Holdin' On for a Hero (111 page)

“I thought it was my fantasy.”

Nikki started in surprise. “You mean…oh my god, Max. Do you think it’s possible that we’ve been sharing the same visions?”

“I don’t know. Tell me about the sphere.”

“Could we wait on that?” she asked with a sexy smile.

“Why?”

“Well, if this is a fantasy, there’s no point in wasting it.” She peeled off the cloth covering her hair, then unfastened her long dress. She wore nothing beneath it.

Max fought a momentary battle. Lust won. If this was a fantasy, she was right. No point in wasting it. If it was real, then they didn’t appear to be in any danger, so again, no point in wasting the moment.

He dropped down before her, grabbing her by the hips to pull her to him, burying his face into the vee of her thighs and inhaling her scent. He flicked at her clit with his tongue and she spread her legs, giving him access.

Her sex bloomed under his touch, growing full and damp. By the time he’d worked his way down to her wet channel, she had both hands fisted in his hair, pressing her pelvis against him in a rocking rhythm that told him it wouldn’t take much to send her over the edge.

She moaned and pushed away. “No, wait,” she said breathily. “Please.” She extended her hand to him and pulled him to his feet. She removed his clothing, taking time to kiss each bit of skin she exposed.

When he was nude, she knelt down and smiled up at him. He could see the dilation in her eyes, the passion in their depths. Her fingertips moved like the touch of a butterfly, as light as air up the inside of his thighs, glancing against his erection then moving away to retrace their route.

The next trip up, one of her hands wrapped around him, squeezing and stroking. His eyes closed in pleasure, but opened abruptly when her warm wet mouth closed on him. He couldn’t stop his body from tensing and pressing against her as her tongue and mouth performed their magic.

He wound his hands in her long hair, pulling her more firmly against him. She swallowed as much of him as she could take and stroked faster. Max wanted to give in to it, let the climax grow and take him. But he didn’t want the moment to end. He tugged on her hair, bringing her to her feet. Her hands took the place of her mouth on him as he pulled her to him for a kiss that was soft and slow but filled with hunger.

Sweeping her up in his arms, he carried her to a pile of soft rugs and pillows placed within the confines of a curtain of gauzy thin material that waved in the slight breeze. He placed her on her back and smiled as she stretched and reached for him.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered and knelt between her legs, letting his eyes travel across her.

His hands moved to her breasts, fingers stroking then squeezing her nipples. She exhaled with a breathy moan and arched into his touch. “Max.”

It was the call of a siren that could not be ignored. His lips moved to her breasts, hands holding them firmly as his tongue traveled from one to the other, teasing her hard nipples. Her breath quickened and she pressed her pelvis up against him.

He smiled against her breast and released one so that his hand could move lower to the mound of her sex. She was wet and ready when his fingers penetrated. She gasped and bucked against him. “I want you, Max. Now.” Her voice was a husky whisper that tore at his control, making him want to plunge into her wet depths.

“Please,” she whispered, breaking down his resolve.

He could not refuse. His hands moved beneath her hips to lift her, spreading her legs wider. He lowered his mouth to her, lapping at her clit and feeling the series of tremors that ran through her. Her hands clutched at his hair, pulling harder as he took her clit into his mouth, circling it with his tongue, flicking rapidly across it.

Her breath became pants and the pants became a long drawn-out moan as her body quaked in orgasm. Max lowered her and she pulled him to her, biting and licking at his lips and tongue. He responded to the kiss, straining to keep his passion controlled. But the way she writhed against him and her whispered plea of “take me, please,” eroded what little control he had left.

She reached between them to guide him inside her, encircling his waist with her legs to press him deeper. Max moved his hands beneath her ass, pressing her closer and she undulated against him, her skin flushed and eyes hooded with desire.

Max wound one hand in her hair to pull her face to his, holding her captive as he ravaged her mouth. She surrendered, but that surrender was only momentary before she became the aggressor, fisting both hands in his hair to hold him hostage to a scorching kiss that made his balls throb.

Nikki’s breath caught as he started to stroke deeper inside her, gripping her ass tightly to drive her down the length of him. She arched back with a moan, offering her breasts. It was an offering he could not refuse. His tongue moved between her breasts then beneath her left breast to nip at the soft underside.

An increase in her breathing signaled that she was close. He traveled up her breast, taking the nipple into his mouth. She cried out as an orgasm claimed her and rocked up against him.

“Slow down, baby,” he crooned and slowed his pace when she began to pump faster against him. “This is our fantasy. We have all the time in the world.” He slid free from her hot sex and knelt between her legs, sliding his hands to her hips, stroking slowly up her sides. As his hands cupped her breasts and pushed them together, he ran his tongue into the crease then up to circle and tease one nipple. Nikki gasped and clung to his shoulders, arching toward the delicious sensations. He took her nipple into his mouth, feasting on it.

She moaned and writhed against him and after a few moments he released her breasts and let his hands slide down her thighs then up, barely brushing the sides of her sex. His hands traveled up her body, across her breasts, his thumbs brushing over the sensitive nipples. As his hands moved steadily upward, his body lowered inch by delicious inch until he was stretched over her, his hot flesh barely in contact with hers, his weight on one strong arm. He couldn’t suppress a growl as her nipples brushed his skin and her mons pressed up against his erection, sandwiching it between their bodies.

“Baby, you feel so good,” he whispered into the hollow of her throat, licking and nipping his way to her earlobe. “I can’t get enough of you.” His lips moved to hers and his tongue plundered her mouth, tasting her, feeding off her.

His body moved against hers, both of them pressing and grinding against one another in increasing fervor. His erection throbbed against her belly, need pressing in ever-increasing intensity.

He lost all awareness except for their writhing bodies and locked lips. When the kiss ended he raised his head to look down into her eyes And saw within their depths something that made his breath catch. She was his, body and soul. His woman.

With that realization came the ignition of a fire so hot and deep that his body felt seared. When he slid his hands to her hips and pulled her to him, impaling her on the length of him, she raised her arms above her head, arched up and surrendered to his need.

Max could not stop the climax that ripped through him. He felt her shudder against him, crying out his name as they plunged together into the void of sensation.

Max was tossed back into reality so abruptly that he staggered. Nikki grabbed onto him for support and they stared at one another in amazement.

“Were we just in a tent in a desert?” she asked.

He nodded, then smiled sexily and signed.
I’d like to go back.

“You and me both,” she said with a smile, then looked down at the small bag clutched in one hand and the sphere in the other. “It has something to do with this sphere. When you touched it, reality shifted.”

She looked up at him. “But why?”

He frowned and shrugged then signed,
let’s go to my suite. Maybe we can find something about through one of the research connections my grandfather has.

“What about this mess?”

He paused and looked around the room.
If anyone asks, tell them I did it. At least that way they’ll think you believe it’s me and not suspect that we know there’s a spy in our midst.

“Good idea. Let me check and see if the coast is clear.”

She checked the hall. No one was around. Together they hurried down the hall and up the stairs to his suite.

Max took a seat at the keyboard and starting keying in addresses. Thanks to a program he had installed, he had three computers running simultaneously, all controlled from one keyboard and mouse.

Nikki pulled up a chair beside him as each of the three screens began to fill. “Whoa, Simon has some next level connections,” she breathed appreciatively.

Max grinned and opened a window for communication. His fingers flew over the keys and words began to appear in the window.
Put the sphere on the scanner and let’s see if we can run an image comparison with what these places have on file.

“You can do that?” she asked as she pulled the sphere out and opened the lid of the scanner.

Piece of cake,
came his reply in the window. He keyed in a scan command and a moment later the sound of the scan starting turned her attention to the scanner. She nearly jumped out of her seat when the scanner suddenly flared with light, made a high pitched buzzing sound then died.

“Holy shit,” she whispered and looked at Max. “What the heck was that?”

There was a deep frown on his face. For a few moments he just sat there staring at the dead scanner. Then he turned his attention to the keyboard.
There’s obviously something very unique about the sphere. For such an energy surge to have occurred it would have to be emitting a strong energy field and one that is incompatible with standard electric current.

A strange thrill skittered down her spine. What exactly was the sphere and did Christian have any clue that it was abnormal when he gave it to her?

“So what do we do?” she asked as she gingerly lifted the lid and snatched up the sphere.

Keep searching for clues,
was his reply.

Nikki looped the chain around her neck, tucking the sphere inside her top so that it nestled between her breasts. She looked at one of the screens and started to scroll down the information displayed then stopped.

“I wonder if the pendant Christian gave me the day he died is related to the sphere?”

Let’s have a look,
Max typed.

She dug the key-shaped pendant from her pocket and when Max held out his hand, dropped it onto his palm. He took one look at what was in his hand and the color drained from his face. His eyes widened then rolled back in his head and he fell over onto the floor.

“Max!” Nikki screamed, not thinking to be quiet. She shook him and called to him but got no response.

Fear had her breaking into a cold sweat. She put her ear against his chest. His heart was beating, but very fast. “Max!” She shook him again, hard this time. “Wake up. Max, please!”

Still there was no response. The only thing she could think to do was to pry the pendant from his hand. He’d reacted to it. Maybe if she removed it, he’d waken.

It didn’t work. She tried slapping him, kissing him, tossing cold water in his face, and even trying to pull him up into a sitting position. But nothing would rouse him. Finally her fear led her to the only logical course of action.

She quickly slipped the chain holding the pendant around her neck, hiding it alongside the sphere, picked up the phone and called Osgood.

The phone rang a long time before he answered. “Maxwell, you should be asleep at this time of night.”

“It’s Nikki. You have to come to Max’s room. Something’s wrong.”

“What? Miss Morgan, what are you doing—?”

“Hurry!” she insisted and hung up the phone.

She returned to sit beside Max, nudging him. “Please wake up. Max, please. Oh god, what’ve I done? Max, please please be okay. Wake up. Wake up, please.”

No matter what she’d suffered in her life, or what fears she’d faced, nothing in her experience had ever scared her as much as seeing Max lying on the floor unconscious. Her heart was pounding, her skin was clammy, and she felt like she was going to throw up at any moment.

What had she done?

Osgood burst into the room dressed in pajamas and a robe, his normally tidy hair mussed and in disarray.

“What happened here?” he demanded, kneeling down beside Max.

Nikki wished she’d thought to come up with a cover story. “I don’t know. He just fell over. Do something, Mr. Gaynor!”

Osgood went for the phone. “I’ll ring Dr. Abernathy.”

“No!” Nikki bounded to her feet and snatched the phone away from him.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You can’t call him. Call Simon.”

“Sim— exactly how do you know Mr. Weston?”

“Call him!” she screamed and thrust the phone at him.

Osgood jumped at her scream but took the phone and dialed an extension. Several long moments passed in tense silence before he spoke. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but we have a situation with Maxwell and Ms. Morgan insisted that I call you rather than Dr. Abernathy.”