Obsession Untamed (9 page)

As the roaring pleasure eased, she became aware of a strange sensation inside her head, like the soft brush of angel’s wings against the inner walls of her skull whispering impressions into her mind.He wasn’t the killer. He didn’t kill needlessly. He was honorable. Fine. And very, very dangerous .

Honorable, the wings whispered.Trust him .

She looked up at him, exhausted and confused. “I don’t even know your name.”

“I’m Tighe.”

“What have you done to me?”

“Nothing for you to be worried about. Now go to sleep, Delaney.”

And just like that, she did.

Chapter Seven

“It’s about damned time,” Tighe muttered as he slowly withdrew his finger from the woman’s hot depths. Sweet nature, what she did to him. He was shaking with the need to finish what he’d started with her, to push inside her with the part of his anatomy made for the purpose. A part of him that was more than up for the task.

But he was not a man who took advantage of women. At least not more than he absolutely had to.

Not even human women. Especially not human women.

He sucked the honey from his finger, groaning at the perfection of her taste. What was it about her that turned him inside out? Was it this odd connection they’d formed through his clone? Or was it
the excitement of the unknown? An unknown he hadn’t experienced in a good long while?

The only women he allowed himself to have sex with were Therians, and he’d known most of them for centuries. Delaney Randall was new to him. Young and exciting. And human, dammit. Completely and totally off-limits. He hadn’t gotten involved with a human since Gretchen. And he never would again.

But, goddess, Delaney Randall was a beauty. He gazed down at her face, at her slender nose and full, ripe mouth as his thumb brushed the silken skin covering one high cheekbone. The longing to taste her again almost overpowered him.

What was she doing to him?

He needed to get her out of his life, fast, before he lost what little control he still possessed and pushed inside her, becoming a slave to this need for her until he destroyed them both.

Now that he’d finally,finally , captured control of her mind, it should only be a short while before he was through with her. He’d felt the catch, though not in the usual way. He hadn’t been certain he really did have her mind until he’d ordered her to go to sleep, and she had. The connection lingered inside his head, like a pleasurable warmth fanning the insides of his skull. Odd. But nothing with this woman had been normal.

All that mattered was she was his, finally. He should be able to root around in her mind and figure out how to free her of those visions. Once he’d disconnected her from the clone, it should be a simple matter to steal her memories of him as well.
Meanwhile, the Delaney Randall who’d turned him inside out was gone. For the moment.

For him.

Ridiculous to feel regret at the thought.

No, this was the way it had to be. He’d keep her calm and semicomatose until one of them got another vision, then he’d take it from there.

But as he stroked her finely shaped brow with his thumb, he couldn’t help the feeling of inexplicable loss. He was going to miss her fire and strength, her cunning and intelligence, and even the shadows in her eyes that spoke of loss and called to something deep inside him.

She would still be pretty to look at, but it was the fire that burned within her that made her truly beautiful. A fire gone cold, until he released her mind again. He was sorry for that. But there was neither reason nor time to delay the inevitable. With a sigh, he lifted a lock of her hair, the soft, dark wave sliding between his fingers.

“Wake up, Delaney.”

Instantly, her dark lashes swept up, revealing eyes filled with confusion.

“You don’t remember anything that happened after the cat ran into your apartment last night,” he said softly.

Her head turned to him, her eyes narrowing. “O-kay.”

His hand froze on her hair as he stared at her, blinking. Shit.Shit . He hadn’t gotten control of her mind at all. Yet hehad connected with it. Staring into her eyes he could almost see the gossamer thread, run
ning between them, fanning the warmth in his head.

Outrage barreled through him. Every time he tried to control her, something else went wrong. He flung himself off the bed and strode to the wall, barely keeping himself from slamming his fist through the plasterboard. He not only had to seize control of her mind, but now he had to break this unholy connection.

He whirled to find her sitting up.

How could he not have her mind? She’d gone to sleep and wakened on cue. Unless…

“Lie down,” he barked. And she did. Instantly. “Sit up.” She jerked upright as if pulled by an unseen cord.

“Stop it!” she cried. “How are you doing this?”

He seemed to have gotten control of her body and not her mind. How in the hell hadthat happened? And what good did it do? He needed to keep her from remembering him!

“Lie down.”

She fell back, mouth wide with disbelief, eyes filled with terror as she struggled to move, but he’d told her to lie down, and that was all she could do.

“What have you done to me?”

He smiled bitterly. “It seems I’ve got you under my control, Agent Randall. Just not the way I wanted, dammit.”

He saw the realization in her eyes, the understanding of just how vulnerable she really was. Raw, icy fear rolled across his tongue, hurling him back to another time. In his mind, he saw Gretchen, his beloved Gretchen, her eyes wide with terror.

She should have known. She should haveknown.

At the hated taste on his tongue, fury ripped through him, tearing him loose from his control. He felt the burn of his claws unsheathing, the ache of his fangs getting ready to drop.

Not now.Not now .

He longed to hurt her, to punish her for her fear. For her betrayal. She’d destroyed him. Taken everything from him, everything that had ever mattered.

For a second, his mind cleared. He was staring at Delaney, not Gretchen. Delaney.

Desperately, he tried to wrench back control. But it was too late. Too late.

“Close your eyes and stay there!” He whirled away from her as the chaos swept him into that place of fury and violence, a place where he was neither man nor beast, yet utterly inhuman. As he lifted the chest of drawers and slammed it against the wall, shattering the mirror, the chaos swept him away.

The sound of shattering glass tore through Delaney’s eardrums as she lay, stuck to the bed, unable to open her eyes.Unable to move .

This is not happening. It is not happening!

Pieces of furniture crashed against one another, wood splintering, glass shattering.And she couldn’t move to get out of the way .

She struggled to sit up, grinding her elbows into the mattress as she pushed with all her strength, but it was as if an invisible hand held her down.

Her mouth went dry. Good God, she had to get out of there.

What has he done to me?

He had to be using some kind of mind-control drug on her. Twice now, he’d knocked her out. And just before he’d put her to sleep the second time, she’d had this strange urge to trust him.Mind control . With a sudden certainty, she knew he was no run-of-the-mill psychopath. There was more going on here. Much more.

But why experiment on a federal agent? Unless…

The answer, so obvious, chilled her to the marrow of her bones. She had access to information, to places, topeople , most never would. He could turn her into the ultimate terrorists’ weapon. Until her fellow agents killed her. Then he’d simply kidnap another.

The ramifications reverberated through her head. The lives that would be lost. The lives he’d force her to take.

I have to get out of here.

If she could escape before the drug fully wore off, while it was still in her blood, the lab might be able to identify it. They might be able to create an antidote. Or even find a way to duplicate it.

Except she couldn’t escape. She couldn’t even move!

He’d lost it. Completely. Even before he’d turned into Olaf the Berserker, she’d felt it, as if the storm swirling inside him were visible.

Had he, too, been experimenting with the drug? Was that to be her destiny?

A new sound burst into the room. “Tighe!” a man shouted as, closer by, strong arms lifted her.

“Let’s get you out of here,” a deeply masculine voice said.

“I’m all for that.”

The man carried her from the destruction zone to lay her on what felt like a sofa in another room. “Are you injured?”

“No. He did something to me before he turned crazy. I can’t move. I can’t even open my eyes.”

“Interesting. Stay here.”

“That’s what they all say,” Delaney muttered, then lay there listening to the sound of fighting like nothing she’d ever heard. Thudding, snarling, slashing. Like they’d turned into animals or something. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or dismayed to learn there were more of them.

“Get off me.” Tighe’s deep growl carried to where she lay. “The woman?”

“Is on the sofa.”

Delaney blinked. She froze as her eyes went wide. She could open her eyes again.Halleluiah. As her gaze took in the small, unoccupied living room, she tried to sit up. Grunting and straining against the invisible hand, she managed to prop her elbows under her. Elation swam through her as she panted with exertion.

The drug was wearing off.

“Is she sleeping? Or dead?” Tighe’s voice carried from the bedroom.

“Unharmed as far as I can tell, but she can’t move. What did you do to her?”

“I got control of her, just not her mind.”

“Eliminate her,” a third, hard voice chimed in.
Not the voice of the man who’d carried her to safety. Not the voice of anyone she wanted to come face-to-face with without her Glock.

Again, she struggled to sit up, and like magic, was free. The drug had worn off!

“No one’s harming her.” Tighe’s voice.Yeah, Tighe . “Leave. I’ll see to her.”

“No,” Delaney muttered under her breath as she swung off the sofa and crept to the door. “I’ll leave.I’ll see to her.”

“We’re staying,” said the man who’d carried her out of the room.

“No you’re not.” Tighe’s voice was too close. No longer in the bedroom.“Hell .”

He’d spotted her.

Pulse racing, blood pounding in her ears, Delaney lunged for the door. Her hand closed around the knob, twisted and jerked hard, but the door opened only a couple of inches before slamming shut again. Tighe’s overwhelming presence loomed over her from behind.

She tried to whirl around, but he pressed her, face-first, against the door, his breath harsh in her ear.

“Don’t fear me.”

“Let me go, Tighe.Please. ”

“Can’t do that.” He eased back a fraction, not so much that she could turn around, but enough that he was no longer laying his full weight against her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Could have fooled me.”

He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, his expression grim as he appeared to stare down
at her through the shades. “Where? Where did I hurt you?”

She gasped as she got a good look at him despite the shadows. He was a mess. Good grief. His face and body were streaked with blood, his shirt nearly shredded. Yet she couldn’t make out any injuries. No open, bleeding flesh. Not even any scratches to account for the blood.

Did that mean it wasn’t his? Yet how could he not be harmed with his clothing in tatters? The soft fluttering in her head intensified, as if the angel wings were agitated by the sight of him. The sensation echoed in her chest. As if she were worried about him. As if whatever he’d done to her made her think she cared.

His hands tightened on her shoulders. “Where are you hurt, Delaney?”

“I’m not, but I don’t think I can say the same for you.”

He glanced down at himself as if realizing for the first time what he looked like. “I’m fine. I didn’t hurt you?”

“No. Your friend got me out of there before you chucked any furniture my way.” She stared at him. “Iguess he’s your friend? Good grief, one of them nearly killed you.”

Tighe grunted. “They look as bad as I do. And, yeah, they’re my friends. They heard me destroying the place and came to offer a little well-timed intervention.” He released her shoulder to stroke her hair. “Thank the goddess, I didn’t hurt you.”

She almost told him not to touch her hair, not to
stroke her, but couldn’t bring herself to utter the words. His touch felt good. As ifhe cared. At least as if he cared that he hadn’t hurt her.

“Was it the drugs that sent you…over the edge?” she asked carefully.

He stilled. “The drugs?”

She sighed. “Right. No drugs involved here. You just waved your magic wand and got control of me like that.”

Oddly, the tension seemed to drain out of him. “Oh. That drug.”

“Tighe, there’s some nasty shit going on here,” she said quietly, reaching for his face as if she meant to press her palm to his cheek. She snatched her hand back. Yet that fluttering in her head whispered that he needed her touch.He needed her .