Extrasensory (24 page)

For a moment he just stood and looked at her. She was wrapped in a pale green robe, thick chocolate-colored hair curling softly around her face and looking so vulnerable and fragile he wanted to wrap her in cotton wool and pack her away. He wondered if she had regrets about last night. Second thoughts. He certainly hoped not, because all he could think about was making sure she never got away from him. How the hell had he fallen so hard so fast?

She looked up as she heard the door close.

“Hi!” She smiled up at him. “I didn’t know what time you’d get here or if you’d eaten, so I got some sandwiches sent up. I took a chance on what you might like. Oh and there’s three kinds of beer in the fridge.”

Dan just stared at her.

“Was that okay?” she asked, a nervous edge creeping into her voice. “I wasn’t sure…”

“Okay doesn’t begin to describe it. You’re exhausted, you’ve been through hell, you’ve got a cut on your hand that has to be killing you and you’re worried about my welfare? I’m just amazed that some man hasn’t locked you up already to keep every other male of the species away from you.”

“Oh, well.” She shrugged, blushing. “Most men think I’m kind of a kook. You know, the precognition thing and all. They either want to dissect me or run away from me. Or treat me like I’m not even there.”

“Then I have to say,” he said in a very soft voice, “that most men are incredibly stupid. And I’m one lucky son of a bitch.”

It amazed him that she actually blushed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a woman blush like that. Of course, the women he chose to spend his recreational time with had long ago passed the stage of being able to blush about anything.

“I thought for sure you’d be asleep,” he told her, shedding his jacket and tossing it onto a chair. “Rick called and said he’d gotten you locked down tight.” She nodded. “Yes. He made sure I got to the suite just fine and even ordered some food for me.” She smiled, a tiny upturn of the corners of her mouth. “And I actually ate.

I couldn’t believe I was hungry.”

“Stress burns up a lot of energy.” He bent to press a kiss on her mouth, tasting her lips with his tongue for just a brief moment before he gestured toward the laptop.

“Special project?”

“You might say. I’m on the website Faith’s aunt told me about, doing a search for precognition and precognitive interpretations. Extrasensory perceptions, as it were. It’s a little awkward with my bad hand but the two finger method works pretty well.” She pointed at the screen. “There are people here who have had some experience studying it, as well as others who want to record their visions for others to see. Maybe help with interpretation.”

“That’s a terrific resource. Find anything yet?”

She shook her head. “Bits and pieces, that’s all. The website is fairly new so there isn’t as much on it yet as there will be eventually.” She closed down the computer and looked up at him, anxiety plain on her face. “I…need to tell you something but I want to make sure you eat, okay?”

“Another vision?” he guessed.

“Yes, but not a gory one, thank goodness. Come on, let’s sit down and I’ll tell you what I remember.” She put her laptop aside and moved to the table.

He got a beer for himself from the fridge and a bottle of water for her, then pulled a chair up next to her. “Okay. Let’s have it.”

“This one was just numbers.”

Dan raised his eyebrows. “Numbers?”

“Yes. I never can tell exactly what form the vision will take. Sometimes it’s an image, sometimes a flash of color. Sometimes numbers. That’s what I saw tonight. First like those children’s building blocks. They were tumbling around in space as if trying to find the right order.”

Dan took a swallow of his beer, trying to release the tension in his body. “What were the numbers?”

“One, five and seven. Do they mean anything to you?”

He frowned, bit into a sandwich, chewed and swallowed thoughtfully. “No. Could it be an address? Is there one that comes to mind?”

She shook her head. “No. I tried doing what Faith’s aunt and the other women at her house told me to do. I forced everything else from my mind and tried to focus just on my vision. To see if there was anything around the edges I was missing, or if I could sense anything else.” She shrugged. “But it didn’t work.”

“Don’t force it,” Dan told her. “It’ll come.”

“But we have so little time left. And I still have the feeling Oscar is in great danger.”

“You know Chase ran another demonstration and everything checked out.”

“I know. I just… Maybe your magic computer could try running number combinations for a location in San Antonio.”

Dan grinned at her. “Good thought. Let me get Andy on it right away.” He speed dialed a number on his cell phone while Mia sat sipping at her water.

“Do you ever sleep?” Andy wanted to know when he answered. “Maybe you don’t know that the rest of us like to do that once in a while.”

“Keeps you on your toes,” Dan told him. “Sorry about this but it’s really important.” He gave him an outline of what he wanted. “And not just addresses.

Anything those numbers could indicate in any possible combination. Oh and factor in baby toys.”

“Baby toys?” Andy sounded as if he thought his boss had lost his mind.

“Just do it, okay? I’ll have my cell on, so if you get something, call no matter what time it is.”

“Just like always.” He clicked off.

“I’m sorry I can’t give you any more details,” Mia told him, twisting the bottle in her hands. “No matter what I did, I couldn’t call up anything else.”

“I think you’re trying too hard,” he told her.

“We only have three days before Chase’s big deal,” she reminded him, “and I have this sick feeling in my stomach that we’re already too late to stop what’s happening.”

“Impossible.” Dan finished off half the sandwich. “We’ve taken every precaution.

Oscar has more guards in place than the president. No one can get near him. And the new biometric program is up and running.”

She hit her thigh with her small, clenched fist, frustration plain on her face. “I’m missing something. I just know I am. Whoever did this would know, wouldn’t they, that redoing that program would be the first thing on your list? So what would they gain by taking Stan’s…body parts?”

“That baffles me too. However, it’s possible they thought they could get in there before I had time to do a brand new setup.” He took another swallow of his beer.

“Actually, with that coffee trick, I think they expected to use Stan’s thumb and eye to get in there and be out before anything was discovered.”

“If you hadn’t had that meeting this morning, they easily might have done it.” Dan nodded. “No one would have come looking for Stan for a while. We screwed up their schedule.”

She took a small sip of her water. “Well, that at least eliminates everyone who was in the conference room.”

“But it opens up a wider list of suspects that without the Dragon’s capabilities, we’d never be able to handle.” He put the metal cover back on his plate, tossed the empty beer bottle in the trash and stood up. “I’d say you need to give the brain a rest or you’ll make yourself sick. Don’t push it, Mia. It will come to you.” She sighed. “I guess you’re right. But I’m still going to do the mental exercises first thing like those women told me to. Maybe something will pop up.” She stood also, nearly bumping into Dan as she rose. They were so close they could feel each other breathe, suddenly caught up in the heat that blossomed between them.

Dan moved automatically, reaching for her and pulling her into his arms. The kisses they’d shared the night before weren’t even in the same category with this one.

Someone had lit a match to them and the fire burned high and bright. The kiss started out slow and soft, his lips molding to hers. Dan felt himself harden almost painfully, his erection popping up with a mind of its own.

He couldn’t get enough of touching her, tasting her. He wanted to run his mouth over every inch of her skin, then start all over again in case he missed a spot. His hands cupped her bottom, pulling her tightly against him so she could feel the sign of his arousal, of his need for her. No, not just a need.
Wanting
her, just as he had from the moment he’d laid eyes on her.

Jesus, the famous tight-ass Dan Romeo had finally bit the dust.

But Mia wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever known. She was bright, courageous and as sexy as hell, even if she didn’t think so. He’d broken his number one rule—never get involved with someone in a case. And he didn’t even think twice about it anymore.

When he lifted his mouth from hers, they were both gasping for breath.

“I want you,” he breathed.

Mia put her hands on his chest, her eyes still glued to his.

“I have to tell you something, before this goes any further.”
Oh, Jesus. Is there someone else? Has she decided this is all a mistake?

He was nearly ready to tell her to shut up, but he pulled in his control and found a smile somewhere.

“But I want to touch you when I do,” she told him almost shyly.

She unbuttoned his shirt and slid her small hands inside against the hard wall of his chest. Her delicate fingers brushed against the pelt of fine fur on his skin, rubbing back and forth. She felt him humming with pleasure. When her fingernails found and raked lightly against his hard nipples, he grabbed her wrists.

He closed a hand around one wrist. “Honey, you’d better either stop what you’re doing or talk fast. Otherwise in two seconds I’ll have you naked and on your back.” She smiled, an expression so soft and welcoming he all but fell into it. “That sounds like a great idea, but first I want you to hear what I have to say. You might think I’m too crazy to have in your bed.”

“As long as you’re not telling me you think last night was a mistake I can take whatever you’re dishing out.”

She looked at the couch. “Let’s sit down for a minute.” She turned away from him after they sat, too embarrassed to look at him while she talked. He’d been fine with her visions so far, but none of them had been about him.

He reached over and took her hand. “Honey, it can’t be that bad.”

“Just listen, please?” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I…saw you before you came to my office yesterday?”

“Saw me?” He frowned. “Saw me? Where? I’d barely gotten here.” What the hell was she talking about?

She squirmed, and would have pulled her hand away if he hadn’t tightened his hold on it.

“No. I mean I
saw
you. In a vision.”

For a moment he was startled. “You had a vision about
me
?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Mia, you know I’m good with your visions. What could be so bad about this one?

Did I kill someone?”

Again that nervous giggle. “No. you were…naked.”

Naked. Well. That put a different spin on things.

“I’ll admit I’m a little stunned. Still. Did I do something to embarrass you?”

“No.” She shook her head. “
I
did something.”

He moved his other hand to the nape of her neck and slowly massaged the muscles.

”Honey, just get it out, okay? It’s no big deal.”

Dan could barely catch his breath listening to her. And when she finally got out the details, he realized it was a very big deal after all. Not only did her visions not deter him, he was affected on some very deep level that she’d had one involving him. That it had aroused her enough to do what she’d done. The image of her watching a vision of him naked and masturbating in front of him made him so instantly rock-hard he was almost in pain.

When she told him she kept hearing his voice, he dropped her hand, cupped her chin and turned her face toward his.

“I’ve come to believe in fate, Mia. And I think that’s what this is. And now I can say this to you, not as some kind of image but as the real thing.” He brushed his thumb against her cheek. “So what did I say?”

She blushed again. “You said…
I want to fuck you.
”

“Well.” He brushed his lips against hers. “I obviously knew what I was talking about.”

Heart thundering against his ribs, he lifted her in his arms and headed for the bedroom. No woman had ever affected him this way. And he’d had his fair share of them. The instant connection between them almost vibrated in the air, and every sensation, every feeling was enhanced a hundred times. Something beyond the ordinary was at work here. Otherwise how did he explain this urgency he always felt with her, even in the midst of a critical situation?

The hotel had turned down his covers and he deposited Mia on the crisp sheets, being careful of her injured hand. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as he stripped off his clothes with swift efficiency, his throbbing erection proof of what he was feeling.

Yanking his wallet from his trousers, he extracted a condom and put it on the nightstand.

“Do you carry a supply of those with you?” She giggled nervously.

“Only an emergency stash. But tomorrow I’m buying the giant size box, just so we don’t run out.”

He unwrapped her from her robe and lifted the flimsy cotton of her sleep shirt over her head. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her completely nude. She was a vision. A living representation of everything he ever wanted in a woman. Last night he hadn’t taken the time to fully appreciate what he was looking at. Now he did.

Her breasts were round and full, with rose nipples surrounded by deeper rose areolas. Her stomach had just the slightest swell to it, tempting him to bend down and place an open-mouthed kiss on it. She shifted under him, hips moving, and a soft hum emerged from her throat. Graceful legs tapered upward to flaring hips, the juncture covered with soft, rich chocolate curls, her labia just barely peeking out. He clenched and unclenched his hands, every part of her so tempting he didn’t know where to start first.

He covered her mouth with his, pressing the rough silk of his lips against the smooth satin of hers. His tongue probed into the wet cavern of her mouth, tasting every inch of her. Her arms reached up and pulled him toward her and then he was lying beside her, his hand touching her everywhere.