Betty’s eyes softened somewhat. As her best friend, she was one of the few who knew the whole story. “What if he’s not? You’ve got to forgive yourself, Ry. You made a mistake. You learned from it. It’s time to move on.”
That was easier said than done. “I don’t know if I can.”
“Listen, you really like this guy, right?”
“Yes, but—”
“No buts. You like him, he likes you, and he checks out. He said he would answer all your questions, right?”
“Right.”
“Then ask. Give him a chance. Stop being a cop for five seconds and talk to him. Trust your heart. Besides, if he’s anything like his brother, you are definitely going to want to tap that.” Betty’s eyes sparkled with absolute glee. “Just wait until I tell you what happened with Q last night ...”
Chapter Eighteen
Tiberius sat in his office, reviewing the items requiring his attention. With several hours to go before the club opened its doors for the evening, things were quiet. Those who worked the night shift were just waking up, and the daytime staff was preparing for the chaos of another successful night.
He was in unusually high spirits. Once again, Quintus’s counsel had proven invaluable. The same intangible connection that allowed him to know his mate’s thoughts and sense her emotions also gave him the ability to visit her in her dreams.
And what delightful, encouraging dreams they were.
Tiberius closed his eyes and imagined his mate as he had seen her ... sheathed in white, with tantalizing expanses of smooth, creamy skin he longed to touch and taste, to stroke and kiss. In those shared, slumberous visions, she had been open and passionate and fearless, able to follow her heart without fear of repercussions.
Through them, he would introduce her to his true nature. Doing so was a far gentler method of acclimating her to the truth than simply taking her out into the open seas and showing her. Plus, it would give her the opportunity to get used to the idea that he was something more than human.
Last night had been the first exercise. He had selected one of the pristine beaches from his home planet as the location for the dream sequence and allowed her to glimpse him beneath the waves before emerging to meet her. It had worked splendidly! She had been so receptive, so willing that they had been able to join together ... at least in the dream world.
While that had been quite magnificent, he longed to repeat the experience in this realm when they were both fully awake.
Quintus entered from his adjoining office, looking unusually somber.
“Ah, that is not the look of a man who spent his night shooting ʼtwixt wind and water,” Tiberius teased. “It is a rare occasion when I greet the afternoon with a smile upon my face and you with a frown. What is it, my friend?”
“Glitter is missing.”
Tiberius immediately sobered. Glitter was one of Sugar’s friends; a sultry, dark-skinned beauty who embraced her sexuality with a passion that made her one of Bait’s most sought after courtesans.
“Tell me.”
“Spice said she didn’t return to her suite last night, and there has been no word.”
“You have attempted to contact her?”
“Yes, of course. Several times. All attempts have gone unanswered.” Quintus’s frown deepened. “She was last seen in one of the VIP playrooms, a private booking. Kalil and Marco are following up now. I have a bad feeling about this, Tiberius.”
“Could the dark bird be moving more quickly than we had anticipated?”
“It seems the most likely scenario,” Quintus replied. “It is unlike Glitter to simply disappear without notice.”
“Agreed.”
A soft chime sounded, alerting Tiberius to an incoming call. “Yes?”
“Sorry to disturb you, sir, but someone has requested to see you. A Detective Ryan Winslet.”
His heart sped up at the mere mention of her name, and just like that, he was once again reduced to a lovesick fool. That she had sought him out so quickly after their dream encounter was a positive sign indeed.
“Please escort the detective to my office.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you think it is wise to invite a member of local law enforcement into your private sanctum?” Quintus asked.
“She is my mate, Quintus. I will always be at her beck and call.”
“Yes, but she doesn’t know that, does she?”
“Not exactly, no,” Tiberius admitted. “She has not begun to realize the extent of the power she wields, but we have made great progress in the dream world. Besides, she shall find nothing to tax her sense of duty here.”
“What of Glitter?”
“Proceed as you would normally. I prefer not to engage the local authorities unless absolutely necessary, especially my mate. In fact, inform James to double security on her until we have dealt with the dark bird and eliminated the threat.”
“As you wish.”
A knock at the door sounded.
“Come!”
The door was opened and Ryan was ushered inside by her escort, who disappeared after a nod to Tiberius and Quintus.
Tiberius’s blood warmed instantly, remembering how exquisite it had been to pleasure her. She now wore the conservative, proper persona she presented to the rest of the world, but he had seen a different side of her. He had experienced the wonder of the passionate, sexy siren who dwelled beneath the surface. The lovely rose tint on her cheeks suggested she was having similar thoughts.
Quintus inclined his head in greeting. “Detective Winslet, we meet again.”
“Q.”
Tiberius rose and went around the desk to greet her. “Quintus was just leaving.”
“Right,” Quintus said with a forced grin as he walked toward the door. “On that note, enjoy your visit.”
“It is lovely to see you again, Ryan,” Tiberius greeted her.
She avoided looking at him directly, choosing to gaze around the space instead. Tiberius sensed her discomfort and knew she was trying to reconcile her dream with the waking reality.
“Nice office. It’s not what I expected.”
He leaned back against the desk, assuming a casual, nonthreatening pose. As much as he wanted to go to her, he could feel her anxiety echoing through him. Clearly, the bond between them had strengthened even more than he had realized.
“Oh? What did you expect?”
She lifted her shoulder in a slight shrug. “I don’t know. Something more ... tacky, I guess.”
He laughed softly. “More preconceived notions, Ryan? I assure you, there is much more to me than you think.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” she said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “You said you will answer my questions.”
“Yes, if you are willing to listen with an open mind. Can you do that?”
“That depends on what you expect me to believe.”
“I will speak only the truth.”
“Then we won’t have a problem.”
Tiberius sincerely hoped that would be the case, yet he feared it wouldn’t be as easy as all that. “Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable. Would you care for a drink?”
“No, thank you. I’d rather just get on with it, if you don’t mind.”
“As you wish.”
“Is Maximus really your last name?”
Ah, so she had been doing a bit of research. “Legally, yes.”
“What about illegally?”
He grinned, pleased with her quick wit and directness. “My family’s surname has no recognizable pronunciation in your language.”
She frowned. “You mean, like when Prince changed his name to a symbol?”
He shrugged. “I know of no such other prince, so I cannot say.”
She blinked, zeroing in on that statement as he had expected. “Other prince? Are you tell me you are a prince?”
“Yes. At least, I was in my homeland, prior to arriving in Golden Beach.”
“And your homeland is ...?”
“Aequoria.”
“Where is that?”
“That is difficult to explain accurately without a working knowledge of the Romuremulan solar system.”
Incredulous, Ryan gave him a narrow-eyed look. “What are you trying to say? That you’re not from this planet?”
“Precisely.”
She scowled and stood. “That’s it. I’m done.”
“You do not believe me.”
“No, I don’t,” she said, anger now radiating off her in waves. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Far from it. I am simply telling you the truth, as I said I would.”
“You know, if you’ve changed your mind about seeing me, just say so. You don’t have to make up some crazy story to get me to walk away.”
Unable to hold himself back any longer, Tiberius blocked her path to the door. “I have not changed my mind. In fact, I’ve never wanted you more than I do at this very moment. And you are not going anywhere.” He grasped her about the shoulders and lowered his mouth to hers. If she would not listen to reason, he would appeal to the more primitive part of her, the one that intrinsically recognized the divine connection between them.
She resisted at first, but then she quickly softened. Holding her in place with his body, he lowered his hand and fingered the hem of her slim skirt. Her breath caught when he lifted the edge and caressed her soft, smooth skin with the pads of his fingers.
Tiberius trailed kisses along her jawline and whispered, “You are mine, Ryan Winslet. Mine to pamper. Mine to protect. Mine to pleasure.”
“You can’t ...” Whatever else she was going to say was lost when he nipped her sensitive earlobe. She attempted to step back, but he wouldn’t allow it.
“It works both ways, sweet Ryan. As you are mine, so I am yours and yours alone. I can feel your desire. I can hear your thoughts. I know about the dream you had last night, because I initiated it.”
She froze, stunned. He took the opportunity to push his hand higher, tracing along the outside of her toned thigh, upward to the curve of her ass. Palming one bare cheek, he squeezed. Then he lightly ran his fingers down her cleft.
“How could you ...?”
“I know every inch of this beautiful body, because I explored it with my lips and hands. I know how much you like it when my tongue swirls around the tips of those luscious breasts. I know what you sound like when you come hard around my cock.”
With one long finger, he pushed aside the tiny strip of material. With another, he curled and slid it along her wet, silken heat. Groaning, he then pressed his body closer, letting her feel exactly what her nearness did to him.
“That’s ... not ... possible.”
“It is possible.”
He held her close as he stroked between her legs, relishing the way her hips moved in tiny movements, silently begging for more, while she curved her nails into his biceps. Tiberius gladly obliged, paying particular attention to the swollen bundle of nerves demanding his attention.
“You feel it, too, this divine connection between us. You cannot explain it, yet your soul cries out for mine even as your body craves the pleasure only I can provide.”
When her breathy moans nearly had him releasing in his slacks, he speared her with one finger, then two. No longer passive, she moaned softly and rode his fingers.
“Yes ...” He captured her mouth and mimicked the movements with his tongue. When her movements became frantic, he pressed his erection into her soft belly and curled his fingers deeper inside her channel, commanding the release she so desperately chased.
She tensed then cried out softly into his mouth as she climaxed all over his fingers.
He held her as her limbs shook with pleasure then went limp. He brought her down from her peak slowly with tender, gentle caresses.
“Mine.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Mine.”
Tiberius’s voice reverberated through her mind at the same time the aftershocks of her orgasm rippled through her body. It was enough to snap her out of her lusty fog and back to the present. Had she really just let him stroke her to climax in his office, right after he had told her that he was an alien prince?
She stepped back, swaying slightly as her traitorous body protested, and summoned what little remaining dignity she had left. “I don’t think so.”
“You had no trouble agreeing last night,” he told her, his dark blue eyes glistening. “You claimed me, as well.”
“That was a dream. It wasn’t real. And how the hell do you know about that anyway?”
“I know because I was there, Ryan. The dream realm is every bit as real as the one you and I are standing in right now. It simply exists on a different plane, one not readily accessible from your conscious mind.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Nothing makes sense unless you open your mind to the possibilities.”
“Oh? And I suppose that includes aliens and soul mates, too.”
“Among other things. Look beyond the confines of your limited knowledge.”
“Did you just call me stupid?”
“No. I merely made reference to the fact that humans are woefully ignorant of that which exists beyond their own solar system.”
Ryan felt as if her head was going to explode. “I have to get out of here.”
“Ryan, please.”
“Seriously. If what you say is true—that you know my thoughts—then listen to what I’m saying in my head right now.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded slightly. She felt the lightest brush against her thoughts, like a psychic fluttering.
This is too much. I need time to sort through all this. Please.
“As you wish,” he conceded, lightly brushing his fingers against her cheek. For the first time, she noticed small, thin webbing between the bases of his fingers. “But know this: everything I have told you is the incontrovertible truth. I am an exiled Aequorian prince, and you are the one fate has chosen for me, in this universe or any other, just as I have been chosen for you. The only variable here, sweet Ryan, is your acceptance.”
Tiberius stepped aside, and when he did, she felt a pang of disappointment spear through her. The question was: was it hers ... or his?
“Our connection works both ways,” he answered quietly, as if he had heard her unspoken query. “You have only to acknowledge it.”
When Tiberius opened the door, Ryan forced her shaky legs over the threshold before she could change her mind. Some part of her, a rather large part, wanted to stay and jump aboard whatever train he was riding into crazy town. She couldn’t, though. She needed time and space to sort through everything before she could hope to even begin to make sense of it.
The same man who had escorted her up to Tiberius’s office was waiting for her in the corridor.
She didn’t look back as she walked away, but she could feel Tiberius’s watchful eyes.
“Come back to me, sweet Ryan. I will be waiting.” The words floated into the back of her mind, barely distinguishable.
Her eyes snapped up right before the elevator doors closed, but Tiberius was already gone.
The ride back to her place was a blur; she was operating on autopilot as she struggled with the things Tiberius had said. Finding out that he was the owner of the nightclub now seemed inconsequential in comparison to these latest revelations.
Was it possible that he really was from another planet? After watching every episode of Ancient Aliens and The X-Files multiple times, Ryan liked to think that life on other planets was not only possible, but probable. It seemed inconceivable that in all of space, only one tiny planet was capable of sustaining life. Plenty of theorists believed that the greatest civilizations had thrived because of outside “help.” If she could accept their viewpoints so easily, why was she having such a hard time accepting that Tiberius might be exactly what he said he was? That real live aliens not only existed but walk
ed among them every day?
Tiberius was different from anyone she had ever met, that was certain. His speech patterns and mannerisms were odd, among other things. He claimed to be able to know what she was feeling and thinking with eerie accuracy. Then there were the unusual markings on his skin, the orgasm-inducing ridges on his manhood, and the extra skin between his fingers. Oh, and the ability to enter her dreams.
Of course, it could all be some kind of complicated ruse based on her fascination with the paranormal. Tiberius could simply be an accomplished method actor with some psychic talent or he was exceptionally gifted at reading people. The markings could be tattoos. The ridges, subdermal implants. The webbing ... well, that was unusual, but syndactyly was a real thing. And the dream sequence could have been some kind of post-hypnotic suggestion.
By the time Ryan slipped between her sheets that night, she was no closer to an answer. Part of her wanted to believe all of it was true, that Tiberius really was an exiled prince and that they were mates, just like in the books she loved so much. It was a heady thing to imagine that she was the only woman he would ever love, that he would never stray or betray her in any way. That soul mates really did exist. There was no denying she felt something for Tiberius, something she had never felt for anyone else ever.
On the other hand, wanting to believe something didn’t make it true. Perception was not reality, not when people’s lives, and her heart, were at stake.
Ryan found herself on the same beach again. Tiberius was there, too, but this time, he didn’t emerge naked from the water. He stood at the water’s edge, hands in the pockets of his board shorts, staring out at the waves.
When she walked up to stand beside him, he turned and gave her a sad smile, but he made no move to touch her. She kind of wished he would.
“Why did you bring me here again?” she asked.
“I didn’t. It was you who sought me out.”
“I can do that?”
“Yes, Ryan. Your soul accepts what your logical mind has not. I am your mate. In times of distress, you will always seek me out.”
She thought about that for a moment. She did feel better around him. Calmer. More content. Less alone. But was it real, or just another dream? She looked to him, expecting him to answer. He didn’t.
Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind: In the Stars Romance Page 10
