Jaci's Experiment (27 page)

A restless movement in the bed woke him. A wayward elbow nudged his ribs and the fringed end of a thick braid tickled his nose. Valentine smiled at the disturbance, now fully awake although his eyes remained closed. He had no need to open them to know what he would see. His arm tightened around the slight form bumping into his side, drawing her closer. “Having trouble sleeping? I have the cure for that malady.”

The cure he spoke of rose thick and full from his groin, drawing his sac tight. That part of him had woken first in response to her nocturnal stirrings. It jutted forward when her bare thigh brushed against it, as if eager to volunteer its services.

A musical giggle answered him. “I wonder which of us has a malady. You seem to suffer from a great swelling this night.”

One small hand splayed against his chest while another closed around his cock in a bold grip. Valentine felt himself growing even thicker in her hand, swelling with lust and need that never fully slept and woke easily to her lightest touch. If he was honest, it took far less than her touch to rouse the slumbering beast inside him. The scent of her

perfume, the sound of her skirts rustling when she moved, the sight of her. Any of these things would suffice to incite him. All of them together could madden him.

The most innocent gesture she made aroused him, and when she deliberately inflamed him, running her tongue along her lower lip when she knew he was watching her, or stretching to display herself for him with her eyes full of mischief and daring, she was likely to find herself with her skirts tossed up and her legs spread at any hour of the day and in any opportune place.

“A great malady,” Valentine agreed in a solemn voice. “You torment me all day and then all night, waking me from a sound sleep because you must have more of me. I am never safe from your demands.”

She let out a soft snort. “You were the one lunging about in this bed like a rutting beast. I was having the most wonderful dream.” Her hand stroked up and down the length of his engorged shaft in a slow caress as she spoke.

“A better dream than this?” Valentine asked.

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“Nothing is better than this.”

She slid onto him, all satin skin and heat, thighs parting for him, lips reaching for his kiss. Hunger leapt up like a flame given air and roared through him. The scent of her desire told him she was flushed and eager, her heartbeat increased, rich blood pulsing through her veins just beneath the surface of that delicate skin.

His fangs lengthened as his cock throbbed, all of him ready to take all of her…

The doorbell rang again. More insistently this time.

He wanted to roar with rage as the phantom memory that was all he had of her now slipped away, the past shattered by the intrusion of the present.

Which man will Callie choose, the alien or the warrior? Or can she have both?

Davin’s Quest

© 2008

Resonance Mates Book 2

For each Alvian, there is one perfect match—a Resonance Mate whose soul blends in perfect harmony.

Unlike the rest of his race, Davin has emotions and suffers for it. Without a mate, he is doomed to go mad. Searching for answers and understanding, he seeks out Callie O’Hara, a human woman with strong empathic gifts. Could this fragile human be his Resonance Mate?

Rick St. John is a tough-as-nails survivor of the Alvian occupation of Earth. He doesn’t believe in much, but when he sees Callie for the first time, he starts to believe in love at first sight.

The Governing Council is gunning for Davin, the upstart who dares to defy them. And they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way. Davin and Rick must come to terms with their feelings for Callie in order to keep her safe, while she has to find a way to save them both…with her love.

Warning: Warning, this title contains hot alien love, explicit sex, graphic language, and ménage a trois.

Enjoy the following excerpt forDavin’s Quest:

Rick recovered over the next day and a half. Callie brought him food and chastised him when he overtaxed himself walking to the bathroom and back to the bed, but he sort of enjoyed it. He’d never had anyone look after him. Well, not since before the cataclysm, but he’d only been a kid when his mother died.

Callie mothered him a bit, but with her, there was also the attraction. Rick loved to watch her move. He liked to make her smile and inwardly he basked in her attention, though he’d never let her know it.

Davin was a background presence, there constantly, watching with troubled eyes. Rick used the tall alien’s presence to keep himself on track, and Davin left him in peace…until he was healed and it was time to go back to his own quarters.

Preparing to leave the Chief Engineer’s suite, Davin blocked Rick’s path.

“We need to talk about Callie before you leave.”

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“I’ve already said all I’m going to say on the subject.” Rick tried to push past, but Davin blocked him again.

“Don’t be a fool.” Davin’s voice was low, urgent. “You could be her resonance mate! It’d be a crime to throw that away.”

Rick’s reply was cut off as Callie walked in from the other room, her brow furrowed. She undoubtedly felt the emotion crowding the room and zinging back and forth between the two men in a standoff by the door.

Rick kept his voice pitched low. “Look, we don’t even know if I could be this resonance thing you keep going on about.” Rick was fed up.

“There’s one sure way to find out,” Davin’s words and stance dared Rick. The alien didn’t bother to keep his voice down. “Kiss her.”

Silence reigned for a long moment while Rick stood, tempted beyond reason. Then Callie pushed him too far, simply by moving to stand altogether too close. She reached up and placed her one hand on his shoulder.

“What’s this about?” she asked.

Rick’s fingers formed fists as he fought against his baser instincts that said to grab her and kiss her like she’d never been kissed before. Instead, he backed off, moving back into the room, leaving Davin facing his woman.

“Callie, you and Rick Hum. He could be another resonance mate, but he’s too stubborn to find out.”

Callie actually blushed as Rick watched. “Davin, I…” She moved into the alien man’s arms, hugging him.

“I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry, my love. There’s something there, but I…”

“It’s all right,” Davin brushed her hair back with one hand as he stepped away from her. “We need to know if he is your resonance mate or not. Otherwise, the uncertainty will drive me mad.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Her voice was shatteringly gentle.

Davin leaned down to kiss her, just once. “Hurting you, hurts me. Your joy could never bring me pain.”

“You’re a generous man, Davin, and much too good for me.” Callie kissed him once, with palpable tenderness and love, then turned to face Rick. She walked right up to him and Rick felt frozen in place like a deer in a spotlight. Callie crowded him until they stood toe to toe, then she angled her sweet face upward in invitation.

“Just one kiss, Rick. I know you want to.” Her voice was that of the siren, tempting men to their deaths.

Rick was powerless against this, the final test. He’d been strong for weeks, but he could be strong no longer.

He jumped in headfirst, his arms snaking around her waist as his head dipped to claim her lips with his.

He’d been wanting to taste her delicate flavor for a long time. Hunger rode him as she responded to his demanding kiss. He knew he was going too fast, but he couldn’t help himself. Callie O’Hara was in his
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arms and his body knew no respite from the yearning he’d too long denied.

She gasped as he moved closer, pulling her unresisting body against his, conforming her curves to the hard planes of his chest, his abdomen and his aching cock. She felt so good, he never wanted to let go.

But this was wrong. A niggling voice in the back of his mind insisted that she wasn’t his to keep. He had to let her go.

With Herculean effort, he eased off, bit by bit, though his body protested every millimeter he put between them. At length he lifted his lips, allowing one final caressing sweep of his lips against hers, over her cheek and down into her soft neck.

“We can’t do this, Callie.”

“I think we just did.” Amusement filled her breathless voice, stunning him. How could she see humor in his utter failure of control? Rick stepped back, heat rising to his cheeks in an angry flush as he broke the contact between their bodies completely.

Opening his eyes at last, he was blinded by the shining crystals all around the room. His heart sank and soared simultaneously as he understood what it meant. Callie was his resonance mate.

Rick looked beyond her, searching for Davin, but the Alvian was gone from the room.

“I’m sorry, Callie.” Rick stepped away, heading for the door. “I can’t do this. It isn’t fair to Davin and it isn’t fair to you. You’re not living in the Waste with no choices. You chose Davin long before I arrived. I respect that choice.”

He left before she could speak, but he still heard the faint echo of her voice in his mind as she ’pathed just one sentence to him.

“What if you’re both my choice?”

That one sentence haunted Rick’s sleep for days, but he did his best to act as if nothing were changed between them when he went back to work. He was still partnered with Callie for the bigger experiments and he treated her professionally. He was torn inside, knowing how she tasted now, how she responded, but it was all wrong. She deserved more than to be shared between two men. She deserved his respect.

The respect that grew out of the love hidden deep in his heart for her.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

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