Extrasensual Perception

by Rayna Vause

  Chris stroked him, long and slow, as he tasted his skin. Leaning in, he licked up the taut line of his throat. He pressed a row of kisses along his jaw until he could attack Jack’s mouth. Groans of pleasure and harsh breaths were the only sounds.

  Chris couldn’t focus on anything except the exquisite sensations Jack coaxed from his body. The man set out on a mission to drive him mad. To make him feel beautiful, safe, and just maybe loved. In that instant, Jack Whitman stole another piece of his heart. After what had almost happened, he wouldn’t deny either of them. He wanted Jack needing and moaning and very much alive in his arms.

  “I need you.” The words rumbled out of Jack. The slow burn they’d been building blazed brighter.

  “As much as I want to, are you sure this is a good idea? You’re fresh from the hospital. Hell, you were shot, Jack.”

  “Best idea I’ve had in ages. My arm is hurt, nothing else. So we take it easy, but this is absolutely happening.” He claimed Chris’s mouth in a kiss that left him breathless and dizzy.

  “All right, then, have me, Jack.” Chris exhaled the words against his lips.

  “Top drawer.” Jack nodded at the nightstand.

  Chris climbed over Jack and reached into the nightstand, pulling out a bottle of lube and a condom.

  Jack reversed their position again. He pressed Chris into the bed. Heat radiated from both of them. He brushed their lips together, tongues tasting and tangling until they both needed air. Breaking apart with a gasp, Jack made his way down Chris’s body, licking as he went. He stopped to spend time teasing and sucking Chris’s hard nipples.

  Chris arched and writhed, wanting more, trying to get closer. Electricity shot through him when Jack took him in his mouth, sucking and stroking. His head thrashed on the pillow as his world narrowed to the amazing sensations Jack pulled from him with his talented hands and tongue. Chris spread his legs, wanting to give Jack access to all of him.

  Jack moaned as he pulled off Chris and reached for the bottle of lube. Chris’s whole body pulsed with the pounding of his heart. He cried out when slick fingers trailed along the strip of skin between his legs to stroke over his puckered entrance. Those skilled fingers circled and pressed. His body vibrated with pleasure as Jack’s finger thrust inside him, sending his system buzzing. When Jack’s finger stroked his gland, Chris’s body arched and stars exploded behind his eyelids.

  Jack touched his cock to Chris’s entrance. “Here we go, baby. Nice and slow.”

  True to his word, Jack eased himself in with slow, shallow thrusts until he filled Chris.

  “God, you feel amazing,” Jack groaned as he pumped his hips and clutched Chris’s shoulders.

  Chris rolled his hips to meet each glorious stroke, clutching at Jack for purchase.

  “God, Jack. Don’t stop. Never stop.” Chris hung on, riding the wave of sensation. Jack’s hand wrapped around Chris’s erection, pumping in time with his hips and building the wave higher.

  “Chris.” Jack sucked on that spot on his neck, and Chris erupted.

  Chris cried out as waves of pleasure crashed over him. Jack stiffened above him, calling out his name in a litany as warmth flooded him.

  When passion ended, tenderness took over. Their hands stroked and soothed sweat-dampened skin. Lips pressed together in a gentle kiss. As sleep pulled at them both, Jack held Chris close, keeping the nightmares at bay.

  THE smell of coffee brewing woke Chris from the best night of sleep he’d had in a long time. Easing himself upright, he glanced around the unfamiliar room. Every inch of the space screamed the understated elegance of wealth.

  Chris climbed out of bed and made a quick stop in the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror, catching sight of the impressive mark Jack had left on his neck last night. The reminder of spending the night in Jack’s bed made him smile and flush with warmth.

  He washed quickly and grabbed the robe hanging from a hook on the back of the door. Pulling it on, he pressed his nose to the lapel and breathed deep, savoring the unique, spicy scent that clung to it. Then another amazing scent called to him and he followed it to the kitchen.

  Jack leaned against the kitchen counter dressed in his usual tailored business attire. The silvery business suit matched his eyes perfectly. The white shirt he wore beneath it exposed the long, tanned column of his throat and a V of chest just begging to be tasted. Chris swallowed a moan.

  “Good morning. What are you doing out of bed already? You can’t be planning to go to work today.” Chris crossed to the breakfast bar and hauled himself up onto one of the stools.

  “I’m an early riser and I’m fine. Certainly well enough to go to my office two floors down. Did you sleep well?” Jack placed a mug of coffee on the counter in front of him.

  Chris nodded and took a long drink from his mug. “Amazing. Coffee is a beautiful thing, and last night was…. I don’t have words.”

  Jack smiled. Chris wanted to hold on to this perfect moment, but reality intruded.

  “Look, Jack. I know you want to pretend like everything is terrific, but it’s not. I really think you should take a day to recover and regroup. For god’s sake, you were shot.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. It was far from life-threatening.” Jack lifted his arm and winced.

  “This is me you’re talking to, Jack. You can drop the tough guy façade. A bullet went through your body. You need to take some time and heal.”

  Jack rubbed his arm and turned to pour himself another cup of coffee. “Okay, so maybe being heroic hurts.”

  Chris rounded the counter and stopped directly in front of Jack. He placed his hand on Jack’s cheek, coaxing him to meet his gaze, then held it.

  “You saved my life, and I want to help you any way I can while you heal.” Chris swayed closer. Drawing in a deep breath, he caught Jack’s warm, intoxicating scent. He threaded his fingers into Jack’s hair. His breathing sped up when Jack moved a half step closer and slid a hand down Chris’s arm to rest on his hip.

  Jack touched his forehead to Chris’s. “I need to ask you a favor. I want you to stay here.”

  “What?” Chris jerked back.

  “With everything going on, I want everyone I care for close by. Stay here with me. Please.”

  “I-I can’t. I’ve got my mom. I can’t leave her alone in the apartment. She needs regular care. I’ve been lucky that our neighbor has been able to stay with her for the last few days. I can’t afford to pay for a hotel room for her, and moving her in here with us is not the best plan.”

  Jack took a step back and frowned at him. “Please don’t insult me. I’d never make you pay for a hotel room for your mom. I was going to offer you one of the family suites downstairs. There’s plenty of room down there for her and an around-the-clock caregiver.”

  “Jack, I can’t afford that either.”

  “Good thing I can.”

  Chris jammed his hands on his hips, glaring at Jack. “It’s my responsibility. The last thing I want is people accusing me of gold-digging.”

  Jack’s head jerked. “No one is saying that.”

  Chris narrowed his eyes. “Dooley is.”

  “Screw Dooley.”

  “Jack!” Chris threw up his arms and then jammed his fingers into his hair.

  Jack stared at the floor, taking slow, deep breaths. When he looked up again, the concern in his eyes stunned Chris.

  “Please, Chris. Do this for me. I’ll be completely ineffective if I’m constantly worrying about you. I need to know you’re near and safe so that I can concentrate on finding whoever is out to kill us.”

  Chris’s chest tightened even as warmth curled through him. He put up one final protest. “What about Angelica? She’s been insistent about staying in her own home.”

  “Between Connor and myself, we’ve managed to convince her to stay in a suite here. In fact, she’ll be right next door to your mother. That was a selling point. So help me out. As long as your mom is here, I can keep my sister from going rogue an
d moving back into her townhouse before we end this mess.”

  Chris averted his gaze in an attempt to hide his amusement.

  “So me, my mother, and Angelica will be downstairs under guard, and you’ll be up here by yourself?”

  “Actually, I hoped it would be Angelica, your mom, and a twenty-four-hour caregiver downstairs, and you and me up here. Like I said, I need you close.” He took Chris’s hand. Kissed his palm. A broken breath shuddered out of Chris as heat flashed through him.

  “You fight dirty. Okay, I’ll pack up Ma and get in touch with her visiting nurses.”

  Jack crossed to Chris. Grabbed him and pressed a hard kiss to his lips. “Thank you. I’ll let security know what’s going on and have them send some guys with you to help. Now, I need to go. I’m meeting Connor. We need to start tracking Kyle’s crazy ass down. Be safe.”

  “You too,” he called after Jack as he headed for the door. Now, to explain this to his mother. This should be interesting.

  “JACK. How are you feeling, man?” Connor strolled into Jack’s office and walked right over to the table where Jack’s admin had ordered and laid out breakfast. He claimed the seat and dug in.

  “How do you know I wasn’t planning on eating that?” Jack asked, rising from behind his desk where he’d spent the last ten minutes reading and rereading the same two sentences over and over, and joining Connor at the conference table.

  “One, because I’ve known you for years, and two, it’s already getting cold.”

  Jack shrugged and snatched a slice of bacon before Connor could eat them all.

  “How’s the arm? Angelica and Chris hanging in there?”

  “The arm is fine. Angelica is in her office, determined to act like nothing happened. She’s burying herself in all of the busywork surrounding the benefit. She’s bound to not let anyone control how she lives her life. I’m just hoping it doesn’t lead her into more trouble.”

  “Trouble is bound to find her no matter what. That’s just the way Angie is made.” Connor shrugged and kept eating.

  “Chris is…. He’s doing well also.” Jack tried to suppress the smile that accompanied the memory of last night. The contentment filling him lifted some of the weight he’d been carrying on his shoulders for ages.

  Connor barked out a laugh. “Don’t have to be a psychic to have seen that coming.”

  Jack bit into his bacon. He had no intention of gossiping about his relationship with Chris like a teenager. He and Chris were still a little too new, a little too fragile, to divulge any details, even to his closest friend.

  “What are we going to do?” Jack ran a hand through his hair. “This guy has to be caught. He could have so easily hurt or killed any of us at the benefit. We can’t give him the chance to get so close again.”

  Connor set down his fork and looked Jack in the eye. What Jack saw there had an ache forming in the back of his throat. I’m not going to want to hear this. But like it or not, he needed to hear it.

  “Con? What?”

  “You’re not going to like it,” Connor said, eerily echoing Jack’s thought. He waited a beat. “Something is bothering me about all the attacks. They all seemed to be directed at Angie. While I know she can be a handful, she’s never done anything to make someone angry enough to want to kill her. It got me thinking. Maybe this is more about you than her.”

  “I can buy that. In fact, the thought has occurred to me.”

  “It makes terrible sense.” Connor sighed. “If there was one thing in the world that would hurt you the most if you lost it, what would it be?”

  Jack frowned. “Angie. Someone is trying to kill my sister in an attempt to cause me pain.”

  Connor nodded. “Now that Chris is in your life, I think they’ll go after him too.”

  “But how would they even know about…? Someone has been watching me? Watching all of us? Dooley. Please tell me it’s him. He’s got open access to the hotel. He’s seen Chris and me together. It’s got to be him. It makes sense.”

  “Maybe too much sense. He’s a jackass, but he’s not your stalker and it doesn’t look like he’s funding it either.”

  “Then who?”

  “You already know who, Jack. Chris already told you.”

  “No. He told me he saw a ring with a W. It was in his head. I have no way of knowing if it was the Whitman signet or not.”

  “Or rather, you didn’t want to know it. I understand. After all you’ve been through, this is just one more punch in the gut.” Connor pushed his plate away. “It’s Kyle.”

  “Not possible.” Jack shook his head. “He’s got three more years on his sentence!”

  “He got paroled.”

  Jack’s body clenched. A knot formed in his gut. “No. No way. We were supposed to be notified. Given a chance to speak before the parole board. What the hell happened?” He shoved up out of his chair, jammed his fist in his pocket, and went to lean against the large picture window. He stared unseeing at the picture-perfect view of the harbor. Pain that he’d thought he’d buried years ago rushed up, tightening around his chest. His lungs refused to work, his heart squeezed.

  “I’d blame a screwup with the paperwork, but part of me doesn’t buy that. I know your dad wanted to make sure your asshole of a half brother learned his lesson about stealing from the family coffers, but I wouldn’t put it past him to pull a string or two ensuring there would be no complications to him getting out as soon as possible.”

  “Bastard.” Jack laid his head against the cool glass. He wanted to break something or someone. Preferably Kyle. He barely managed to keep from punching a wall.

  “Despite the fact that he’s playing the good little parolee and checking in with his parole officer as scheduled, the rest of what I’ve found out doesn’t jibe. I think we can safely put him on the list of suspects.”

  “I didn’t expect him to be understanding. The minute I pressed charges, I knew I’d killed that relationship, but to take it this far?” Jack shook his head.

  “When did Chris say he started having those dreams?”

  “I don’t know exactly when. I think about a month ago. Why?”

  “It’s been about that long since Kyle’s release.” Connor moved to stand behind Jack. He placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I wish you’d told me about Chris’s dreams sooner.”

  “Would you have believed me if I had? I’m just now starting to accept and believe.”

  Connor shrugged. “Not sure. But the timing of it can’t be coincidental. If you’re inclined to believe in psychics, that is. Kyle gets out, Chris starts having nightmares, someone starts coming after your sister. Then you and Chris start to get involved and attempts are made on him as well.”

  “Kyle was beyond livid when we pressed charges and our father didn’t step in to rescue him, but I never imagined he’d go off the deep end like this. Was he angry enough to want revenge? Yes. But to kill?”

  “You never know how someone is going to react. I’ll say this, though; I don’t think this is going to go on for much longer. At the rate this Kyle is escalating, he’s bound to screw up and get caught soon. Or force a confrontation. I’d prefer the former, but if the latter occurs, we’ll make sure that it’s on our terms.”

  Jack turned to look at Connor. “I should go talk to Angie. She needs to know this. Then I have to convince her not to go off half-cocked and try and hunt down Kyle herself.”

  Connor clapped him on the good arm and snorted. “Good luck with that. I’ll keep digging and see if I can track down Kyle’s whereabouts. In the meantime, be careful. He will strike again, and it will likely be soon.”

  Chapter Eight

  CHRIS whistled as he walked into Jack’s office. “I’ve never seen the captain at the helm of his ship before. I’m impressed.” He moved to the window and looked out at the view. He’d always considered the harbor at sunset a sight to behold, and from forty stories, the view floored him.

  Jack walked up behind Chris and slipped his ar
ms around his waist. Chris leaned against him. “Hey, baby. I’ve missed you.”

  Warmth seeped through Chris. “It’s only been a few hours.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Being with you is starting to become a necessity.” Jack kissed Chris’s neck.

  Chris turned and looped his arms around Jack’s neck. “You learned something about the stalker, didn’t you?”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I figure you wouldn’t have called me and Angie up here if it wasn’t really important.” He pressed his mouth to Jack’s.

  “Jack, what’s wrong?” Angelica came racing into Jack’s office, blonde hair flying behind her.

  They jerked away from each other and she stopped cold. Then a huge smile flashed on her face.

  “Don’t say it, Ang.” Jack held up both hands. “Just sit down and listen.”

  “Fine, fine.” She claimed one of the chairs, still smiling at Chris.

  Dragonflies flitted about in his stomach. He knew that smile.

  “Stop by my office later, Chris. We’ll chat.” She winked.

  “Ang,” Jack warned. “My love life is off-limits.”

  She rolled her eyes. “What’s going on, Jack?”

  “I talked to Connor this morning, and we’re pretty sure we know who the stalker is.”

  She sat up rod straight in her chair. Her voice went low and menacing. “Who?”

  “Kyle.”

  “Kyle?” Her brow furrowed with confusion. “Our brother Kyle?”

  “Yes.”

  “Chris really saw his ring? It’s not an awful coincidence?”

  “No, as much I wish otherwise.”

  Angelica shook her head. “Not possible.” She paused and stared at Jack, seeming to get an answer to her question. “He’s not in jail anymore, is he? What the hell happened? Why weren’t we told?”

  “Connor and I think maybe Dad is responsible for that. He wanted his trophy kid to learn a lesson, but he only let him languish for as long as he deemed necessary.”

  Angelica went completely still, her face devoid of expression. “So let me get this straight. His two older children, the ones running the family business and succeeding, are not worth his time. But our crazy half brother in Club Fed gets special treatment?”