Unleashing the Storm (35 page)

She
stood and whistled, and in a matter of moments, the pretty black horse had
jumped the fence and was stomping and whinnying in front of them.

“No
one will be able to catch me. I’ll be there in under twenty minutes.”

“I
guess you’re going to have to get used to doing things on your own,” he said
finally, knowing full well he’d follow her and the horse in secret, just in
case. She’d never have to know that.

“I’m
not sure I want to.”

“But
you just said you’d join.”

“Not
ACRO. I’m not sure I want to do things on my own anymore. I mean, are there
rules against ACRO people being together?”

“You
mean, like you and me?”

“Well,
I certainly don’t mean me and Zach,” she said, and he growled without realizing
it. “Of course I mean you, Tommy.”

“I
don’t know if I know how to do this,” he said. “I’ve never let anyone in.”

“I
haven’t either,” she said. “Maybe we could both try?”

“Try
what?”

She
rolled her eyes, and dammit if she and Zorro didn’t both shake their heads at
him. “This. You. Me. Together.”

“Are
you going to keep rearranging my stuff?”

“Well,
yeah,” she said.

He
nodded, thought for a second about waking up with the sun warming his bed and
Kira warming him.

The
order to kill her if she didn’t cooperate still hadn’t been lifted; that was
something that broke into his thoughts late at night while Kira lay sleeping
contentedly next to him after yet another round of sex.

He’d
never
not
followed through on an order from ACRO. There had been times
when he had to postpone assassinations due to unforeseen events. Usually his
order had nothing to do with killing men or women who were like him.

No,
he hadn’t done that since the military.

Ender
wasn’t sure if it was all one big test or not, but if it was, he was hovering
precariously along the pass-fail line.

But
as he watched Kira communicating with Zorro while she stood in the sun,
smiling, her hair tumbling softly down her back, suddenly nothing seemed like a
problem. She was going into ACRO on her own terms.

“I’ll
drive you there. Just to the gate. You can walk in on your own,” he said
finally. She turned to him and nodded her assent and he knew he had to have
her, right here and now.

It
had only been two hours since her last feigned heat, and despite the fact that
he was tired, he wanted her. Badly.

“Come
here, Kira,” he said. It came out more like an order, but she didn’t hesitate,
left the horse and moved catlike toward him. When she knelt in front of him, he
pulled her close, kissed her on her full, pink lips, and within seconds he had
his answer to the question she’d asked before. This was a real kiss, not one of
dominance or anger, but a full-blown, all-out, romantic-as-hell kiss.

Yes,
they were going to try this.

“Tommy,
it’s not time yet,” she whispered after he’d pulled back.

“I
know. But can’t a man have a chance to seduce his woman on his terms?” he
asked, went right along with her lie, watched as her eyes began to glow that
beautiful golden amber.

“That’s
never happened.”

“Well,
it’s about to. Maybe you should start getting used to it,” he murmured as he
pulled her close and kissed her again. It went on and on, her hands around his
neck and the two of them rolling around on the ground like they had all the
time in the world to lie around and neck. His balls tightened, his gut tensed
as his thighs rubbed hers—and how did she always smell so good, like honey and
cloves and sunshine?

She’d
begun to peel off his jeans before he could stop her—didn’t want to, really,
until the snort reminded him that they weren’t alone.

“Hey,
is that horse going to watch us the whole time?” he asked.

She
laughed, gave a light whistle, and Zorro bristled for a second before turning
his back on them. “He said to tell you that you don’t have anything he hasn’t
seen before. Although you’re much bigger than most humans he’s seen.”

“The
horse has seen me naked?” he asked, with a shake of his head. She pushed his
jeans down his hips, raked his ass lightly with her nails.

“Oh,
yeah. And I have to agree with him on the big part,” she said, her hand
brushing lightly over his now-freed cock, which jumped at her touch.

“Yeah,
you’d better agree,” he said, his voice a rasp as she stroked him up and down.

In
return, he sucked her nipple though her shirt until the cotton was soaking wet
and her nipple was hard and her moans traveled through the yard over the soft
rustle of the trees. Her hands ran through his hair as she murmured, “Nice, so
nice, Tommy.”

It
had to have been the first time they’d ever taken it slow during sex, and he
planned to make it last as long as he could hold out.

He
made short work of her shirt. Leisurely, his tongue ringed the dark pink
areola, then swiped her nipple until she was shaking her head from side to side
and arching her back toward him.

“Mmmmmm,
nice,” she murmured. “More…want more.”

He
suckled her nipple between his teeth and tongue, teasing the tight bud in a way
he’d never had time to before this. His other hand trailed down between her
legs, where he stroked her leisurely through the shorts, until she began to
buck impatiently underneath him.

“Tommy—”

“Yes,
baby,” he murmured before he could stop himself. He kept his face buried by her
breast, because when the hell did he start using terms of endearment?

“
Baby.
I like that,” she said. “But I have something to tell you.”

“Right
now? I’m a little busy,” he said, taking her nipple into his mouth again. She
moaned, but it didn’t deter her.

“Yes,
right now.”

He
propped himself up on his elbow. “Go ahead.”

“My
heat…it’s over.”

He
stared at her, knowing he should be more angry about the deception, when
instead he was oddly comforted. “Yeah, I know.”

“Then
you know we don’t have to…” She pointed between their bodies.

“Yes,
I know that. But I want to.”

She
smiled, her entire face lighting with a soft glow. “I want to too.”

He
fought a smile at her words, and then he tugged down her shorts impatiently,
spread her thighs and moved between them.

He
speared his tongue inside of her, until her hips rose off the grass and her sex
ground against his face, her thighs locking him there.

A
prisoner to her pleasure, he’d gladly give up his freedom for this taste of
her, sweet and tangy and so hot. He was buried so deep he could barely breathe
and he was going to have marks on his neck where she was clutching him, and he
didn’t care.

She
was wildly out of control, even more so than when she’d been in heat. It was
all her now and she wanted him. He’d never been so turned on in his entire life
as he swirled his tongue through her hot folds, licking her, making her his.

“God,
Tommy…Tommy!” she cried as she came against his mouth, contracting around his
tongue.

He
waited until her thighs parted and trembled as they rested on his shoulders and
she was helpless to stop him.

She
tensed as he traced the still-sensitive nub softly, tried to push him away when
he pressed harder.

“I
can’t,” she whispered, and oh, yes, he’d make sure she could. His hands held
her inner thighs open, his mouth ruthless against her, all for her pleasure.
And when her next two orgasms came, one right on the heels of the other, he was
almost too hard to move.

He
slid up her body, grass tickling his shins and knees as he slid his cock inside
her. She was so wet, still spasming. Her mouth parted as if she was trying to
breathe and not having much luck as he filled her.

But
her eyes, they were wide open and staring up at him—those amber cat eyes he
loved seeing. Because ever since the first time she’d gotten up the nerve to
show him, she hadn’t stopped.

“Your
eyes,” he said gently.

“What?”

“They
change, even now,” he said. “Beautiful.”

“I
didn’t know if they only changed during my heat,” she whispered. “I never
opened my eyes during sex, even during the normal times.”

“I
don’t want you to close them anymore, Kira. You don’t have to. You’re safe,” he
said. And dammit, he was going to make sure she stayed that way.

He
rocked back and forth, his limbs heavy with pleasure, and Kira wrapped around
him as if she’d never, ever let him go. It would be so easy to come now, right
this second, let himself drift into that space where nothing else mattered. But
no, not yet…

“Has
it ever been like this before?” he asked as he held her hips so he could
deliver long, slow strokes at just the right angle to make her breathe faster
and faster and her eyes roll back in her head.

She
couldn’t answer, couldn’t form a coherent sentence if she tried, and that’s
just the way he wanted it.

Still,
he repeated, “Has it ever been like this before, Kira?” as if his question was
a command.

Skin
slipped on skin, slippery with sweat, and she was giving him his answer by the
way her thighs held him tight and her sex contracted hard around him—by the way
she shook her head no because it was the only thing she could do. They were
beyond words.

She
was all his. It had never been like this—for either of them.

“SO
YOU’RE STAYING, THEN?” Dev asked the question he’d been hesitant to ask ever
since Oz drove that spirit out of Dev and out of the house.

He
glanced over at Oz and was surprised to see him there. He was still having a
hard time adjusting to having his sight back, and even though his second sight
and CRV powers remained intact—stronger even—Dev hadn’t told anyone beyond
Creed about his return from the darkness. Or about Oz.

Oz
put a black-booted foot up on the desk in Dev’s home office and gave him an
easy smile. “I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“That’s
not an answer.” Still, Dev couldn’t help but return his smile.

“Yeah,
I’m staying,” Oz said quietly. “Hope that’s all right with you.”

Yes,
that was more than all right with Dev—waking up in Oz’s arms every morning had
only reiterated that desire.

“I
don’t think I’m going to come back to work at ACRO, though,” Oz continued.

“I
need you there. I want you there.”

“You
have plenty of people to watch your back.”

“Not
like you. Between you and Ender, maybe I can get to the bottom of the leak.”
Dev was still highly frustrated. Being a son of Itor’s leader put Dev in a
horribly vulnerable position, especially if Alek knew who and where Dev was.

They’d
been fighting about it ever since Oz banished Darius’s spirit from his body and
Dev got his sight back.

“Even
with Darius gone, the mole is still an issue. If I give away my hand too
quickly, I don’t know if things could get worse,” Dev told him.

Oz
ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I get it, Dev, but you’ve got to get
to the bottom of this. You’re putting it off, and fuck, I know why…”

“I
haven’t been putting it off. I’ve been…” He closed his eyes, the familiar
darkness a sudden comfort. When he opened them, he was staring into Oz’s dark
ones and he knew he didn’t have to explain anything to Oz. Oz just knew.

Dev
was still trying to understand what it meant to be Alek’s son. ACRO’s—and
Dev’s—sworn enemy. Yet, he had Alek’s DNA inside of him.

“You’re
right. It’s time,” Dev said. Oz waited on the other side of the desk, his body
tense as Dev dialed the contact number obtained from the I-Agent Annika had
captured.

He’d
wanted to put it on speaker, but Oz told him no. He did agree, however, to stay
in the room.

Normally,
the number would have connected him to the I-Agent’s handler, but Dev had used
an unsecure line, ensuring that ACRO’s business number would appear on Itor’s
version of caller ID. He knew the call would be rerouted, and after several
rings, someone picked up.

“This
is Alek.”

Liar.
He didn’t know how he knew, but he did. “Don’t fuck
with me.”

Silence
stretched, and then there was a click, another click, and then a
Slavic-accented voice that froze the fluid in Dev’s spine.

“Hello,
Devlin.”

Dev
paused, the protocol for speaking for the first time to his evil father
escaping him. “Let’s skip the bullshit. You know why I’m calling.”

“A
family reunion?”

“You
killed my family.”

“The
people who raised you? The woman who gave birth to you?” Alek sighed. “You
wouldn’t be where you are now if they were still alive. There’s a reason for
everything, you know.”