Mine to Possess (Psy-Changeling 4)

His smile widened and, sliding his hand from her nape to her hair, he tugged back her head so he could kiss her again. The embers in her stomach burst into flame as she realized she was rubbing her ni**les against him. He didn't seem to mind - he was doing that purring thing again. His hand dropped down to cup her bottom and she was startled to find she'd shifted position so she straddled him. As he resettled her, she bit back a whimper. The hard ridge of his erection now pressed right into the wet heat between her thighs.

Breaking the kiss, lips wet, breath jagged, she lifted a hand and traced the shape of his mouth with a finger. "You're rushing me."

"I'm not a patient man," was his unrepentant answer as she trailed her finger down his jaw and along his throat. "You feel when we touch, baby," he said, wiping away one of her deepest fears. "This will be damn good. I can smell you, so hot and wet, so ready." He bit her ear. "Let me make you come. I'll be good - I won't lick...much."

The playful request made her thighs clench, her br**sts swell. "Clay." She nuzzled at his throat, tasted the exquisitely male scent of him. "What if we do this and then...then things don't work out?"

"They will."

"But what if they don't?" she asked, refusing to let his stubbornness dictate this. He hadn't brought up her promiscuous past since that explosive argument in the Tank, but that didn't mean he'd forgotten it. Clay was simply too possessive to accept what he viewed as a betrayal. She saw that knowledge in his eyes every time he looked at her. "I can't lose your friendship." It was the only thing standing between her and a desolation so great, she knew she wouldn't survive. Not this time.

"Tally, you tried to run from me and look where you ended up." He bit down on her lip again, released it, licked at the sensual hurt. "I'll always be there if you need me."

That didn't answer her question, but before she could say anything, he closed his hand over her breast. "Clay!" It was a half-shocked, half-exhilarated shout.

He held her in place with the arm he had around her waist as he bent to watch his fingers move on her thinly covered flesh. "Take off your top."

She was having real trouble thinking. "No. Slow down."

His answer was to press a kiss to the hollow at the bottom of her neck. Then he licked at that spot, shooting arrows of sensation straight through to the need between her thighs. As if that wasn't enough, he kept massaging her breast with firm, masculine approval. She didn't need his rough, "Mine," to understand the possession in his touch.

Her body shuddered under the impact of what he was making her feel, the sensations crashing endlessly in her mind. Driven to the edge, she put her hand over his. "I'm not ready." Pleasure wasn't enough, not when he kept a part of himself shut off from her. "I'm sorry." For the past she'd put between them. For the future she couldn't promise

He kissed his way up her neck. "Don't be." He took her lips again before she could be certain what he was referring to. "I'm only playing. Tamsyn's on her way over."

She was too delighted by the boyish mischief in those green eyes to get mad at the way he'd been leading her on. "Kiss me one more time, then." Make me forget the disease killing me from the inside out. But most of all, make me forget that you don't trust me anymore.

Chapter 26

The first day Ashaya came up from the underground lab and into the light, she was stopped as she exited the elevator hidden within the old farmhouse.

"Ma'am, you don't have the authorization to be outside." The security officer wore the standard black uniform of Security but with Ming's emblem on one shoulder - two snakes locked in combat.

"No," she agreed. "But, on the other hand, unless I attempt an escape, you have no authority to take any action against my person. I need to think and I do it better outside."

"Surveillance - "

" - has been blocked from the sky, all but our own satellites nudged in other directions. And there is no one out here to see me." Just corn, endless rows of spring-green corn. "You can accompany me."

A military nod. "After you."

She was under no illusion that she'd won the battle. He was simply buying time while telepathing Ming for further instructions. The expected mental touch came mere seconds after she stepped onto the deceptively decrepit-looking porch.

Councilor, she said.

Ashaya, you're disobeying a direct order. Ming's mental voice came through with crystal clarity. Either he was still in the country or his telepathic powers were stronger than she'd previously believed.

You should have known the rules would never hold. She walked down the steps and into the rows of corn, conscious of the guard shadowing her every move. I have a psychological flaw that has never been subject to rehabilitation. Because she was too valuable an asset to chance to the sometimes fatal side effects. However, that shield wouldn't last forever.

Your tendency toward claustrophobia was taken into account when designing the lab. It's wide open.

And underground. She had been buried underground once. It had left a permanent mark. The flaw is not debilitating in any sense, she said, knowing she had to be careful, but it does make clear thinking difficult after an extended period of time below.

Then it's our design that is flawed, he accepted with cool Psy logic. The psych consult was of the opinion that your abilities would remain unaffected by the location given the layout and your mental strength.

The consult was correct - my abilities have not been adversely affected. Conceding weakness would get her killed. It's more a case of efficiency. All I need is an hour or two upside on a regular basis to maintain peak productivity.