by Gigi Moore
The fact that both men turned her on in different ways unnerved her. Like any flawed human, she wanted to have her cake and eat it, too. She didn’t want to be forced to make a choice between the two men.
“Make a right at the next corner.”
Maia followed Thayne’s directions and saw the large, modern, two-story ranch house with its smaller, connecting guest house about fifty yards down the road.
When she neared the house, she smoothly steered Tamara’s car into the empty driveway with a sense of relief.
Maybe Cade wasn’t home and did remain out.
Thayne unbuckled his seat belt and turned to her as she turned off the ignition. “You’ve been quiet since we left the restaurant. Having second thoughts?”
Maia unbuckled her seat belt and turned to him. She searched his poker face for a long moment before answering. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” she finally admitted. “Why would I be having second thoughts?”
Thayne turned away from her to look through the windshield at the house, and Maia took an instant to admire the sculpted lines of his profile as a muscle in his jaw pulsed. She missed his dimples something terrible right about then.
“Are you having second thoughts?”
He turned back to her, face still unreadable. “Maia, there’s something important I need to tell you before we go any further with this relationship.”
Oh Goddess, he’s either going to tell me he’s gay, he has an incurable disease, or he has a wife and kids somewhere that he neglected to tell me about. “Okay, Thayne. Shoot.”
Chapter 7
Funny that she would use that particular verb, especially since that’s what Thayne wanted to do…to himself…in the head.
Now that she had given him the floor, staring at him and waiting patiently for him to air his dirty laundry, Thayne couldn’t pull the trigger to tell her what he was and what he could do.
The more seconds ticked by, the more uneasy he became until it was all he could do not to just run from the car, escape into the safety of his home, and never call or see Maia again.
That last thought alone made his heart ache and finally unhinged his jaw.
He cleared his throat as he returned Maia’s intent look. “You know I’m a Wiccan.”
“I think we got our mutual spirituality out of the way before our first date when I asked you about your crystal.”
Thayne smiled at her aide-mémoire, recalling her forward, flirtatious manner in the treatment room when he’d tended to her raccoon bite. “It’s actually a scrying pendant.”
“Made of quartz crystal.”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever used it to see into the future?”
No, but I could tell you what you’re thinking right now if I wanted to. “No, never.”
“That’s too bad. Maybe it would help you decide how to handle this thing that’s living and breathing between us.”
“I don’t need a crystal to tell me how to do that.”
“Are you sure? Because it seems to me like you’re having some issues with moving forward.” Maia reached for his tie, and he silently watched as she unknotted it before sliding it from the collar of his shirt and discarding it over her shoulder. Next, she moved to the buttons on his shirt, undoing several before she evidently reached her prize. She took his pendant in her hand, bouncing it up and down in her palm a few times before looking up at him.
He flashed back to the treatment room, when she had reached for the sterling silver chain around his neck and boldly pulled up on it to reveal the pendant attached to it and hiding beneath his shirt. He remembered how she had gasped at what she had deemed its odd beauty and how she had professed to never seeing anything like it before. He’d admitted that his mother had given it to him a little before she had died. She’d apologized for his loss, gently caressing his crystal before replacing it beneath his shirt.
He’d known then that Maia was different from any other woman he’d ever met or would meet. He knew that she was a game changer.
She had gotten him over the awkward moment in her inimitable way when she leaned back against the treatment table with one arm folded behind her head and asked, “So, you going to fix what ails me, Doc?”
He only wished he could fix what ailed him as easily as he had fixed her so that he wouldn’t have to tell her anything at all about his gifts.
“I’m clairvoyant,” Maia whispered now.
“I knew you were gifted.”
“Now it’s your turn.”
When he didn’t respond, only silently looked at her, Maia laid her head against his chest and curved her arms around his waist as she snuggled close.
“You can tell me, Thayne. Don’t be afraid.”
Despite him using his gifts to communicate with and help him heal hundreds of patients over the years, the only people alive in the world who knew what he could do were his brother and his aunt Aura. He’d never trusted anyone enough to tell them, not even Tiffany. Maybe her leaving him had been an overdue blessing in disguise.
“I’m telepathic,” he rasped.
She didn’t move for a long time and seemed to snuggle closer, her ear pressed against his chest. “I like the sound of your heartbeat. It’s a pure, strong sound. I could listen to it all night.”
“Did you hear what I said?”
She raised her head then and looked at him. “Was your confession supposed to mean something to me? Was it supposed to scare me away?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to scare you away. I just don’t want you to go into this with your eyes closed.”
“So you’ve duly opened them.” She grinned and put her head back on his chest. “Any other deep dark secrets you care to share while we’re on the subject?”
Thayne chuckled at her nonchalant tone. She acted just like he expected Cade to act in a somber moment like this, and he realized that it was just the right reaction he needed to put him at ease. “Actually, I’m empathic, too. The telepathy and empathy kind of go hand in hand, especially when I’m working.”
She popped up her head to look at him. “Have you ever used either on me?”
“The empathy,” he admitted. “When I healed your wound.” He’d never tell her how much it cost him—physically, mentally—each time he used this particular gift. It wasn’t something he remained conscious of while it happened, just something that naturally kicked in and he gave free reign to more than he ever would the telepathy.
Again, Maia seemed to read his mind when she asked, “Would you use the telepathy?”
“Not if I could help it, and only if you let me.”
“I knew you were a good man.”
“I can’t always control it.”
“I know the feeling. My visions aren’t always as detailed or straightforward as I’d like. Even when they are it’s not easy to…to divulge what I’ve seen to those who need to know.”
He sensed a lot more beneath the surface of that statement, a lot that she wasn’t telling him. He was tempted to read her but couldn’t, not after what he had just told her. That left asking her outright, but something in him sensed she wasn’t ready to talk about whatever caused her aura to be so cloudy and in flux. Instead, he said, “Sometimes stuff seeps through, and I catch what people might not want me to know.”
“Bummer.”
Thayne chuckled and put an arm around her, enjoying the way she felt against him, like she belonged there.
He wanted to tell her more, warn her that sex enhanced his abilities, specifically his reception, but didn’t want to give her more than she could handle, at least not yet. Although she seemed to be handling everything just fine so far, there was no need to throw a wet blanket on things and make her worry unnecessarily. Besides, he hadn’t had a real problem with his gifts during a sexual encounter before. He’d always been firmly in control with previous lovers, concentrating on giving them pleasure without giving into the temptation of slipping into their minds to see ju
st how effective his efforts were. Something told him, however, that this wouldn’t be the case with Maia. He had a feeling they were going to rock each other’s worlds so much he was going to lose control like he never had before.
The prospect both thrilled and frightened him.
“So, uh, now that we’ve gotten all this supernatural heaviness out of the way, are you going to show me your house?”
“And do the nasty?”
“You know that’s the only reason I came back to your place, honey, to ravish this hot body of yours.” To emphasize her point, Maia placed a hand on his chest again, first fondling then tweaking each nipple in turn through his undershirt.
Thayne writhed beneath her. He’d always had sensitive nipples, and if Maia didn’t stop soon, this would be over before they even began. He was already as hard as a rock, erection painfully throbbing inside his pants.
Maia slid her hand down to his lap and cupped his balls through his pants as if she could read his mind and knew just how much he needed to be touched right then. Of course, she didn’t need to be a mind reader to know how turned on he was, not when his hard cock had probably been jabbing her in the ribs.
She rubbed him, dragging her fingers from his balls to his cock before giving him a firm squeeze that made him gasp and jerk upright.
Thayne caught her wrist and brought her hand up to his lips before kissing the back of it. “Inside. Now.”
“You’ll get no arguments from me.”
“Wait.” He jumped out of the car, closed the door behind him, and ran around the front bumper to meet her at the driver’s-side door, but instead of letting Thayne open the door for her, Maia opened it herself and leaped out of the car and into his arms.
Thayne grunted beneath her weight, more from surprise and the sensation of her wrapping her arms and legs around him and clinging than any heaviness he couldn’t easily carry. She felt around one-fifteen, one-twenty tops. Nowhere near too heavy for him. In fact, she felt just damn right in his arms.
She squirmed against him as if to find a comfortable position, which made him very uncomfortable when her bottom bounced against his rigid cock.
Thayne smacked her ass.
“Hey!”
She wasn’t the only one he’d shocked with that slap, and Thayne wondered where all his raunchy boldness came from. Not that it was all that raunchy, but it certainly wasn’t his usual modus operandi. In fact, that little smack he’d delivered was more Cade’s style.
Thayne was sure his brother had done all kinds of kinky things in the bedroom with women. He thought he remembered hearing about spanking and his brother indulging in a threesome here and there. He was certain Cade had even mentioned at least one encounter between him and two women, something involving blindfolds, handcuffs, and whipped cream—real 9 ½ Weeks stuff.
Thayne grinned at the memory and imagined spraying whipped cream on all of Maia’s lady parts before licking it off very slowly. The vision had him ready to take off into orbit. Thayne gripped Maia’s ass with both hands as if to get a grip on himself as well as to still her wriggling around. As much as he enjoyed the friction her sensual rocking created against his cock, he had to put a stop to it now or risk doing something he hadn’t done since he’d been a teen and hadn’t yet mastered his body’s reactions at the sight of a nice set of tits and ass.
“If you keep squirming around like that, we’re not going to make it into the house.”
Maia released his neck and jumped out of his arms as if she’d suddenly caught on fire. “Well then, let’s get going.” She grabbed his hand and led him up the cobbled walkway to the front door.
Thayne took out his key ring, miraculously found and fit the correct key into the lock on the third try, unlocked the door, and let Maia drag him into the house as if the hounds of hell were on their asses. This actually wasn’t too far from reality, since a particular demon rode his ass pretty hard at that moment, and her name was spelled L-U-S-T.
He barely had a chance to close the door behind them before Maia pushed him back against the wall adjacent, fairly shaking the framed family pictures hanging there.
Maia coiled her leg around his thigh, simultaneously arching her body so that her heated pussy pressed against his beyond-sensitized cock. She burrowed her hands through his hair, sliding them through to grasp a hank at his nape as she drew him forward.
Happy to accommodate, Thayne went with her, fitting his mouth to hers in an explosive encounter of lips. He curved his arms around her waist to bring her flush against him as he thrust his tongue past her parted lips. Thayne groaned when she boldly stroked his tongue with hers.
Maia ground her hips against him, her rhythm both hypnotically sensual and desperate.
Thayne glided his hands from her waist down to her ass, firmly gripping as he pushed off of the wall and lifted her into his arms.
As she’d done outside, Maia wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. She swallowed his moans in a drinking kiss as Thayne expertly navigated the room in the dim light without bumping into any furniture.
His smoothness surprised him as he hadn’t had a woman to his house since moving in, going on two years now, but then he was highly motivated by the hot and sexy woman now in his arms—motivated and distracted beyond belief.
Thayne made it to the stairs but only managed to climb three of the plush-carpeted steps before the urge to take Maia right there, right then, overtook him.
Sensing his intention, probably because it was her own, Maia slid her legs down from his hips to stand on her own two feet before taking a seat on the step behind her. She grabbed the lapel of Thayne’s shirt to pull him down on top of her as she reclined.
Thayne eased his descent, bracing his palms on either side of Maia’s head as she stretched her body out over several steps. “This can’t be comfortable,” he whispered, leaning in to nip her chin and neck.
“Shut up and kiss me.” She tugged his ear with one hand and rubbed her other up and down his cock.
Thayne hissed out a harsh breath, planting a thigh between Maia’s legs and spreading them as wide as they would go. He pressed his knee against her pussy before stroking it up and down her center until she cried out.
“Oh yes, baby. That’s it. Right there.” She murmured her words of encouragement while squeezing and caressing his cock with carnal purpose.
Thayne buried his face against her throat and searched for needed control. He inhaled the enticing scent of her silky-soft skin. Spicy patchouli with a hint of coconut had him drawing in a deep breath as if to fortify himself with her essence.
He wanted to ask her so badly, but he was afraid to. He was even more afraid to take the leap, because it would be too easy and too fulfilling. The guilt that would follow, however, just wouldn’t be worth the effort of using his gifts without her consent.
Instead of concentrating on her mind, he turned his attentions to her body, lowering the top of her off-the-shoulder blouse until he exposed her lacey, peach strapless bra. He licked his way from her throat to the top of her breasts, reveling in the shudder that rode her body. He lowered the cup of her bra, revealing one luscious breast. He grasped it in one hand, gently caressing with his fingers before finally taking the full, voluptuous weight of it in his hand. He bent his head to first lathe and suck her nipple, then he circled the areola with his tongue until Maia buried her hands in his hair and held him in place.
At least now she wasn’t rubbing his cock. He needed the space to take her where he wanted her and not let her take him where she wanted, not yet anyway.
Thayne reached for the drawstring at the front of her pants and tugged one side until the bow unraveled. With the pants now loosened he slid his hands down inside the back of them, gripping her satin-covered ass in his hands as he plied her mouth and chin with eating kisses.
Maia arched her neck, inviting him lower, and Thayne obliged, kissing his way down her face to her neck and finally down to her breast again. He sucked
the hard, swollen nubbin into his mouth, and she reached for the front of his shirt and jerked the tail up and out of his pants.
Thayne returned the favor, going one step further to tug her pants and panties over her hips in one fell swoop. He hated working in the dark, hated missing the first unveiling and seeing Maia’s body in all its café au lait glory. To make up for the lack of light, he mapped a path down her body with his hands, lips, and tongue. He paused at her navel, not surprised when he dipped his tongue into her inny to discover the dangling belly button ring. He filed this bit of information for future exploration, continuing his journey south.
Maia bent her knees, burying her fingers in his hair as she arched her hips in invitation.
Thayne did not disappoint. He pulled her pants and panties the rest of the way down her thighs until her pussy lay completely bare before him. Anticipation arched Maia’s hips at the same instant that Thayne lowered his head. He spread her lips with his thumbs and licked her from the bottom of her pussy to her clit in one languorous stroke, savoring the salty-sweet tang of her while Maia writhed beneath him, seeking release.
Thayne licked and sucked her clit with much gusto before finally taking her engorged nub between his teeth.
Maia gasped and pulled his face closer right before the front door swung open.
Chapter 8
Oh no way!
Not now, not now, not now!
The thoughts screamed through Thayne’s mind as he leaped from Maia and grabbed her hand to drag her to her feet.
Quick on the uptake, she started putting her clothes back in order. She pulled up her bra cup and top and dragged her pants and panties back up over her hips as Thayne hastily tucked his shirttail back into his pants as best he could.
He had been so absorbed with what he did to Maia and her reactions to same that he hadn’t heard his brother’s car pull up into the driveway. He hadn’t had any warning of Cade’s arrival, not an inkling. Lot of fat good his telepathy did him then.
Thayne knew he should have been more patient, like his usual self, and waited until they got upstairs to the relative safety and comfort of his bedroom before he started anything. He’d been so eager to sink into Maia’s wet heat after so many long weeks of waiting that he hadn’t been thinking straight anymore.
