Taming the Fire (32 page)

“And you found that here?”

“I'm considered normal here. That's really nice.” He paused. “I haven't been happy, though. Not completely. I've been alone for a long time, Rik, just like you.”

Her eyes flickered with surprise and then recognition. “Of course—you know everything about me already. My background, my parents…”

“I don't know everything. But I'd like to.” He shifted so he was closer to her—attempting to gauge her mood and make sure he wasn't pushing the wolf too hard. But she seemed calm, even though she appeared to be having trouble sitting still.

He couldn't sit still either, wanted to roll with her in the grass until they were both hot and sweaty and naked. “You started out as a job, but you ended up being so much more. It was completely unexpected. Scary. And wonderful.”

She smiled shyly, ducked her head for a second before letting her gaze settle back on him. “I want you to kiss me.”

“It's about time.” He gathered her against him and kissed her, hard enough to make her grasp at him and push back with her mouth against his. His hands tugged at her hair, loosening it from the clips she'd worn, letting it tumble over her shoulders. Her hands were bolder, reaching for his pants, his zipper, until he took his mouth from hers. “We can't do this here. I don't want you on display. Ever. You're all mine, Rik. I'm going to be the only one who sees you naked from now on.”

His tone—his possessiveness—surprised him but seemed to amuse her, because she laughed and then she growled into his ear, “The same goes for you. I owned you the second you let me tie you up.”

He pulled back, startled, mainly because she was completely, utterly right, and that was something he hadn't wanted to fully admit to himself. She didn't let him get too far into his own thoughts, though, before she began to stroke his hair. “Do you know what a turn-on that was for me—especially now, knowing how you could take me, hold me down, capture me, to know that you let me take you in the same way?”

He put his head on her shoulder for a second, overwhelmed by his feelings. And then he gathered her into his arms to walk with her to her quarters, leaving the picnic and talk of their pasts behind.

Rik's heart pumped crazily as she and Trance headed back to her quarters. She was going to make love to him. Over and over. She slowed when a building came into sight, because as much as she wanted to get back to her room and undress him, she wanted to be free with him more.

Smiling wickedly, she all but dragged Trance in the opposite direction, toward the woods. The scent of trees, ferns and wild-flowers made her nostrils tingle, and the sound of birds chirping and small animals scurrying at the approach of what they sensed was a predator made the wolf in her get all squirrelly.

Her wild blood rose in a tide, wanting to bond with nature as it joined with the powerful male animal next to her.

Something had happened after her collar had come off, and the beast inside, while still wary of female strangers—and downright snarly around male ones—had accepted Trance.

Whether or not it actually liked him was still up for debate.

Rik cast a sideways glance at him and decided that for her, the woman, there was no debate. No more denying her attraction. She liked him. And she thought there could be so much more.

“You know,” he said, pulling her to a stop on the trail they were on, “we don't need to head into the next county.”

The breeze ruffled his hair, and she didn't fight the urge to tame it down with her fingers. “It feels good to run. To be free.”

Closing her eyes, she raised her face to the wind and inhaled the fresh, clean air. Here, the scent of nature was untainted by the odors of man, reminding her of her childhood in the mountains.

Only days ago she'd not have believed she'd ever feel free again. But here she was. Trance had given her a gift beyond measure.

She opened her eyes, grinned and poked him in the shoulder. “Tag, you're it.”

“Rik, wait—”

But she was gone. Laughing like she hadn't done since she was a little girl, she sprinted through the trees, weaving and dodging boulders, leaping over fallen logs. Behind her she heard Trance crashing through the brush. He was faster, but she was more nimble, and she kept him from gaining on her until she was ready.

Spinning, she skirted a thick tree, pinched him on the arm and shot down an incline toward a trickling stream. Her inner wolf was ears-back, tongue-lolling and having a great time playing with the male back there. He was cursing up a storm as he came after her, but a shift in the wind brought the heady scent of arousal.

He was as worked up by this little game as she was.

Maybe she'd let him catch her.

She glanced over her shoulder, saw him closing in on her as she leaped the stream. His expression was hot, intense, predatory. And at the same time, amusement glinted in his eyes, because he was enjoying this and was probably a little surprised by how much he liked it. Laughing, she slowed, waited until he was close enough… and pounced.

They went down to the soft forest floor in a tangle of limbs, with Trance uttering a breathy “Oof.”

She nipped his earlobe. “Gotcha.”

“You think?” He flipped her so she was on her back and his thigh lay across hers, pinning her down. “Maybe I let you catch me.”

“Male pride is such a funny thing,” she teased, as she threaded her hand through his hair and brought his mouth down to hers. His lips were firm, soft, and tasted like the lemon-lime soda he had drunk at their picnic.

The kiss was chaste, affectionate and playful. Still, Rik's body heated, and inside, the beast wagged its tail. As if Trance sensed a change in her, he pulled back a little.

“How's Cujo?”

“Cujo?”

Trance's grin took her breath away. “Famous name for a really mean dog.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Well,
Cujo
was feeling pretty good until that crack. Now she's ticked off.”

“Hmm.” He brushed his lips across hers. “And how can I make her happy again?”

“She likes to be petted,” Rik said, surprised at the way her voice had gone husky and take-me-baby rough.

“Is that so?”

“Mmm-hmm.” She sighed as his hand came up to stroke her hair, her face, her throat. Even though he'd settled himself between her thighs so his erection sat heavily against her core, he kept his hands in G-rated territory and made no move to take things further.

She wanted more, but this was nice. She'd never been touched like this before. Her entire sexual past was so dark, full of pain and tears even before she'd started working at The Dungeon.

“Hey.” Trance stopped petting her. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing worth talking about.”

Trance rolled off her, pulling her with him so they were lying on their sides, facing each other. “Tell me.”

His words weren't a command, not with the way they'd been spoken in a soft whisper. But still, her inner wolf balked at dropping that one last barrier, the secrets she'd cemented into a wall that shielded her from having to feel anything.

But it was that same barrier that kept her from gaining complete control over the beast, and she knew it. As long as her fears governed her life, so did the angry animal.

Still, her mouth wouldn't open.

“You're not used to talking to anyone, are you?” he asked, using one finger to trace the shell of her ear. Made her leg twitch like a dog getting scratched.

“I've never had anyone to talk to. I was pretty young when Itor took me. After that, I was caged alone. The only people I saw were trainers, handlers and scientists, and they didn't exactly encourage meaningful conversation.”

Trance's expression set into something hard and cold. “Was anyone ever nice to you?”

“Masanao.” The half-Japanese Seducer had been kind and patient, the closest thing she'd had to a friend. Ever. “They sent him to teach me about sex. I think they wanted me to be a Seducer, even though I have no psychic abilities.” Most Seducers could read minds to an extreme even very powerful psychics couldn't, but the catch was that they could only do it when their partner orgasmed. So their skills, while useful, were limited.

“And how did that go?”

She dropped her gaze to his broad chest. “He refused at first. I was a virgin, and he thought I was too young…”

Trance went taut. “How old?” When she didn't answer, he tipped her chin up, and she nearly gasped at the fierce, protective light glinting in his eyes. “How. Old?”

“Fourteen,” she whispered.

“Those bastards.” He tugged her closer. “So what happened?”

“They punished him for disobeying orders.” She closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. “Two excedos cuffed him to a chair and made him watch as they… um…” She trailed off, because there were no words for what those men had done to her. They'd each taken turns with her, and by the time they were finished, there was nothing virgin about her.

“Man, I want to kill someone,” he growled, and she couldn't help but smile. No one but Masanao had ever wanted to protect her like that.

Masanao had gone crazy while the men abused her, and when they were finished, he'd comforted her as well as he could. Eventually, they'd taken him away, and two weeks later, he'd been sent back again to teach her about sex. This time, he didn't refuse. But he'd been gentle and patient, and then one day, he'd tried to help her get free.

His kindness had gotten him killed.

“Didn't your wolf protect you?” Trance asked, his hand running in long strokes down her arm.

“They hadn't gotten that far in their experimentation yet. They were close, but not quite there. I shifted for the first time about six months later.”

Her shift had been an accident, a surprise to her and Itor. They'd hooked her up to machines that monitored her vitals, her brain activity and even her electrical output. Something had gone wrong, a short in one of the machines, and the shock she'd received had brought the beast out. The shift had been excruciatingly slow and painful, and though she didn't remember much about that first time, she could still feel the agony when she thought about it.

Trance's curses were soft, barely audible, but the string of them lasted for a long time. “So I'm guessing they changed their minds about using you as a Seducer. Made you an assassin instead.”

Anger swirled through her. They'd turned her into a killer, all right. When she'd refused to be their leashed hound, they'd tortured her until the wolf went rabid, only too happy to kill humans. As long as they could control the beast with the collar, they could have their monster assassin.

“I'd rather have been a Seducer,” she said. “They made me…” She shuddered, and Trance pulled her tight against him.

“It's okay.” His voice was low and soothing, and she felt her muscles starting to relax. “It wasn't your fault.”

“That doesn't take away the guilt.” She pushed back from him so she could see his face. “I know some of the people I killed were scum, and honestly, those people didn't bother me. But what about Wyatt's wife? I could have killed her and an innocent baby.”

“But you didn't.” He frowned. “There's something else going on here, isn't there?”

“What makes you say that?”

“A hunch.”

This time, when she pushed away, she sat up and scooted out of reach. Trance sat up with her, but he made no move to touch her.

“Rik? You can tell me.”

“I killed someone,” she blurted. “I mean,
I
did it. Not the beast.” She slid him a glance, prepared to see disgust in his expression, but there was nothing but understanding.

“How did it happen?”

She swallowed hard, clenching and unclenching her fists. A fine sheen of sweat broke out over her skin as she recalled the steamy heat in the jungle where she'd been taken to root out an enemy operative. “Itor sent me to Ecuador. The target was an… an ACRO agent.”

Trance swore under his breath. “Go on.”

“The agent was looking for some sort of artifact. He was supposed to be deep inside a cave, so I was told to go in, and after thirty minutes, they'd trip the shock collar and turn me into the beast. But the agent was coming out of the cave, and he caught me.” She picked up a leaf and poked it with her nails, making little circles for no reason other than that she needed to occupy her hands.