No Love for the Wicked (12 page)

I couldn’t stay away any longer.
Theo’s thoughts whispered through my mind. I felt his face nuzzle my hair. And I sighed. It was as if every moment since my return had been leading up to this.

You shouldn’t stay away
, I thought back to him.
It’s our power, remember? The two of us.

Then I looked up and met his eyes. Melted chocolate—the kind that turned darker under heat. A wave of need pulsed through the room as his heartbeat thrummed in sync with mine. We moved together, our lips sealing as if they should have never been apart. His arms wrapped around me as my hands knotted in his hair. This wasn’t a dream or a fantasy. I felt everything about him. His blood pumping through his veins, the sheets tangled under his legs. But his thoughts stayed closed off. While his powers were sporadic, he grew stronger with me in his arms. He could hold his mental walls in place and feed on the energy that spun faster between us.

I was glad for his strength—I didn’t want an errant thought to ruin this moment.

He lifted my shirt over my head and quickly covered me with my quilt, keeping away the chill. My heart pounded. I’d never been so aware of my body before. He sat back and kicked off his shoes. My mouth went dry.

His heavy coat came next, tossed over a chair in the corner. Then he tugged off his shirt. When he turned back to me, the dark intent in his eye was clear. I wore only my panties under the quilt, but in a few moments more, I’d be completely naked.

The panic came quickly. I crossed my arms over my stomach and shivered violently. Naked meant torture. Humiliation. He stretched out beside me, and I automatically flinched away. I wanted this, wanted him. In my mind I knew that. But a lifetime of instincts had reared up inside me. I couldn’t help but fear the pain that had always come when I was at my most vulnerable.

“Open your eyes, Mag.” I hadn’t even realized I’d closed them. He pulled back the quilt, and a chill blew across my stomach.
No!
I turned away quickly, instinct screaming at me to run. He grabbed me at the waist; the power between us surged as he held me to the bed.

“No, Mag, look at me. It’s me here with you now. Me touching you. No pain, no embarrassment. Just me.”

I held on to the melting chocolate of his eyes. Like a lifeline, he grounded me. No pain here. No blood or shame. Only Theo. With his fingertip, he traced a line between my breasts. “Look,” he murmured.

Along my skin where his finger touched me, a thin glowing line appeared. He drew the glow farther, down to my stomach. The line stayed. The lingering panic eased. This wasn’t my father stripping me for one of his experiments. And the power rising between us wasn’t something to push back.

Theo traced a heart around my belly button, and, softly, I giggled. God, that felt good. I reached up and brushed back the hair from his face. The heat in his eyes turned serious. I pulled him to me. A soft, sweet kiss.

“Are you sure?” he asked in that gravelly voice.

“I know who you are, Theo. I want to know what this power is capable of. What
we
are capable of.”

He narrowed his eyes. “So you’re only interested in the power, then?”

I couldn’t help but smile. That had been my worry the first time we’d felt the connection between us—that he was only using me for my power. “No,” I said. “I’m interested in what I’ve been interested in since the first moment I saw you. You.”

Panic gone, I was ready to revel in our connection. Dark hair sprinkled over his chest, narrowing as it trailed down to his waist. My hands moved over the tattoos covering his pecs and back. I wanted to see all of them—the ones I’d dreamed about for the past several months and the ones I had yet to see. Bare chest to bare chest, we groaned as we came together. Our tongues sent flames through to one another’s hearts. I felt him chuckle with delight at the strength of my desire.

He went for my panties, slipping his fingers under the waistband. I opened my eyes and sucked in a breath. We were glowing. Light poured out from us, brightening the room as if the sun had risen to midday eight hours early.

He slid off my panties, keeping his eyes locked on mine, reassuring me against the panic just waiting to flare again. His fingers tickled in slow caresses along the outside of my leg. He kicked off his pants and lay over me, using his thick arms to lift his upper body while his lower half still remained just a hairbreadth from touching me.

I wanted nothing to ruin this moment. But there was something he needed to know.

I always fought them off
, I thought quickly.
As hard as my brothers and Father’s guards tried, as many times as they came after me, I never let them have me. Not completely.
I let down my mental walls only a peek. Just enough to show him what was only fair for him to know.

His gaze traveled over me with gentle eyes. Glowing, radiating power. He looked more like a fallen angel than ever before. Softly, he smoothed a hand down my hair.

“I want you, Mag. That no one else has ever had you only makes me want you more.” He brushed his face against mine, nuzzling, breathing me in. “Tell me what to do, Mag. Show me what you want me to do here.” His mouth was on mine again. Energy hummed inside me, through me. So warm, so powerful. How much more would it be if we were joined completely?

I pulled back. Holding his gaze, I ran my hands along the length of one of his tattoos, moving from his strong biceps down to his wrist. Then I guided his hands around to my back, sliding his fingers to squeeze my bare ass. His lips covered mine with a demand that stole my breath. I knew that this moment would change everything.

Then my alarm clock blared like a foghorn in the night.

I jumped as he growled and kicked my clock against the wall. He came back to my throat, nipping, sucking, making me ache. I pushed back on his shoulders. “Theo. Theo, wait. We have to stop.”

He growled again. “Like hell we have to stop.”

As if proving his point, he gripped my ass tighter and pulled me onto his lap. I gasped as, for the first time, I felt his naked body under me. I threw my head back in response. The glow surrounding us surged brighter, nearly blinding as he guided my movements over him, rubbing me perfectly along his length, bringing me higher, tighter.

From the floor the alarm blared again.

“What the fuck!” he snarled and threw the book I’d been reading the night before at the clock, silencing it with a sad, broken whine. I struggled for breath and put my hands on his chest to hold him back.

“No. I mean it—we have to stop. I have to go. I have to be at the airport in like an hour and a half.”

His hands were on my breasts, kneading, teasing. He watched my lips. “We don’t have a meeting at the airport. We don’t have a meeting at all today. All we have to do is stay right here.” He leaned forward toward my neck once more, but this time I held him back. It took nearly everything I had.

“Theo, I mean it. I don’t want to rush this. It’s too important. But I have to go.”

We were both breathing heavy, but my words finally sank in. He paused and narrowed his eyes. “Why are you going to the airport? Where are you going?”

A flash of panic shot through him, and his mental walls wavered. All the frustration and confusion he’d felt when I’d left before would be nothing compared to his devastation if I left him again.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said quickly, cupping his face in my hands. “I’m here to stay, Theo. I swear it.”

He rolled me back onto the bed. “Then what’s going on?”

“I have another assignment. With another team. Our target arrives this morning.” I took a deep breath to steady myself as much as possible.

His frown turned dangerous. I felt a push against my mind and realized a second too late what he was trying to do. The rage was immediate.

“Don’t you even fucking think about it! You want to know something from me, you ask me. Just because the bond between us gives you glimpses into my mind doesn’t mean you can try to get in my head anytime you want. It’s not going to happen, and someone’s going to end up hurt. And guess what? It’s not going to be me.”

“Is that a threat? We’re lying here naked and glowing, and you’re fucking threatening me?”

“Don’t even put this back on me. You’re the one who just tried to get in my head.”

He shoved my leg from his lap and got to his feet. “Yeah, I’m trying to get in your head because you don’t fucking tell me anything. All those months away, did you even think once about calling, letting me know you’re still alive? You came back, and I had to find out from Thirteen. You’re working with another team and don’t even bother telling me, or anyone else for that matter. What if you need backup? The people on Thirteen’s team were chosen because we’re the best. What if another team fucks up and you get exposed? Jesus, Mag, of course I’m trying to get in your head. How the hell else am I supposed to know what’s going on with you?” He yanked on his pants.

The quick shift of emotions was shocking. The heat of desire so easily turned to anger. I didn’t know what to do. Power sizzled
all around us, golden and hot, but I could feel my sudden anger churning that dark place inside me. I didn’t want to go there. Not now.

He tugged on his shirt and stopped. Both hands fisted in his hair, and he took several steadying breaths. The link between us strummed tightly. As his deep breathing calmed him, so it also calmed me. Anger slowly fading, I pulled the quilt over me, missing the heat of his body.

He dropped his hands to his sides. For a long moment, we simply stared at each other.

I didn’t know what to do
, I thought finally. For some reason, I couldn’t find the words to say them out loud.
I knew what I felt for you, and I knew the connection between us was stronger than anything I’d ever known, but no one had ever cared for me the way you did. I didn’t know what to do.

His jaw flexed. “Is that why you left? You were scared of what was happening between us?”

I sat up, holding the quilt to my chest.
No.
I still couldn’t find my actual voice.
No, I didn’t want to leave you. It felt like I was leaving a piece of myself behind. I had to get control of my powers
—
that’s all.

He took a deep, lung-filling breath, then turned to pull on his boots and grab his coat. My heart pounded. I knew I had to get going, but was this it? Had I blown it? The connection between us was still there, the power still a live presence around us. But his grid had shut down; his expression was a complete blank.

Ready to go, he sat heavily on the bed beside me. I took his hand in mine automatically. He didn’t pull away, but rather rubbed his fingers along my knuckles.

“I saw a glimpse of your assignment,” he said, looking at our joined hands. “Before you shut me out of your head, I saw a little of your other team. St. Pierre is a kiss-ass, but he’s a decent agent.
Double-check his contingency strategies, though. Make sure he’s got you covered. And, Mag, if you get even a hint that something is going wrong, you call me. Got it?”

I nodded. “I can handle myself, Theo.”

“I know you can,” he said, still staring at our hands. A moment longer passed and he pushed off the bed. I felt his absence instantly. The power inside me jolted as if punched. At the door he paused. Without turning back to face me, he said, “Be careful, Mag.” He cleared his throat. “It would be great if you’d call me after you get back, just to let me know you’re home again.”

“I will,” I said, and a sudden image of him returning to the farmhouse later in the afternoon came alive in my mind. We could pick up where we’d left off, take our time and really explore…

“Be sure to tell Luce hi for me,” he said suddenly, cutting off my train of thought. “It’s been a while, but I’m sure she’ll remember.”

Then without waiting for my response, he was out the back door and in his car.

Wait, what?

The alarm clock went off again, only this time it was a weak, sickly buzz. I found the thing upside down against the wall and set it back on the nightstand to turn off the alarm.

My body moved awkwardly; the unsated desire that had stirred so strongly still resisted settling down. It didn’t matter. I had a job to do. I grabbed the clothes I’d laid out the night before and headed to the bathroom. Theo and everything that had just happened between us needed to be set aside for the moment. I was an agent now. Time to focus.

Twenty minutes later, I drove down the driveway, away from the morning sunlight. I was headed to my first real mission as a real Network agent. I’d be in on the action as we took down a foreign supernatural threat that had absolutely nothing to do with
me or anyone in my family. I was just another agent with a role to play. No matter what else was going on with me right now, I should be thrilled about that.

But what the fuck did Theo ever do with Luce that she was so damn sure to remember?

The Indianapolis International Airport was the pretty painted toenail on the city’s callused left foot. The new terminal hub was only a few years old, so the glass and chrome still glistened like a beacon in the middle of nowhere. Inside, the restaurants and stores were clean and the layout easy to follow. I met Colin and Tony at the Starbucks just before the security check at Terminal A.