Into a Dangerous Mind (10 page)

As she became more familiar with the strange new experience, she melted against him.
 
He ran rough hands up the sides of her breasts and brushed his thumbs lightly over her nipples.
 
Shudders ran through them as both experienced the sensation equally.

Twin lances of molten need fired through them—desire flared, flamed, and then exploded.
 
Throwing all caution aside, Cassidy buried her hands in his thick hair and met his pure elemental passion with her own.
 
She willingly let herself drown in his taste—hot, spicy, dangerous—her body demanded more.

Pressing harder against the long line of him, they both moaned as her soft flesh ground against his sensitive erection.
 
Caught in a vortex, mounting tensions built to some almost unbearable point.
 
Instinctively, she took even more, and reveled in the power that would allow this much sensation to run wild through both of them.

All her inhibitions left in tatters, she played her hand over the hard line of his abdomen and then trailed her fingers lower to caress his thick erection.
 
Her breath came in choppy pants as the coil of heat low in her stomach reached a breaking point.

Zach broke the contact suddenly and stepped back, holding Cassidy at arm’s length.
 
They were both breathless, and her system still screamed for more.
 
It took a minute for her head to stop spinning and for her to actually feel her wobbly legs beneath her.

“Cassidy, I’m sorry.”
 
He blew out a long breath and drew in another shaky one as if trying to relearn how to breathe.
 
“That was pretty intense.
 
I haven’t had any practice experiencing the sensations for both people for a very long time.”
 
He paused as if searching for the right words.
 
“If I hadn’t stepped back, things would have been over before they started.”
 
He looked into her face with a sheepish grin.

Heat crept into her cheeks at the realization of what he meant.
 
“Oh.”
 
She cocked her chin to look up at him.
 
“Is that what you were trying to show me?”

His lips quirked.
 
“Well, yes.
 
But I was also trying to scare you a little.
 
To show you when our minds are linked like that, there are no secrets between us.
 
You could’ve reached out and picked out any thought, memory or emotion stored in my mind and experienced it as yours.
 
Or at least you could have, if we hadn’t been so distracted.”
 
He grinned self-consciously.

Cassidy looked up into the warm cognac-colored eyes.
 
“And you could’ve seen any of mine as well, right?”
 
He nodded.

Someone who could see anything she’d ever thought, done or experienced—quite an act of trust.
 
She’d never trusted anyone with that much of herself before.
 
But her gut instinct told her to move ahead and be brave.
 
She let her mouth quirk into a flirtatious smile.
 
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

Zach’s eyebrows shot up.
 
“Excuse me?”

“Your thoughts, Zach,”
 
She chuckled.
 
“I’m game if you are.”

He seemed to mull over how to answer, so she let him off the hook—for now.
 
“Why don’t you get cleaned up?
 
Is pizza and goofy golf okay for a first date?”
 
She reached out to offer him her hand.

He looked at the offered hand.
 
“You’re a brave woman.”

“Yes, I am.”
 
She smiled with a glint of mischief.
  
“And we can talk over dinner about this FBI file of mine you read.”

He looked so surprised, she didn’t try to stop the laugh that bubbled up and spilled out.
 
“I told you I’m a perfectionist, which also means I learn fast.”

He took her hand.
 
“Yes, I guess you do.”

Chapter Five

“Where did you find this place?
 
Great pizza.”
 
Zach took a bite of steaming double meat, double cheese pizza.

He enjoyed the way Cassidy’s hazel eyes lit as she laughed.
 
“I didn’t
find
Ray’s Pizza, it found me.
 
I love this place.
 
I would never have made it through college finals without their meatball subs.”

Why does she have to be so terrific?

He watched in awe as she plowed through another piece of pizza.
 
Their date so far had been the best he could remember—since his fiancée, Diane.
 
The familiar pain and loss that came with thoughts of Diane flowed through him, almost crippling, even after all this time.
 
He wasn’t sure he could handle losing another person he cared about, which meant he couldn’t afford to let himself care about Cassidy.

Cassidy interrupted his thoughts.
 
“I can’t believe you shot a thirty over par at Goofy Golf.
 
Haven’t you ever played before?”

Zach refused to admit he kept missing because he’d been distracted by the sight of her in a tank top and tight jeans.
 
Especially the way those jeans outlined her perfect heart-shaped derriere when she bent over to putt.
 
“I let you win.”
 
He couldn’t quite meet her gaze since he knew she heard his thoughts several times while she’d putted.

“Bull.
 
You’re a horrible liar.
 
I can feel waves of guilt off you every time you try.”

The stunning smile she offered him took away any sting from the comment.
 
“I know.
 
I’m a horrible liar even with people who aren’t psychic.
 
But Anderson and Gerald liked watching you putt, too.”
 
He tried for his best innocent tone, and took a large swig of beer before searching for some safer subject.
 
“Can I ask you something?”

Cassidy nodded since she still chewed on a mouthful of pizza.
 
She took a drink of beer and swallowed.
 
“If you tell me we can go for dessert after this, I’ll tell you anything.”

He reached over and brushed a long auburn curl that had fallen out of her ponytail away from her face.
 
Her deep hazel eyes had the most fascinating green flecks in them.
 
A sudden visual memory of when he’d carried her into her house popped into his mind—her eyes had been so alive with those bits of green, he’d been lost in them and didn’t resist when she’d kissed him.

He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat to better position the sudden erection that surfaced at the memory of kissing the sexy goddess across from him.
 
“Do you have any special dessert in mind, or are you looking for more pints?”

Cassidy grinned.
 
“How dare you try and sully a girl catch-up time tradition.”

Zach reached for another piece of pizza.
 
“Far be it from me to tarnish such an institution.”
 
He picked off a piece of pepperoni and popped it into his mouth.
 
“So, was I right?”
 
He looked up at her and waited for the realization to dawn.
 
He loved watching the blush work its way up her lovely, long neck.

She took a drink before answering.
 
“Of course we talked about sex.
 
What else are you supposed to talk about over ice cream?” she asked innocently.

He recognized a loaded answer when he heard one and waded in before he could think better of it.
 
“How about Baskin Robbins for dessert?”

Cassidy began furiously choking.
 
He reached across the table and patted her back until she could breathe normally again.

Damn, he loved to make her nervous.
 
He could picture how she would be with all of her inhibitions stripped away—naked, writhing, and moaning under him…or on top of him for that matter.
 
He’d never wanted a woman quite so badly.

When she’d kissed him earlier, he’d dipped into a bottomless well of primal sexuality he knew she kept hidden away from the world.
 
Now that he knew it existed, he couldn’t keep his mind from imagining what it would be like to dive into that well head first and see just how deep it went.

At her shocked expression, he did a hasty check on his shields.
 
Nope—fully in place, she must still be embarrassed about the ice cream comment
.
 
And at that thought, he entertained a brief fantasy of spreading ice cream over her full breasts and licking it off.

The woman has a traumatic experience and you rub salt in the wound—great job, Zach.
 
“I’m sorry, Cassidy, you don’t have to answer that.”

“I don’t mind.
 
I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately anyway.”
 
She stared at her beer bottle and slowly peeled the label back as she spoke.
 
“I met Brian after a concert at Phoenix Symphony Hall last month.
 
He was handsome, polite, and seemed very interested in classical music…and me.”

She sighed and finally met his gaze.
 
“I knew it wasn’t right, but I ignored my gut.
 
And to be honest, I was lonely and figured a couple of drinks with a handsome man couldn’t hurt anything.”

Her deep feelings of loneliness crashed over him.
 
She’d become distracted and dropped her shields.
 
Her mind unconsciously reached out to join with his.

“You weren’t desperate, Cassidy.
 
Everyone gets lonely and tries to make it work where it shouldn’t.”
 
Damn, she felt so right being there inside his mind.
 
They belonged together.

Whoa—where did that thought come from?
 
Panic flowed through him in a dark tide, making his palms sweat and his head swim.
 
He gently pulled away from her mind touch and tried to convince himself the thought came from Cassidy, but he knew better.

Cassidy seemed lost in her memories and he didn’t think she noticed him pull away.

After a pregnant silence that hung between them, she continued.
 
“When Brian asked me out for the second date, he knew I was reluctant.
 
But he pushed all the right buttons until I agreed despite my better judgment.”

She sighed again and mimicked Brian’s cultured tone.
 
“Come now, Cassidy, such a beautiful woman should dress up now and then in something besides concert black and get out on the town.
 
You shouldn’t hide away under jeans and T-shirts.
 
We’ll go to the
Top of the Rock
for lobster and champagne.
 
Let me make you feel like the exquisite woman you are.”