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  “Were you able to see what happened, why she’s so filled with rage?”

  “I was, but I won’t tell you. It’s Angie’s choice to trust you or not. I’m hoping she will. I think you’ll be good for each other.”

  Blayne smiled as he stood. “I appreciate the vote of confidence. I’m going to need that and more.”

  “I said it once before, but it bears repeating. She’s stronger than you think she is. Don’t be afraid to push her beyond the pain.”

  Drakkin didn’t give advice lightly, so Blayne considered the comment as he made his way back to the ambassador suite. He’d sensed the gaping wounds deep in Angie’s psyche. Only something dark and violent had the power to create such destruction. And apparently Angie had never dealt with the emotional ramifications of what she’d suffered. If she’d avoided the pain all these years, she would resist confronting it now. Unfortunately, her past was hindering her present and he needed her unencumbered by ghosts.

  The common room was empty, so Blayne checked one bedroom and then the other. True to her word, she was soaking in a bathtub, the bathroom door ajar. All he could see was the back of her head until he noticed her reflection in the large mirror mounted above the sink. She’d piled her hair on top of her head, her slender arms rested on the rim of the tub and her eyes were closed as she relaxed. The currents created by the jets of air concealed her body beneath the swirling water. Still, the sight of her dewy skin was enough to fuel his imagination.

  “Are you going to join me?” she asked without opening her eyes.

  He couldn’t help but grin. She’d meant join him in the tub, but his body immediately contemplated a far more intimate joining. “I’d rather watch,” he whispered.

  Her eyes flew open and she met his gaze in the mirror. “Really? I wouldn’t have pegged you for a voyeur.” She gave a one-shoulder shrug that made the water ripple across her breasts. “Each to their own.”

  Crossing the room, he lowered the lid and sat on the stool so he could see her directly. “If we had weeks rather than days, I could use conventional training techniques.”

  “But,” she prompted. “We’re in a hurry, so what’s the option?”

  “Fear, pain or pleasure. Each creates a surge in emotion, opening the mind to outside forces.”

  “Well, I’m not afraid of you and I’m not into pain, so that leaves pleasure.” She tilted her head as a lazy smile parted her lips. “Does this mean we’ll be having sex after all?”

  Lust spiraled through his body, intently hardening his cock. He clenched his fists and took a slow, deep breath. “It means we’ll have to be creative, but I still think it’s a very bad idea to actually have sex.”

  Her deep blue eyes drilled into his, narrowed and intense. “Are you involved with someone?”

  “There is no way I would have kissed you, much less—gone down on you if I’d been involved with someone else.”

  “Then why are you so afraid of having sex with me?”

  He chuckled then shook his head. “Believe me, it’s not fear I feel when I look at you.”

  “Then what? I don’t understand your hesitation.”

  He knelt beside the tub and pulled her up out of the water. “If I push inside you, I won’t be able to stop with just a physical joining. I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I want you.”

  Fear flickered within her gaze and she turned her face away. “All right. No penetration, just foreplay.” She quickly composed her expression and looked at him again. “But you go first this time.”

  She obviously didn’t understand the strategy, but he didn’t stop to correct her misconception. He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He had to remain in control while she lost herself to pleasure, over and over. It was the only way he’d be able to access the areas of her mind he needed to reach.

  Rather than placing her on the bed, he kept her cradled in his arms and sat on the side of the mattress. She pulled the pins from her hair and shook her head until the thick locks tumbled around her shoulders and halfway down her back. He buried both hands in her hair and guided her mouth to his. Her lips parted with the first brush of his tongue and her warm breath filled his mouth. She tasted faintly of blood wine, so he took the kiss deeper.

  Restless and eager, she shifted on his lap, wiggling and twisting until she maneuvered her legs to either side of his hips. The kiss continued as she dragged his T-shirt up under his arms. He laughed at her insistent tugs then lifted his arms and let her rid him of the garment.

  Her busy hands swooped down and went to work on the front of his jeans, but he caught her wrists and shook his head. “This is about you. Your mind must be occupied with something else while I build the connection.”

  “Our minds are already linked. Aren’t they?” Her hands shifted to his sides.

  “Not like they need to be. I have to concentrate, remain in control.”

  “While I come alone? Again.” She scrambled off his lap and reached for the bedding.

  He caught her around the waist and pulled her to the middle of the bed. “If you don’t want me to touch you, I can work while you touch yourself.” He punctuated the suggestion with a sexy smile. “I really do like to watch.”

  Uncertainty narrowed her gaze and she rolled to her side away from him. “I’m not sure if that’s more insulting or the fact that touching me doesn’t even distract you.”

  He ran his hand down her arm and onto her hip. “Everything about you is distracting to me, angel. Don’t doubt your appeal.”

  “Then why all these rules?” She looked over her shoulder, her face flushed and tense. “Why can’t we just go wherever this takes us?”

  Time for brutal honesty. Hopefully, Drakkin was right and she’d respond in kind. “As enjoyable as this will be, it’s not about physical pleasure. Well, not just about physical pleasure. As your arousal builds I’ll slip beyond your mental shields and activate a connection that will allow me to pass information directly into your mind. If the connection works, I’ll be able to instantaneously transfer skills that would ordinarily take you many weeks to master.”

  “Weeks that we don’t have.” She rolled to her back and met his gaze.

  “Exactly.” He didn’t touch her, wanted her to make her decision before he engaged her senses.

  “We’re not breaking some mentor/apprentice code by doing this?”

  He kept his gaze on her face even though she made no move to cover her nudity. “Desperate circumstances call for…creativity. As long as you understand what we’re doing and why, I’m comfortable with this course of action.”

  She sighed and lowered her lashes, hiding her reaction. Didn’t she realize their link was still active? He could feel her disappointment and desire—and something elusive and dark, like grief or regret. Despite her claims that sex meant nothing, his attitude upset her.

  “This isn’t personal. Touching me is a means to an end, a compromise for the greater good.” She sounded more miserable with each description. And in some twisted way, her discontent pleased him. She might say she was emotionally indifferent to him, but their link told another story.

  He lay down beside her and slipped one forearm under her neck. His torso remained elevated so he could watch her face. “You’re safe with me. Do you believe that?”

  “I know you’ll do everything you can to protect me.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I could have taken advantage of our attraction and formed this bond while you were too overwhelmed to understand what I was doing.”

  “Why didn’t you? It would have been a lot less complicated.” She glanced away then back as she waited for his answer.

  “Because I care about you. I don’t want deception to color our feelings for each other.”

  “We just met. How can we have significant feelings for each other? I don’t believe in love at first sight.” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself, so he didn’t respond to the question.

  “I won’t p
lay games. You’ll always understand my motivation because I’ll always be honest with you.”

  She just stared up at him, eyes wide with uncertainty, then her voice grew soft and distant as she said, “You don’t seem surprised by our attraction. Has this sort of thing happened to you before?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve never felt like this before.”

  “Then why aren’t you as freaked out as I am?”

  “Attitudes about romance are different on Ontariese. You’re still trying to define these feelings in human terms.”

  Her brows rose and challenge flashed in her gaze. “How do Ontarians define what we’re feeling?”

  “You’re not ready for the answer, so I’d rather not say.”

  “Omission is a form of dishonesty.”

  He touched the side of her face, his thumb lightly brushing her lips. “You already know the answer. Will it make you feel better to hear me say it?”

  “No.” She nipped his thumb. “Let’s take this one step at a time. Make me stronger so I can go home.”

  Happy to oblige, he bent and covered her mouth with his. Kissing was familiar now. He knew her taste and the textures of her lips. He loved the way she sighed and her bold response. Kissing Angie was addictive, intoxicating, yet it made him eager for more.

  He kissed his way down her neck, tracing the path of her pulse with his tongue. She arched and shivered as he gently scraped his teeth over her skin. Her hair was still damp against his forearm, but her body had dried while they spoke. She was silky soft and in tune to his simplest touch. He couldn’t think about how perfectly she reacted or how much her pleasure meant to him. “A means to an end” that was what she’d called this and he’d do well to distance his own emotions, at least for now.

  He cupped her breast as he explored the silken hollow at the base of her throat. The plump mound felt soft yet firm beneath his fingers. She arched into his touch, anticipation beading her nipples. Unable to resist the sweet temptation, he caught one tight peak between his lips and sucked it deep into his mouth. She shivered and moaned, her fingers tangling in his hair.

  It would be so easy to abandon his purpose and just make love to her. His body ached, hard and eager to fill her, to feel her slick muscles tighten around his length. Desperate to be inside her, he postponed what he really wanted by indulging in a compromise. He eased his hand between her thighs. She bent her knees and opened for him, legs spread wide.

  He released her nipple for a moment and looked at her face. Her eyes were closed, lips softly parted. Already she looked like a woman lost in rapture and he’d just begun to touch her. He lightly traced her slit as he carefully scanned her mind. Her desire wasn’t feigned. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. The knowledge sent a fresh wave of possessive need crashing over him.

  Parting her folds with his middle finger, he eased into her core. Heat and moisture surrounded him, making it impossible to remain motionless. He pulled his hand back and slid his finger deeper, mesmerized by her softness. His gaze drifted downward in time to see his finger reemerge, shiny with her excitement. He wanted to move between her thighs and devour her wet sex as he’d done before. He’d been lost in her pleasure, drunk on her passion and determined to feel her surrender beneath the force of her orgasm.

  He couldn’t afford to be so uninhibited this time. He had to remain in control. With his purpose reasserted, he slipped a second finger in alongside the first. Her core accepted the thicker invasion with a firm flutter and he fought back a groan. Knowing he couldn’t maintain control if he continued to watch his fingers disappear inside her body, he dragged his gaze back to her face.

  Her cheeks were flushed and her parted lips begged for his kiss. He maintained the steady motion of his hand as he bent and covered her mouth with his. Her tongue pushed past his lips, taking control of the kiss. He used her aggression to his advantage, responding instinctively while he sank into her mind.

  The change in her energy was immediately apparent. Her rhythm was no longer entirely human. Much of her power felt restrained, constricted by self-preservation. Blayne easily found the area Drakkin had released. The section blazed with untamed power rather than simmering with potential as so much of her mind did.

  She shifted restlessly, her core tightening around his fingers. He rotated his hand, bringing his thumb up to caress her clit. Desire rippled through her mind. She was closer to orgasm than he’d realized. Unwilling to waste the opportunity, he ventured deeper, searching for the slender overlap of conscious thought and intuitive reaction. Mystic abilities were closer to instincts than intentional actions. She must learn to control urges and impulses not immediately apparent to the untrained mind.

  He separated their mouths and sped the pumping motion of his hand. She pushed up with her heels, driving her body onto his fingers. Her abandon was so arousing he had to look away from her tense features. Her breasts jostled with each thrust and her inner muscles caressed his fingers.

  Closing his eyes against the temptation, he concentrated on the slide of his fingers in and out of her slick heat. Her passage was snug around his fingers. He could easily imagine how much tighter she would feel around his cock. Lust shuddered through him, mocking his intentions. He wanted to rip open his jeans and thrust his entire length into her core. Instead, he pushed his fingers deep and drove her over the edge with the firm, circular motion of his thumb.

  Pleasure blasted through her mind, offering him an opening. He lunged past her weakened shields and anchored a transfer conduit. Pain, fear and anger surged into his mind. The force drove him back, but he’d expected the rebound and braced against its strength. He could see her gift clearly now. The primary source of shimmering energy split into two tributaries. One flowed into the past, the other into the future. The current flowing into the past was murky and sluggish, while the future stream, though clear, was constricted and still.

  He had only a moment to contemplate the meaning before rage and bitterness drove him back beyond her shields. She was relaxed and breathless as she recovered from her orgasm. He eased his hand out from between her legs and kissed her softly on the lips.

  “What did you do?” Her lips moved against his as she spoke. “I felt something stab into my brain, but I can’t feel it anymore.”

  “The conduit is still there.” He moved his hand up her body, resting his fingers against the underside of her breast. “As soon as you recover, I’ll see if it’s functional.”

  “Will that require another distraction?” Angie couldn’t quiet keep the hopefulness out of her tone. She was still tingling from the orgasm he’d just released in her and already he was planning the next lesson. “I’m starting to like your training methods.”

  “Glad to hear it.” He pulled her up so they both lay on their sides, her breasts pressed against his naked chest. “As soon as you’re ready, I’ll pass you a basic skill. If you can demonstrate that skill, I’ll pass you another and so on.”

  “What sorts of skills?”

  “Concentration and control to begin with. Skill sets are built one skill upon the next, so there’s no point in moving on until you’re proficient at the basics.”

  “That makes sense.” He held her loosely, his hand caressing her side and hip, the touch intimate without being arousing.

  “Are you ready to try a transfer?”

  She nodded. It felt odd to have shared so many intimacies with someone who wasn’t her lover. She was naked, her sex still slick and swollen, yet Blayne insisted this was training not a romantic romp.

  He rolled to his back, taking her with him. She drew up her knees and straddled his hips, desperately wishing his jeans didn’t separate their bodies. Despite her recent release, she still felt empty and restless.

  “Close your eyes and pretend I’m inside you.”

  She obliged him, but grumbled, “I’d rather you take off those jeans so I don’t have to pretend.”

  “Maybe later.” His voice sounded gruff and thick.


  Her eyes flew open and her breath hitched. “Don’t say that unless you mean it. Women hate being teased just as much as men.”

  “I don’t know how much longer I can fight this.” He cupped both her breasts, his thumbs rubbing her nipples. “But we need to accomplish as much as possible before we surrender.”

  Pressing into the warmth of his palms, she undulated her hips. Her sensitive sex rubbed against the unmistakable ridge of his erection. He groaned and arched, increasing the pressure and friction. When a simple back-and-forth rocking only frustrated her, she rotated her hips. The circular motion maximized the contact of her clit and his shaft, but it was still not enough. She wanted him inside her, stretching her inner muscles and sliding against her clit.

  He caught each nipple between his thumb and forefinger, pulling and squeezing as her motion sped. How could she be this close to release already when she’d barely cooled down from before? Tension gathered between her thighs and her clit tingled. She reached back and braced herself against his thighs, allowing her hips to create a smoother circle over his straining cock.

  She closed her eyes and imagined the hard thickness inside her rather than trapped behind a wall of denim. His fingers remained firm on her nipples and the motion of her hips created a delicious tug. She swayed, increasing the pull of her flesh against his fingers. Sensations zinged from her nipples to her clit and she dropped her head back, enjoying the sensual swishing of her hair.

  “Come for me.” The pressure of his fingers increased until her body obeyed. Pleasure spiraled along her inner walls, clinching and releasing in rhythmic pulses. She gasped and shuddered, amazed by the intensity of each spasm.

  She was still reeling from the sensations when his presence blazed into her mind, searing yet focused. She cried out and shook, trapped between pleasure and pain. Heat spread through her mind, branching out like streams of molten lava. She could see it, smell it, as well as feel it wending its way through her consciousness. The image was detailed, the sensations distinct, yet she was powerless to control any of it.