A Glimpse of the Dark Side: Adult Paranormal Erotic Romance Collection (7 page)

January felt numb. She turned away from the
pictures. She couldn't look at any more pictures of Lori.

Agent Talbot put the folder away. "The only
thing we can't figure out, though, is why he kept Lianna alive so
long," she said. "He killed all the other girls within days, but
Lianna was with him a whole week."

A nurse walked over to them. "Which one of you
is January?" January lifted her hand.

"Lianna would like to speak to you," the nurse
said. "Please, keep it brief-she still needs a lot of rest."

When January walked into Lianna's room, the
Morgans were there.

Mrs. Morgan stood up, came to January and hugged
her without saying a word. January held her as long as the older
woman needed it.

"Mom, Dad," Lianna said from the bed. "Could I
just talk to Ms. Morrison alone, please?"

Mrs. Morgan let January go, and she and Mr.
Morgan left the room.

January sat down by the bed. "You can call me
January, you know. Or just Jan. I think we're pretty
well-acquainted by now."

Lianna smiled. The hospital staff had cleaned up
her bruises and combed her hair, and she was looking more like the
lively young girl in the photographs in her room. She had a sweet,
lovely smile. "I didn't want my parents to hear what I'm about to
tell you," she said. "I don't want them to know how close they- how
close I came to- " She paused, not knowing how to continue. Her
eyes told January that she didn't want to give words to the
thought. January nodded her encouragement.

"The thing is," Lianna said, "he was going to
kill me. I know he was. I could feel it, the way I've always just
been able to feel things sometimes.

"But then, when you started talking to me in my
head, it was like you woke something up. I didn't just feel things
anymore, I could
see
and
hear
what he was thinking."
She shook her head, frustrated. "I'm not explaining it very well.
It's not like seeing or hearing. I just
knew
what was going
through his mind, in a way I've never been able to before.

"I knew what he wanted. I knew what would make
him mad. I knew what I had to say to keep him talking." Her face
started to crumble and her voice became unsteady. "To distract him
so he wouldn't..." she started to cry.

January reached out and put her hand on the
girl's own. "It's over," she told her. "You're safe."

Lianna got control of herself and nodded. "I'm
different, though. I can still
do it
, you know. Read people.
I can read everyone now. Is that normal? I mean, even for someone
like me?"

January smiled. "Well, the first thing to get
used to is, there is no 'normal.' Everyone who has these abilities
is a little different. Just like all people are different from each
other. It sounds like you had some kind of ability all along, but
it just hadn't fully appeared yet. It's going to take some time to
get used to it. To figure out how to control it."

"How do I do that?"

January shrugged. "Through a lot of trial and
error. I was lucky- my mother was like me, but even she couldn't do
some of the things I can." She took the girl's hand again. "And it
sounds like you are far more talented than I am. Maybe when you've
had a chance to put all of this behind you, we can keep in touch. I
can help you with anything you need... but I have a feeling you
will do just fine on your own."

"You really think so?"

She smiled. "The most important thing is to have
people in your life who love you and understand you. They will give
you all the help you need."

There was a knock on the door. Ash poked his
head in. "Sorry to intrude," he said. "January, I think we've got
everything wrapped up here. If we get in the air pretty soon, we
can have you home by nighttime." He looked at Lianna. "How are you
feeling?"

"Much better, thank you, Agent Sterling," Lianna
said. "I just wanted to make sure I had a chance to thank January
before you guys left."

Ash nodded and looked at January. "We couldn't
have done it without her," he said.

January continued to stare at the door after it
had closed. When she turned back to Lianna, the girl had a big,
smug grin on her face.

January grunted. "Hard to keep anything secret
around a budding psychic."

"Oh
please,
" Lianna laughed. "It didn't
take any special powers to figure
that
out." Then she looked
at January seriously. "He wants to protect you, but he knows you
don't need it." She smiled. "That's why he likes you so much."

January flushed deeply. "Are you sure I didn't
awaken your hidden powers as a noseypants?"

"I mean it, he really likes you. Like, a
lot
."

"Okay, okay!" They said goodbye and hugged, and
January returned to the visitors' area, where Ash and Carrie were
waiting to take her home.

"I THINK IT'S about time to have a drink," Agent
Talbot declared. "Who's with me?"

"I'll pass, thank you." Ash had his laptop open
on the little table between the airplane seats. He was typing
furiously.

Agent Talbot shrugged. "Suit yourself. More..."
she stopped to read the neon-colored bottle she was holding,
"...Rad-Berry Blast Cooler for me. Where'd they get this stuff, a
sorority fund raiser?" She shook the bottle at January
invitingly.

January smiled. "No, thanks, I think I'll just
try to get some rest."

"Wise words," Agent Talbot said. "For all of us.
Ash.
The case is over. Take a break. You can type the report
tomorrow."

He ignored her. "January, we're going to make a
quick landing in Virginia to drop off the slightly inebriated Agent
Talbot, so she can endanger pedestrians and small wildlife."

"I'll have you know my sister is picking me up
at the airport," Agent Talbot said. "I figured if I was down here,
I might as well drop in on her." She switched to a loud stage
whisper. "She's kind of a basket-case, but she's a lot of fun."

"Are you finished?"

"No. I will also have you know I once did an
undercover assignment at WVU, so it takes a little more than a cup
of bubbly fruit juice to knock me off-kilter."

"How much will it take to get you to stop
talking?" Ash turned back to January. "Anyway, after that I will
make sure you get home safely."

"That sounds good," January lied. She thought
about her dark house, the lights she had set to turn on and off
every night with a timer. The breakfast dishes from the other day
were probably still in the sink, along with the cup of tea she
never had a chance to finish when the agents had shown up at her
door.

She looked at Ash. In the half-dark of the
cabin, she could only see half his face in the blue glow from his
laptop screen. She had felt more alive with him in the past few
days then she had felt in years. She didn't want that to end.

They were in the air again twenty minutes after
Agent Talbot had bid them goodbye. Carrie had paused to exchange
good-natured barbs, with Ash deadpanning over the rampart of his
computer, before she finally exited the plane. Jan had watched the
two agents with interest and amusement.

Ash finished typing and closed up his laptop ten
more minutes into the flight. He studied her, this time.

"Well," he asked, "how was your first stint as a
Special Consultant to the FBI?"

"Wonderful.
Terrible.
" She looked at him.
"I don't know how you do this every day. I don't think I would
survive."

He looked out the window into the blue darkness.
"After a while you just don't know any other way to live. You don't
see anyone else except other people who do the same thing. And
eventually, you don't want to." He stretched his arms and yawned.
"But at least New York is a friendly town to live in, such as it
is."

She smiled. "What about Agent Talbot?"

He looked at her blankly. "What about her? Oh.
Oh!
" He grinned. "Carrie is..." he paused to think, "...too
much like me. In our line of work, sometimes
one
of me is
more than enough."

"What!? She is
nothing
like you."

He gave her a brief amused glance. "Appearances
can be deceiving. She can be stubborn and cranky, and she would
find a way to do her job even if no one was paying her." He
shrugged. "She's just a little better at negotiating the outside
world than I am." He looked at her. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What did Lianna tell you when you talked to
her?"

January flushed, thinking of the last thing
Lianna had told her. She hadn't been able to think of much else
since then.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want
to," Ash said.

"No, no," she said. "I do. She told me why Brian
didn't kill her when he had the chance," she said. "When I reached
out to her with my mind, somehow it sent her abilities into high
gear. She was able to read him. She manipulated him into keeping
her alive." She looked down at her hands. "Without her talent,
she'd be dead right now."

Ash leaned over the table and looked in her
eyes. "You saved her life," he said simply.

She nodded. "I did, didn't I?"

He sat back and smiled. "And that's why we do
it."

January's heart was racing in her chest. She
steeled herself and looked at Ash. The flash of the airplane's wing
light lit up his face. He was so beautiful it hurt to look at
him.

She knew there were some things in life that was
just worth the risk-taking.

"Ash," she said. "When you take me home tonight,
I would like you to stay with me. Will you do that?"

His eyes told her what she needed to know before
he even said a word.

THEY WERE ALREADY kissing when January fumbled
the door open. They fell against it, their mouths melting together,
their tongues exploring. She had wondered since she first laid eyes
on Ash what it would be like to kiss him, and the reality was so
much sweeter than she could have dreamed.

He was kissing her all over, stroking the back
of her neck, nuzzling her lips, her ears. She leaned her neck back
for more, loving the heat of his lips on her body, giving herself
up to the sensations. He picked her up and she wound her legs
around him, feeling light as a feather in his arms.

He carried her into the bedroom and placed her
gently on her back in the bed.

"How did you know which door it was?" she asked,
between kisses.

"Detective," he said, his mouth too busy to say
much more. He moved his hands under her blouse, sliding upward to
her full breasts, kneading them as he cupped each one. His hands
moved behind her back and unhooked her bra in one smooth gesture.
His fingertips slipped underneath and brushed her erect nipples
lightly, sending shocks of pure pleasure through her body.

She made a strangled sound in her throat that
almost broke their kiss, but she held on because separating herself
from his mouth wasn't something she was prepared to do just then.
She heard his breathing grow deeper, her pleasure fueling his need
for her even more.

She pulled at the buttons on his shirt, tearing
it open, feeling the smooth, powerful chest underneath. The feeling
of his skin against hers was pure pleasure, and she wriggled out of
her bra and blouse completely, wanting him to see her, to touch
her. His hands moved down over her body to her hips, and she began
to move against him slowly, back and forth, feeling the massive
hardness there.

He moaned, and it drove her wild. After how
reserved he had been in all the time they were together, she
thought she had never heard anything sexier in her life.

He slipped off her slacks and panties as she
unfastened his belt and slipped the rest of his clothing off him.
In the faint moonlight coming through the window, his body had a
smooth white glow. He looked so beautiful to her-so whole and
alive, and she saw in his eyes that he was taking the same delight
in seeing her, too.

He slid her further onto the bed and climbed in
after her, his mouth exploring all of her body now, searing a trail
from her neck down to her nipples, making them hard as little
diamonds. He didn't stop there, but made his way down her stomach
and between her eager thighs. January caught her breath as he
parted the precious folds that hid her pleasure source and began to
flick it diligently with the tip of his tongue.

She stretched her hands over her head and arched
her back to push hard against him, grinding her ass to his mouth,
loving the way his lips probed and suckled, his tongue tip circling
and flicking her pleasure button. Like a little cock, his tongue
would take turns sliding inside her, in and out, and then sucking
her clit, sending tiny electric shocks through her muscles, melting
her bones.

Two of his fingers then slid inside her sex's
cleft as his mouth gave more attention to her tiny, now swollen
clit. She started to pant heavily. She could feel tiny quivers
starting on her inner walls, her muscles gripping his fingers. She
could feel ecstasy approaching but she didn't want it now,
alone.

She wanted it with him.

"Ash-!" January started to tug on him so that he
would stop. She pulled him back up to her.

He moved back up her body and kissed her deeply
once more. January could taste herself on him and it sent a jolt of
pure, raw excitement through her body. She could feel his hard cock
straining against her, and felt an urgent wetness between her
thighs. She couldn't wait any longer. She needed to feel him inside
her.

Spreading her thighs apart, she wrapped her legs
around his back and guided him into her.

When he pushed his way inside, she greeted him
with a sigh of welcome and arched her back to take him deeper.

"Oh, Ash, that feels so good...!" she
breathed.