Telepathic Cravings

by Melissa Schroeder

  He ripped off his clothes as Shana sank onto the bed and watched him through half-closed eyes.

  Desperate to have her, to show her everything he was feeling, he threw his clothes on the floor and crawled on top of her. His cock pulsed against her cunt, still wet with her arousal.

  She gyrated her hips, trying to take him within her, but he stayed her hips with his hands.

  “Marcus.”

  He chuckled at the command in her voice. The woman constantly thought she was in charge.

  “Marcus, I want you inside me, now.”

  He looked down at her, saw her short hair a mess, her topaz eyes shining with her rising arousal, and her full lips turned down in the most enticing little pout.

  He sank one inch of his cock into her, closing his eyes at the feel of her wet heat surrounding his dick.

  She tried to push her hips up, to take him deeper. He tightened his fingers, holding her in place as he pulled back out of her.

  She opened her mouth to protest, but he took her lips in a bruising kiss, invading her mouth. Her hands slid up his arms to his shoulders. Her touch urged him on, pushed him, searing his nerve endings. Pushing back into her, just a little deeper, he still would not allow the complete length of his cock in her. He fought the urge to shove his entire shaft into her hot, wet core. He wanted to push inside of her, and drench her with his cum.

  He pulled back out, and she moaned against his tongue. He felt the vibrations to the soles of his feet. Each time he entered her, he slid a little further in.

  He pulled back from the kiss, then began licking and sucking her neck. Once he could hold back no longer, he shoved his cock in to the hilt.

  “Oh, baby, you feel so good,” he groaned. He released her hips and rested his weight on his hands. She wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing him deeper into her. His powerful thrusts shook the bed. He curled his fingers into the comforter, as he tried his best to control his body’s rampant urging to break loose. Just as he reached his limit, she screamed his name and came again.

  The sound of his name from her lips and the muscles clenching around his cock, pushed him past the edge of control. He thrust into her once…twice more, then exploded, shouting her name and drenching her sex with his seed.

  * * * *

  Marcus still lay on top of Shana several minutes later. He’d collapsed there and hadn’t moved. In fact, if she hadn’t felt his heart beat against hers, she would’ve thought he died.

  She didn’t care. She wanted to enjoy the feel of his weight on top of her, his musky, sexual, male scent filling her senses. Soon, she would tell him what she knew. A few more moments of heaven, of pretending that nothing would ever come between them—that’s what she needed at the moment. The fear twisting her stomach had more to do with losing him, of never having this. Of not having his hands on her skin, snuggling closer, sharing his warmth, feeling this closeness. Every time he took her in his arms, each time his lips touched her skin, she slid deeper under his spell.

  She closed her eyes against the tears. Still, one escaped, trailing down her cheek. Marcus lifted his head and used his fingers to wipe away the tear.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  She opened her eyes. Guilt lanced through her at his concerned look. Still, she lied.

  “Nothing.”

  She closed her eyes again, hoping he would let it go. Marcus, being who he was, didn’t.

  “Now, if I thought those were tears of happiness, I’d be content.” He shifted his weight, moving to rest on his side beside her. “Tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been sad since you showed up.”

  She drew in a deep breath, opened her eyes, and took the plunge.

  “I love you, Marcus.” His eyes warmed at her words. He opened his mouth, but she placed a finger on his lips to stop his reply. If he told her he loved her, if he said he wanted to marry her, she’d never survive. It was hard enough telling him the truth without knowing. But to have him turn away after he’d told her…that would shatter her.

  “No, don’t. Let me finish.”

  He nodded.

  She removed her finger, but didn’t break eye contact.

  “I have to tell you something about me, about my family. Before I do, I have to tell you that I know who’s behind the breaches in security.”

  The warm look in his eyes chilled. “Who?”

  “John Marrow.”

  He sat up and shook his head. “No. John wouldn’t do that. He would fuck around with women, but not with this. We’ve been friends for too long.”

  She sat up. “It is John. I heard him.”

  “You heard John saying he’d handed over information?”

  “No. I heard his thoughts.”

  He smiled at her, apparently thinking it a joke. When she didn’t laugh, his smile faded and his eyes turned cold. Shards of ice ripped through her heart. This would be the look she remembered. All the warmth, the teasing, was gone. Here was the man she’d known for the last eighteen months. And there was nothing she could do to spare herself the pain.

  “I’m a telepath, Marcus.”

  Chapter 10

  At first, disbelief swept through Marcus. There was no way in hell he had hired a telepath to be one of the top terrorist analysts for his division. She was the one person he trusted beyond anyone. He would not have made a mistake like that.

  Her clear-eyed gaze told him differently.

  “You’re a telepath?” Disbelief and denial soon rolled into anger. “You lied to me.”

  She swallowed, but nodded. “Yes, I did. But only by omission.”

  She sat there, still warm from their loving, with those damn tears in her eyes. He had to fight the urge to grab her and pull her close.

  He got off the bed, pulled on his pants, and then faced her. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “I’m a telepath. Have been from birth.”

  “Does it run in your family?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was just above a whisper, and she looked so damn sad it pissed him off. This was not the Shana Adams he knew. This was some lying, cheating bitch who’d made him look like a fool. Anger boiled in his gut, but there was an edge of pain to it. He pushed that back, not wanting to deal with it.

  “You’ve known how I felt about you all this time? Why wait until now to seduce me?”

  She shook her head. “First of all, you did the seducing. And I didn’t hear anything until yesterday morning.”

  “You expect me to believe that all this time you hadn’t heard a thing?”

  “It’s the truth.” She got out of bed and searched for her clothes. He watched her, wanting to go back in time, to pretend he hadn’t heard her confession. And pretend that the pain lancing through him wasn’t there. That the desperation souring his stomach didn’t exist.

  “Oh, and you know the truth?”

  She seemingly ignored him and pulled on her pants and jacket. As his mind jumped from one thing to the next, almost speechless from her admission, he zeroed in on her comments about John.

  “You say John is plotting with the terrorists?”

  She nodded but didn’t look up from buttoning her jacket.

  “Why would he want to do that? John has no reason.”

  “He’s your right-hand man, with three ex-wives and an expensive lifestyle. And his second cousin is Ripley Johnson. Didn’t take me that long to find all of it out.”

  Fury sped through him. The fact she’d lied, was still lying, shoved his temper up a couple of notches. He reached out and grabbed her hand. She looked up, her eyes rounded in surprise.

  “Don’t you put him down. He’s been with me longer than anyone, and I trust him.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she twisted her wrist from his grip. “Really? You trust a man who can’t stay faithful for an hour? If you trusted him so much, why didn’t you tell him everything about the breach? What kind of loyalty do you think he gives to you?”

  Still raw from her betrayal and unwilling t
o face any accusations, he lashed out with words. “How the hell am I supposed to know it isn’t you? You seem to take to lying pretty well. How do I know this seduction isn’t a plan to distract me?”

  He ignored the pain in her eyes and the tears she blinked back. Not ready to confront his own pain, he did the only thing he knew how to do. Hurt her.

  “What I want to know, Shana, is how does it feel? How does it feel to act the whore?”

  She flinched, and he could see the pain deepen in her eyes. He curled his fingers into his palms to keep from reaching out to comfort her. This wasn’t the Shana he knew, the Shana he loved.

  Loved. Jesus God, he loved her, and she was a lying bitch. A lying, stinking telepath.

  “Think whatever you want. I’ve told you what I know. What you do with it is your business.”

  She walked past him as if to leave. The woman has some nerve. Drop this bombshell and then think she’s going to walk free?

  He grabbed her arm. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

  “Home.”

  “Do you think you can disappear on me?”

  She kept her head down, defeat slumped her shoulders. More than her betrayal, he hated her behavior. She should be mad as hell, fighting him tooth and nail. It had to be an act.

  “No, I need to tie up some loose ends.”

  “What, call up your friends and tell them to cancel the attack?”

  “No, I need…” She swallowed. “I need to call my brother, settle things with my landlord.”

  “And then? What little hole do you plan on hiding in?” He squashed the panic tightening his gut.

  Her shoulders slumped more. “Quarantine.”

  The word caused his stomach to roil. Marcus knew the Federation’s rule on people with paranormal abilities, but he didn’t agree with it. Even with his family history, he felt the Federation took their distrust a step too far. He’d heard the rumors of experiments, and the deaths. He wanted to shout a denial, refuse to allow anyone to hurt her. Cold fear curled in his stomach at the thought of her in one of those places. He still loved the woman he thought she was, and to think of her in one of those camps… He shook his head. He’d use every bit of his power to keep her safe, but she didn’t need to know that. He’d enjoy watching her twist in the wind.

  “So, you want to warn your brother and your parents, hmm? I should make a call right now. Have all three of them picked up. Maybe then you’ll tell me what you know.”

  Her head snapped up and she straightened her shoulders. An angry flush colored her cheeks. “Don’t even think of using my family to coerce a false confession from me, you bastard. If you do, I’ll make sure every media company from here to the Quasar Galaxy knows Marcus Carlyle hired a telepath. It would ruin your career, and you know it. You won’t be able to get a contract to guard a trash refinery, let alone another government agency. I know you can cover up one telepath’s disappearance. You can change my electronic file. Eliminate my family from the file. The Federation believes those files before they believe a human. If you don’t help me keep them safe, you’ll regret it.”

  At first, he couldn’t believe the witch was threatening him. The moment he opened his mouth to intimidate her with a few of his own threats, the fear he saw in her eyes stopped him. No matter what she had done, he couldn’t ignore the ache inside. She stood there, with her fists clenched, and her shoulders back, defending her family.

  “Tell me everything you know.”

  “I told you everything. You didn’t believe me.”

  He swallowed an angry retort. If he could get her to tell him some of her “story” about John, maybe he could catch something to help him. “Let’s go to the living area and talk about this.”

  She pulled her arm out of his hand and marched out of his room. Jackass that he was, he followed, his concentration completely on her ass.

  * * * *

  Shana studied the skyline of DC at night. She was sure Marcus had paid a small fortune for his apartment. It was spacious, and the view was overwhelming. Even inside the beltway, not many homes or apartments boasted an unobstructed view of the US capital.

  She watched the dwindling traffic as she tried to formulate her thoughts. Somehow she had to convince him of Marrow’s duplicity. The attack would come. When, next week and where, that was the question.

  As anger still shimmered between them, Marcus reached her side. Her heart bore the marks of his attack. She’d expected anger. She’d even expected some kind of verbal assault, but to call her a whore…

  She swallowed the pain. It would do no good to rehash the argument, or his comments. She knew who she was, and what she had done. She didn’t deserve that label. Ice curled into her heart and chilled her to the bone.

  “So, tell me what you know of the attack.” His voice held no emotion. It was the same one he used when he questioned one of her reports. She resisted the urge to probe his mind to find out what he was thinking. She’d never been that good at it, and she couldn’t face any more of his anger.

  “This morning, when Mr. Marrow came by my desk, I felt something tug at my brain. Same thing during the meeting, but this time, a few of his thoughts slipped through.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Immediately, her blood warmed. He’d only pulled on his pants. The urge to skim her hand down his bare chest, across his nipples, almost overwhelmed her.

  She crossed her arms. Idiot. This man just threatened her family, and she still wanted him.

  “If I’m right, John Marrow is a telepath like me.”

  His face flushed in anger.

  “No, wait, let me explain. There is a way to read minds. I was never very good at it. But if someone practiced for years, honed his skill, he could do it.”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked out the window. “And you say John can do this?”

  “Yes. It feels like someone tugs at your brain. I don’t think he got anything out of me today, but…”

  “You can’t do this? Are you saying he is more talented than you are?”

  “Yes.” She rubbed her arms. “I haven’t used my skill for years. My mother…”

  Jesus, was she stupid? What the hell was she thinking? Even if he had enough information to nail her to the wall, why volunteer more?

  “Your mother?”

  She sighed. There wasn’t much she could do about that now. Her hope that her family wouldn’t pay the price for her stupidity had been in vain.

  “My mother taught me exercises to keep from using the ability.”

  “But you heard me.”

  She turned to face him. The lights from DC shone across his face, his features hard with anger. If she didn’t understand the pain she had caused, she’d lash back at him. But she knew. Even if he couldn’t admit it, his male pride had reared its head to protect him from the pain she’d caused.

  “I haven’t heard thoughts in years. And most of the thoughts I get from you involve sex. Apparently they were so strong, they broke through my barrier.”

  His cheeks flushed. Her lips curved slightly at his embarrassment.

  “So, these thoughts John had?”

  “Something about an attack. Marcus, I think you need to be careful.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “Because there was something very sick in his thoughts. He wants the money, and that’s why he sold you out. I think he wants you to suffer.”

  “Suffer?” He turned away and paced away from her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Marcus, listen to me. Please.” She followed him into the kitchen. “Marcus. No, listen. There was a definite shift in his thoughts. He feels a deep hatred for you. I think he’s consumed with hurting you. He’s obsessed with revenge. Think back. What has your relationship been like with John Marrow? Has he been a true friend, been there to support you when you need it? Would you trust him with what you know about me?”

 
Chapter 11

  Marcus tried his best to ignore her arguments, but Shana was right. There was something about John that had always made him uncomfortable. For once, he’d ignored his own initial judgment because of their long-standing friendship, but now…

  “You mean would I tell my second-in-command I hired a telepath for a top-level security job? That I opened us up to all kinds of Federation investigations?” He had to argue. He’d known John, been sure of his loyalty for years.

  “No. I mean, if you cared for me, would you trust him with the knowledge?” He tried to ignore the little catch in her voice when she mentioned the word “cared.” He didn’t want to think about her pain, and how much it hurt him to see it. “Could you be sure he wouldn’t let the secret slip?”

  He crossed his arms, trying to ignore the niggle of doubt she’d fostered. But it was there. John had claimed many of the problems he’d had while in the Air Corps were due to other people. When Rachel, John’s last wife, had resigned, she’d warned Marcus about John. She said John was a risk in his job. He’d thought it sour grapes at the time, but now…

  Shana stood ready to defend herself and condemn Marcus’ best friend.

  “I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.”

  She shook her head. “Well, it’ll be on your head, then. I can’t see a way out of this if you continue to deny the possibility.” Bitterness tinged her voice.

  She turned to leave, and he tried to ignore the panic souring his stomach. He had the idea that if he didn’t stop her, he’d never see her again.

  “Just where the hell do you think you’re going?”

  “Home.” She didn’t stop or turn around, just kept on walking.

  He hurried after her. “I think you should stay here.”

  She turned on him. “You know what, Marcus? For some reason, I don’t care what you think. I have no idea why, but maybe it was threatening my family with internment, or calling me a liar. Oh, no, I have it. It was calling me a whore. Could it be that I don’t want to be in your presence for that reason?”