Beyond Fearless (18 page)

Because he gave her no other option, she reached out to him, catching the waves of heat coming off his body, and she knew that he was as hot as she, that his need was as great as her own.

That was small compensation when he stood a few feet away, staring down at her with an intensity that would have burned her skin if he'd developed laser vision.

Maybe that's next.

Oh sure
.

She lay there on the couch, silently calling to him, willing him to come back and finish what he'd started.

I will,
he whispered inside his head, but he didn't move any closer to her.

Still, she felt…the whisper pressure of his fingers against her nipples.

“Zach?” she gasped.

He didn't speak, either in her mind or aloud, but his face was a study in concentration as she felt his touch. It wasn't as strong as when he'd been on the couch with her.

More. I need more.

I'm working on it.

 

FAR
away, Jordan and Lindsay Walker lay in bed, their hands clasped together. Drifting. Drifting. Together they reached out toward the man and woman who needed their help.

Where are they?

I still don't know.

What about the man Jim Swift sent to kill them?

I'm not sure.

What can we do?

Nothing
—
unless we can find out where they are.

They're getting stronger. I can feel it.

Maybe we can communicate directly with them.

Not now. I think they're busy.

Jordan laughed.
Yeah. I think you're right. We should give them some privacy.

Lindsay rolled toward him, and they clasped each other more tightly.

When I thought we were the only joined Dariens, I felt alone.

Yes.

But what's it going to be like when we meet them?

We'll find out.

Yes
—
I hope we get a chance to know them.

Fear leaped inside her.
They're in danger. And we have to find them.
She hitched in a breath.

Jordan could feel her sending her mind outward—trying to pick up clues. An image leaped into her mind.

Magic Anna. Now Appearing.

Where?

She struggled to expand the vision.
I see a sign. Grand Fernandino Dock.

 

BY
slow degrees, the phantom touch of Zach's hands on Anna's body became firmer.

She closed her eyes, focusing on the sensations of his fingers on her—when there was no actual physical contact between them. And she knew in some part of her mind that her response was strengthening his ability to please her.

Cooperation,
he murmured. He was standing five feet away, yet now it felt like he was right beside her.

Even as the sensations became more intense, questions swirled in her head.

“How?” she whispered as she stared across the space that separated them. “How are you doing that?”

“Don't ask how. Just enjoy it. Does it feel good?”

“You know it does,” she murmured.

“Yeah.”

He was standing with his body rigid, his arms at his sides, his fists clenched. In the firelight, his features were tense. When her gaze swept over him, she could clearly see the massive bulge behind the fly of his shorts.

He was as hot as she was, but she didn't have to see his body to know that. She could feel the heat coursing through his veins, pooling in his cock.

I thought guys couldn't wait.

You've been watching too many porn flicks.

I never watch porn flicks.

She thought he might come to her. Instead, he took a step back and the contact wavered, then snapped.

RAOUL KNELT IN
front of the altar in the shed behind his shop. He'd been there for hours, his hands clasped in front of him as he asked Ibena for help. He had never offered her more sacrifices in such a short period of time. Half a dozen chickens, none of which he had donated to the poor. They were all in the garbage can. But he couldn't go out distributing food. He needed to stay focused on Ibena. He had never needed her help more than he had today. Yet it felt like his goddess had forsaken him.

She'd teased him. Given him just enough information to send him into a tailspin.

What had he done? How had he displeased the Blessed Ones—displeased his special saint?

He knew that Anna was out there somewhere. With the man who had determined to steal her away. Once again, he had lost track of them. It was like a curtain had dropped in front of his eyes, blinding him. And he didn't have the strength to lift it over such a long distance.

“Help me,” he pleaded, his voice stiff and formal. “Ibena, I gonna dedicate my life to your worship if you help me.”

Perhaps that was the incentive she needed. Because he felt the curtain waver, then begin to thin.

He saw flickering firelight. And Anna lying on a couch. naked except for a shirt that was folded back to reveal her breasts.

Her head was turned to the side, her eyes pleading. She looked aroused. Yet the man wasn't on the couch with her.

Blood fire! What was this? What in the hell were they doing. And why?

“Anna! Where are you?” he called out.

Her body jerked, and she made a sound that was something between a sob and a moan.

Go away,
she shouted in her head.
Leave me alone.

You belong with me.

No! I belong with Zach.

Zach. That his name?

Go away,
she shouted again, and the picture before his eyes rippled. He cursed, trying to hold on to the scene.

“Wait! Don't run out on me.”

But she was gone, and he was left on his aching knees, shouting out his frustration and his rage.

He would kill the bastard. Kill him!

 

“NO
!” Anna cried out.

“What? What were you saying? I couldn't hear you.”

“I wasn't talking to you. He was here, trying to get between us.”

“Jesus.” Zach took a step toward her, but she shouted inside his head.

No. We have to do this. He made me understand how important this is.

Her need to solidify the connection with Zach made her reach out desperately to him again.

She knew without doubt that she had to make the link between them as strong as it could be. Like iron, he had said.

At the same time, her physical need surged again. And with that need, she felt his response. His phantom touch reached her once more, and she gasped as heat shot through her.

He tipped his head to the side.
Thanks for the help.

I had to.

I was hoping I could push you to reach for me.

I need…

I know. Less talk. More action.

He stopped the conversation and focused on arousing her.

His hands were pressed against his hips now, his fingers spread so she could see each one clearly.

As she stared at his hands, his phantom touch on her breasts grew stronger, more arousing. And suddenly, at the same time, she felt the sensation of his two stiffened fingers slipping inside her again.

They stroked in and out of her vagina as he caressed her breasts with his other hand. It was good. But it wasn't enough. She needed more.

He was still standing a few yards away.

“Come here,” she pleaded.

He gave a small shake of his head. When he stayed where he was, desperation rose inside her. If he wasn't going to put her out of her misery, then she would have to do it herself.

No. Don't touch yourself.

You've made me so hot, I can't stand it. I need to come.

I know. Let me do it.

Oh, Lord, Zach.

Need surged through her. She pressed her hands against the cushions as her hips surged off the couch, then settled back again.

“Please…” she cried out.

He kept his invisible fingers inside her, then reached with his thumb to circle her clit.

“Oh!”

She knew he didn't have to ask what she needed from him. He could feel it. And he kept up the intimate touch, in just the way she wanted him to do it. His fingers were inside her, on her clit, on her breasts—touching her in more places than he could have done if he had been beside her.

And as he caressed her in all those spots, sensation built to explosive proportions.

Finally, finally, they burst through her in a rocketing climax that shook her body and mind.

She called out his name as her hips surged off the cushions again and again while wave after wave of pleasure swept over her. When she settled back to earth, her breath was coming in great gasps.

Completely spent, she lay on the couch, panting, stroking her hands against the cushions, then tipped her head back, looking up at Zach. He was standing over her, breathing hard, grinning down at her.

She grinned back.
You're pretty pleased with yourself, aren't you?

Aren't you?
he asked inside her head.

Yes.

She felt his mood turn serious.
In the middle of that, you said he was here.

I'm sorry.

Not your fault.

I hope not.
She made a small sound.
It happened when you stepped away, and I couldn't feel you. He tried to get between us then.

And that made you reach for me.

Yes!

That's good.

You don't think I want anything to do with him
—
do you?

Of course not,
he answered, but she felt the edge of doubt in his mind.

You're the only man I want inside my head, or anywhere inside my body,
she added, just to make her feelings clear. As she made the proclamation, she switched her focus from herself to him.

He'd brought her to climax, but need still surged through him.

“I think you should lie down,” she murmured.

“You mean before I fall over?” he asked, and she breathed out a small sigh, knowing he was focusing on the two of them again.

“Yes.”

Scooting over, she made room for him on the couch. He flopped down beside her, and she wanted to roll to her side and pull him to her.

Don't,
he whispered.

You want me to…do what you did to me?

Yeah.

What if I can't?

Then I'm in for a pretty rough time.

To avoid further physical contact, she moved to the end of the couch and climbed off, then stood on shaky legs, steadying herself against one of the backrests, getting accustomed to being vertical after such an erotic experience.

His silent voice drifted toward her.

Don't wait too long.

She couldn't stop herself from teasing him.
I might wait hours. It would serve you right.

Don't punish me! You said I made you hot. Well, I feel like I could fly apart into a thousand pieces.

The plea was so heartfelt that she felt her chest tighten.

Sorry.

Maybe I deserve it. I didn't tell you what I was going to do.

If you had, I might have strangled you.

Despite his tension, he laughed.

How did you figure out how to…touch me without…being right beside me?

I don't know?

Thanks!

Just see if you can do it,
he said in a strained voice.
Didn't you do something like that on the plane? When you were trying to get my attention?

That was different. I made up a fantasy.

Make up another one!

 

DESPITE
the heat of the island evening, a shiver traveled over Nadine's skin as she stood outside the shed in the backyard of the art gallery. She had tried to call Raoul on the phone to ask if he'd be home for dinner, but he hadn't answered. So she'd come down to the gallery looking for him, and she'd found the shop closed.

Really, the question about dinner had been an excuse. He'd been acting strange lately, and she wanted to keep tabs on him. So she'd gone down the alley to the backyard. And she'd heard Raoul inside the shed where he had a shrine like the one at home.

He was cursing. Shouting a man's name. Asking his goddess to kill the fucker.

She had heard him angry before. She had heard him drunk on island rum. But she had never heard him like this, and she shrank back—away from the front of the shed and into the shadows, lest he burst out and see her. And direct his wrath toward her.

He sounded desperate and dangerous. Out of control.

Footsteps came along the alley. A man, walking fast. And now she was trapped. She'd done it to herself by sneaking down here.

Praying that she wouldn't be discovered, she pressed back into the greenery at the side of the yard. If Raoul found her here, would he kill her?

She hated to think he'd turn on her, but she'd given up any illusions she possessed about the man.

 

ZACH
had already stripped to the waist.

Anna dragged in a breath and let it out.
I need to see what I'm doing. Take off your shorts
.

He turned his head toward her, giving her a long look. A flurry of heartbeats passed, and she knew that he was reluctant to comply.

I need to see you,
she repeated.

He answered with a tight nod, then he reached for the snap at the top of his shorts. She saw his hands weren't quite steady as he opened the snap, then pulled down his zipper. Once he had started, he moved quickly, awkwardly pulling down the shorts, lifting his hips so he could drag the garment down his legs and toss it onto the floor.

In seconds, he lay against the cushions, naked and vulnerable. He was fully aroused, his penis hard and firm and sticking straight up in the air.

She caught her breath and couldn't stop herself from saying,
Now you know how I felt.

Yeah. Needy.

His aroused body and the look on his face made her want to reach him. And suddenly, without understanding how she had accomplished it, she knew she had made contact.

Her hands were pressed against the fabric of the sofa, yet at the same time, she felt her fingers press against Zach's flat stomach.

And she knew it was no illusion generated by wishful thinking. Under her hand, she felt the muscles jump. And she heard him call out to her.

“Anna!”

“Right here,” she whispered. Sensing power gather inside her, she slid her phantom hand lower, combing her fingers through the thatch of dark hair below his belly, then working her way toward the base of his penis.

He made a strangled exclamation as she reached her goal, then stroked one finger up the length of the hardened flesh, following the ridge of a vein.

She felt a spurt of heat inside her own body, heat coming from him.

His exclamation of gratitude rang in the darkened room and echoed in her mind.

With a sense of wonder, she trailed her invisible fingers up and down his length, hearing his breath accelerate.

She knew it felt good, but she knew it wasn't enough. Again she focused on what she needed to do, and somehow she was able to close her hand around his cock and squeeze him.