ShiftingHeat Read online

  He swallowed. “And you still wanted to play?”

  Why? Had his takeoff been clumsy? This guy had one hell of an inferiority complex. Or perhaps working alongside the perfect specimens at STORM had given him one. “Oh yes. I’ve always been a sucker for golden dragons.”

  “I’m not the only one at STORM.”

  “It was you I wanted.” That was true enough. The trouble was, the more time she spent with him, the more the wanting became personal. Andros wasn’t the means to an end anymore. He was Andros, not her mark. Bad, that was bad. But fighting for control didn’t work anymore. She had to let this powerful urge to fuck him have its way. Then she’d get back to her true purpose tonight. Hopefully.

  He kissed her then kissed her some more. When they were both breathing a lot more heavily, he shoved back the lock of blond hair that hung over his face. “So where are the condoms? Or do you want us to play hide and seek?” Those hands he’d used to caress her became instruments of torment when they curled around the base of her ribs and applied just the right amount of pressure to tickle mercilessly.

  Giggling like a teenager, she pulled away. “No hide and seek. They’re right here.” She leaned over him, loving the way he immediately took advantage of her position and licked her breast, making her sigh as ripples of pleasure unfurled through her whole body. She fumbled more than she had to getting the condoms, especially when he sucked a diamond-hard nipple into his mouth and then caressed it with his tongue. “Oh God.” Fuck, he had a talented tongue. He curled it around her and sucked her deeper. Her body pulsed in time with his pulls, every part of her responding to his caresses, especially when he grabbed her ass and pulled her close.

  His cock left a damp kiss on her stomach when she drew away. He dragged her back. “You do it.” His eyes gleamed, tempting and coaxing her to do exactly what she wanted to do anyway.

  She sat up, straddled his thighs and captured his cock in one hand, stroking it, persuading it to harden even more. Though she doubted that was possible, it was fun to try. He made a small sound and his muscles tightened. He groaned. “Do it now. Now!”

  More liquid seeped from the tip. Reaching out to him with her psi, she picked up his urgency, his need for her. She wouldn’t get any if she didn’t quit teasing, and she definitely wanted some. The thought briefly crossed her mind that she could have done this, given him head or just caressed him to orgasm. But she wanted more, needed it with a frantic desperation she’d never felt before. The evidence of her desperation was dampening the tops of his thighs where she straddled him. She slid along his hair-roughened leg, trying to relieve her sense of urgency, to take the edge off. It didn’t work.

  She rolled the condom over his cock with efficiency rather than sensuality. “It’s like riding a bike,” she remarked, taking the edge off her own need.

  Andros opened his eyes wider. “Pardon me?”

  “Putting on protection. I haven’t done this for a while.”

  “Sex or protection?”

  “Either.” She responded automatically, openly, but in the next moment, she could have bitten her tongue. She found him too easy to talk with.

  Biting her lip, she lifted to position her pussy over his cock. The exchange had taken more than the edge off for her. But not for him, it seemed.

  He grabbed her thighs, stopping her from lowering onto him and lifted his gaze to hers. Slowly. Very slowly, perusing every inch of her body before he met her eyes. “You are so gorgeous. I’m a lucky man tonight.” He paused and his gaze sharpened. “Are you still okay?”

  Had he picked up on her doubt? That shouldn’t have been possible. She’d loaded the front of her mind with what she wanted him to read, and added her arousal, which she hadn’t preloaded. Everything else she kept locked away. No one had broken that barrier before. Had she somehow become complacent?

  Shit, she was jumpy. Of course not. He’d read her body language. If he was converted, he’d be naturally better at that. It was one of the ways mortals made up for their lack of psi. Oh, they had psi, especially simple communication skills, but they didn’t know it. Conditioning, evolution or both had locked the ability down tight, and it took a Sorcerer or a lot of training to unlock it.

  Andros would have felt the way her muscles tensed, that was all. So she smiled. “Sure. More than okay. Let’s do this.” She lowered her voice to a sexy purr. He didn’t take his hands from her but helped her to descend, hissing when her pussy touched the tip of his cock. A shame they had to use the sheath. She yearned to feel him bare. Not that she could.

  He laughed shakily. “Not completely a shame. I might have come just touching you if I didn’t have protection on. Inside. I want inside.”

  His urgency drove her desire on. He slipped inside her and she sighed in relief, but when she wanted to plunge, take him right in, he held her back. “Let me feel it. Every little bit.”

  She gasped and took him in. She sank down and kept going, but couldn’t keep it nice and slow. She wanted him with a recklessness that sent waves of shock through her. Her head went back and she groaned low in her throat. Leaning forward to rest her hands on either side of him, she moved. And heard his corresponding groan.

  “Oh that feels so fucking good,” he said, so low she could hardly catch the words. They resonated in her mind, the low vibrations sending her higher. Enjoying every bit of this, far more than she should, she opened her eyes.

  Amazing, he looked so good. Those remarkable eyes half-closed, she could still see the glitter of sapphire as he studied her, watched her riding him. Her breasts swayed in a sinuous rhythm and if she leaned forward, her nipples touched him with every stroke, grazing his chest. He lifted his arms from her thighs and grasped her hips, supporting her while she moved and raising his buttocks to meet her every downward plunge. His mouth partly open, he swept his tongue out over his lower lip. When he tugged her down, she went, unable to resist the temptation of his luscious mouth. The lower lip was slightly fuller than the upper and she licked it before joining her mouth to his for a kiss as deep, as hard as their combined movements.

  Leaning forward brought his cock into contact with a spot deep inside her. With her body so open to his, touching his, her knees forward, he could go deep, deeper than she usually felt. Or maybe this was just the magic of Andros.

  Stop it, stupid. But more and more the temptation hovered—to forget her plan and just spend the night here with him, enjoying him and seeing what else they could achieve together.

  Waves of sensation flowed through her, deeper with every downward push of her body. Let go, he urged her, mind to mind.

  The connection drove her to rise above the peak and soar. The waves turned into a flood and her pussy clenched around him. With a wordless cry, she experienced every pulse and shared her ecstasy with him, unthinkingly opening to pour the feeling into him.

  It turned the tide, forced him over and she felt his orgasm like she had her own. For a bare instant they merged and together they cried out into each other’s mouths, into their hearts and souls.

  Faye wrenched her senses back to reality, a sense of doom clouding her ecstasy. She could only hope he hadn’t realized she’d dropped her barriers.

  Chapter Two

  It took Faye ten minutes to slip out of bed without disturbing Andros, sliding out slowly, leaving his embrace with not a little regret. Every time she moved he moaned and reached for her, so for every six inches she gained, she lost three. And she didn’t want to go. That only made it harder. She gathered her clothes and stuffed them in the sports bag she’d left on a chair.

  She went back into the bedroom and slid his blue ankle bracelet free. Perfect, as long as he had the right security clearance. If he handled computers, he probably had a high clearance level. Enough for her purposes, anyway.

  He stirred and groaned. She half wanted him to wake up so they could have another session before she had to leave, but she knew she couldn’t. Shouldn’t. But no, he curled one strong arm around the pillow she
’d left in her place and clutched it. Dreaming of her, she couldn’t help hoping. When she ventured into the outer reaches of his mind, she felt him stirring. Telepathically, she sent him soothing dreams, peaceful messages, and waited until he’d slid off to slumber again.

  He looked so sexy, his bare leg caught in the duvet, that wayward lock of bright hair falling over his face. Her heart ached but her duty remained clear. She had to do this.

  She went through to the bathroom and rinsed out the glasses from the bottle of wine they’d shared. She put them down with exaggerated care. She’d only given him a little of the drug, not wanting to spoil his memories by giving him a hangover. She only needed him asleep long enough for her to complete her mission without him raising the alarm. But if she hadn’t given him enough, he’d wake up before she got clear.

  The thought gave her prickles of tension. She took one last look at him and touched her lips, recalling the kisses, tender and passionate, that he’d pressed on them. If she ever met him again, he’d be on the other side. He’d hate her. She hoped they wouldn’t blame him too much for letting his guard down. He didn’t deserve it.

  She didn’t even dare take a shower. That would come later. Not soon enough for her, though. She wanted to wash the scent of him off her, pretend it didn’t happen. No she didn’t, that was a lie. She wanted to wash away the guilt, but she feared it was already too late, because it had buried itself deep, as guilt tends to do, eating at her stomach, churning it into a nauseous reminder of her betrayal of Andros.

  She’d hidden the unusually long straps of her sports bag because they might have clued him in to what she intended. Unlike Andros, she could shape-shift in midair, but she had to slip the straps of the bag around her neck. It was small enough not to block her when she climbed out the open window. She leaped up and out. Normally she loved this part, but tonight she felt too heartsick to savor it. She shape-shifted, spread her wings and rose with the current, letting the air take her higher, above the buildings. The bag tugged at her but she ignored the weight.

  Andros had gotten to her, somewhere deep down where she never allowed anyone to go. But she’d let him. In a moment of sheer, uncaring restlessness that she didn’t want to explain. Just for a moment, forgot all her cares and troubles and just been. With him. He’d made her feel safe and given her the spirit to fly free. She hadn’t felt that way for a long, long time.

  Time to forget all that. Time to work. Recalling the plan of the STORM building that she’d managed to download from the internet, she set her sights to the East Side. She didn’t even know if the plan was correct, and she’d grabbed it from the darknet, so it could be anything. But it was all she had.

  The top of the STORM building came into view. A few Talents moved around, but the masses that had thronged the roof at sundown were no more. She landed behind a metal duct that stuck up like a chimney but gushed air instead of smoke. Those days when a pall of smoke lay over the city had gone, long gone. She couldn’t feel sorry about that, but it had held a touch of romanticism. Either that or her memories were rose-tinted.

  Holding her breath, she waited for the alarm, but none came. The ankle bracelet was working. Swiftly, she dressed in the jeans and hooded fleece she’d brought, slipping on the running shoes afterward. All anonymous, new items that she’d discard later, get rid of any smidgeon of evidence. She pulled thin latex gloves over her hands, so fine that once she’d hidden the rolled ends under her cuffs, they weren’t noticeable unless someone was actually looking for them. She brushed her hair free to fall over her shoulders so she could shield her face when she needed to. She was ready. As she moved around the steel column, she pasted an easy smile on her face.

  Half a dozen people populated the rooftop area, some chatting, some dressing. Her half-smile got her past them. One stared at her and raised a brow. A big man, rawboned, his jeans loosely slung around his hips and his chest bare. He thrust a hand through his thick dark hair, restoring it to some kind of order. She had to stop when he saw her. “Do I know you?” he said. “I haven’t seen you around before.” His smile indicated the friendly approach rather than the security check.

  “No. I haven’t been here long. I’ve got to go. I’m still working.”

  His smile broadened. “Want to share a coffee break sometime? The name’s Nick Ivy.”

  “Sure.” If she gave him the elbow, he’d be more likely to remember her for it. He looked like the kind of man women said yes to on a regular basis. Now she’d have to think of a fake name, fast. Why hadn’t she done that earlier? Because she’d never done this kind of thing before and she was doing it on her own, so she didn’t involve anyone else.

  He jerked his head up as if he was listening and then glanced at her. “Sorry, got to go.” He made a face. “Duty calls. But I’ll be watching for you.” Without his smile, that would have sounded like a threat.

  She waited until he’d gone, counted to twenty and then made her own escape from the roof.

  Only when she was going down the internal staircase did she realize that he hadn’t touched her libido one bit. Considering his devastating good looks and the time of the month, he should have had some effect. But nothing. And she couldn’t put it all down to the rising tension sending her body into cramps. Some of it was from the residual awareness of what she’d just shared in that anonymous hotel room.

  She slung the sports bag over her shoulder and set off to do her job. Soon enough she’d find out if Andros had the clearance she needed. If he didn’t, or if someone stopped her, she had her plan ready. A bet that went wrong, a stupid prank, she’d say. After all, it went with her day job.

  She met no one on her way to the elevators, but she imagined the security cameras followed her all the way. So she walked confidently, didn’t hurry, just lengthened her stride as much as she dared. She knew the layout of this building, more or less. Iso rooms and holding cells on the fifth floor, that was what she needed. She got off on the sixth floor and walked down, still meeting nobody. This was getting creepy. Did no one work late here?

  It was almost a relief to see someone standing outside one of the doors. A circular window like a porthole was set in the unremarkable panel of cream wood. She paused and smiled at the man. He was dressed in a navy suit that screamed “security”, with a cell phone and a walkie-talkie clipped to his belt and a small gun holster to one side. She would have thought that redundant, with the number of powerful beings here who could kill or maim with a thought. But perhaps the man was one of the mortals who worked here. She wouldn’t risk putting out her senses to find out. “I’m here to see someone. Harken Nordheim.”

  “You have permission?”

  She drew out a form from her jacket pocket. “Will this do?” It wouldn’t, she knew. She’d printed a random official-looking document from the internet. It didn’t mean a thing, but what she was about to do would probably mean more.

  He bent his head to examine it and she held her breath, partially shape-shifted to boost her strength and hit him, a full chop to the back of the neck. She’d practiced the move, done it over and over until she had it right, but she hadn’t done it to a living, breathing human before. Only a first-aid dummy.

  The man crumpled like a piece of paper, collapsing to the floor in a gentle heap of unconsciousness, though thankfully alive. His ill-fitting uniform tore a little from the strain. She heard the rip as he went down.

  She could hardly believe it. This was so easy. With no one in sight and no one heading in their direction, she had to be quick. Because sure as fuck somebody would come soon. She dragged the hood of her top over her head and fumbled with the keys, flinging the door wide.

  The pure white of an isolation room greeted her, together with the man she was here to rescue. He stood legs apart, his eyes wide, his mouth cracked in a huge smile. His confidence, before now so invigorating, struck her as slightly irritating. Shouldn’t he be grateful or something? He didn’t even seem surprised. “Good girl! How did you do it?”

/>   “We haven’t done it yet.” She beckoned. “We need to get out of here.”

  Without looking back, she headed for the stairs, the soft pad of his feet following her. He touched her shoulder. “What’s wrong with the elevators?”

  “Are you insane? They could trap us there. Stairs are better. Come on.”

  They hurtled down the stairs, but on the first floor someone waited for them. A slightly built woman but that didn’t fool Faye. This person was a Sorcerer. She felt the power of the woman’s finely honed psi senses and knew she’d have no chance fighting her that way.

  So Faye rushed her, hit her before the Sorcerer could open her mind and attack. The woman’s head hit the floor with a sickening thud and she lost consciousness. Faye didn’t wait to ensure her safety, just touched her with her mind to make sure she was still alive.

  She turned around but spun back at the sound of a solid thump and the echo of pain in her psi senses.

  Harken was staring down at the woman, a satisfied grin wreathing his face. Surely Harken hadn’t just kicked the woman? No, of course not. The man she knew wouldn’t do that. But it looked like it.

  She beckoned and he followed her to the stairs leading down to the parking area, easily found because it was labeled. She’d never imagined a top security building would have the floors and areas clearly labeled, but she needn’t have gone to the trouble of memorizing the plan that had turned out to have nothing to do with reality anyway.

  Fresh air blew across them and she picked up speed, heading for the first vehicle she saw. A small car, yellow, its body spattered with dirt and mud from this morning’s shower of rain.

  She wrenched the door open, putting all her strength into pulling it free of its lock. Small car, paltry security. She flicked up the passenger door lock and Harken scrambled in. Fumbling under the dashboard, she found the wires and forced her mind into compliance, remembering the skill she’d only recently learned. She touched the right wires together, relieved when the car choked into life.