As far as he could tell she was on the level. He didn’t detect any deception.
“I’ll let you know what I hear. You over at Will’s?”
“Yeah. This will likely move pretty fast, Wanda. I expect by tomorrow the island will be flooded with Psi Agents who do not share your loyalty to me.”
She cocked her head. “Sweet of you to worry, Josh, but I’ll be all right.”
He smiled at a fleeting memory of Wanda ten years earlier taking out three operatives in spite of her limited psi skills. Telekinesis and fact-finding were her specialties. If you needed information Wanda could ferret it out.
“How many agents do you think are on the island at the moment?”
Wanda didn’t hesitate. “Ten including Trip and me. And of course there’s Will, but I never count him as psychic. Handy with a rifle though. No one can argue with that. You want me to gather them?”
He looked down at the floor for a minute. “At Will’s as soon as you can. You ready?” he asked Tessa. Without waiting for an answer he turned and walked to the door. “Oh and Wanda, see if you can find out who gave the order to have Tessa probed. I think it came from someone high up in Washington but I can’t be sure.”
Wanda gave one short nod and he left the office. He felt Tessa close behind him as they made their way back out to the street though she didn’t make a sound.
Once they were outside she slid her fingers into his. They might have been any couple on vacation in the Florida Keys. “Now what, back to Will’s until it’s time to meet with your friend?”
“We have an errand to do first.”
“Oh?”
“I have storage on the island.”
“I’m intrigued.”
He gave her hand a squeeze and continued back to the pickup truck. “What did you do before you became a Psi Agent?”
“You read my file.”
“I didn’t get that far. I know you’re a good agent, successful, motivated. That was all the file really said.” He held his breath. She could refuse to tell him. If she didn’t want to share her story then this was just a fling for her. It surprised him how much the idea hurt.
“I grew up in Ohio. My parents had no discernible psi skills though my mother was pretty intuitive about most things and I suspect she could have developed those skills.”
“How did the agency find you?” Having had no parents he could remember, he wondered how her life had been. Maybe one day she would share it with him. It was another shock to realize he wanted to know what having a family to grow up in would have been like.
“I was in the academy for a local police department. There was an accident on the range. One of the other officers accidently fired his weapon. I sensed the mistake. In my mind the bullet slowed down as it was heading for the instructor. I pushed the bullet. My adrenaline was so torqued up everyone in the room felt the energy shift.
“It wasn’t long after that, when the agency came to offer me a job.”
He didn’t hear the regret he’d expected from her. “You’re not sorry, are you? Not even after what’s happened in the past month.”
She shook her head. “I was a good agent, nothing special, but good at what I did and I liked it. I don’t know why the last month has turned into my own personal hell, but I’m not going to tarnish the memory of the rest of my career over it.”
He couldn’t help thinking he might not have met her if she hadn’t been detained for interrogation. It was horrible that three men had died, but he hadn’t been at fault for that. He relished the fact she was with him regardless of the circumstances.
“What do your parents think of your professional choices?”
“They’re proud of me. I just hope they’re safe. I’m sure that was the first stop on the agency’s list. They’re probably pretty worried right now.”
He sensed her anxiety as much as he heard it in her voice. “You said your mother was intuitive. I’m sure she’s way ahead of the agency.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“You know it’s too dangerous to call them, right?”
“I know.”
In ten minutes they were at a small house he kept a few blocks off the water. It was rundown and the weeds were growing up through the pebble-covered front yard. At the front door he used his mind to manipulate the lock and turned the knob.
“Do you stay here?” she asked.
He tried to see the place through her eyes. It was covered in dust and there was little furniture. Neglected was the best description of the whitewashed house. For him it was just a storage house or a safe house in case of emergencies. Only Kane knew he owned the property. “No. I just keep a few things here.”
She looked around at the neglected house. Not that it mattered. It was small, out of the way and when he needed a place to keep things it came in handy. She followed him through the kitchen to a mudroom, which led to the back door. Pushing a small bench out of the way, he knelt down and removed a piece of worn wood floor.
A spider scurried past his hand as he reached in and pulled out three plastic bags. The first two each held thirty thousand dollars cash and the second contained several identifications, passports, wallets and credit cards. “Open that closet and pull out the backpack.”
She didn’t ask any questions, just banged the dust off the pack when she retrieved it.
He tucked the money and papers inside and slung one strap over his shoulder. “We should head back to Will’s. We’ll need to change before we meet Trip.”
“Why?” She looked down at her shorts.
“The Silk Stocking doesn’t really have a dress code, but we’d stand out in these. Besides, I’d like to see you in that red dress Will picked up.”
She gave him a “you’ve already seen it all” look. “Isn’t that the name of the strip club we passed?”
“The very same.” He felt a spark of something that might have been excitement from her.
“And this friend of yours hangs out there?“
“Every night, though sometimes he goes up on the roof.” He stalked forward until he had her trapped between his body and the wall. Her curves fitted to the hard planes of his chest, hips and legs. His cock strained against his shorts.
She closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her hips hard against him. “What’s on the roof?”
“It’s a swingers club.”
Her eyes flew open. “Are you into that kind of thing, Joshua?”
“No, it’s not really my thing. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing you hook up with another woman.”
Her breath caught and she wrapped one hand around his neck, pressing her tits tighter to him. “I’ll have to give it some thought.”
“If this is the reaction you can think on it for a good long time.” His mouth covered hers an instant later and the backpack thudded to the floor in a cloud of dust.
She was sweet and warm. Her mind opened as she gave him entrance to her mouth. Her tongue swirled with his. Lips and teeth mashed together when the kiss deepened. He held back in spite of the fact she was inviting him into her mind. He slid his hand along her hip and to the curve of her waist. He didn’t deserve the gift she was offering. He was not a nice man. Tessa should have a good person. She was more than he could resist and he let himself slide into her thoughts.
Emotions bombarded him and it surprised him she had very few thoughts beyond the instincts that drover her body to press against him. He sensed her need for more and reached down, unsnapping the button on her shorts. He slid the zipper down and pressed his fingers past the elastic of her bathing-suit bottoms to the warm, wet slit of her pussy.
Her mouth opened on a cry and he muffled the sound with his mouth. Teasing her clit and dipping into her pussy, his fingers were slick with her juices as he worried the tight bud. Her pleasure built and her body writhed against his hand. As her core tightened, his cock ached to be inside her. He held back his own rapture, reveling in hers.
Only the rhythm of her hips guide
d her. He nipped the side of her neck, slid his hand under her shirt and bathing suit and pinched the distended nipple until she cried his name.
The muscles of her pussy pulsed and gripped at nothing and he felt every moment of her ecstasy. His cock swelled and his balls tightened. It took all of his will not to come in the wash of her orgasm as it flowed over and through him. Pressing his fingers hard against her clit, he waited for the rapture to subside.
He was about to suggest they go back to Will’s and make use of the dojo. Still befuddled by the passing frenzy he was surprised when Tessa dropped to her knees and pulled his shorts open, freeing his cock with her tender touch. He imagined his eyes were wide until her warm mouth slowly slid over his hard shaft, he tipped his head back and his eyes closed of their own accord.
Her tongue glided over him. Nothing had ever felt as glorious as that sweet mouth on his cock. She took him deep into her throat and sucked as he slid out. Her tongue swirled around the swollen head, teased the small slit before drawing him back inside.
His fingers threaded through her hair without guiding her actions. There was no reason to force her forward or back, she knew exactly what he wanted and needed. His body was rigid with the building orgasm. Her excitement niggled at the back of his consciousness, pushing him higher. Her mouth moved faster as her hands skimmed the back of his thighs to his ass. Gripping him tight and pulling his hips in close, she gave his shorts a swift tug and let them fall to the floor.
She never lost the rhythm while her fingers skimmed the crack of his ass, down his bare leg and up again until she gently tickled his tight balls. His body hummed and pulsed before the released shattered around him.
A deep grunt rose from his chest and echoed around the small room. His hips jutted forward again and again and he instinctively gripped her head. Her excitement thrummed stronger against his mind.
Gathering himself, he looked down as his cock slid from her mouth. Not a drop of juice dripped from her lips.
“Dear God, Tessa.”
She smiled as he helped her up from her knees. Then he pulled his shorts up and pulled himself together. As he slipped out of her mind he noted all the other complicated thoughts rushing back. She might have been single-minded when it came to sex, but she was otherwise a very complicated woman.
Her eyes were glassy. “That was fantastic.”
She fastened her shorts and brushed the dust off her knees.
“Is it always going to be this way with us?” he asked.
Her head cocked. “What do you mean? Didn’t you have a good time?”
“You know I did.”
“Then what did you mean by ‘this way’?”
He put the floor back in place and returned the bench to its spot over the top of his hiding place. “Sex with you is the most intense of my life. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
She kissed his cheek. “Me too. Now let’s try not to get ourselves killed in the next few days.”
“I’m not really used to other people in my life being so sensible. I’m usually the practical one.”
“Something else we have in common.” She winked.
In the car she turned in her seat to look at him. He could see her out of the corner of his eye. “What?”
“Am I allowed to ask questions now?”
Hoping she wanted to ask about the situation they were in or why he kept a safe house in Key West, he nodded. “What do you want to know?”
“Where did you grow up?”
He groaned inwardly. If it was anyone else asking he would have told them to mind their own business. But this was Tessa and she had told him about herself. Still, his answer was short. “In a psi training camp.”
“How old were you when you went there?”
“Seven.” His memory of being yanked away from his little brother still wounded him as if someone were twisting a knife in his gut. Kane’s big, crying eyes watching him go haunted his nights more often than not.
“And before that?”
He took a deep breath. “Kane and I were orphaned when he was just a baby. They put us in a state home for a few years. Kane stayed there when I was collected by the FBI. Eventually he ended up a psi bounty hunter and had no memory of me.”
“Wow. How did you find each other?” Sympathy laced her words.
He shrugged. “He was on one of his early cases. I’d been an agent for a few years. He was assigned to pick up a guy who the agency had surveillance on. I recognized him immediately.”
“Really, after all that time? Hadn’t he changed?”
The memory made the corners of his mouth turn up and he realized he didn’t really mind telling her. “He looked different, but his eyes were the same. But it wasn’t his looks I remembered. It was his aura, the vibration of his energy. I would have recognized him in a stadium full of people.”
“You can feel energy vibrations?”
“Yes.”
“Can you do this with everyone or only family?”
“Everyone.”
“Me?”
He stopped the truck, parking it alongside Will’s converted-hangar house. The ocean stretched out beyond the runway as far as they could see. Reaching across the bench seat, he skimmed his fingers across her soft cheek. “You remind me of a perfectly tuned symphony. You scare the shit out of me.”
He might have said more. He certainly couldn’t tell her he thought she was a perfect fit for him. Their relationship, if that was what it was, was still being measured in hours. She’d think he was out of his mind. It was too soon. The problem of how much to say was taken out of his hands when Will’s smiling face appeared an inch from the driver’s side window.
A row of cars were parked next to the house. Joshua smiled and got out of the car. “What’s going on, Will?”
“Well Wanda’s here and she’s brought a small psychic army with her. I was able to call in a few favors and I have some news of Banta.”
“What news?” Tessa asked as she rounded the car.
“I confirmed he’s no longer in prison.”
“Do you know how he got out?” Joshua asked.
“I thought I’d just tell the whole thing to everyone at once.”
“I haven’t decided what to tell them yet.”
Will’s frown was so unnatural he looked odd to Joshua who had known him for years.
“I think you have to tell them. They should know what they’re getting into,” Tessa said.
“I agree,” Will said.
“They may all walk right back out the door once they know Banta is the enemy.”
Will shrugged, but Tessa just watched him with her eyes narrowed.
Joshua sighed. “Fine.”
He ignored the look that passed between Tessa and Will and went toward the house. His focus on Tessa seemed to shield the outside barrage he normally dealt with. As soon as he exited the car and severed his connection with her he could sense the varying energies inside the house.
Wanda sat on the couch, drinking a glass of wine. Four men and one woman sat with her. None of them were drinking and they all stood when Joshua walked in. He knew two of the men, but the other two and the woman were strangers to him. Wanda must have gotten them to come just based on the Lakeland reputation.
Will trotted over and refilled Wanda’s glass.
“Thank you, Will. Always such a gentleman,” Wanda said. She didn’t stand up. “Glad you finally got here, Josh. I couldn’t locate the others on the island. I’m sure they know I’m looking for them, but if an agent doesn’t want to be found you know how that goes.”
Joshua nodded.
Wanda continued. “You know Jess and Parker.”
Joshua said his hellos to the two men he’d worked with in the past. Parker Phillips was a good by-the-book agent with considerable intuition. He always knew what was coming. Jess McMean was multitalented. He was also a loose cannon. He didn’t always play by the rules though that might be just what this war needed.
Wanda said, “This is Brady Cummings, Lon Granger and Piper Martin.”
“Nice to meet you all.” He shook each one’s hand. “This is Tessa Clark and when you hear the full story you may not want to stay.”
As soon as he mentioned Tessa’s name the room brimmed with both intrigue and trepidation. Joshua immediately noticed the intense stare coming from Jess. A bubble of jealousy brimmed in Joshua’s gut. He was pretty sure it was the first time he’d ever felt the emotion. He didn’t like it.
He also noticed Tessa had blocked her mind from the crowd. Smart girl.
Joshua told them the entire story. He briefly explained what had happened to Tessa’s team and then the events in New Jersey. Then he said it. “I have to tell you Troth Banta appears to be behind all of this.”
“Are you out of your mind?” This from Brady Cummings. “That guy is crazy. He’ll kill you both. I’m out.”
Cummings started toward the door. Parker and Lon were both getting up to go with him. Jess narrowed his eyes at Joshua, but didn’t move a muscle, while Piper pulled her dark hair back into a ponytail and leaned against the fireplace mantle.
Joshua didn’t know her, but he liked her already. He also noticed Will never looked away from the slim brunette. He’d have to ask his friend about that when there was more time.
He would have let them leave, but Tessa had other ideas. “He’s gathering.”
The word gathering stopped the three men in their tracks.
“What do you mean?” Parker asked.
“You know what she means,” Jess said.
Lon moved back into the room. “Are you telling us Banta is stealing the psi abilities of other agents? Is that even possible?”
“I’ve seen him do it. He stole the aura of one of my men. I didn’t know what he was doing at the time, but it’s the only explanation. He’s learned to gather and he’s killing agents to gain their abilities. If we don’t deal with him now we may not get another chance. He’ll be too powerful. You can go if you want. I understand you’re afraid of Banta. Joshua and I are in his sights. He’s after us. You can all stay off the radar at least for a while. No one will blame you for running.”
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