here and sit beside me,” he said patting the cushion next to him and waited for her to sit down. Once she was comfortable he began his tale.
“As I told you before, I am not from this world. My people arrived on your planet five hundred years ago. My parents, along with several others, were the first to arrive and find a place to live and survive. Our planet was slowly dying, our food supply dwindling to nothing and our women unable to reproduce any longer. The elders discovered your planet and its similarities to ours and so they loaded us up on starships and brought us here.” He paused for a moment and looked at Devra, trying to gauge her reaction to his words. The look on her face was one of shock and disbelief.
“Surely you don't expect me to believe you're a vampire and an alien?” she asked incredulously.
He shifted on the couch until he was facing her head on, his back pressed into the corner of the sofa. He shook his head. “No, I am not an alien, although we did come from another planet.” She opened her mouth to speak again but he stopped her with his fingers on her lips. “Let me finish before you start the inquisition.”
She nodded.
So as not to give in to temptation and run his thumb along her kissable lips he removed his fingers, letting his hand rest on his thigh.
“Now where was I?” he pondered. “Oh yes, another planet. My father was one of the leaders. He helped make the laws and keep us all safe. My mother took care of teaching and nurturing me and the other children. On my home world she was a scholar, much like your history teachers here, so naturally she taught when we came here.”
“Does she still teach?”
“Yes. She's a teacher at one of the local high schools.”
“Okay, go on.”
“Damon, the jerk whose ass you want to kick, and I grew up together. I guess you could say he was my best friend, along with Roarke.”
“Roarke?” she asked anxiously. “Have I met him? Is he going to do what Damon did to me too?”
Joshua frowned at her choice of words. “No, he's not going to do that. Roarke is happily married to a human named Melissa. She's a spitfire like you. And no you haven't met them, but I'm hoping you will soon.”
“Okay, continue.”
He chuckled. Straight and to the point! Yep, that was his woman.
“When I became a teenager I started having dreams,” he cleared his throat. “Sexual dreams or wet dreams, if you will. The first time I was with a girl, sexually, I found that when she was close to climaxing I could enter her mind and feed off the emotions emanated during sex. It was so raw, so powerful, that I passed out from the intensity of it. When I woke up, the girl was gone and I was totally charged up.
“I raced home and the next day told Damon and Roarke about the experience and they were as fascinated as I
was. We began to hang out and get women together, sometimes sharing, other times going off in our own spots and fucking them for hours, feeding off the energy and need.
“Why do you need this energy?”
“For survival. Although Earth was the most similar to our planet, there were some drawbacks. Our bodies soon became drained, we slept all day and woke when the sun went down. And we craved sex. All the time. The elders soon realized that we needed the energy from sexual emotions to keep us healthy. In other words, we need the sexual high the way a junkie needs drugs.
“But something changed didn't it?” she asked quietly.
He looked down at his hands, surprised to find her hand in his.
“Yeah, something changed. Damon nearly drained a woman and didn't seem to care. He just moved on to the next one. After that Roarke and I both kept our distance from Damon and found other ways to assuage the hunger. Roarke found his true mate and I decided to find a different way to channel my hunger and need, without fucking nameless, faceless women to survive.”
“Ah, I see. That's where your music comes in doesn't it? You learned to harness your need and hunger into the songs you play.”
He smiled and nodded. “You're very perceptive.”
She rose from the couch and paced back and forth. “Let me get this straight. One, you are from a different planet which was dying in some way, so you guys came here to live among humans. Two, you can read minds and you feed off the orgasmic pleasures of women.” She turned to face him. “How am I doing so far?”
“Fine,” he responded, amazed at her insight. “Keep going.”
“Okay, so you got tired of woman after woman with no emotional attachments to tie you down, and started feeding off humans through your music. That's why women flock to hear you play—they get off on it.”
“Yes,” he said quietly. “I'm sorry to use people that way, but I don't like my other choice.” He rose from the couch, stepped in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “But, now that you've walked into my life, I don't have to choose. You're the woman I've been searching and yearning for all these years. That first night in the hallway I was so overwhelmed by your emotions I thought I was going to lose it. Your heat, fire and passion encircled me, embracing me with its aura and I knew you were different. And that when I took you to my bed you would fill my heart, my very soul to overflowing.” He massaged her shoulders before moving his hands down her arms to rest at her waist. “Now, I realize that somehow my body recognized yours as the other half of my soul, the piece I'd been missing. You, Devra, are my mate, the woman I am destined to love.”
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