Beyond the Edge (12 page)

She held up another strawberry. “Want to try one?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Finally Kane seemed satisfied enough with his security preparation to join her. He dipped his head and she thought he meant to take the strawberry into his mouth or whisper into her ear, but he planted his lips on hers. “Mmm.”

He might be on a mission, but he hadn’t forgotten how to kiss—even with fake buck teeth. She never knew exactly what to expect from Kane. Sometimes he was exceptionally tender and gentle. Other times he was demanding. This time he kissed her as if he’d been craving her and his heat stoked her kindling embers until she forgot the cameras and who might be watching. His lips on hers became her sole focus. That and the fact that she wanted more.

And when his arms came around her, gathering her close, she couldn’t think of one place she’d rather be. Compared to kissing Kane, the technology in the next room would seem dull.

The champagne on his lips intoxicated her and she wished that all their clothes and his padding weren’t between them. But if his mouth was the only part of his body she could touch, she would take what he gave her. When they broke apart, her pulse had escalated and she had to breath in deeply for air.

And when he took her hand, she was ready to discover whatever was waiting for her in the master bedroom. If security cameras were watching them, they had to go and inspect the technology, even try it out or their actions would be highly suspicious.

While Kane surveyed the master bedroom with sharp eyes, she looked around. The suite appeared normal—high, sweeping ceilings and lots of marble, gilt and glass that one would expect in a penthouse suite. An exceptionally large bed dominated the room. Custom-made, the bed had to be almost double king-size and round. The rich emerald coverlet matched the drapes and dozens of pillows in assorted shapes and hues of green and gold drew her eye to a tiny scarlet velvet box that perched in their midst.

She was about to approach and examine the scarlet box when Kane tugged her back into his arms. Lifting her head, she hoped for another stunning kiss. But his fingers unfastened her blouse with an expertise that told her he was in a hurry and his knowing smile warned her that he knew exactly what was in the box.

She glanced at the ceiling. “What about cameras?”

“There aren’t any in here.”

He sounded so certain, but he wasn’t a man to take another’s word, especially one who worked for Nigel. She leaned forward, catching his fingers, and lowered her voice. “How do you know there aren’t any hidden cameras or microphones?”

He waved a brochure that he must have picked up while she’d been taking in the ramifications of that awesome bed. “Because the device Nigel stole has built in privacy dampeners. You needn’t worry about anyone hearing what you say or looking at all your delicious skin except me, and me, and me.”

By now she knew Kane well enough to take his explanations on faith. Besides, he’d never jeopardize the mission by risking being caught,

She laughed at his odd turn of phrase. Most of the time they had no communication problems, either physical or verbal. He wasn’t a man to hide what he wanted from her or from himself.

At the moment he seemed more concerned with removing her blouse than playing with the new toy waiting for them on the bed. And while his eyes glinted lasciviously, his touch was careful and precise.

He didn’t tease her flesh as he parted the blouse and she shrugged it off. Yet, she’d learned that if she didn’t undress him, he’d soon have her naked. While that was fine by her, both of them naked would be better.

So she removed his shirt and the padding with the same swift efficiency he’d used. And she couldn’t help wondering if this was the last time they’d make love. He had a plan to catch Nigel and once he put it into effect, Kane would be out of her life—forever.

Knowing this could be goodbye made a lump well up in her throat. Kane had come to mean so much to her. No matter how lonely she became later, she would never regret this time with him. He’d taught her that she could be wanted for herself and for that, she would always hold a part of him tenderly in her heart.

She tossed the long strands of hair aside to reveal his true profile. She wanted to memorize the tiny crinkle lines by his eyes, the bold nose, the lips that so often twisted into an amused smile, lips that had kissed every part of her body and given her so much pleasure.

She didn’t have so much of a photograph of him but she took a mental snapshot. His broad chest and wide shoulders thrilled her as much as the demanding expression now on his face, and her heart hitched as she wondered what he had in mind. By the flaring of his nostrils and the glimmer of light in his eyes, she could tell he was up to something…something delightfully wicked.

“What are you smiling about?” He reached to unfasten her slacks.

“I’m finding that I do like your surprises but…”

“But?”

“You have that cat-that-ate-the-canary look.”

“Huh?”

Her wording might have confused him, but his hands never stopped removing her slacks. In no time she was standing there in an apricot lace bra and matching bikini panties.

“You look like you can barely wait to spring this next surprise on me.”

He grinned and kicked off his shoes. “You are so correct. Take off all my clothes, please.”

This was a switch. He got to be naked first. She didn’t hesitate, removing his slacks, bending to take off his socks, all the while wondering what he was up to. If she hadn’t been so on edge, she might have tried to tease him as she took off his clothing, but as he tensed in anticipation, she sensed he wanted to get past the removal of the clothing to the seduction.

Good.

For once their eagerness to make love seemed to be on the same wavelength. Kissing him had incited her hormones to riot. Undressing him had aroused her to a seven or eight on her readiness meter. Already, she wanted to ditch her bra and panties. In fact, when she straightened she expected him to do so in short order.

Naked and aroused, he gestured for her to join him by the bed. With a sparkle in his eyes, he picked up the scarlet box.

“What’s in there?” She expected a sex toy. Special oils. An aphrodisiac. Perhaps a different version of the buffs or chain that she’d worn before.

“We’re going to have fun and since Nigel would
be suspicious if we didn’t spend the night, we might as well enjoy the technology.”

He opened the box and she peered inside. Her eyes had trouble focusing. It looked like liquid diamonds all sparkling and mysterious. Was it something to drink?

Kane lifted the box over his head and turned it upside down. She thought the sparkles would drip over him, like thick honey. Instead, the substance unfurled like a ball of yarn, the sparkling thread winding over Kane’s face, his neck, his chest, his stomach. It wound over his sex and buttocks, his legs, almost like a heavenly measuring tape with a mind of its own.

“What is it?” she asked.

“You’ll see.”

The tape shined and shimmied, filling in the gaps until not a sliver of his bronze flesh showed through the silvery diamond sparkles. Then the silver cracked and opened down the center and Kane stepped away. The material lacked his body to cling to but closed back on itself and nevertheless held his shape like a mold.

And then the silver threads vanished. Leaving behind an exact duplicate…of Kane.

“Oh, God.” She looked from the duplicate to Kane. “There’re two of you?”

Kane gestured to the silver thread that was busy duplicating him yet again.

“Actually, there’re three of me now. All ready to pleasure you.”

A
FTER
K
ANE
had heard the setup, the luxury suites, the private showing, the funds required to check out the technology, he’d suspected that Nigel was going to sell the Hot Copier, nanotechnology that replicated “Hard Copies” of sexual partners. Fallon may have already seen too much of the future technology but Kane figured that one more item wouldn’t make too much difference in the grand scheme of time. Besides, Nigel would know if he didn’t activate the Hot Copier, and that would be suspicious.

Kane grinned at the fact that, though sometimes working as a time cop was a difficult job, right now he couldn’t have been more pleased. As he smiled, HC1 and HC2 smiled, too, replicating him down to his atomic base point.

Fallon gasped, her jaw dropping as her gaze flitted from HC1 to HC2 to Kane. “Are they real?”

“Sort of. Hard Copies have no past, no future. But when a Hard Copy touches you, you will feel him as you would me. Hard Copies can do everything I can do—my hands, my lips, my tongue.”

Her gaze dropped to his erection.

Kane chuckled. “That too.”

“This is…impossible.” She took a step toward HC1, her breasts deliciously quivering in the lacy bra.

“In your time, it isn’t possible,” he agreed, enjoying her curiosity as she strode around the Hard Copies, giving him an opportunity to admire her long legs, her rounded bottom and her trim waist. He loved keeping her naked. If he had his way he’d keep her nude all the time. But Nigel would have detected the technology. However, now that she was almost bare again, he smiled a grin of satisfaction.

“These guys are outrageous.”

“You like outrageous,” he reminded her, thoroughly enjoying himself and knowing it was simply a matter of time until she gave in and accepted what would please her.

“But I’m not into sexual toys.”

“Hard Copies aren’t mere mechanical toys.”

“Really?” She ran an experimental finger down HC1’s arm, then leaned in and sniffed. “He smells just like you.”

“He also thinks exactly as I direct him to.”

Her eyes widened and she took a step back. “These…”

“Hard Copies,” he supplied the word for her, and despite her shock the name made her lips quirk in amusement.

“These Hard Copies have a brain?”

“Enough to obey my commands.”

Her gaze darted to him. “You control them?”

“Yes.” He enjoyed watching her take in the concept, trying to think through the ramifications. Although he couldn’t answer more than basic questions she might have about the technology, since he wasn’t a nanotechnologist, he could see what she knew already was stirring her excitement.

“How many of these Hard Copies can one…” With a frown, she gestured to the scarlet case where the liquid nanobots had returned by themselves.

“The device is called a Hot Copier.”

She laughed, her lips wide and full, and shook her head, spilling a lock of hair over one her eye. “So how many Hard Copies can a Hot Copier make?”

He folded his arms over his chest and directed HC1 and HC2 to do the same by shooting a thought command their way. “You don’t think three of us are enough to satisfy you?”

She didn’t hesitate, cocking one brazen hip in his direction. “You are enough all by yourself.”

“Ah, but think of three sets of hands on you simultaneously exploring. Three sets of lips tasting.”

“This is…insane.”

“You like insane.”

She ignored his comment as though disagreeing but her hardened nipples poking through her apricot bra told a different story. Oh, she was excited all right—perhaps a little reluctant to admit it, but he was now certain he could overcome any twenty-first century hesitation.

“So how do you tell them what to do?” she asked, her curiosity clearly intense.

“I think at them.”

“And they won’t do anything—”

“Nothing, unless I instruct them.”

She swallowed hard, her flat belly shimmying in a delightfully erotic movement and he saw that a spark of interest joined the curiosity in her expression. “So these Hard Copies are like a computer that you program by thought?”

“You can think of them that way.”

He stepped forward and tugged her into his arms, loving the softness of her skin, appreciating the way her tense muscles relaxed on contact with his, then trembled in eager anticipation. Oh, she was quite a woman, Fallon Hanover. Since his arrival, she’d absorbed one surprise after another, and now he would enjoy giving her more pleasure than she’d ever believed possible. It was the least he could do after disrupting her life, dragging her on a dangerous mission and then allowing them to grow close.

He’d known from the start of his mission that he would have to leave her behind. He’d been through that painful experience once, but his feelings had never before been this strong. And each time they made love, every day that passed, intensified his growing feelings.

Damn it. He’d told himself not to repeat his mistakes. But how could he fail to cherish her when she was so open to new ideas, to adapting to new challenges, to accepting him? As he kissed her and she kissed him back, he realized he might have found the perfect woman—and he couldn’t keep her.

Pain lanced deep but he did his best to set it aside. Tonight was for them to enjoy. Tonight he would make unforgettable. Tonight he would create enough precious memories to last a lifetime.

He waited until she wrapped her hands around his neck, and then he instructed HC1 to nibble one of her delectable ears and HC2 the other. He needed merely to think about teasing her sensitive lobes with his lips and the Hard Copies would follow through.

Although she’d had warning, at the first nip to her ears she broke her kiss with him. The Hard Copies kept right on nibbling, per his orders, and he tugged her back for another kiss. He didn’t think she’d resist, but he didn’t quite expect her to sigh so contentedly, either.

“You do know how to make me happy, don’t you?” She kissed his nose, his chin, his jaw. “What I don’t understand is how you know what I want better than I do.”

“It’s because I’m brilliant.”

“And sensitive.”

“Of course.”

“And the world’s greatest lover.”

“If you insist.”

“And so humble, too,” she teased.

“You wouldn’t adore humble,” he teased right back.

Her eyes gleamed with challenge and a bold sauciness that he’d come to appreciate. “Who says I adore you?”

“You didn’t have to say so. I can tell by the way you react to me.”

“So now you can read my mind, too?”

“Oh, yeah.” The Hard Copies nibbled her shoulders and, eyes sparkling, she quivered. He lowered his hands to her bra and unsnapped the clasp at the back. “You like lots of attention. You’ll like it even better when we worship your flesh with our tongues.”

Each Hard Copy slid a shoulder strap down onto her arm. She was about to shrug off her bra when he stopped her with a curt demand. “Do not move.”

“Or else…?” she prodded, her eyebrow raising in speculation.

“Or else I’ll take twice as long,” he threatened, watching her irises darken with hungry comprehension. “That’s right. You’re going to stay still and do exactly as I say, when I say it.”

“Yes.”

“Or you will suffer the consequences.” He saw her lips twitch in delight. Oh yeah. Fallon loved to play games. She liked it when he took charge and freed her to simply enjoy what he had to give. And he and the Hard Copies could give more than she’d ever imagined.

“Think of HC1 and HC2 as extensions of me.”

“Okay.” She licked her bottom lip and stood straighter, her breasts swelling beneath the lace and causing the fabric to slide until one shrug would free them.

Kane wanted her so much that holding back wouldn’t be easy. Yet, for her he was determined to do whatever he must to give her a night she would
never forget. It wouldn’t be fair to tell her how much she meant to him, not when they would live the rest of their lives separated by more than a century. While he couldn’t tell her with words, he could show her with actions. He intended to savor every moment, cherish her, adore her, because the time bubble was collapsing and their time together running out.

F
ALLON’S AMAZEMENT
over the Hard Copies quickly switched to excitement. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t a clue how the Hard Copies worked. She didn’t understand the engine in her car but that didn’t stop her from driving it. So the scientific principles behind the Hard Copies didn’t matter. Kane had explained the important points. He was in charge. The Hard Copies followed his thoughts. So, as he’d instructed, she thought of the replicas as an extension of Kane. Instead of using a feather to stroke her skin, he’d employed the Hard Copies to nibble along her neck.

And if she’d had any doubts about who was in control, the way Kane put his knowledge about her body to use dispersed those doubts. Just as Kane knew where and how she liked to be touched, so did HC1 and HC2. They homed in on the sensitive spot behind her ear and another at her neck with total accuracy.

Her bra now hung from her nipples. One deep breath would free her straining flesh. And she oh-so-wanted to be as naked as Kane.

When he angled his mouth over hers for another
kiss, she had to stiffen her legs to prevent leaning into him. But then at the same time as Kane’s kiss, the Hard Copies each took a nipple into their mouths right through the lace material and she forgot all about standing still.

She gasped into Kane’s mouth and flung her arms around him for balance but ended up embracing each of the Hard Copies instead, men who felt exactly like Kane. Stunned by the sensory overload, she quivered and clung to HC1 and HC2 as they continued to swirl their mouths over her captured nipples.

Her belly swooped at the dual tugs. But it was the fire in Kane’s eyes that made her breath catch. She had no idea what he intended to do to her, but her anticipation upped another notch.

Tongues lapped through the lacy material and it took concentration to not only follow the conversation but to keep her thoughts from moving ahead. They had the entire night in this suite and had only been here less than thirty minutes. Yet, she was already aching for an orgasm. The tiny strip of lace between her legs was damp with moisture.

And then Kane dived down and took her mouth in a fiercely possessive kiss, his hands tipping up her chin. Meanwhile the Hard Copies’ hands caressed her breasts, her belly, her thighs. Three mouths, three pairs of hands, all stimulating and simultaneously giving her pleasure.

No one could have stayed still under such conditions. No one. Her body shivered and gyrated to the rhythm of the caresses.

Kane broke the kiss and directed the Hard Copies to release her. He pointed to a drapery tie. “Since you cannot hold still. I will bind you. Bring me the ties.”

When she turned to obey, her bra fell from her breasts and slipped to the floor. Good riddance. She hurried to the drapery ties, remembering the last time he’d kept her still with the buffs and the chain. But she no longer wore those so he was devising a new plan.

It had been difficult enough to bear the intense pleasure Kane alone gave her. With him directing the Hard Copies, she knew she was about to undergo a wondrous experience. And yet, her mouth was dry. The idea of being so helpless and vulnerable rocketed up her nerves to almost unendurable levels.

She unfastened the drapery tie and turned to bring it to him, hoping the man in the center of the identical triplets was the real Kane. She handed him the drapery cord as if she had no doubts but was unable to control the telltale trembling in her hands.

“You’ll require more than one.”

She nodded and went back to gather the others. The idea of being helpless while all those hands and mouths roved over her exposed flesh thrilled and tormented her, and made every step back to Kane seem to take forever.

“The Hard Copies will remove your panties.” At his command, both of them kneeled and in unison peeled down her panties with their teeth. And their lips seared a blazing trail down her sides while their
hands lightly skimmed her buttocks and thighs as if giving gentle promise of what was to come.

Kane tugged off the coverlet to expose forest-green sheets. “You will lie there.” He pointed to the middle of the bed, his gaze evaluating the bed frame that curved completely around the bed’s perimeter. And for the first time she noted the upright bed posts, which would allow him to bind her however he pleased.

She sat on the bed and scooted backward. Kane ambled around and stopped at a point above her head. “Cross your wrists and place your arms over your head.”

She did as he asked, surprised at how swiftly and tightly he wrapped her wrists without hurting her. With one end around her wrists he tied the other to the bed frame, but didn’t pull too tightly, leaving her arms comfortably bent above her head.

While Kane tied her wrists, HC1 and HC2 tied her ankles, spreading her legs, but leaving enough slack for her to bend her knees if she liked. Feeling totally exposed, her heart sped in anticipation as she waited for them to join her.

So Kane shocked her when he and the Hard Copies turned to leave the room. She lifted her head, startled and upset. “Where are you going?”

“Will you miss us?” Kane asked.

“Yes.” Of course she would miss him. How dare he promise her all kinds of pleasure and then walk away.

“Good.” He shot her one of those arrogant looks
that told her his mind was set and nothing she could say would change it. And as he stared between her legs with satisfaction, arousing her with just a look, she knew she’d met her match. She might be furious at his game. She might not want to wait. But every moment would be sweet torture. Every moment she spent thinking about what he was going to do would feed her arousal.

Impatience made her come close to begging. “Kane, I already want you.”

“Close your eyes,” he demanded.

“But—”

“Close them or I’ll blindfold you.”

She snapped her eyes shut, totally irritated, totally frustrated, completely aroused. It wasn’t fair that he could look at her and he wouldn’t let her do the same. And now she wouldn’t know when he returned. She’d jump at every sound, twitch at every breath of air-conditioning.