They had spared John the internment. Shana had argued that isolation was enough. She refused to be party to turning him in for the experiments they did on paranormals. Even with his connections to Ripley Johnson, Shana and David had both felt what happened in those camps was a crime. And thinking of Shana being at the mercy of those scientists, Marcus agreed.
And this is how the bastard paid them back. “No. Actually, John is the telepath. He used those skills to find out codes he needed, gain access to the records, and then sell out the Federation.” He glanced at David. “Officer Adams will confirm.”
David’s smile was lethal. “Yes. I can confirm that, since he admitted it in front of both of us.” He didn’t bat an eye while he lied.
John jumped out his chair to attack Marcus, but the agents zapped him with a laser stun. He fell in a heap on the floor. They picked him up and carried him out.
Officer Brecken stepped forward. “Sorry about that. We just had to make sure he was blowing smoke up our asses.” He turned his assessing blue eyes on Shana’s brother. “You’re willing to testify to that?”
David nodded and the officer left them alone.
The silence between them stretched
“Sure you don’t want a job with the department?” Marcus asked.
“Can’t,” he said with a smile. “I’m thinking of getting out of my job now, before…well before anything goes wrong.”
“Tell you what. Why don’t you think about working for me?” Amusement lightened David’s expression for the first time that day. Marcus sighed. “And, next, why don’t you tell me where your sister is? I have a lot groveling to do.”
Chapter 13
Shana sighed as she tied her bright red sarong around her waist and gathered her lotion and e-book file. As she walked around the sparkling waterfall spilling into the lagoon-styled pool, she ignored the interested stares of several males, human and otherwise. It had been a week since she arrived at the resort on the outer planet of Regalilia, and she had yet to have an enjoyable day.
Both suns had been shining, and the three-moon nights had been balmy yet pleasant. A few men had approached her, asking to buy her a drink, or to dance. Even though every single one of them had been a fine example of male beauty, she’d not felt one little tingle of interest. Not even enough to talk to them, let alone fall into bed with them.
She reached the elevator and stopped. Another night in her bed, alone, thinking and dreaming of Marcus.
“Shana Adams, fourth floor, authorize.”
The doors slid open and, for once, she was alone in the elevator. She’d been determined to have a fling. To screw like a mink and hopefully erase the memory of Marcus. She soon found out that wish had been in vain. She found herself comparing each man to Marcus. The way he talked, or smiled, and she knew damn well she would end up comparing each man to Marcus in the bedroom.
The doors slid open, and she walked down the hallway in no great rush. Another dinner watching the suns set over the snow-capped mountains in the distance didn’t appeal to her. But she knew it would happen. She didn’t care for the bar scene or the casinos. Her brother had wasted his money getting her the suite. Despite the tropical atmosphere in Frunia, she felt more like the mountains—cold and icy. She should just book a shuttle back to Earth and start job hunting.
Finally she reached her door. “Shana Adams, authorize.”
She stepped into her suite. The door slid closed behind her and automatically locked for her safety. The setting suns’ amber rays cast shadows throughout the opulently decorated suite.
After tossing her things onto the sofa, she walked into her bedroom and came to an abrupt stop. She closed her eyes, then opened them.
Marcus Carlyle was lying on her bed, naked save for a skimpy pair of underwear, shackled to the headboard. Surprise, amazement, and a delicious wave of heat rolled through her. There was something so attractive about Marcus being chained up to her bed.
“Marcus?”
“It’s about damn time. Do you know how long I’ve been tied up here?”
“No.”
His eyes widened. “No? That’s all you have to say?”
She swallowed the thoughts of what she would love to do to that body while he was tied up and at her mercy. Nothing came from Marcus. Not one thought. She wished she was better at probing minds to find out what he was thinking.
“I forced your brother to not only tell me where you were, but to help me sneak in here and shackle me to the bed.” He started struggling against the handcuffs.
The image of big, alpha male Marcus asking her brother to cuff him to the bed was just too much. She laughed.
He stopped thrashing about. “Oh, sure, laugh. Your brother is probably telling everyone in the office about this. Pussy-whipped. That’s what I am.” He kept grumbling under his breath about ungrateful women as he started trying in earnest to get the handcuffs loose.
The ice covering her heart began to melt. “What are you doing here, Marcus?”
He didn’t stop his quest to free himself. “If you can’t figure it out, why should I tell you? Isn’t that what women say to men?”
She bit back another chuckle. Just watching him, with that disgruntled expression on his face while he tried to get out of the cuffs, warmed her even more.
“So, you are trying to tell me that you are okay with me being in charge?”
He didn’t answer. She would’ve laughed, but she had a feeling she’d make him even more disgruntled. She stepped up to the bed and placed a hand on his foot.
His struggling stopped.
He swallowed as she moved her hand up his leg, past his thighs to his hardened cock, barely covered by the tiny swatch of silk. Images flashed through her mind. Her hands on his body, and her mouth on his shaft.
“I find it hard to believe that Marcus Carlyle loses control.” Her voice had thickened as his thoughts fed her passion.
“You’d be amazed.” His rough voice sent a wave of heat down her spine.
She climbed on the bed, sitting between his legs. Then she wrapped her hand around his cock. The thick head had escaped from beneath the fabric. Her pulse quickened when she saw the pre-cum dripping from the slit. She licked her lips, thinking of the salty taste of him filling her mouth. Her own juices moistened her sex.
She needed to be sure of his motives. She didn’t want to rush back to him without some conditions.
“So,” she said, letting go of his dick and getting off the bed. “Are you going to tell me what you’re really doing here?”
Every nerve in her body tingled with arousal, and she’d barely touched him. Her nipples drew tighter. She fought the urge to rip off her clothes and mount him.
“I wanted you to know that I trust you.”
Unable to not touch him a second longer, she climbed back on the bed and sat on her heels. She trailed her fingers up his torso, brushing the tips of his nipples. He sucked in a breath. She smiled.
“Hmmm.” She licked her lips, thinking of the taste of his skin. She leaned forward and grazed each nipple with her tongue. Musky male filled her senses. Her swimsuit dripped with her arousal. His thoughts flickered again. The things he was planning to do with his tongue sent her heart racing.
Oh, God, she loved him so much. If this is just another ploy…
She’d leave him cuffed to the bed.
“So, what you’re saying is you trust me…a para?” She sat back and waited for his answer. His eyes were dilated with arousal, his nostrils flared. Another wave of wet heat dripped from her sex when she thought about him smelling her and being aroused by it.
“Uh?”
“Pay attention, Marcus.”
“Kind of hard to do with you in the vicinity. Hell, all I have to do is think about you and I’m hard as a rock.” Happiness filled her, warming her from the inside out. “Listen, I thought I could do this, but I can’t. I’ve tried, I just can’t… I love you, dammit. Now can we get on with it?”
She gig
gled, and he shot her a dirty look. “Get on with it? Oh, Marcus, you are the romantic.”
“Shana, I can’t rub two brain cells together where you’re concerned. I think of you, or see you, and all the blood drains from my mind. I’m lucky I can form sentences.”
She placed a hand on each side of his head. “I love you, Marcus. Even if you are the most unromantic man I know.”
He frowned at the comment, then a smile, completely lethal to her own concentration, curved his lips. “Yeah?”
His rich voice rolled over the word. Now his thoughts flowed freely, snatches of their moans, what her scent did to him, having her mount and ride him blazed across her mind, almost pushing her beyond her control.
She leaned down, nibbled at his lips until he growled. She captured his lips in a tender kiss that soon turned carnal. The moment she opened her mouth, his tongue stole into hers, robbing her of any coherent thought. With reluctance, she pulled away, just long enough to rip off her clothes.
Instead of mounting him, she leaned down and took his cock into her mouth, humming her pleasure at the salty taste of him.
“Oh, Shana, baby.”
Without taking his cock out of her mouth, she moved over him, situating her sex above his mouth. He licked her slit, then shoved his tongue between her lips. She reached down and caressed his balls. He took her clitoris in his mouth and sucked. She moaned around his dick. She circled the head with her tongue, then pulled him back into her mouth. He sucked her harder and she felt the tremors of her approaching orgasm. As she shattered into a million pieces, he groaned, then shouted her name as he spurted his cum into her mouth. She continued to suck him through his orgasm.
When she had licked him one last time, she shifted her weight, and then lay beside him, with her head on his chest.
“Hmm, Marcus, you always taste so good.”
“I appreciate that, Shana, but do you think you could get me out of these cuffs?”
“Well, I don’t know. Let me think about it.” She laughed and leaned up, pushing the button to release them. The moment she released him from his restraints, he grabbed her, rolling her under him. He rested on his elbows, relieving her of his weight.
As he looked down at her, the loving tenderness shining in his emerald eyes stole her breath away.
“So, do you believe I trust you now? That the fact you’re a para doesn’t matter?”
“That wasn’t a very tough test, Marcus.”
“You have no idea how tough. Hell, just taking the look your brother shot at me when I asked him to cuff me to the bed should guarantee me a yes to marriage. Hopefully he believed the bullshit about being able to fire him for revealing secrets about me to the staff.”
Her mind whirled with the thought that Marcus wanted to marry her. “Wait, you hired my brother?”
“Yeah.”
“But he’s an empath.”
“Yeah, he told me. I decided we can keep it a secret. I need more people I can trust in the organization. Of course, he’ll be answering to you, since I figure you’re perfect for John’s job.” He raised a hand and cupped her cheek. “So, no comment on the marriage question?”
“Marriage?”
“I know I don’t deserve you. Lord knows I fucked it up enough, but I promise to pay for it every day of my life. I swear to never question your loyalty again.”
“You called me a whore.”
Pain etched the features of his face. “I know, honey, and I really can’t take it back. I can apologize every day for the rest of our lives. I didn’t mean it, I promise.”
She didn’t say anything, but closed her eyes. The joy bouncing in her heart held her frozen speechless. Never in her life had she imagined such a backhanded proposal. Oh, Lord, she loved him, the jackass.
The next instant, a lash of panic shot from him to her. He frowned. “I just won’t take no for an answer.”
She raised an eyebrow, but the disgruntled expression on his face caused her to laugh.
“Oh, Marcus, love, of course I’ll marry you.”
His lips turned up, his expression lightened, then darkened in the next instant. His cock hardened against her stomach.
“You’re going to pay for making me sweat it out, woman.”
As he settled between her legs, she sighed. “I’m counting on it, Marcus.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. As his lips touched hers, the images of her body rounded with child flashed.
“Marcus.”
“Thought I’d let you know exactly what I hope to accomplish, and soon, Ms. Adams.”
Warmth curled in her stomach, into her heart.
“Can you hear my thoughts now?” he asked before he kissed his way down her body. Images of their bodies, his mouth on her skin, on her sex, exploded through her as she surrendered her body, her mind, and her soul to his sweet possession.
LOST IN EMOTION
by
Melissa Schroeder
Chapter 1
Cold, mind-numbing fear slithered down David’s spine. For a moment, he couldn’t move as the emotion washed over him, through him. He swallowed the panic rising in his system as he glanced around the barroom. Damn, who is it? He hadn’t had a transfer of emotion like this in years, but it shot through his system like a lightning bolt.
So many people, but only one emotion came through. Fear, stark as a winter’s night, tightened his stomach. When he brought his glass to his mouth, he noticed the blue liquid rippling. He set it down without taking a drink and glanced around the room again.
Smoky haze from the incense cigarettes the locals of Rilah preferred filled the air, making it hard to see into every crevice and corner. David didn’t like it. Something sinister was at work in the room. An agent for the Counterterrorism Unit of the Federation of Nations, he was a target if anyone suspected his quest. He would be dead in less than a heartbeat if the wrong people knew he was searching for their missing spy.
He studied the occupants lounging around on the various couches and chairs throughout the seedy bar. Coming here tonight had been his last attempt at finding the elusive Genoa.
“Want another, pal?” the Rilahlian bartender asked. David looked up, trying to determine if the feeling of fear had emitted from the seven-foot-tall being. Nothing but impatience showed in the Rilahlian’s bluish-green eyes.
“Naw, think I’ve had enough for the night.”
Before he could move on to the next customer, the bartender glanced over David’s shoulder and cussed in Rilahlian.
The sound of raised voices and breaking glass erupted behind him. David looked over his shoulder and saw a crowd of men surrounding a table at one of the booths. The sight of green-tinged hair sent David’s senses into hyperspeed. Gorgons. And probably warriors, judging by their black, fitted suits and the lasers holstered at their sides.
Gorgons, although now at peace with the Federation, had planned several attacks on Earth and abroad. Rogue mercs still roamed, looking for work, and these fit the bill. Their deception was made easy by the fact they looked more human than any other species in the galaxies.
Fear lashed out at him again, and he knew instantly whoever was in the booth with them was the source. He stood up and headed in the direction of the commotion. As he drew within about ten feet, one of the warriors shifted and David got a glimpse of the booth’s occupants. Another warrior, dressed in black and bigger than the others, sat on one side of the table, his hand around the wrist of a woman. David shifted his focus to her. A smile curved her lips, her pale green eyes sparkled with defiance. Heat swept through him, warming his blood and twisting his stomach. It was the same damn reaction as when he’d seen the picture of her six months ago.
Damn. Genoa.
* * * *
Genoa tried to calm her heart and the panic threatening to choke her as she wiggled her arm and stared at Deras. Damn, damn, damn. She’d been so close to getting away clean tonight. The info Marcus Carlyle needed was burning a hole in h
er transmitter, and after sending it, Genoa planned on disappearing for a good long while. She’d made too many enemies lately, and had been on her way to disappearing when Deras had shown up.
Asshole. If she had her blade, she’d cut out his heart and feed it to him on a platter. The idiot just didn’t know when to let go. Genoa smiled, hiding her irritation and her fear.
“Listen, Deras, I’m not yours to keep. We had a good time; now it’s over.”
His frown deepened and true anger darkened his green eyes. “No one tells Deras when it is over. I decide. And you are in no position to argue with Deras.”
She really hated when he referred to himself in the third person. He sounded mentally challenged. Just the memory of his hands on her skin made her stomach turn. What she didn’t do for the Federation… They owed her big. The only thing saving them was that she hadn’t been forced to screw the monster.
His fingers tightened around her wrist and her fingers began to tingle.
“See, Deras is not happy. Maybe Deras sell you.”
Maybe Deras is a jackass. Real fear coiled in her stomach. She fought not to show it. He would do it, sell her for a sex slave. Being half-human, half-Gorgon would make her irresistible to some weirdoes. She knew she would bring a pretty penny on the market. Before she could open her mouth to placate him, another man stepped forward, pushing a couple of the Gorgons out of his way. He stood several inches shorter than most of them, but Genoa knew instantly they wouldn’t try to screw with this one. Deras gestured with his head and the rest of the warriors backed away.
He wore his light-brown hair shoulder length, shaggy and unkempt. Dominant cheekbones and a beard gave him a lean, hungry look, but the thing that held her captivated was his sharp, tawny eyes. He glanced at Deras, then at the grip the Gorgon had on her wrist, and finally settled his concentration on her. For no apparent reason, her heart turned over and then increased in speed.
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