Suddenly Cristos was all business. “There is another way.” He stared at Evan.
“Dear God, no!” Evan lifted his chin, gripping his hands together.
“Think about it. You can join her in her dreams and help her to fight. You’re right, putting Sofie into a deep sleep will endanger her. If they can reach her there, that’s it. But if you do what you need to do, you can help her.” He paused, taking a deep drink of the scalding black coffee.
Evan regulated his breathing, and knew the panic he felt had to be overcome. He’d been dancing around this solution, hoping some other way could be found. But there was none. The terror was his alone. He’d been there, with Meghan when she died, had suffered the cuts, the agony of knowing this was real, this wouldn’t stop until she was dead. If he hadn’t ripped himself away in time he might have died, too.
It would never stop hurting, but Sofie had nothing to do with that time, and the despair he’d felt then. Now he had to be strong, or he might lose her too, and that didn’t bear thinking about.
Cristos stood and picked up his jacket. “I’ll leave you to it.” He groped in a pocket and drew out a small medicine bottle. “The choice is up to you. These are powerful sleeping pills, Sofie. They’ll put you under, but no more than two in twenty-four hours. I would suggest Evan keeps them and doles them out to you, if you decide to go that way, then accidental overdosing would be avoided.” He tossed the small bottle to Evan.
“You don’t suspect me?”
Cristos’s mouth turned up slightly. “No, but you know other people will. If Sofie dies, you go down, or worse.”
“Nothing’s worse.” Evan said it softly, so no one would hear.
Cristos sighed. “It’s up to you. But whatever you decide, I want to be kept up to date.” He put on his coat in a few quick, efficient movements. “I’ll see myself out.”
The front door clicked shut behind him and the automatic locks dropped into place. Silence fell.
“Evan?” Sofie’s words came softly.
“Yes?” He hadn’t moved from his place behind her. Now he swung around and went to the window, staring out at the city he loved.
Sofie came up to stand beside him. “Lovely,” she said. “It’s beautiful here.”
“It is.” He reached out to her and felt her hands twine with his, making him complete. “But it’s nothing, if I haven’t got you.”
Lights went on and off, the occasional color breaking the sparkle of pure white. The inky black sky was scattered with stars, echoing the lights below, reminding anyone who cared to look what eternity looked like.
“Evan, it will always be beautiful, with or without us.”
“I know.” He turned to her suddenly, his decision made. “I’m game if you are.”
Her tremulous smile told him all he wanted to know. “What else can we do? I’ll take the pills if you have any doubt.”
Going down into the depths of nothingness frightened Evan more than anything else he could think of. He had a shrewd suspicion the fear was shared, but at least he could admit it. That was some kind of progress. Towards what, he didn’t know. He couldn’t let Sofie go there alone. “Cristos is right. If you dream, I can enter your thoughts, if we’ve linked. But you can enter mine. We’ll be able to build a barrier in time, but for the first week or two we’ll be connected, one person, one thought, one mind. This means intimacy you can’t imagine. It might kill what we have.”
“Haven’t you a barrier already? Can’t you use that?”
He shook his head. “I might be able to. It’s hard, sometimes.” Fleetingly, he thought of Meghan. Shutting her out had been the worst thing he’d ever done, knowing he could do nothing except save himself. He wouldn’t do that again. “We could join Cristos’s secret project.”
“The possession thing?” Her still, smooth face was the only thing he wanted to see at the moment. He couldn’t imagine not wanting to see it.
“He does training, too. He’s found some very talented people, people who can naturally control and connect. Some have been suffering from their gifts, not knowing what to do with them, and others have learned how to control. They learn from each other. I’m helping. As well as developing systems for the department, I’m trying to develop micro implants. They’re injected subcutaneously, and connect with the systems by a kind of radio link. I’m supposed to enhance the natural abilities, but I’m also trying to help them control it.”
“Have you done it?”
He nodded, waiting for her rejection. This was wild side stuff, something the rational Sofie would have to see for herself. “In some cases.”
“In your own?”
“No. I refused to use my powers. Until now. For you, Sofie, I’m ready to go forward.”
She lifted their joined hands to her lips and pressed a kiss against his knuckles. “Then I am, too.”
Slowly he drew her close until her breasts grazed his chest. “This will bind us more than any piece of paper, Sofie.”
“Yes. If you don’t want to do it, I’ll take the pills.”
“No!” Her words put him over the edge. She wouldn’t go there alone. Not again. He pulled her flat against him, crushing her close, and lowered his head to take her mouth.
The kiss was fiery, devastating, all consuming, taking them into their own world, a world they would share closer than any other lovers since the world began.
Evan didn’t know how they managed to get upstairs. They stood by the bed, stripping off each other’s robes. Sofie’s hair was a wild tangle around her head and he pushed his hands into it, felt its beguiling silk and drew her back. He took her mouth again. He’d never get enough of her sinful depths, the warmth luring him in to try further and deeper.
Knowing his passion was rising too fast to stop, Evan jerked his head up. They both panted hard, as though they’d just circled Central Park on an early morning run. “Sofie, one thing before we do this. One thing.” He took a few breaths, steadying himself. “I love you.”
She gasped and then stared at him, searching his face, then she seemed to calm. “I love you too, Evan.”
“Sofie!” He couldn’t wait another minute. Dragging her back with him he fell onto the bed, Sofie on top. Her warmth, her silky soft skin drew him in, and he wanted to feel all of her, every bit, all at once. He kissed her again, driving his tongue into her mouth, meeting hers, thrusting against it blindly, needing more, needing everything.
He caressed her, letting his hands rove her back, up and down the nubs of her spine, hearing her moan into his mouth. This was right. This was the woman he was meant for, his mate, his love, his world. Rolling her over so she lay on the bed Evan kissed her. He pressed tiny kisses to her mouth, her cheeks and her throat, moving down to savor her with his mouth as he was touching her. She smelled of his soap, and her sweet self, together with a trace of the perfume she must have applied earlier, something sweet and tangy.
He wanted more. By the feel of her hands on his back, so did she. She was small, fine-boned, indomitable, her spirit too great for such a delicate body. He kissed her stomach, laying kisses around her navel before delving with his tongue into the intriguing dimple. She gasped, the slight intake of air magnified by the stillness around them.
Evan continued down. When he reached the base of her stomach, he kissed the tangle of black curls that met him and pushed his hands under her bottom, enjoying the scent and feel of her, waiting for her to open to him.
She couldn’t do anything else. He heard her small sigh of surrender and bent his head. Her responsive cry warmed him as nothing else could. He opened her with his mouth, delved deep for the treasure within, the pearl in the oyster.
It was erect, waiting for him. He licked over it in welcome, then took it into his mouth. She was scorching, the heat from her body rising like a heat wave. He used his hands to push her up, to take more of her, be part of her, make her want him the same way he wanted her, the torrent, unstoppable now, rising to meet her. His body ached for her
. Now he’d made the decision there was no doubt left. They would be one.
He licked, teased and then sucked hard, feeling her body in his, the luscious wetness bathing his tongue, a reversal of what was to come. Sofie screamed her climax and he felt her body convulse. He pushed her back, letting up. This was too good, too wonderful not to savor every moment, make it last. He pushed his tongue inside her, feeling her body tighten, loving her responses to his invasion.
He kissed his way up her lax body, feeling the trembling in her stomach, touching his lips to her skin. When he lay over her his body enclosing hers, covering hers, he paused. “Sofie, sweetheart, look at me, please.”
She opened her eyes. What he saw in them was acceptance. He slid the head of his penis inside her, not needing any guidance to find his way home. “I won’t let you down,” he promised, tenderness replacing the wildness of a moment before. He entered her almost reverently, sliding through the wetness they’d both created.
Fully sheathed, he stopped. “I mean it. I’ve fallen deeply for you, Sofie. I can’t imagine being on my own any more.”
She smiled gently in response. “I don’t know how it happened, but I love you too, Evan. Truly. I hope you don’t mind.”
He chuckled and the laugh reverberated through their bodies, deliciously shifting flesh against flesh. “It makes me very happy,” he told her simply, and then he began to move.
He was already a part of her. He would have been content with that for the rest of his life, but deep inside he knew her acceptance of him, allowing him to do this was the ultimate step of intimacy, of love and trust. He rejoiced. No one had ever had that much trust in him before, it was too much to expect from anyone, but with Sofie it felt right.
She shuddered when the first wave hit her, and arched her back. He slipped a hand under the curve of her waist and pulled her closer into his body, concentrating on her pleasure. Tonight that was all that mattered. Her needs, her desires, her pleasures.
Her body felt wonderful. “I’m deep inside you,” he murmured to her. “Nothing between us, nothing to separate us. Feel that?” He drove hard inside her, watched her eyes close and her mouth open. He kissed her, using his tongue to drive inside her, caressing her mouth, holding her close.
Her body clenched around him, driving Evan closer to nirvana and she cried out into his mouth. Then she drew away, gasping for breath. “Evan! Oh Evan, how do you do that?”
“Just love, sweetheart.” He grinned. “And a little learning.”
Breathlessly she joined in his laughter, her body flooding his with wet heat. He rolled over, so he was on his back and she was on top, his arms holding her close and preventing their bodies separating, even for a second. This was all he needed, all he wanted.
Sofie planted her hands on either side of him and lifted her upper body up a little. The sight of her breasts, dipping, the feel of her nipples caressing his chest nearly made him orgasm. Everything about this woman drove him wild with desire, hard with need. Her wicked smile told him she didn’t need telepathy to know what he was thinking. “Shall we stay like this forever?”
“It’s one solution.” Her soft laughter filled him with joy. She came back down to kiss him, using her elbows for support. He curved his hands around her waist and caressed her firm back, from shoulder blade to backside and back again. Shaping her with his hands he allowed them to settle on her bottom. Then he pulled her on to him, none too gently, and felt himself sink deeper into her. “Sofie, you feel so good!” Having her over him, warming him with love and body heat was the best, the very best.
The tingle low down in his belly told him his orgasm had begun. He took a breath. “Sofie, love.”
She paused, her dark hair tickling his shoulders where it fell over her face. She shook it away. “Evan?”
“I have to concentrate, sweetheart. Please forgive me. I have to go inside myself, draw out the essence and say the words.”
“Yes. Of course.” She sounded uncertain, now the moment had come, but Evan was more certain he was doing the right thing. Selfish, he knew, but he wanted her in his life always. This would bind her beyond all other bindings.
He thrust deep inside her welcoming body, feeling her spasms begin, and in a couple of thrusts his started, too. He knew that to come together enhanced and eased the transition. He slipped one hand between their bodies, pushed down to caress her, help her with her climax. He thrust again, and the tingle increased to a darting flash of lightening, arcing through his whole body. He began the incantation.
The words were unimportant in this ritual. What was important was the intent, the concentration the words helped him build. Like the Paternoster in church, or a Tibetan monk’s chant, it aided and pushed his concentration to a level he might not be capable of ordinarily. He murmured the words, and when he felt Sofie pull away, gripped her waist and pulled her closer. He should time this, it was important.
Chanting the incantation, repeating it, he closed his eyes and visualized her face, her eyes, and her mind, saw the opening on her forehead, the chakra, and aimed all his thoughts at that point.
Nothing could stop it now. With heightened awareness of his own body he felt the sperm gather at the base of his penis, and experienced the surge as the milky liquid shot up the narrow passage to gain its release, to fulfill its purpose in the body of the woman he loved.
“Ah!” He was past chanting now, past anything but feeling. Dragging her close he kissed her, thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth.
The hot spurt was his body’s essence, everything he was, everything he had been, back before him, into time immemorial. With a crystallizing jagged edge he gave everything he had, and entered her.
He felt his mind flooding hers, bathing it in hot need, in desire fulfilled, in simple love. He’d done it right. No accident this time. It was complete.
Chapter Fifteen
Sofie lay over Evan, her repletion a part of his. At the point of orgasm, when her body had clenched around his, she felt him enter her. Sheer power, determination and something else. He’d told her he loved her. Now she felt it, surrounding her, holding her. His arms were still around her, but lax now.
Wondering if he’d fallen asleep she raised herself on her elbows and looked down at his face. His dark eyes were open, waiting for her. “Did you do it?”
“Can’t you feel it?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
“You’re not sure?”
He turned with her in his arms so they were lying on their sides, facing each other. Sofie moved in closer, snuggling into his warm body. His chuckle rumbled through them both. “Can you see what I’m thinking?”
Sofie blushed. She ‘saw’ only too well. Her face lost in bliss, her mouth slightly open, eyes half shut. “Evan, I look dreadful!”
“It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Think of something, love, let me show you how close we are now.”
Sofie closed her eyes and concentrated.
Evan’s voice came amused and low. “A cat. No, a kitten. Tabby and white, one ear tabby, the other not. Green eyes. A little pink tongue, creeping out to lick its nose.”
“Amber. I had her when I was a child. She died just before my father did. A long-lived cat and well loved. A wicked animal at times, bringing my mother birds and mice. Mum used to chase her out with a broom and then get my father to move the victim when he came home. She couldn’t abide feathers.” Remembering her cat made Sofie smile.
Evan made a sound of pleasure, a small hum at the back of his throat. “You like cats? Shall we get one?”
“No. I think cats should be able to go outside.”
“Then perhaps we should sell up here and move.”
She lifted her chin, smiling. “We? You’re making plans?”
He smoothed his hand over her hair, playing with her curls. “Certainly I am. I want us to be happy together, Sofie, and since I seem to be stupidly happy whenever I’m with you, I’ll do whatever it takes. Do you want
a cat?”
The comparison of the two, grand declaration to small furry animal made Sofie laugh. “No, I can manage without one.” She caught a doubt in his mind, and was surprised to find doubt had a color. A pale blue. If she’d thought about it, she wouldn’t have colored doubt blue. “You’ve made me very happy, Evan. These problems, they’ll pass. They’ll catch the murderer, and then we’ll be left to ourselves.”
“Yes.” He projected calm, but Sofie saw fear.
“What is it?”
He relaxed his hold on her. “You’re very perceptive, love. I thought it would take you time to get to grips with all this. Of course I’m afraid. We all have a bit of it, unless we’re completely insane. We’re starting something new here.” He chuckled, and she knew what he was going to say a moment before he said it. “I want it to last. I want this to count, but I don’t know if it will work. All that.”
“All that.”
“Are you ready to sleep?” Fear, sharp and incisive, spiked through her. “I’m here now, sweetheart. If you want me, awake or asleep, all you have to do now is call me. You can do that, can’t you?”
“Yes. I called you when I dreamed before.”
“But I didn’t come. I won’t let you down again, Sofie. I swear it.”
He stroked her back in gentle caresses, holding her close. Sofie felt herself slipping into slumber, but pulled herself clear.
“Aren’t you tired?”
He must know she was. “I can’t.”
“Then don’t.” His caresses stopped, and he bent down, whispering to her. “There are other things we can do. All we are supposed to do is stay locked up safe here, so we can turn day into night if we want to. You can sleep when they’re not expecting it. Or I can stay awake and watch over you, and sleep in the day. I won’t have you hurt, Sofie. I’ll do all in my power to help you.”
He bent closer, capturing her lips in a ravishing kiss.
Sofie gave herself up to him, opening every part of herself. There was no privacy any more, nothing to prove, nothing to lose.
Lynne Connolly Page 18