The Protectors Christmas Box Set (sexy paranormal romances) (11 page)

“You really want my opinion?” Janice asked. “If I were you, I’d go hang out in deserted alleyways hoping to bump into that mystery man of yours again.”

* * * * *

The woman in the alleyway needed his help. Just because they’d skirted
the darkness
that one time didn’t mean it wasn’t still out there. Searching. Wanting.

Brendan may have been raised in a world very different from the one he was living in now, but he’d learned over the past few years the meaning of loyalty. There were reasons beyond the material for scarifying a little in order to help another in need.

Whether she knew it or not, that spitfire belonged to them. She needed to be protected until she could be brought into the fold and educated.

Her awakening to what she was and the powers that came with the knowledge was a dangerous time for her. She was vulnerable to all sorts of attacks right now and not just from the all-consuming darkness.

He had to find her.

That evening Brendan lit several dozen lavender-scented candles in his spacious master bathroom. He stripped off his clothes and lowered himself into the large, round tub. Hot water swirled around him. With his face barely breaking the surface, he drew in a deep breath and quieted his mind. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

His breathing slowed as he slipped deeper within himself. He tapped into the powers that dwelled in his soul, using it to reach out into the universe. Like
the darkness
, he was searching.

She was nearby.

His mind stilled.

She’d changed her clothes. A teasing leather skirt hugged her shapely bottom. A matching pair of black leather boots outlined her slender thighs. And a loose, crocheted silvery sweater gave a peek-a-boo show with the white tank top she was wearing underneath. His cock stirred, which didn’t surprise him. She’d teased his poor neglected body to the point of flames and cruelly left him wanting.

He almost cried out as he watched her cover all that lovely flesh with a long wool coat.

Her ruby lips were moving. He strained, trying and failing to hear what she was saying. In order to find out anything about her, he’d have to get closer.

Slowly, the image around him came into sharper focus.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” she was saying. She hugged her coat tight against her body. “Do I really have to dress like a hooker?”

“You don’t look like a hooker. Well, not exactly. Besides, if you want a second chance at getting that associate position, I think you’d better wear whatever Tony wants. Though he’s only been with your dream law firm for a few years, he says he has an in with the principals. You make him happy and he’ll pull some strings and get your missed interview rescheduled.” The woman accompanying Brendan’s spitfire gave her a shove. “Come on, we’ll be late.”

* * * * *

Directed visions were tricky devils. Frank Stone had made Brendan practice slowing his mind and honing his focus time and again until forcing a vision almost came naturally to him. The problem with them, though, was that they rarely gave him the freedom to do simple things like read the number on her apartment door or peek at the mail on the small table in the front foyer in order to get her full address.

He’d get snatches of conversations and images and not much more. With the New Ones he’d watched over the years, he never needed to do much more than that. He’d periodically check in and see how the New One was doing. Pop in. Pop out. Nothing difficult.

But with this one, they knew next to nothing about her and her situation. He didn’t even know her name, which meant that if they were going to learn anything, he would have to break a few rules and actually put himself inside her head.

Ignoring the dull throb in his temples, he drew himself even deeper into the vision and called on the powers swirling around him. Feeling his way through the haze, he moved closer to his elusive target.

At the periphery of her thoughts, he banged up against a thick barrier, a protective wall that must have taken years to build around herself.

I suppose this is how you were able to throw us all for a loop this morning, my lovely headache
.

But he wasn’t one to let a wall keep him out. He drew in another deep breath and tried a different tactic. Following the faint connection he’d created between them by kissing her, he could work his way around her barriers. He hoped.

Moving through time and space this way was like pulling himself along a lightly spun thread that could be easily broken. He took his time. If the strand connecting them snapped, he’d have one hell of a time finding his way home to him own body.

Anticipation thudded in his heart when he sensed he was pushing his way into her core. The sweet scent of honey and jasmine flooded his senses.

The passion that had sparked between them while they were together in the alleyway flared suddenly to life and he was with her. Inside her. Seeing her life through her eyes.

Not many possessed the ability to join with another in this way. Those who knew how to do it were discouraged from using their power. Despite the pleasant way his body hummed with excitement to be with her so intimately, he wouldn’t have reached out to her like this if there were any other way.

There wasn’t.

Even though she was one of them, she was a complete unknown. Before yesterday, no one—not even Frank Stone—knew she existed. Which was impossible.

Stone, and others like him, were experts at detecting the emergence of New Ones. Once an individual like them was identified, Stone would send someone, like Brendan, out to watch over that person until he or she was ready to hear the truth.

Stone had been utterly baffled how this spitfire—a force more powerful than anything they’d encountered in a long time—could have escaped their notice for so many years. If the strong vision that had interrupted Brendan’s sensual Thursday night had been any indication, they needed to find her quickly and bring her into the fold before
the darkness
devoured her.

That was going to be a difficult task considering how Brendan didn’t know her name, her address, or anything about her other than the nearly painful attraction he was feeling toward her at the moment.

Her mind stirred. Her thoughts tentatively touched his as he settled deep inside her.

“
Shhh
,” he whispered. “
I won’t hurt you
.”

A flurry of thoughts followed. She battered him, trying to push him out. He was an outside unknown. A danger.

“
I won’t hurt you
,” he repeated. “
You know me. We are the same. Listen. And remember
.”

It didn’t matter. This was too intimate for her. He could feel her panic rising.

He rifled through her thoughts, searching for a glimmer of blind trust to grab onto.

There was none to be found. She’d been left alone in the world of the humans for too many years.

In the shadowy corners of her mind, Brendan sensed threads of
the darkness
that had already found a way to touch her. Like a cancer, the evil had started to grow within her. She drew on its sticky, corrosive powers.

Damn, this was worst than he’d imagined.

A sharp pain struck him as she directed
the darkness
to attack him. It dug into his thoughts, filling him with violent urges, most of them sexual.

He growled and blindly struck back.

“
No! Stop
,” he commanded. He couldn’t let her block him like this. If she pushed him out, the thread between them would snap,
the darkness
inside her would grow stronger. It would devour her soul and she would remain forever lost to them.

The darkness
struck out again and he could feel himself losing his connection with her.

Without considering the consequences, he grabbed onto her spirit—the part of her that was perfect and untouched by evil. Holding onto her as tightly as possible, he whisked her soul out of her body, out of the reach of
the darkness
, and dragged her kicking and screaming into his world.

Time and space swirled, pulling them both to a dream world he’d created during the nightmare of his childhood. Once the maelstrom stopped, he found himself standing in a shimmering blue landscape. The sable-haired spitfire touched ground at his side. Her hand securely clasped in his own. Her lips parted slightly as her wide, grassy-green eyes took in the view of the blue-tinted trees, the vast expanse of the sandy beaches and the bright blue waters that teamed with life and fed Brendan’s powers.

“What is this place?” There was a hushed sense of awe in her voice.

“My heaven.”

She shuddered. “I-I don’t belong here.”

He fought her attempt to pull away. “No, tender one. Stay. There’s nothing to fear. No one can harm you in this place. As long as you are with me, you’re safe.”

And under his power
.

A wholly unexpected sense of satisfaction rushed through him. As long as she stayed in his domain, this woman—a New One with powers rivaling the ancients—was his and his alone to control.

Fuck, what was he thinking? She was a New One, an innocent. It wasn’t as if she understood the powers available to her. Without her knowledge or permission, he’d blasted his way through all the rules governing this sort of thing and dragged her into a realm of his making. He spiked his hand through his hair. He absolutely, positively shouldn’t be considering what he was planning to do.

He held his breath as she sucked on her lower lip and gazed around the simmering landscape. A waterfall dropped from the azure sky to fill an indigo-tinted reflecting pool. The sky’s baby blue glow glinted off the still waters and made it look as if diamonds were floating on its surface. Nearby, a Caribbean blue sea lapped at a sandy shore. And beyond the sea, sapphire glaciers formed a mountainous backdrop.

She tore her gaze from the beauty surrounding them and propping her hands on her hips, blinked up at him. “You’re the one from the alleyway. The one who…”

A blush brightened her cheeks.

“The one who…what?” he teased.

No, don’t play this game. Ask her name, find out her address, and get out
, his irritatingly noble conscience urged. But he wasn’t ready to let such a powerful woman escape so quickly.

He tried to blame his recklessness on the aftereffects of being tainted by
the darkness
. But he knew the truth. These hungers eating at him were deeper. Darker.

“The one who…what?” he repeated and used his powers to give her barriers a push.

Her own powers surged in response. She huffed a quick breath. “You frustrate me.”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

That made her smile. “My friend says I should…um…thank you for that kiss you gave me in the alley.”

“She does?” He raised a brow. “And, do you?”

“Do I
what
?” Her power swirled around them in sparkling green-blue eddies, all warm and inviting. And strong.

His cock elongated and pressed against the front of the jeans he’d donned in this magical world of his for her sake. He swallowed the lusty lump that formed in his throat.

“Do you thank me?” he asked.

“It depends.” The crooked smile she gave him seemed to brighten everything. “Let me decide after I see where this incredible dream takes me.”

He took her hand and drew her toward the shelter of the waterfall. “Anywhere you want to go, tender one. Anywhere you want.”

As they passed the reflecting pool, Brendan crouched down and dipped his hand in the silent water and swirled, sending a ripple of pleasure spiraling through his eager companion. She smiled encouragingly. He closed his eyes and swirled again, while picturing the gentle folds between her legs. With his mind, he caressed her, lapped at her honeyed sweetness, and made love to her with an invisible tongue.

“Oh…” She gripped his shoulder and held on as he played with the water, knowing that she felt the warm ripples stroking her as intimately as if he were using his own tongue. “
Oh!
Oh, my.”

Her pupils grew large as she gasped softly. “You weren’t kidding me,” she managed before letting out another soft moan.

“Come here.” He leaned back on the soft bed of bluegrass beside the gurgling waterfall and guided her to her knees so she was straddling his waist, her crotch pressing enticingly against his rampant cock. “Kiss me.”

Like an obedient servant, she did as he bid and pressed her warm lips to his mouth.

Her velvety soft lips caressed his as tenderly as a warm breeze. The feel and taste of her only made him want more. He deepened the kiss, making love to her mouth. Suckling. Savoring. Growing wild with desire. When they finally parted, she was panting.

“This isn’t a dream, tender one.”

“Hmm…hummm….not a dream…right…” she murmured and tried to kiss him again. “And in the waking world, men are always whisking me off to fantastic places to make mad passionate love to me.”

“It’s not a dream.” His voice deepened. “Trust me.”

He wasn’t sure why he needed her to understand that what they were doing—though not happening within the realm of reality—was real. Perhaps even more real than what could happen in the flesh.

He’d taken a peek inside her mind and had felt the pain she’d been gathering over the years. He’d seen firsthand the heartbreaks she’d suffered. Love didn’t have to be that way…at least that was what Frank Stone had spent the past six years trying to beat into Brendan’s thick skull.

Just this last year Brendan had started to come around to Stone’s way of thinking. If he could keep his emotions out of the picture, he found he could be with a woman without risking anything.

Sex could simply be sex. No losers. No heartache.

So, given that line of reasoning, there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong with what he was planning to do. As long as she understood the situation, she would be no different from the blonde who’d practically begged he bring her home with him last Thursday night.