Playing with Passion Theta Series Book 1

by Gayle Parness

  A few minutes later, Johnny dropped them off and drove away to park the limo in the usual paid lot. Once inside the small ranch-style house, Ingrid began peeling off her clothes. Mack stopped her after her dress hit the floor.

  “And we’re rushing, why?” he asked.

  “But…?” She couldn’t figure him out. Guys were all about fucking hard and fast—weren’t they?

  He pulled her into his arms, snaking his hands behind her and pressing her closer. His erection was seated firmly against her belly. She liked the feel of it. “I’d prefer to take my time. Win you over. Seduce you.” With gentle fingers, he pushed her dark hair aside, caressing the shell of her ear with the tip of his tongue.

  “Not really necessary,” she panted.

  “My house, my rules. You agree?”

  “Rules?”

  “I’ll undress you at my leisure.” He lifted the strap of her chemise and kissed her shoulder.

  She attempted a swallow, but her mouth was already dry. “I…don’t…ummm…that feels…”

  He lifted the opposite strap and nibbled. “I have plans for this luscious body. Major plans that could span hours of intense investigation and mind-blowing pleasure.”

  “Ooookay.” Judging by the sudden heat around her face, she was blushing. When had that ever happened before?

  “Only okay? That’s it? You don’t sound too sure.” He was nibbling down her neck, her shoulders, the top of her full breasts, his large body firm and warm against her own.

  She arched into him. “I’m sure.” Her heartbeat had quickened. ”I’m not used to this version of Mack.”

  He met her gaze with a teasing glint in his eyes. “Try not to talk in complete sentences for the next couple of hours. Moans, whimpers, gasps, screams of pleasure and saying my name in the height of passion are all allowed, and encouraged.” Ingrid’s chin was practically brushing her chest, her mouth and eyes wide open. He stroked his thumb over her bottom lip. “Perfect.”

  “You’re trying to distract me.” Helping her forget about her nightmare past. Tricky male.

  “Is it working?” Mack’s mouth met hers, his kiss growing passionate, his fingers weaving in her hair, holding her at an angle that gave him the deepest access. The sensual sliding of his tongue over her teeth, lips and tongue shot electric heat down her spine to pool in her belly. She hesitated at first, finding her courage in his scent and the warmth of his skin. She returned his kiss with a passion she’d never known, her tongue dancing with his in a perfect partnering.

  “Your mouth is so sweet,” he said, crushing her lips against his.

  This kiss was firm, insistent, demanding. Perfect. She pulled away, clutching at his shirt, afraid to fall too deeply into the physical and emotional maelstrom that was Mack Hudson. But he gave her no choice, straddling her legs, walking her backwards until her ass pressed up against the kitchen counter.

  “Too many clothes,” she said, panting. She reached down to unfasten his fly, but he stopped her with a hand on her forearm.

  Mack leaned his forehead against hers, his smile crooked, his eyes smoky. “Breaking the rules already?” His rumbled whisper shot vibrations through her body. “That was three words in a row,” he teased.

  “I break rules all the time. You know that.” Her answer was partly an apology, partly a statement of fact. This was who she was, perhaps an impossible female to care for—or care about. Her body shivered, tension tying her stomach in knots.

  Mack met her worried expression with a sweet smile, stroking her face, his touch a gentle caress. “With me you can let go, beautiful girl. Trust me. I’ll be here to catch you when you come back to earth.”

  His warm brown gaze spoke to her of truth and acceptance and suddenly she understood this joining of their bodies, minds, and magic would be more than she’d hoped it could be. If she could only find the courage to open her mind completely to Mack…

  She clutched at his shirt. “I need you. Please.”

  When he lifted her to the counter, she could see that he’d heard the words she hadn’t spoken out loud. The words that were born in a young girl’s soul on a night in a prison they’d called a school. I will be free.

  Blue eyes met brown in understanding. “I’m with you,” he said, stroking her hair.

  A moment later, her chemise was gone, followed by her bra and panties. Mack lowered his head, feeding hungrily on the soft skin of her breasts and nipples. He sucked harder, sending bursts of energy to her throbbing sex.

  Mack shed his pants and boxers, spreading her legs and stepping closer. With her hand, she guided him to her opening. When he moved to kiss her, she stopped him.

  “Don’t think about hurting me. I need to feel. I won’t break.”

  When Mack’s lips met Ingrid’s, he pushed his hips forward, entering her gloriously slick heat with a single thrust. His cock thick, Mack made his strokes long and deep, creating the kind of friction that could have both of them coming in too few minutes. But when he tried to slow his pace, she growled.

  “Faster.”

  “Open for me first.” When he dropped his shields he pushed at her mind, urging her to trust that he wouldn’t hurt her, that he would protect her from the demons of her past. She cried out, pulling on his hair, raking her nails down his back, but when he added his calming energy, Ingrid’s mind opened fully.

  Mack let go of his tight control, beginning to stroke harder, going deeper, fucking her for her pleasure and his. Flesh slapped against flesh again and again, their mouths locked together in an erotic kiss, their hands exploring the plains and valleys of the other’s body.

  The release was more than sexual. It was a claiming, a choice to share their lives. For the first time, they both understood the gifts true intimacy could bring, gifts denied to them for so many years.

  Two hours later, they were cuddling together in his bed, spent and sated, having had another first in his shower and a particularly romantic one in his bed. Mack’s hand moved restlessly across her naked back as they stared at each other with half-lidded eyes. Looping axis to axis, psycore to psycore had been extraordinary: draining; yet exhilarating. Mack hadn’t pushed her to lower her shields again, and as much as she wanted to trust him, she hadn’t volunteered.

  But he’d shown in so many ways he could be trusted. She’d been acting like an idiot. A coward, even. “I do trust you.”

  “I know. It’s hard to change years of habit. You locked yourself down to survive. I get it.”

  Ingrid flashed back on the memory of Mack walking off with Gene to take her place—facing the vamps who’d broken his nose and taken his blood. "I’ve been thinking about your morph. Your version of me had bigger boobs and a huge ass. I can live with the boob job, but I’m no hippo.”

  He laughed. "No, no. I've studied your body very carefully, and I'm sure I got your dimensions right." He cupped his hand over a breast, pretending to judge its size. He grunted, seemingly satisfied, and trailed the same hand over her hip to one of her cheeks. He squeezed it. “Yep, I got it right.”

  "My ass is not that big." She playfully pinched his nose.

  In retaliation, he growled and bit her shoulder, leaving a reddish mark. "Your ass would tempt a god. I know, because I've had the pleasure of seeing it up close.”

  She pouted. "Your Ingrid's ass would only tempt a fat god." He was kissing his way across her hip, stroking her stomach. She giggled when his lips brushed over a ticklish spot. "I thought you were kind of shy when I met you."

  Mack sat up, maybe to see her more clearly. "I was, at first. You know how it is with PMs. Socializing is forbidden."

  "Forbidden to fuck. Sounds like a porno movie. So what do you do?"

  "Usually I pull up fantasies.” He shrugged. “I'm not into trolling the bars. Once in a while, I’ll meet a female at a party, but it’s usually a short-lived fling.”

  "Have you projected a fantasy of me?" she teased him.

  "The morning after I met you, and several times after that.
"

  "I hope her ass wasn't so big."

  He moved his hand to her butt and squeezed again, grinning like a kid who’d won a prize. "Maybe you're right; your real ass is much nicer."

  Mack leaned in to kiss her mouth, but Ingrid pushed him away, suddenly distracted as she puzzled over something he’d said. "You create fantasies, which means you can use your psycore. You fooled Giovanni and Paolo that way, too. So how is it you never have to reboot, like the actors do?"

  He’d never been asked these questions before so he took the time to think about how to answer. "Techs are trained to open a full link between our axis and our psycore at every show and every rehearsal. Our power runs more smoothly when we do. During a performance we draw from the source, and that seems to recharge us as we work.”

  “You draw from the source.” Puzzle pieces were clicking into place. “What is that, exactly?

  “According to The Director, every planet with a sentient race, also has a source, kind of a major power generator that most living species are unaware of. It responds to our kind of magic and allows us to pull energy from its core.

  “Our kind of magic?”

  “Organic, natural to our race and our planet. The Archdemon has a harder time pulling from the source because he’s not native to our world. Plus he’s greedy.”

  “And you?”

  “Never had a problem.”

  “I think we should discuss this with Gene later.”

  “Sure.”

  “When actors reboot, we exchange psycore during sex.” Mack had winced at the word sex, probably envisioning Gene and her together. It was adorable that a guy so powerful and self confident in his work, could be so insecure around her. She smiled inside, wanting so much to make him see that he was her forever guy. But she liked a challenge, especially one involving spending lots of time with the hottest guy on the planet.

  “Have you ever shared basic axis energy, like you automatically do with me?" he asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed so he was facing away from her.

  He was reaching for his boxers when she rose to her knees, placing a hand on each of his shoulders, kissing across his muscled back. "No, not like we do. Can you listen for a minute? I want you to know what happened with Gene two nights ago.” The muscles under her hands stiffened, so she began to knead his upper back. “We rebooted, but we didn’t fuck.”

  “What?”

  “We didn’t need to. I fueled the looping of our psycore with my axis energy and we dropped our shields, both layers. We were able to bring each other to orgasm and reboot without intercourse.”

  Her massage didn’t seem to be working its magic. She turned him around so she could see his face. “What’s wrong?”

  "You rebooted normally?"

  "Actually, it felt stronger. Gene said he was good for the next decade." She laughed softly, stopping when she noticed Mack’s serious expression.

  “Wouldn’t it have been easier to fuck each other?” He tried to stand, but she held him in place.

  The green-eyed monster was rearing its ugly head. Best to get this straightened out. “Gene’s great. If I’d never met you, and I knew I was stuck in this life as a troupe theta, I’d have no problem being intimate with him.”

  “But I’m your ticket out of here, right?”

  She pushed on his back and scooted away. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re an asshole?”

  “Several times, especially lately.” He said, scratching his stubble.

  Celeste stroked his other cheek, enjoying the roughness. “I was in your head. I saw how you felt about me. What did you see in mine?”

  “Anger. Fear. Conflict, especially where I’m concerned.”

  “Why did you…?” She gestured to the bed. “This wasn’t only lust. I know the difference.”

  His face softened. “Because you make me crazy. I can’t think like a PM around you. It’s not only your body I want. I want to possess you, mark you, claim you, body and soul. You have me floundering around like a demon without his braid.”

  “And I’m the same. Everything is so new. Looping into a mega reboot with Gene blew my mind. And then today, you turned me into a trembling ball of gooey pleasure.”

  His mouth spread out in a sexy grin. “You’re honey in my mouth.”

  “I like that. To me you’re more like butter pecan ice cream.”

  “Butter pecan?”

  “Yeah, you’re smooth and cool, sweet and delicious, and you’ve got these lumpy bits I like to nibble.”

  Mack laughed full out, collapsing back on the bed with an ear-to-ear grin that had her wanting him all over again. After a minute, his gaze turned thoughtful. "The strength of your reboot must have something to do with adding axis power to your psycore energy loop.”

  "Probably like the two power centers were designed to do by evolution." Something clicked in Ingrid’s mind, another gear settling in place. "Shit. That could be it." Tugging Mack back into the middle of the bed, Ingrid pushed him down, straddling his hard stomach. "Want to take part in one of my infamous experiments?”

  His eyebrows arched in curiosity. "I need more information."

  "I'm going to make you crazy hot for me, then we're going to link axis and psy power. Two separate loops, which we’ll combine to make one large loop.”

  “And?”

  “We’ll explode in simultaneous orgasm," she said, sounding more confident than she actually felt.

  "I like the beginning and the end of that theory." Mack looked skeptical.

  "C'mon, what could happen? Gene and I were fine."

  "You two didn't form a single ring, and I'm not Gene. My base axis energy is six times what the average actor's is. Your psy-power is way over the limits. We're told by the instructors that…"

  Ingrid scowled at him. "Do you hear yourself? They're afraid of us. They don't tell us the truth." She scooted backward over his cock, rubbing her wet center against him as he groaned.

  "Crazy hot?" His eyes were already rolling back in his head, his penis already hard. Theta males rarely had trouble in that department.

  Ingrid moved off his body, leaning in for a quick kiss. "I promise...crazy...hot." She slid her hand down his chest, past his stomach and over his cock. He hissed when she cradled his balls.

  "Oh, god,” he moaned. Ingrid loved that sound. Having him at her mercy for a change was a real turn on.

  She whispered, using her sexiest voice to deliver her own orders. "Watch me, Mack." He lifted his head and leaned on his elbows. "See what I’d doing with my perfect mouth? Using my tongue." His flesh tasted salty, the skin of his erection soft above the firmer layer. Mack clutched at her hair with one of his hands, the other bracing his body so he could see everything she was doing. "I’m using my whole mouth." Ingrid sucked gently at first, pulling in rhythm, but stopped to allowed his shaft to slide slowly out. "Taking all of you in."

  She sucked him deeper, his cock brushing against the back of her throat. He groaned. “Ingrid—oh man—how do you...? He began to move against her, thrusting his hips to push farther inside her mouth. When she thought he was ready, she straddled his hips.

  "Crazy hot,” he gasped.”

  She guided him inside, sliding down his erection until she was stretched to her limit. The incredible way he filled her burned into her core, branding her as his. She moved with purpose now, guiding his hand to her hip to steady her motion. They locked eyes as she clenched inner muscles to bring him faster.

  "Pull up your power, Mack. Like you do in a show.” She was breathing faster now, her heartbeat rapid.

  "Yes," he panted, lost in her spell. Mack’s magic pushed into her axis, heating her spine, her brain, her sex. As Ingrid’s back arched from the intensity of their connections, she exchanged her energy for his, creating two perfect loops, a continuous feed in two places. The magic flooding her mind flamed like a laser, exploding into ribbons of color and heat behind her eyes.

  "Deeper.” He thrust harder and Ingrid met him with
equal force, his large erection burying itself in her slick warmth over and over again, the sound of their bodies slapping together, igniting them to go faster. Her skin tingled as magic colored her skin in a golden glow. She leaned closer to Mack’s face, her hair tenting his head. His golden-flecked eyes darkened sexily right before they kissed.

  "Try now," she croaked, forcing her axis energy up to her psycore, joining them the way Mack had described. She felt him do the same and suddenly the outside world disappeared. Ingrid experienced a strange awareness, as if someone else was in the loop, helping her connect with her lover. Hundreds of thoughts and emotions flickered randomly through her brain, like the quickest of slide shows.

  He had to keep the troupe safe from The Director, especially me. He wanted me to come when he did. He didn't want to be alone anymore. He thought he might love me.

  She knew him, heard him, felt his pain and pleasure, but he hadn’t spoken those thoughts out loud.

  "I hear you."

  Ingrid called his name again with a hoarse cry, as the burning intensity permeating her body transformed into more than she thought she could bear. A wider connection erupted between her center and her mind and instantly, there was real pain. The two loops had finally carved a path to become one, their dual powers melding. As her body arched and jerked in agony and pleasure both, her mind began to lift away, shielding itself from the sharp knives of the magical inferno.

  You really could die from sex, she thought.

  Almost there. Almost there. Was that her or Mack? She couldn't see anything.

  Were her eyes open or closed? Her blood drummed frantically in her head, her chest, her gut, their hearts beating in sync. The pain, the pain. Her head was exploding. Any second now, she figured she’d be walking down that infamous tunnel toward the light.

  But the joy…

  When the pleasure/pain of their pounding bodies began to drown her senses, making it impossible to take another breath, Ingrid thought she might have to abandon her idea. It was too much—too strong—and she began to black out. Mack must have felt her flash of fear, because he clutched at her hips, forcing her to stay where she was. "Ingrid, now."