The Power of Persuasion (8 page)

“He decided not to go?” She fiddled with her microscope. “
What’s going on? He doesn’t want to be with me. It’s not a good situation for either of us.”

Kaiden took his time sauntering over to her desk and pulling out a chair.
“I suspect he had no choice. The scientific director of the super soldier program is here and she is determined to add new data to her existing profile of Mac.”

“I think I talked him out of it.” Kaiden smiled. “I’ll be here, too, as back up.”

“That’s good to know.
Can’t he get out of it
?”

“
He says not
.”

“
Damn, this is bad.”
She forced herself to pat Kaiden on the arm. “I really appreciate your willingness to help me out here.
Can you go first? Can we lessen the impact on Mac?
”

“You’re more than welcome, Dr. Neeve.” Kaiden stood up and held out his hand. “Just let me know when you need me.
And I’ll try and make sure Mac is the one kept as back up.”

Commander Kaiden brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it lingeringly, but she knew it was just an act. He wasn’t as attached to her as Mac had been after one mating session, and she wasn’t feeling more than pleasurable sexual anticipation about him. For whatever reason, Mac was different and she had to protect him.

“Mac.”

He woke up from a troubled sleep to find Kaiden at his door.

“Neeve’s ready for us.”

He rolled out of bed and rubbed his eyes. Whatever stuff Professor Dean had forced into him was still making him feel like crap.

“
What’s wrong?”
Kaiden had his shields so high that the question barely squeaked through.

“I’m not sure.”
Mac attempted to run a diagnostic on his own systems. “
She’s messed with something. I feel all…wrong.”

“The prof? I’ll see if I can pick up anything.”

“Yeah, do that.”

“Then we’d better keep this convo to the minimum. Tell Neeve.”

Mac nodded. Kaiden was the only person who’d noticed that his telepathic link with Neeve was more complex than his link with anyone else. He only hoped to God that Kaiden hadn’t told Professor Dean or that the witch hadn’t worked it out for herself. She’d always taken special pleasure in making Mac’s life hell probably because he’d been the first one to question her methods-the first one to realize the enormity of what she’d done to them and fight to get free.

“Come on.”

Kaiden walked ahead of Mac down the white hallway and turned toward the guest suites. “They’ve put us in here. I guess the beds are bigger.”

“Great.”

Kaiden entered a code and they both went through the door into the executive suite, which was usually reserved for visiting dignitaries. It was fitted out in sleek modern furniture in shades of white and beige. Neeve was sitting in one of the chairs, her arms wrapped around herself and her head lowered. She looked up as the men entered, but she didn’t smile.

“Dr. Neeve.” Mac nodded at her and took the seat furthest away. “How are you?”

“Would either of you like a drink?” Kaiden asked as he headed into the small kitchen that adjoined the living area. “I’m parched.” He made a lot of noise rattling around in the refrigerator and banging cupboard doors looking for glasses.

Neeve glanced at Mac. “
There’s something wrong
.”

“
What
?”

She frowned. “
With this space. I feel like I’m being watched.”

“I just had a similar conversation with Kaiden about what’s going on in my head.”

She studied him for a second. “
There’s definitely something going on. I’ll block harder.”

“
Hell, you can control electrical fields, can’t you
?” Mac smiled. “
Can you take security systems out?
”

“
Yes
.”

“
Then when we get naked, you go ahead and do that. It might not stop the prof for long, but it will give us a chance for some privacy.”

She raised her chin. “Kaiden’s going first this time, okay?”

His smile faded. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“I thought you’d prefer it. You were the one who asked to be off base while this happened.”

“
You know why I did that
.” He turned his gaze to Kaiden who was still messing around in the kitchen. “Is there any beer?”

“I’ll check,”

“Thanks.” Mac stretched out his legs and sighed. “If I’m going to be hanging around I might as well get comfortable.

Neeve’s gaze drifted down over his body and his cock jumped to attention. “There’s another reason why you’re better off being last.”

“And what’s that?” Mac rubbed a casual hand over his chest and then down to cup his balls. Why he felt the need to display himself to a female he’d sworn to keep away from he couldn’t say.

“Pavlovan sex works better as a threesome and I already know how you feel about those.”

She was talking more loudly than usual. Was she attempting to convey something to Professor Dean who he was sure, despite her promises, was hanging on their every word?

“What are you trying to say, Doc?”

Neeve shrugged. “You told me you don’t like to share.”

“I think you’re forgetting that Kaiden and I already
have
shared you, Dr. Neeve.”

“Not entirely. And once was apparently enough to freak you out. What did Commander Kaiden do? Touch your ass or something?”

He shrugged. “Maybe I don’t have the hots for him.”

“So why can’t you come to bed with us, and just share me? I’m not asking you to fuck him.”

Mac shuddered. “Fuck
that
? No thanks.”

“Hey.” Kaiden called out in his deep voice. “I’m fucking irresistible. Ask anyone.”

Neeve rose to her feet and came toward Mac. “Fine, then wait it out.
That should give your scientists something to think about
.”

His gaze fastened on the v of her blue robe and the intriguing shadow between her breasts. He licked his lips and silently groaned. The thought of her having Kaiden and not him first was difficult to swallow. She belonged with him. Didn’t she see that?

“
I see it, Mac. You’re the one who won’t believe it
.”

She walked over to Kaiden in the kitchen and let her robe fall to the ground. She was naked beneath the silk. With a grin, Kaiden picked her up and sat her on the countertop, spreading her legs with his hips and sliding one hand into her hair as he kissed her.

Mac tried to look away as a low growl rumbled from his throat. Kaiden’s big hand cupped Neeve’s ass and drew her closer and closer to the roll of his hips. Even from his seat, Mack could smell the scent of their arousal all around him.

“Mmm…” Kaiden murmured. “I have too many clothes on.” He wrapped an arm low around Neeve’s hips and lifted her off the countertop. “Mac, get your own beer. I have to service Dr. Neeve right now.” He walked out of the kitchen and down the hallway to the bedroom, Neeve clinging to him like a vine.

Mac didn’t hear the door close and that was bad enough, but then Neeve started to gasp and moan and he seriously wanted to go in there and fucking shoot his commanding officer through the head, He knew he was doing the right thing—keeping away from her, letting Kaiden take the brunt of the mating cycle and he didn’t fucking care.
He
wanted to be the one inside her, making her moan, making her come.

He shot up from the couch and then slowly let out his breath as the noises of frantic sex continued. She had three days to get through. He’d have his turn, and if he waited, he’d prove to Professor Dean that his presence at the station hadn’t been necessary at all.

In the kitchen, he opened the fridge and found a few bottles of beer stacked in the door side. It wasn’t a brand he liked, but it might help him drown his sorrows for a few hours as Kaiden and Neeve… Damn. He opened one beer and drank it down in one.

“So how long do you think he’ll last?” Kaiden asked.

Neeve looked down at him. She was currently full of his cock and enjoying straddling his torso as she slowly rode him in lazy circles of her hips.

“Mac?”

“Who else?” He winced as she deliberately tightened her internal muscles around his fast recovering shaft. “Damn, you are one demanding female.”

“Don’t start complaining.” She smoothed a hand over his muscular chest, pausing to circle his nipple. “I was just going to comment about how popular you’d be on Pavlovan with your current unattached status.”

His smile was complacent. “I’m good aren’t I?”

“You’ve got a nice big cock and you can last for hours, which makes you perfect for Pavlovan sex.”

“I wish I could go there.” His smile disappeared. “Since I’ve had sex with you I can’t imagine ever being satisfied with a partner who isn’t telepathic.”

“You do understand that we have sex with everyone?”

“Yes. Mac told me.”

“Does it offend you—the thought of maybe being with another man?”

“No. I’ve realized that it isn’t just about the physical, but the mental as well.” He smiled. “Of course I’m pretty damn sure I’d naturally attract two beautiful female telepaths, just like you.”

“Flatterer.”

“I mean it.” He cupped her jaw. “You are extraordinary in so many ways.”

“Damn, I wish I’d bonded with you.”

“That would be far too easy.” His hips rolled against hers and she realized he was fully erect again.

Neeve studied his handsome face. “I could ask if you like.”

“Ask what?”

“If I could bring you home with me.”

“You could do that?”

“I’m…connected to some fairly important people there.”

“But we’re not mated.”

“So what? I think I’m mated with Mac, but he doesn’t seem to agree.”

Despite the throb of his cock inside her, he concentrated on her face. “Would you take Mac, too?”

“I’d love to.” She sighed. “But I don’t think he quite sees it like that.”

“Have you asked him?”

“Kaiden, he’s sitting out there drinking himself into a stupor rather than have sex with me.”

“He thinks he’s doing the right thing and with Professor Dean being here he might have a point.”

“Who is she exactly?”

“She’s the head of our disbanded program. She recruited us all into the team, but she’s always had a thing about Mac and used him as her primary scientific guinea pig. I’m not surprised he hates her guts.”

“How many of you are there?”

“A few.” He shrugged. “Less than ten still alive.”

“It must be lonely for you here.”

He wrapped a hand around her waist and impaled her firmly on his cock. “Yeah, now can you concentrate on something else for five minutes?”

“Of course. If five minutes is all you can last.”

With a smile she bucked against his restraining grip and then gasped as he flipped her onto her back and started fucking her. She wrapped her legs over his tight ass and held on. Her whole being focused on what he was doing with his cock and the first delicious sparks of her upcoming orgasm. He was much heavier and bigger than her and held her pinned to the bed with his large frame and the relentless pounding of his hips against hers.

She smiled against his shoulder and then bit him hard as he gripped her ass in his hands and brought her more firmly against him, coming up on his knees and shortening his stroke until each thrust sent a burst of sensation against her clit.

“
God…I love fucking you.”

“Mmm…”

She started to climax around him and simply let it happen without forcing anything, reveling in the clench and release of her cunt as she milked him until his come spurted deep inside her. She let her mind open to him and showed him how good she felt, experienced the burst of his own raw pleasure in all its masculine intensity.

Sometimes not being mated to a male made the sexual experience more bearable and less complicated. As Neeve came down from her high, she wondered whether that was better—not to feel so intensely—to just enjoy the physical relationship and the telepathic sharing a man like Kaiden could provide. Would that satisfy her long term? It would certainly protect her heart… If Mac remained on Earth, sex without commitment might have to do.

Kaiden lay on his back, his arms and legs spread wide as if in surrender. Neeve bit his nipple and he groaned. “Give me a few more minutes.”

She bit him again just to watch his whole body shudder.

“You’re slowing down, Commander.”

He opened one pale blue eye and regarded her. “I’m a super soldier, not a god.”

“I noticed that.” She pretended to sigh. “I’m going to see what Mac’s up to.”

“Good luck.”

She found her robe and put it on. “I’ll probably need it.”

“Bring him back for round two.”

“If I can.”

He opened both eyes, his expression serious. “Doc, he needs you. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make him comfortable with me sharing the same bed.”

“He’s not worried about you. He won’t commit because he’s worried about me mating with an unknown third entity that might or might not be male.”

“Ah.”

She pushed her hair back from her face. “And I don’t know how to make him change his mind.”

Kaiden slid one hand behind his head and regarded her carefully. “Subterfuge? You said you could get me to Pavlovan, why can’t you get Mac there as well in a less ‘committed role’? Then if he meets your third, things might change.”

Chapter Six

Mac stripped off the now wet label of his second beer with his fingernail, conscientiously scraping off every bit of glue as he went. He hadn’t even finished what was inside the bottle, his senses so attuned to what was going on with Neeve and Kaiden that he couldn’t seem to coordinate swallowing beer and breathing.

He knew what he’d like to be swallowing right now…

And the fact that he was sitting here alone was entirely his own fault. He’d gotten so used to guarding every fucking thought that he’d forgotten how to be anything but a discarded super soldier and a second-rate human being. Seeing Professor Dean had only reinforced his determination not to let her get any emotional reaction from him ever again. She was the one who’d told him Leah had died, and recorded his total shock, his tears and his rage and then used them against him and the others to show how unstable he was when she’d decided to close the program.