Eternal Flame (16 page)

Jana’s past wasn’t pretty, but then, neither was his.

“Sex can charge me.” The words echoed in his mind though her lips never moved. “When the lust burns inside, it’ll push back the fog from the drugs and help me to fight the cold.” Her gaze held his.
“Don’t let me be weak when they come back for me.”

Zane swallowed.

“Please.” Her whisper broke the air and broke him.

His mouth pressed against hers even as his hands reached for her. He pulled her close, so close, crushing her against him. There’d be no time for finesse. No gentle loving. The assholes out there could come in at any moment, and he’d be damned if he left her weak.

The moment their lips touched, the lust flared between them. The need, the desire that was always so close when she was around him erupted. Her lips were soft, silken, and her tongue moved eagerly to meet his.

Her nipples stabbed against his chest and a low murmur rolled in her throat. She might want him to touch her so that her power would come back, but she also just wanted him. That was damn good, because he sure wanted her.

Zane lifted his head and his power poured out. It surged around them, and a gray fog swirled in the air. The fog thickened, tightening, making a wall around their bodies, and blocking the preying eyes. There was no way he’d let those bastards see him with Jana.

Her lips lifted in the briefest of smiles. “I knew you were strong,” she whispered and took his mouth again. Lips, tongue,
need
.

His heart thudded in his chest. The assholes watching the cameras would freak out when they saw the fog. They wouldn’t have much time.

Enough time …

His hands pushed between them. He found the snap of her jeans. Jerked the button, eased down the zipper. “Zane…”

He shoved the jeans down. His fingers pushed under the elastic edge of her panties and found plump, sweet flesh. Her nails sank into his arms as she held on tight.

“Burn for me,” he whispered as he let his mouth feather over her throat. “Burn.” His fingers stroked her sex. His thumb pushed down on her clit and the scent of her arousal teased his nostrils.

He wanted her legs spread wide. Wanted to lick his way across that pink flesh. But…

No time
.

His cock shoved against the front of his jeans. Hard, swollen, and probably getting an imprint of a zipper on the flesh.

Take her, take—

His fingers plunged inside of her. Two fingers, knuckle deep. Jana rose onto her toes, even as her eyes widened with a surge of pleasure.

She wasn’t burning yet, but she would be, soon.

Footsteps pounded in the hallway.
Fuck
.

Not enough … not enough.

He bit her on the neck, a rough score with his teeth. Not too hard. A marking because demons liked to mark their prey, too.

His fingers withdrew, then drove deep. Again, again. He worked a third finger into her. She was slick and eager now, her flesh yielding so sweetly to him.

“Zane …
hurry … no time …”
Her hands went to his waist. Fumbled with the snap of his jeans.

More footsteps, closer,
closer …

“I need you in me,” she said, her eyes wide, hungry, lost. “Zane, I need—”

His thumb pushed over the center of her need. His fingers claimed her flesh again, and her whole body stiffened. Jana stared at him with wide eyes.

And came.

He kissed her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth even as his fingers continued to thrust into her silken warmth. Thrusting and drawing out the orgasm that squeezed his fingers.

Voices rose in the hall. The door began to squeak.

He kept his mouth on hers. His lips were softer now, easier. The lust still rode him, a hunger so deep that he ached.
Want inside. Want her legs around me. Want her sex squeezing me
.

He shuddered against her.

“
Jana!”
Beth’s angry voice.

Fucking company.

He eased away. Jana stared up at him. A frown pulled her brows low. Her cheeks were flushed. Her lips parted.

Zane bent and pulled up her jeans. Her hands reached out, tangling with his. “Why did you—”

He shook his head. The door burst open.

With a wave of his hand, the fog slipped away, and he found himself staring at Beth and six armed guards. Zane moved forward, putting his body between them and Jana.

“What the hell have you done?” Beth demanded.

Not nearly as much as he would have liked. But Beth didn’t know that. The Perseus agent didn’t know a damn thing.

“Get him out of here,” she barked and a light puff of air appeared before her mouth. Was it really that cold? Once he’d started touching Jana, he hadn’t even noticed.

The guards marched toward him. Zane lifted his hands, more than ready to blast them back.

“We’ve got a friend of yours waiting to meet you,” Beth said and he didn’t like the calculation in her eyes.

“Doubtful. I don’t think any of my
friends
would be here.”

“Ummm.” Her gaze tried to flicker to Jana, but he didn’t move. They weren’t getting to her yet. Every second that passed was a second she got stronger.
Don’t worry, baby, you won’t be weak
.

“I’m sure you’ve realized that we must have used one very powerful witch to keep you locked in this room.” A delicate pause, and Beth didn’t strike him as the delicate type. “Not that we
wanted
to lock you up, but until you can see reason, we have no choice.”

Oh, yeah, right. They were doing a bang-up job of convincing him that Perseus was a bright, shiny, happy corporation-of killers.

“Everyone always has choice,” he threw back. Like his choice right now was to let these idiots feel his power or …

Or wait. Because every damn snake had a head and if he wanted to destroy Perseus, he had to take the head. Cut the thing off. If he just blew his way through the flunkies, he’d be wasting his time. But it would feel
real
good.

“You have a choice now,” Beth said. “You can go with the guards and get reacquainted with your friend, or you can leave the facility.”

Leave? Sure, they’d just let him walk out. Did he look stupid?

“I notice you aren’t giving me any choices.” Jana’s quiet voice carried easily, and then she stepped to his side. A swift glance showed she was all buttoned up. Her clothes were back in place and no trace of passion or lust showed on her face.

Meanwhile his cock was still up and aching-and even the guns pointing at him weren’t slowing him down.

Jana shivered, a quick movement that shook her body. A movement that Beth caught because her lips began to twist- but she stopped herself before smiling fully. Instead, the agent said, “Oh, Jana, I’m sorry, is it too cold in here for you?”

Another delicate shiver. “Cold? No … I’m just fine.” Her shoulders straightened.

“Go with the guards, Zane,” Beth urged him. “Let us reassure you about Perseus without Jana’s … ah, bias … coming in the way.”

Bias? Is that what it was?

“And Jana …” Now Beth’s eyes locked on her. “Your status has recently changed. You are no longer a person of interest for Perseus. If you leave tonight, you won’t be followed again. You’ll be free.”

What? They’d gone to all the trouble of tracking her, they’d locked them in this ice box, and now they were just going to let them both walk?

Bullshit
.

“You don’t come after us,” Beth continued, “and we’ll forget you exist.”

Baring her teeth, Jana said, “Don’t know if I can make that promise.”

“Well…” Beth’s head inclined toward her. “Perhaps you and I can make a deal.”

Now what the hell was that about?

“I doubt that, lady.” Jana’s arms crossed over her chest.

“Mr. Wynter?” Beth motioned to the guards. “I really must insist you leave with my men now.”

He let a smile curve his lips. “You know, I think the guys with the guns really wreck this lie of a friendly conversation.” But he walked forward. He’d come to Perseus for a reason, and he wasn’t leaving until he’d finished his mission. Zane tossed a quick glance back at Jana.
You okay?
He let the question drift on the psychic link they’d made.

She gave the briefest of nods.

“Of course, she’s okay,” Beth said. “I think you’ll soon realize that Jana is a lot stronger than she looks.” Well, shit,
Beth was psychic
.

“I’ve already realized it,” he said, striding for the door and guarding his thoughts now. “I think you’re the one in for the surprise.”

When Zane left, the door shut behind him with a hollow clang of sound. Jana didn’t move. She kept her eyes on the woman she really wanted to rip apart, the only woman in the room with her.

Beth Parker. The agent who’d lured her in. The agent who’d stood there and watched while she was tortured. The agent who’d turned Jana into a wanted woman.

You took away my life
.

“What the hell kind of game are you playing now?” Jana asked. She knew Beth was psychic. They both were-that had been part of Beth’s Perseus recruitment spiel.
Come … be with others who are just like you. You don’t have to be alone anymore
.

Blah-fucking-blah.

“I’m not playing a game.” Beth’s heels tapped on the tile as she crossed toward her. “I’m trying to show Mr. Wynter that Perseus isn’t as evil as you think.”

Jana laughed at that. “That’s right. You’re
worse
than I think.”

Beth shook her head. “Things were going so well. I was pleased with your progress.” She sighed. “Then that shifter screwed things up for you.”

“You mean things got screwed when you wanted me to kill an innocent man?” The lady was good at twisting details.

Beth’s eyes narrowed. “He wasn’t innocent. He’d killed a human.”

“A human who murdered his girlfriend and half a dozen other girls. Call me crazy, but I think that’s justifiable.”

“You don’t understand.” Her jaw clenched and Beth gritted out, “Once the wolves start killing, they can’t stop. He’d crossed a line. He was psychotic. He’d attack again and again—”

“Then why didn’t he kill the girl in the alley? Huh? Why didn’t he kill me?”

Click. Click
. The heels were moving again. “If we don’t stop the paranormals out there, they
will
take over our world. Humans will be damn servants. Prey. We’ll be the food they hunt at night, and we’ll have
nothing.”

She’d heard that spiel before, too. At one time, she’d believed it. “They’re not all bad, Beth.”

“They’re sure as shit not all good, Jana.”

“No one’s all good.”
Not me. Not you
.

Beth inclined her head. The red on her cheek looked even angrier in the hard light. “I know.” A touch of sadness coated the words, but then she lifted her chin. “I’ve been authorized to offer you a deal.”

“Bullshit.” Were they really back to this? Jana uncrossed her arms and let her hands slip to her sides. “You’ve been authorized to kill me. You think I don’t see right through this act? I knew the minute you took Zane out of here that you’d be coming at me.” She kept her mind blank, not wanting Beth to pick up on her plans.

But Beth’s brows rose. “Killing you was never the plan for me. You’re a human. I don’t kill humans.”

Liar, liar
. Beth might not
like
killing humans, but she executed the ones that got in her way, and she didn’t hesitate. “Oh, right, your preferred method of attack with humans is to wreck their lives. Make ‘em into wanted criminals and—”

“I was simply trying to bring you back home.” Again she spoke with that wistfulness that could have been sadness. “I liked you, Jana. In so many ways, you reminded me of”-a light laugh—“me.”

“Well call me a freaking mirror.” Fury spiked in her blood.

Beth’s gaze raked her. “There are two ways this can work.”

Jana stared at her and pictured darkness. A wall of perfect black in her mind.

“You’re not strong enough to take Perseus down. You don’t even have a clue of just how powerful we are. You can try.” Beth shrugged. “But you’ll fail.”

“You know what? This polite bullshit is wearing thin. Zane’s not here, so you don’t have to pretend you’re anything other than a cold-blooded killer—”

“Option two is that I take that fire away from you.”

Jana’s mouth went dry.

“Ah … I’ve got your attention, don’t I? You know we can’t just let you loose out there, Jana. If you’re not on our side, you’re too dangerous … as you are.” Beth exhaled heavily. “But with a few modifications, you wouldn’t be a threat anymore. You’d just be a regular human. Like all the others we protect.”

Still spouting that protection bull, but … “You can stop the fire?” She had to ask.

A slow nod. Beth’s blond hair brushed against her fire-stained cheek. “You can be normal, Jana. It will only take a few moments. Just a few. Then you can walk out of here and have the life you’ve always wanted.”

The temptation was so strong. “You’ve been hunting me all this time …”

“Because you’re too dangerous with the fire.” Her jaw hardened, stretching those scars. “Without it, you’re no threat.”

“But if I keep my fire …?”

Beth didn’t speak. But then, Jana already knew the answer.
Keep it and die
. Because she wasn’t just going to have the chance to walk away with her power.

“Don’t you want to be normal?” Beth inched closer. “Don’t you want to know what it’s like to have a family? Real friends? To not be the freak who’s always standing on the outside?” Beth’s hand lifted. The hand marked with the raised and red flesh reached toward Jana. “I can give it to you. I can give your life back to you.”

“And what do you get?” Because she wasn’t a fool. No way would Perseus toss her this shiny, tasty apple without having one big worm crawling around inside of it.

“We get you off our asses.”

If only it were that simple
.

“It
is
that simple, Jana. Just take what we’re offering, and walk away.”

Davey waited for him in the hallway. When he saw the guards lead Zane out, his lips tightened. “I got him, okay, guys? Go take a break.”