by Marie Harte
Rory knew she needed to escape. Like yesterday. The locket never lied. She took off down the side of the mountain as if the hounds of hell were on her heels.
And by the roar that followed, they very well might be.
Keegan tried to stand. It took him several tries before he could see straight.
“James?”
James didn’t move, but he did groan. The woman had gone.
Annoyed and angered she’d put both of them on their asses, Keegan yelled out his frustration and forced himself to stand. He went after her like a man possessed.
Though she had a good lead on him, he narrowed it down until he could hear her ahead of him. Using the adrenaline surging through him for strength, he stopped and called on his telekinesis to crack a few trees in the far front of him.
Her shriek pinpointed her location, and he rushed to see her disappearing into another thicket in front of him. Keegan focused and heard her scream in fear as he tugged her back to him with invisible hands. She struggled but couldn’t free herself from his telekinetic hold.
When she saw him, her eyes narrowed, but before she could zap him again with that powerful energy, he ripped the locket from her neck with a mental tug.
“Insurance.”
“No! Let me go! Give it back!” She squirmed and swore but couldn’t break free.
Keegan held out his hand and clenched it tight once the locket dropped in his palm. “Use that weird mojo against me again, and you’ll never get it back.” A weak threat, but it was all he had at the moment.
“Just don’t lose it.” Rory panted. Her eyes were wide, and her face looked too pale. “Now whatever you’re doing to me, stop it.”
“Scared? Worried about that bubble holding you off the ground?” Three feet off the ground. “You should be. We’re going back up the mountain, and you’d better hope James is okay.”
He tried to sound mean, but a huge part of him wanted to reassure her he wouldn’t harm her. Keegan didn’t stand for hurting women. It went against the very foundation of his upbringing. Besides, he liked what he’d seen of Rory so far.
And if that touch was anything to go by, they had some serious chemistry they needed to explore.
Touching her had been like touching James. Hot, intense, and sexual beyond belief. That James felt it as well told Keegan they needed to see just what kind of power Rory had.
The walk back to number four passed in silence. They were an odd sight, Keegan was sure. He looked done in, a big man covered in dirt and sweat followed by a floating woman glaring holes through his back. He didn’t have to see her to know she was more than pissed off.
Luckily, she hadn’t tried to fry him with that mind power again. When he reached the cave, he looked around for James and saw him sitting on the ground with his back against the wall. His friend gingerly touched a bruise at his temple.
“So much for your good looks,” Keegan said gruffly, relieved to find his partner in one piece.
“Shit. That fucking hurt,” James growled. “My head feels like it’s splitting in two.”
Rory cleared her throat. “Let me down from here, and I’ll take a look. I had some medical experience in my younger years.”
“What, when you were twelve?” Keegan drawled. She didn’t look much older than twenty-one or -two, and she’d done enough damage already.
“I’m twenty-eight, asshole. Now let me go.”
“Keegan, let her go. We’ll be safe enough.” A ball of fire danced in James’s palm.
“Oh my God. What are you two?” Rory’s eyes were wild.
“One wrong step from you,” Keegan warned Rory, “and I’ll launch your ass off the mountain. That’s if James doesn’t barbecue you first.” She scowled at him, but he could see her fear. “Try it, and I’ll brain you like I did your buddy.”
“You tried, but my head’s like a rock. Or so I’ve been told.”
“That’s the truth,” James agreed.
Keegan cautiously loosened his hold, but Rory didn’t move.
She just stood there looking back and forth from him to James. She settled her gaze on James and warned, “You set me on fire, and I will not be happy.”
“Just consider me a psychic friend—1-900-HERE-TO-HELP.” She quirked a wobbly smile and finally crossed to him. “I thought I was weird, but you two have me beat. A fire starter and a man who moves things with his mind.” She gave Keegan a side glance. “Who knew there was even a brain cell under all that muscle?”
James snorted with laughter while Rory fussed over him.
Seeing her genuine remorse and gentle hands on his friend, Keegan relaxed and sat next to him.
James leaned his head back so Rory could look at it. “I thought she’d lost you for sure.”
“She was fast, but I’m faster.”
“Which is amazing, considering how much your giant ego must weigh,” she said under her breath.
James grinned, then winced when she touched his forehead.
“Wait here.” She glanced around her.
Keegan asked, “What are you looking for?”
“A rag to put in that stream over there. The cold will help the swelling.” Wanting to be rid of his sweat-soaked shirt anyway, Keegan pulled off his Tshirt and handed it to her. “That feels better.” He sighed. “Wet this down and use it.”
She stared at him, her mouth open.
“What?”
“N-nothing.” Rory took his shirt, careful not to touch him as she did so, and scurried away to the stream in back.
James said in a low voice, “She was probably stunned at the sight of you. You have that effect on us mere mortals.”
“Fuck you.” Keegan flushed. James thought it funny that Keegan, for all his brawn, was a bit self-conscious about his body. He knew he looked good, but he didn’t handle compliments well.
James taunted, “Trying to tempt her into staying?” “Woman is going to be a huge pain in my ass, I can feel it.” He glared at her as she returned.
“I thought that was my job,” James said under his breath.
Rory returned with the wet shirt. She wouldn’t look at Keegan, and he couldn’t tell if she’d heard James or not. Damn. Would having sex with a guy hamper his ability to get laid by women now?
Complications he had no business thinking about, with his friend nearly brained and the instigator of all their trouble too sexy for her own good. Her hair was a tangle of ash blonde hair that hid half her face and tickled the tops of her generous breasts.
“So Rory, why don’t you tell us about this locket.” Keegan held it in the palm of his hand.
“Let me see it.” James held out a hand.
“Sure. Just keep it far away from Attila.” Keegan nodded at Rory.
James turned it over in his hands. A thin locket of what looked like white gold encrusted with one shining blue gem in its center sat on a sturdy gold chain. “Is it your focus? Or does the power come from the locket?” Rory remained tight-lipped.
“Hold on.” James placed the locket over his neck, and Rory gritted her teeth.
She really seemed to want it back, which gave them leverage.
James held out a ball of fire and concentrated on it. “Nothing. Keegan, you try it.”
Keegan took it and tried to pull some energy from it, but the locket felt completely normal. “I don’t get it. What’s the fuss over this thing if it’s not part of the weird collection?”
“I guess it’s not. You remember what Jack said. We’re here to collect a family heirloom gone missing.” “I don’t know what was told to you, but that locket belongs to me,” Rory stated.
“I’ve had it since my mother died and kept it for sentimental reasons.”
“So the tie to the locket is an emotional one, and the power is all you.” James studied her with interest.
Keegan frowned. “What you’re saying is you’re a telekinetic, like me.” She shook her head. “You’re strange, even by my standards. I’ve never had anyone touch me wit
hout touching me before.”
“I call them his whisper hands.” James grinned. “Almost as good as his actual hands.”
Rory stared between them with speculation and, if Keegan wasn’t mistaken, more than a little prurient interest. “Yeah, well, whatever. I want my locket back.
It’s mine. Really.”
“And we really don’t care.”
“Keegan.” James shook his head and groaned. “Remind me not to do that again.”
“We saved you from Jackson and Deputy Dawg, so do us a favor and come clean. What the hell is up with this town?” Keegan wanted to know.
Rory sat there on her knees, exasperated, annoyed, and so friggin’ sexy, he wanted to lay her flat on her back and see what she was made of. Postured the way she was, she would have looked right at home in a bondage video, collared and wearing a leather bustier he’d slowly take apart with his teeth.
She blinked at him, blushed, and quickly looked at James. “I grew up around here but never actually lived in Jackson Heights. I’ve only been in town the past year. From what I’ve seen, the town is practically owned by the Jacksons. I haven’t had too much trouble from them.”
“Except for Gina and now Ed,” Keegan reminded her.
She ignored him. “Gina has some idiotic notion that whatever her older cousin wants, he should have. Brent is fixated on me.” James corrected, “Don’t you mean Ed?”
“Him too.” She sounded miserable. “It’s not me, it’s this town. Say no to a Jackson, and they’ll hound you for life. I told Brent I didn’t want to go out with him.
He won’t take no for an answer. So a few weeks ago, I was forced to embarrass him in front of a bunch of his friends. He was trying to shove a hand up my skirt in public, for Christ’s sake.”
“Asshole.” The more Keegan heard about the Jacksons, the more he disliked them.
“Brent was embarrassed, and Gina got back at me by keying my car.
Meanwhile, Ed has been all over me, trying to prove how much better he is than Brent and every other guy in town. Like, he can get the girl no one else can. Me? I just want to wrap up my business and move on.”
“To where?” James asked.
She shrugged. “Nowhere in particular.”
“What do you do?” Keegan wondered. “Beat people up for a living?”
“Jerk. No, I make jewelry.”
“You have a shop in town, darlin’?”
“No. I’m saving up for one.” She cleared her throat and gave Keegan a smile so bright, it blinded him. “I’m very close to having enough to start. So trust me when I say as much as I love this locket, I’d sell it to you in a heartbeat if I trusted you guys are who you say you are. I just don’t know that you won’t try to rip me off at the first opportunity. I’ve been around enough people to know you don’t trust who you don’t know. And even then, I never give away treasures without a guaranteed fee.” Keegan wanted to look away, but the sincerity in her gray-green eyes begged him to believe her.
James rubbed his forehead, and his tension seemed to ease. “How do we know you’re telling the truth?” “How do you know I’m not?” she countered. “Consider this. I’ve been in town a whole year, and right before you clowns arrive, Ed is asking on behalf of a friend of his that I sell him my most prized possession. Why the hell would I trust you two, who I don’t even know?”
“Which leads us to believe there’s more to it than a keepsake,” James reiterated.
Keegan agreed. “I’m thinkin’ you didn’t tell the whole truth. The locket didn’t work for me or James, but it works for you. I have a feeling you’d blast us off this mountain if you could, but without the locket, you can’t.” He was thinking out loud, but the more he thought about it, the more he thought he might be right.
She pursed her lips. “Tell you what. Let’s all get out of town together, and I’ll agree to talk to your client about the locket. If he’s legit, he can pay me what it’s worth and the deal’s done.”
James nodded. “First things first. We need to get off this mountain and back to the SUV.”
Keegan agreed. He clutched the locket in his hand and started to rise when Rory tackled him, digging frantically in his palm for it.
Amused by her struggles, Keegan shoved the locket into his pocket with one hand and grabbed Rory’s wrists with the other and a bit of telekinesis.
“Honey, you want it that bad, you just had to say so.”
“You son of a bitch. Gimme back what’s mine.” She growled and tried to knee him in the crotch.
“Bad girl.” He enjoyed the feel of her on top of him. So much softer than James.
She was wiry, yet those full tits were really exciting him—and her, if her hard nipples were anything to go by. He used his mind to shift her, so that the vee of her legs fit right over his groin, where his cock strained against his fly.
She suddenly froze. “You, oh. That’s not, that’s a big—” “Yes, it is. Good of you to notice, darlin’.” Keegan shot her a grin, more than amused when James laughed with him.
“Shut up.” The red staining her cheeks made him want to kiss her there. “I thought you said you wouldn’t molest me.”
“No, I said I wouldn’t kill you. I said James wouldn’t molest you.” Keegan drew his hands around her and dragged her ass closer, grinding her against him. “But honey, I’m just dyin’ to convince you to come.”
He rocked into her, lost in how good she felt. By the look in her soft eyes, she felt the same. Keegan plastered her flat against him and kissed her neck, her cheek, her mouth. Try as she might, she couldn’t disguise the soft sighs and tight nipples pressed up against him as she struggled to get free.
Pulling back to look at her, Keegan whispered, “Come with us, Rory. It’ll be good, I promise.”
“Us? Both of you?” she squeaked, her eyes like jade quarters.
James groaned. “Now that’s an image.”
Keegan continued. “Yeah. Come with us…all the way to Oregon. You can ditch the idiots in Jackson Heights who are after you, meet with our client, and tend to your business. After we fly back, we could—”
“I don’t fly.”
“Afraid?” asked James.
“No. I just have, um, a bit of a problem with authority.” At Keegan’s blank look, she grudgingly explained, “The law and I are not the best of friends. And I don’t need any more attention than I can handle.”
Keegan looked from her to James, wondering at the images and ideas floating through his brain. He didn’t know this woman. Didn’t know if she was a con artist, a thief, or the real deal. But those big eyes called to him. As did her rockin’ body. He wanted to ride her hard, to watch James take her. Maybe do her at the same time. “Honey, we don’t like extra attention either. So this calls for a road trip back home. You up for it?”
“Not as much as you are,” she muttered and squirmed in his hold, making his ache worse.
“Rory, you do that again and we’re both gonna get a big surprise.”
“Big is right,” James added with a grin.
She shoved at his chest, and Keegan released her. Rory rolled to her feet and stood. “I’ll come with you to Bend. But I’m not making any promises.” James nodded. “Good enough that you’re coming with us. Our job is to bring the locket back to our client.”
“But no using your weird skills on me. No fire and no whisper hands,” she said to them, looking both annoyed and sexually frustrated.
Keegan grinned. “No problem, darlin’.” He couldn’t wait to see what she was like under him, because he had a feeling this road trip would be as much an exercise in revelation as his trip with James had been. A glance at his friend—his lover—showed James looking from Keegan to Rory with interest.
Keegan gave him a subtle nod, on the same wavelength, and James smiled with satisfaction. “It’s a deal, Rory.”
“Good. One more thing. I keep the locket on me.”
“Nope.” Keegan slowly got to his feet. “I’ll hold
on to the locket. You hold on to me, and you won’t lose it.”
“Good one.” James nodded.
“I thought so.”
Rory looked from Keegan to James. “You don’t mean that literally, do you?”
“Only if you want it. I won’t lie. I’m gonna use our time together to get you in bed. You’re hot as hell. But I’m not into force. You’ll come to me because you want to, not because you have to.”
“Arrogant much?” James groaned. “You don’t know the meaning of the word subtlety, do you, Keegan?”
Rory shrugged. “That’s okay. I can deal with blunt honesty. And here’s some for you two. I’m not a mattress. I don’t sleep with men I don’t know. And I’m not going to sleep with either of you. No matter how attractive I find you.” Keegan raised a brow. “Now that’s honest.”
James nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Then it’s a deal.” Rory held out a hand to shake on it.
“Sealed with a kiss.” Before she could protest, Keegan shoved her at James with his whisper hands, hoping James would catch on.
To his pleased surprise, James did.
Chapter Seven
Watching Keegan and Rory roll around had been arousing, but kissing her proved more so. The woman had lips made for touching. So full and soft. She stiffened at first in his embrace, but when James traced her soft mouth with his tongue and slowly invaded, she responded. Beautifully.
Those full breasts pressed into him as he deepened the kiss and pulled her closer. Sipping, drinking, devouring her. She filled him the way Keegan did, leaving James desperate and hungry for more.
Astounded to feel such desire for this woman he’d met only a few hours ago, James slowly withdrew and stared down at her, gratified to see her mirrored confusion and caution.
“Holy shit. That was hot.” Keegan broke the mood with a leering grin. “Oh yeah, I think we’re all gonna get along real well on the way home.” Rory pulled away from James, breathing hard. “Asshole. Keegan, what did I say about those whisper hands?” Her shaky voice and heaving breasts made James feel protective, and he glared at Keegan to behave.