A Touch of Lilly (13 page)

Dallas
picked up the chair he’d flung and set it close to her.
Settling backward on it once again, as if the back were a shield for
protection, he pressed his body close to hers. “Why don’t
you tell me what the hell that is? Seems I’ve got some missing
pieces in this puzzle.” He brushed hair from her face. “I
want to help, Lilly. But I can’t keep you safe if I don’t
know everything. Thaegan mentioned some myth, but I’m thinking
it’s much more than that.”

The
man was an enigma. She wanted to believe the compassion in his voice
was real, but the hard set of his jaw communicated something entirely
different. In reality, when it came right down to it, she wanted
someone to know. Someone who could share her burden without judgment.
Lilly had no idea if Dallas was that person, but sitting here, bound
and naked, she figured she really didn’t have a whole hell of a
lot more to lose.

“
She
was my great-great-grandmother. It’s barely a part of me.”
Lilly looked down. Even with Dallas’ hand warm on her shoulder,
there was shame in the telling.

His
finger came under her chin and gently lifted it. She had no choice
but to stare into the chocolate pools of his eyes. “Then it’s
not your fault. Whatever
it
is, the responsibility belongs to
someone else.” His thumb brushed over her lips. “The
beginning. Start at the beginning. I have no idea what it is. What
you
are
.”

Confusion
and frustration warred within her. How could he not know? The answers
were as obvious as her beaded nipples and the dizzying aroma of her
arousal. Dallas was so close she could feel his body heat pressing
against her, making it hard to fill her lungs. Yet the man seemed
immune to the sexual energy crackling between them. Even without
trying, her own arousal was usually enough to affect any male close
to her and drive one with his hands on her to sexual delirium.

“
You
seem, well…you’re very obviously human.” One side
of Dallas’ mouth curved, his dimple softening the hard angles
of his jaw. “But there’s something that makes you
special.” His hand brushed up her face to cup her cheek and she
couldn’t stop herself from leaning into it. “I just want
to understand it.”

His
eyes searched her face, settled on her lips and Lilly thought for a
moment he might kiss her. She wanted to feel the heat of his mouth on
hers. Instead, he dropped his hand, rubbing them both on his jeans.
“Just please explain to me what Thaegan was talking about.”

Even
that slight rejection stung. Now that she understood they weren’t
selling her to the highest bidder, seduction and escape no longer
mattered. What Lilly needed now was Dallas—a human man—to
accept who she was. Filling her lungs with courage, she stared
straight ahead, unable to witness his revulsion as she recalled the
story her mother had told her the night of her first menses.
“Serapheliums are an ancient race. They came from another
galaxy, hundreds of light years from even deep space. It’s said
they resembled humans, but their beauty was unmatched. Gods bowed
down to their perfection and angels sang at their births.” She
chanced a look at Dallas and shrugged, embarrassment heating her
cheeks.

“
I
can see the resemblance.”

She
laughed out her disbelief. “Yeah, whatever.”

“
You’re
too hard on yourself.” His hand feathered across her face and
settled warm and firm on her shoulder, encouraging her. “Continue.”

“
The
Seraphelium were a small population of peaceful people. But warriors
arrived on their planet, seeking new territories. Aliens from another
planet. Not wanting a war, the Serapheliums offered a portion of
their lands. But it wasn’t enough. The warriors needed slaves
to make new weapons and build their armies. The Serapheliums rose up
to fight against them, but they were too weak. The men were enslaved.
The women didn’t know how to defend themselves and the warriors
began taking them for their own pleasure. But it seemed the women had
a special power over them. Though they had no effect on their own
kind, the female touch of a Seraphelium could bring the opposite sex
of another species to their knees with blind sexual need—”

“
Thaegan
said your hands were dangerous.” His hand slid from her
shoulder, down her bare arm to her bound hands behind the chair,
threading his fingers in hers. “And if you touched me, you’d
make me forget everything except having sex with you.” The
smile lighting Dallas’ face reached up to soften the danger
that had sparked in his eyes. But there was no evidence of
heavy-lidded lust.

“
That’s
the theory,” she said quietly.

He
continued to toy with her hands. “How did
you
come to
have this power?”

Though
his fingers only tickled along her palms, she could have sworn it was
Dallas with the sexual gift manipulating the energy flowing between
them. His fingers seemed to be sending electrical impulses through
her palms and into her bloodstream, kicking her heart rate up several
notches. Her breaths came in shallow pants that barely filled her
lungs and yet she couldn’t have asked him to stop. Didn’t
want to lose the connection. The strumming made her acutely aware of
the very male essence of him and she wanted that—craved it with
every fiber of her being. Lilly swallowed the burning need clogging
her throat, trying to find her voice.

“
The
female Seraphelium used their sexual gifts to control some of the
warriors. They…” She hesitated, not sure if she could
trust Dallas with the one piece of information that worked in her
favor. But with him sitting so close and seeming to have no reaction
to the sexual energy still vibrating the air around them, Lilly
decided she had nothing left to lose and pressed forward. “They
affect the hormones in the blood, overloading the sexual circuits of
males and incapacitating them. While they were in the sexual fugue,
the Seraphelium took their war ships and fled. But the ship held many
complications. The food was wrong and there were new diseases that
infected the population. Men and children seemed especially
vulnerable. Those who didn’t starve, died of horrible plagues.
No planet would allow them passage for medical help.

“
Resigned
to death, they wandered through space, waiting for the end. It
appears they crash-landed in the desert of Earth with barely a trace
of the ship. The large crater it left was thought to be caused by a
meteor. Few survived, my great-great-grandmother among them. They
were humanoid enough to blend in. Many found new mates. They fell in
love and had families. Their past seemed to have been forgotten. That
is until the first generation of females reached puberty and the
gift—as we call it—surfaced again. By then, humans were
reaching out into space and aliens were colonizing Earth. The
mingling of races was frowned upon. Not wanting their children to be
shunned, the Seraphelium vowed to hold tight to their secret.”

“
It
doesn’t explain why you left Earth.” His hand moved up to
massage her forearm, absently offering the comfort she needed to
continue.

“
Humans,
it seems, are very sensitive about the purity of their race,
especially when it comes to the government and national security.”
Lilly hadn’t thought about her fall from grace in months. The
pain of the betrayal slammed into her as if it were happening again
for the first time. “It seems positions like that are for those
with
untainted
blood.” She swallowed the hot coal of
anger in her throat, closing her eyes to hold in the tears
threatening to spill.

A
gentle squeeze on her biceps encouraged her to continue.

“
My
father was a lieutenant in the Boston police department. I grew up
surrounded by the code of blue. It’s all I ever knew. I wanted
to be a cop my whole life. When I told him his only daughter wanted
to follow in his footsteps, he burst with pride.” She coughed,
choking on the sorrow clogging her throat.

“
He
didn’t know, did he?”

She
shook her head, fighting the sadness tightening her chest. “My
mother didn’t want to fall in love with him. But sometimes the
head has no control over what the heart wants.” Lilly shrugged.
“She had no intention of having children. But fate had other
plans.”

A
gentle finger turned her chin again. The man wouldn’t let her
look away and hide in her shame. “They were lucky to have you.”
Lilly wanted to drown in the compassion Dallas offered. “And
you them. Not many people can claim to be born of such love, Lilly.”

“
Love
couldn’t change who I was. As much as I want to deny it. I’ll
always be a Seraphelium.”

“
It
doesn’t make you less of a woman.”

Once
again she laughed in disgust at his naiveté. “According
to the asshole who wanted my badge, that’s not the case. I’m
an abomination. An out-of-control alien looking to take over the
human race from the inside.”

“
Wait…the
Chicago PD
knew
what you were?”

“
Are
you kidding me? I kept the truth from everyone.” She wanted to
turn from Dallas’ probing gaze. Instead Lilly found herself
leaning into the warm caress of his thumb across her cheek, knowing
his disgust could take it from her at any moment. “I never
slept with guys in school or later with those on the force. Though
Serapheliums aren’t on the alien registry, I lived in fear if I
ever got too close to someone they might find out what I was.”

“
You
mean to tell me you were celibate?”

She
smiled at his incredulity. “I didn’t say that. I just
didn’t have relations close to home. I traveled. On long
weekends and vacations I had one-night stands. But that gets old
really fast.”

“
Did
you seduce them with…”

She
could see Dallas was wondering about their liaison in the alley.
“Dallas, it’s not like I want to—”

He
silenced her with a finger to her lips. “I didn’t mean it
that way, Lilly. Is there anyone you’ve slept with who you
didn’t,” his hand waved the length of her body, “seduce
with this power?”

There
was no recrimination in his tone but guilt speared hard nonetheless.
“I never turned it on if that’s what you mean. But my own
arousal is often enough to trigger—”

“
Are
you aroused now, Lilly?” Dallas stood slowly. He swung the
chair out of the way and moved in front of her. “Because right
now I want you with an ache that burns.”

She
admired the muscular curve of his thighs. Hungrily contemplated the
bulge behind his fly. Feasted on the firm ridges of his abdomen and
the well-defined wall of his furred chest. Took note of the taut
cords of his neck and the slight tic of muscle in his jaw. And
finally forced her gaze to meet his. The man was over six feet of
sexually heated male, making her wetter than hell.

“
I’m
not doing it on purpose,” she said. Her body ached to be taken
by this man. It was obvious he found her desirable as well. But as
much as she wanted him buried to the hilt in her heat, satisfying an
itch no toy at her hotel could relieve, Lilly was sure she wanted no
part of the frustrated confusion quivering along his muscles.
“Listen, Dallas. My energy’s still high. I pushed it up
to gain control over the Znedu and then again on Thaegan as he ran
through the alley.” Now that he knew what she was, Lilly
refused to feel shamed by her heritage. “I’ve no doubt
it’s pulling on you now. I can’t change that. And I’ve
got to tell you, you’re stronger than any human male I’ve
met for resisting it this long. I still have no idea how you manage
to touch me and then break the contact. No male’s
ever
been able to do that once I’m bound to them.”

With
the slow deliberation of a man on a mission, Dallas bent at the
waist. Planting his hands squarely on the arms of the chair, he
leaned in close. “If it’s all right with you, I don’t
think I want to fight this anymore.” Satin lips feathered heat
across her mouth, stealing what little breath she had. He added soft
pressure that made her dizzy with its intensity. When his hand snaked
around the back of her neck, he changed the angle. Dallas’
tongue swept her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She opened for him
and his flavor burst hot in her mouth, affectionate and fiery with a
demanding edge that screamed male.

She
pulled away from the assault, her breath sawing from her lungs. “Damn
it, Dallas. Untie my hands.”

“
Nothing
doing, sweetheart.” His mouth curved, but the smile held no
humor, only rapacious danger, making her tummy do a little
somersault.

She
smiled back in a seductive invitation. They both understood the
bindings had nothing to do with keeping her hostage and everything to
do with the sexual game just beginning. Lilly wanted this man with a
hunger she hadn’t felt in a very long time. “Afraid of a
tiny woman?”

Dallas
dropped to his knees between her quivering thighs, his lustful gaze
never leaving hers. “Fear has nothing to do with it, m’
lady.” Wrapping both hands around the back of her head, his
palms framing her chin, he pulled her down for another kiss. His
tongue swept into her mouth, exploring, demanding and she met every
thrust and pull with equal challenge. When he drew back to catch his
breath, she rasped his bottom lip through her teeth, pulling a deep
growl from his throat.