TangledHunger (4 page)

She sank into a conveniently placed chair behind her. “How
the Jade did this happen?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think either of us wants the other
running around in their head. I have increased my mind shield and would suggest
you do the same. Put everything you don’t want me to catch stray glimpses of
behind a closed door.”

“Can’t we just stay out of each other’s minds?”

Duncan sat up and wrapped his arm around his raised knee.
“As far as I can tell we can’t control it, so I believe precaution is better.”

Tanasha agreed.

“Now, back to what brought us here. I am sorry for my
unthinking words, Tanasha. I see now that your friend’s disappearance is deadly
serious to you. I am a strong believer in instincts. You think your friend is
in danger and I trust that. Can we return to the real world and continue on to
see this villain of yours?”

She bit her lower lip as she studied him.

Even before this weird link had sprung to life—and she’d
have to spend a considerable amount of time figuring out how she felt about
it—she’d believed he was the solution to Sydney’s problem.

Time was of the essence. The ticking clock in the back of
her head had not abated. On the contrary, it had sped up.

She needed him. Now that she knew his stance she would
protect herself.

Tanasha nodded.

He jumped off the bed with a smile. “Excellent.” He took her
hand and kissed its back, only to turn it over and kiss her racing pulse. “Next
time we meet here we should spend some time exploring.”

She didn’t know what to say but didn’t have to as she found
herself beside the paused transport.

Most of the irrational hurt flowed out of her body. Her
wings drooped.

Something tickled the outside of her left wing. She shook it
but the tickle didn’t go away. She looked over her shoulder and saw the Vampire
gently, teasingly stroke along her feathers. Tanasha was just about to shake
them again when she caught the look in his eyes.

Eyes that had taken on the now familiar silver tint.

But not with anger.

“What are you doing?” She had to clear her throat a couple
of times before she could actually form a sentence. Having him stroke her outer
wing feathers had the same impact on her as his caressing her breast would. The
closer to the center of the wings the touch went, the more sensitive they
became.

He didn’t look at her but focused solely on her wings.
Duncan ruffled the feathers, going against the grain only to stroke them back
down.

Her heart skipped a beat and her simmering arousal sprang to
life full force. She grew wet. Jade, did he have any idea what he did to her?

Tanasha shook her wings again but he wouldn’t be deterred.
Duncan actually held on to a number of feathers. It would hurt to pull them
out. She had no option but to wait until he let go.

“I’ve always wondered what Naema wings felt like. They are
even more amazing than I’d imagined.”

His reverence and focus relaxed something inside Tanasha she
hadn’t known was tightly clenched. Unused to her emotions seesawing like this
she held still.

Duncan looked up, still caressing her, but at least he moved
back to the outer side of her wings. “Why can’t I see them all the time? Why do
you hide them?”

This wasn’t something that should be discussed with
outsiders, but despite being an idiot sometimes, Duncan made her feel as if he
really saw
her
. For the first time in her life she wasn’t her father’s
daughter or the “Naema without Gift” or the short, fat one. He had fantasized
about
her
and now seemed happy to stand there touching her.

“Wings are an expression of our emotions,” she explained.
“When our society moved further and further away from emotions and worked at
finding that perfect balance, we began to hide our wings. The better your
control, the better a Naema is at hiding the wings.

“Over time it has become so ingrained that we developed a
mechanism to hide them in another dimension. They’re still there, but they’re
insubstantial, meaning that if you touch my back when they are hidden, you’d be
unable to feel them.” She shook her head. “It has become very bad form to show
your wings, unless you’re with family or a lover.”

His gaze pinned her. “Lover? Why lover?”

Tanasha blushed. She cleared her throat. “Under the right
circumstances, touching wings during intercourse can heighten the feelings for
both participants.” He let go for a second and she tried to snap her wings
back, but he was too fast for her.

“Really? Now isn’t that interesting.” He moved his touch
from the outside of her wings farther to the middle and his strokes grew
firmer.

Tanasha clenched her teeth, trying to contain the fire
rushing through her. Why the Jade had she told him? With the sensations
shooting from her nipples to her stomach to the heat between her legs and the
sensitive clit and back, it was impossible to concentrate on dematerializing
her wings.

“Tell me more,” he whispered, his breath teasing the outline
of her ear.

Her head dropped back on her neck and her eyes closed.
Duncan had a gift for finding her most sensitive spots. She needed him to put
at least one hand on her body before she went insane.

Her clit throbbed with a need she had never felt before.

His lips whispered across the sensitive curve where neck met
chin, across her cheek until they finally settled on her lips for a kiss.
Small, biting kisses, when all she wanted was for him to kiss her with
everything he had.

Tanasha forced her eyes open and tried to capture his lips,
but he continued to evade her. In the end she had enough. She summoned the
strength to lift her arms and frame his face in her hands. He allowed it and
leaned close when she pulled him forward.

Her lips pressed against his. When his parted she thrust her
tongue inside and devoured him with a kiss that stole her sanity. He took over
and the kiss turned into a full-blown sex act, their tongues thrusting back and
forth, rubbing against each other in a manner that drove Tanasha crazy, while
at the same time making things better.

Finally, he let go of her wing and stepped in front of her,
dragging her against his chest. His heat scorched her even through her layers
of clothing. She rubbed her hardened nipples against him.

Then she felt his hands on her wings again. The same hands
that gripped her behind and pressed her against his arousal. Tanasha moaned
when she realized he used his power to stimulate her back. The sensations
flooded her, doubling and tripling with every stroke across her feathers.

Duncan pushed one leg between hers, rubbing her most
sensitive area. Then he lifted one of her legs around his hip. The fat stalk of
his member pressed against her and she moaned in relief. She was so close. All
she needed was that one little push.

Duncan felt as if he’d stepped into one of his hottest
daydreams. Touching her black-gold wings, their texture like the richest silk
and the softest angora, had need spiraling tighter and tighter inside him.
Having her tell him that her wings were an extension of her body and could
drive her even higher? Talk about fulfilling a fantasy.

He’d purposely given her the upper hand, needing her to make
the decision to take that next step. He hadn’t expected the roof of his head to
blow off and for him to be one step away from coming in his pants.

Again.

Her response to his telekinetic touch of her wings flashed
through him. He only stroked them with his mind, but their texture and amazing
feel were ingrained in him until the end of his days. Desperate arousal
clenched every muscle in his body.

They’d both decided breathing was overrated, keeping their
lips glued to each other. Her taste of cinnamon and spice went straight to his
head. He tried to find skin, but she seemed to wear more clothes than a quartet
of Old Earth actors.

Duncan grappled with the smock she wore over her pants,
trying to find the bottom so he could pull it up, but bending his knees
resulted in her pussy rubbing across his cock, causing a maelstrom of pleasure.
He had to close his eyes for a moment.

Tanasha began to pant and rub up and down his dick. Deep,
throaty sounds escaped her as she came closer to her orgasm. Duncan gave up on
finding skin, pulled her leg higher around his hip so she fit more snugly
against him.

His free hand went to her back, to her wings in addition to
his mind touch. As soon as he focused on the center of her back she screamed.
The middle was more sensitive. Duncan thrust against her clothed pussy and
rubbed the palm of his hand up and down her feathers while teasing her strong
outer feathers with his power.

He clenched his teeth against his own need, but somehow
watching her climb to the peak filled him with satisfaction, despite the pain
in his groin.

Tanasha clenched her leg around his hip, pulling him tightly
against her wet pussy. Her hands gripped his shirt like a lifeline and her lids
dropped shut. Duncan caught the scream of her release with his mouth.

She slumped against him, her pulse a temptation at the base
of her throat, her eyes still closed. He wanted to see what color they turned
in the throes of passion. He gently let down her leg and tightened his embrace.

Duncan couldn’t remember ever feeling this sense of
contentment before. His balls were about to fall off and his cock would forever
wear the impressions of the insides of his trousers, but it didn’t matter.
Holding this woman, this Naema, in his arms gave him more satisfaction than any
previous night of passion.

And an invisible strand of energy connected them.

That made no sense at all. In the back of his mind childhood
memories wanted to jump up and grab him, but he wouldn’t allow it.

The thought was pure myth and he wouldn’t spend any more
time worrying about it. Finding the second half of your soul was as likely as
winning the Galactic Lottery. Those odds were actually better. He’d searched
for his lifemate as a young Vampire, tried to figure out if Fate had a system
by talking to countless pairs, but came up empty every time.

Tanasha stirred against him, her long lashes fluttering, her
black eyes slumberous. For the first time he saw behind her composure, the mask
she wore in public. Gratification filled her smile.

At least until she blinked a few times and began to focus on
his face. As expected, the little Naema turned bright red and tried to pull
back from him, but Duncan had no intention of letting her put distance between
them. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew he wanted her like no other
woman before. Naema or not.

Now he just had to persuade her to allow the heat to run its
course. He sighed. Going by the emotions darkening her eyes, that would be as
easy as a walk out of an airlock.

Tanasha couldn’t believe what had just happened. How the
Jade could she have let go like that? Not only did he see her wings, but he
touched them as well.

And it had been the best experience of her life.

She’d had a number of long-term relationships when she was
younger. They’d grown few and far between once she’d realized the men didn’t
really want her. They wanted to use her to get to her father or wanted to say
they fucked the freak.

She’d never felt close enough to any of them to share her
wings. Why the Jade would she let a Vampire touch them? And why had it felt better
having sex fully clothed with him than naked with another man?

Tanasha wanted to rub her head and crawl into a corner to
figure things out, but they didn’t have time. She shoved her confusion and
worry behind the door he’d told her to envision. Then she straightened her
shoulders and attempted to take a step back.

He didn’t let go.

Of course he had to make things difficult. “Please let go.”

“Only if you agree to have dinner with me tonight.”

Her eyebrows rose. “You don’t eat.”

“But you do and it is something normal dating people do, go
out to dinner,” he explained.

“We don’t have time.”

“You collapsing from hunger won’t help.”

Tanasha tried to escape again but he’d locked his hands
behind her back, beneath her wings. She pushed against his chest to get a
little space between them. He didn’t give her much.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to make this mistake
even bigger than it already is,” she said. Tension spread through his body.
“The last few days have been difficult and my emotions got the better of me.
How about we file this unfortunate occurrence under client privileges and move
on.”

His gaze narrowed and he released her. “I know you said your
wings end up in an alternative dimension, but you didn’t mention your brain
followed suit. Did you not just erupt in my arms like a volcano? Once we make
it between the sheets we’ll set the planet on fire.”

For some reason she felt cold without Duncan’s heat
surrounding her. Whereas his face had been if not soft then more relaxed, he
now shut down. He crossed his arms in front of his mile-wide chest, eyes hard.
“Are you sure you want this to end here? Be certain it is what you really want,
before you deprive both of us.”

Tanasha had been ready to say she wanted their relationship
to be completely professional but lost her voice.

She’d been alone for a very long time, even surrounded by
her family. After what she’d been through trust didn’t come easy.

He’d brought her to orgasm fully clothed. With his kiss and
his touch. What could he do if they were both naked? And then there was this
connection. It scared her to pieces to share herself with somebody, but the
mental intimacy they’d shared for that brief moment in the made-up room had
been incredible. Part of her wanted to return there, wanted to combine their
mental and physical intimacy. It would be beyond her wildest dreams.