Senses on high alert, Derrick spotted the tiny woman with
her head buried in her arms on the couch. She curled up in a tight ball against
the corner, sobbing…and clad in only hip-hugging panties and a bra that pushed
luscious curves upward.
Alabaster skin glistened with sweat against the black
leather couch. Her hair hid her face and muffled her sobs. Derrick sighed but
caught a whiff of something.
Heavy, dark.
Lonely.
“Sonja?” Rob stepped in and knelt at her side. He reached
out but didn’t quite touch her. “Come here, Derrick. If I’m right…” Rob didn’t
finish his statement.
Derrick stepped inside and scratched his head.
Rob met Derrick’s gaze dead on. “Now, please.”
The urgency in Rob’s voice matched his concerned expression.
Sonja’s sobs continued to tear at his heart. He wanted to know who made her cry
and why. Then he wanted to pummel them. Vengeance filled him instantly.
Rob’s voice floated through the rage and managed to ground
Derrick back to reality. “Calm down, Derrick. It’s not what you think. Take a
deep breath, clear your mind, and touch her. Please.”
Derrick knelt, ran a hand through his hair, and sighed,
letting all the worry slip away from his mind. He found that calm place in the
forest where the puma inside loved running free, and went there. Luscious
smells confronted his sensitive nose. Colors sharpened. Then he returned to
reality. Rob moved beside Sonja. His eyes filled with despair. “Touch her,
please.”
Derrick didn’t miss the pain in Rob’s voice.
What is
going on here?
He reached for Sonja, touched a hand along her thigh.
Smooth, soft skin met his.
Her thigh twitched and she stiffened against his hand.
Derrick started to withdraw but met Rob’s gaze.
“Not yet.”
Derrick nodded. Sexual energy along with something else
crackled between them and sent a shudder through his body.
Sonja must have felt it, too, because she shifted and
straightened. Her eyes widened.
Derrick slid his leather trench coat off and used it to
cover her.
She sniffled and lifted her head to meet his gaze. “Thank
you.”
Intense silver-blue eyes stared back at him with such force
they threatened to knock him back. He struggled to hold his ground, remaining
unsure of whether to remove his hand.
She answered that question by cupping his hand with hers and
offering a weak smile. “You’re tranquil,” she whispered.
Derrick nodded and smiled weakly. “Sometimes. What’s going
on?”
Sonja shifted again, rolled her head back and forth. She
swept a hand through her red hair and brushed it over her shoulders.
“I’m…empathic, and in this crowd there was so much hatred. It’s overwhelming. I
picked up on it instantly and it inundated me.”
Blinking, Derrick looked at Rob. “It’s like she was thrust
in the middle of the mosh pit before it started?”
Before Rob could answer, Sonja nodded. “You’re a shifter.
Your feelings are heavier than most. Let me just touch you back.” She leaned
forward and the jacket slid down her body, exposing a black bra.
Her hand caressed his cheek, then slid down his neck and
stopped at his heart. She pressed the palm of her hand against him and closed
her eyes.
It hit him then, the pressure of all he kept buried inside.
Swamped with that weight, he staggered forward, reached out for the couch, and
found the warmth of Sonja’s body wrapped around his.
Her sweet voice echoed in his ear. “You’re…missing
something.”
Inside, Derrick’s mind went on high alert. She’d hit a
trigger but his training kept him from showing any emotion other than what he
wanted her to see.
Rob coughed.
Derrick looked to see Rob standing, Sonja glaring at him.
Her brows furrowed, lips pursed together in a thin line. “Brother, please.”
Derrick stiffened and narrowed his eyes at Rob. “Brother?
You didn’t tell me
that
, Rob.”
Rob sighed and nodded. “Yes, I did. Night before last.”
Derrick frowned.
Sonya wrapped her arms around Derrick’s waist and pulled him
into softness that complimented each hard bit of his body.
He felt right sitting awkwardly in Sonja’s lap, but had to
ask about the tears. He wasn’t a total cad, though his body’s reaction
certainly made itself known. “So the tears were a reaction to the crowd?”
She nodded and spoke in a whisper, “The crowd in this genre
of music is so lonely, so angry, so displaced. Add in a few shifters and it
becomes burdensome when mixed with all the normal pent-up aggression metal
heads carry around. Sadly—or not, some say—I absorb that burden in the music,
with my voice.”
His heart felt heavier.
Her hand pressed harder against his chest.
Derrick felt a weight lift off his shoulders. “It’s not—”
Two slender fingers pressed against his lips. Eyelashes
batted enticingly at him.
Derrick groaned. He wanted to stretch her out on the couch
and spread her legs apart while exploring her with his tongue and lips. Her
scent, sweat mixed with heady heat, wafted past his nose. Yet he couldn’t make
another move.
She was a goddess. His nerves felt unsteady, his body was on
fire.
Sonja adjusted herself on the couch, pressing herself deeper
between his spread thighs.
“I’d hate to be confused for a groupie.” He went for humor,
letting his natural sarcasm come through.
She chuckled. “I haven’t any groupies.”
Derrick arched a brow. He wouldn’t point out the obvious to
her yet, figuring she’d heard it all the time. Instead, he went for subtle.
“You’re a beautiful death metal singer. Surely you have groupies.”
“Nope.” She shook her head and leaned against the couch,
pushing her breasts into his chest. “None. I mean there are boys and girls who
have a silly attraction to me, but it’s not returned.”
“Good to know.” He couldn’t keep the growl from his voice.
“Ahem.” Rob coughed again. “I should leave you two alone.”
He glared hard at Derrick. “Be nice to my sister. She’s rather special, puma.”
The unmentioned threat hung in the air. Not that it
mattered, Derrick was hired to do a job, not to fraternize with the severely
attractive client. He smiled. “I understand.”
Rob glowered and backed out of the room, shutting the door.
Sonja slid one leg from beneath her, giving Derrick a view of
very creamy skin and shapely thigh. She tilted her head slightly. “He’s very
protective. I’m sorry.”
He shrugged again. “I would be, too. You’re an attractive
woman, and I may be a shifter but I’m still a man. I was…”
“Dying to meet me?” Her eyes twinkled with something that
looked like lust.
He shrugged and grinned. “Yeah. Sort of.”
“How do you know my brother?”
“Friends from school.” Derrick leaned back while not
breaking the physical contact.
A brow quirked. “I see. Funny, he never mentioned you.”
“Yeah, we lost touch after graduation. I had a thing
overseas. Real hush-hush.” Half-truth.
Sonja stretched her other leg out from beneath her and
shifted in her seat, giving Derrick a fabulous view of her contours.
Instantly, he wondered why she was practically nude after
the show. “Are you that hot and sweaty up there on stage?”
She rolled her shoulders and shook out her hands. “A little,
yes. But the problem I have is that not only do I pick up the feelings, they
mold to my clothing. Especially with the previous band pushing a message of
hatred, I picked up a lot of negative rage. When I came back here, I stripped
off the clothes.”
He licked his lips. “So your underwear doesn’t pick things
up? I’m very much enjoying the physical contact.”
She smirked. “All clothing I wear picks up some semblance of
emotion, it’s part of my nature. But I’m not a slut. And that clothing is hot.
I mean, we wear all black.”
He chuckled. “I’d never think that of you. I can only
imagine what it’s like to be in the limelight and need the break. And I’ll
mention again, I’m certainly enjoying the view.”
Sonja flipped her hair off to one side, showing the pale
curve of her neck. “I figured you would. I sort of sought you out.” A light
blush crept up her cheeks.
“Oh?” He cocked a brow. If she knew his purpose, she hadn’t
let on yet. “Why?”
She leaned forward, giving him an even better view of ample
cleavage. “I don’t know. You felt…safe.” She closed her eyes, puckered her
lips, and made a popping sound before returning her focus on him.
“Honey, I’m anything but.” He let his voice drop, watching
her expression slowly change.
The deep-blue shade of her eyes intensified, the silver
irises appeared to swirl. Energy poured out from her so fast that it slammed
into Derrick like a freight train.
Memories, screams, visceral images all bombarded him. The
instant message his mind received had only one thing: bleak blackness so heavy,
so dark it made the winter night sky look like the middle of a sunny summer
day.
He slid off the couch, stumbled back. Hands at his sides, he
tried to brace himself for the next wave but it hit him too fast. Nausea
settled in his stomach and all of those Manhattans he’d drunk earlier
threatened to come up, bringing bile with them.
The sensation dizzied him, brought him to his knees.
All the agony he kept buried and all the trepidation the
puma had about killing—even though nature said otherwise—made him howl out. He
opened his eyes and saw the sight of himself being forced to burn a village
because some government jackass was breathing orders to eliminate the warlords
of that village by whatever means necessary down his neck.
That meant force. A lot of force because the villagers had
been trained in guerilla warfare and wouldn’t hesitate to shoot the foreign
shifter menace.
Derrick had no idea what was waiting for him or his brother
once they arrived.
Max hadn’t slept any more soundly than Derrick since their
return, and Derrick left that mission in the past with all the other ghosts
that haunted him.
Or at least he thought he’d buried the dead. He opened his
mouth to scream but nothing came out. Not even a puma cry.
Just then, soft arms surrounded him and forced him back to
reality. Sonja held him to her, whispering sweet words while the energy pulled
back from him. “I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry. Relax, please. Calm down, babe.
Let me help you.” Her hand caressed the small of his back, ran up his spine.
Fingers crept on his neck, teasing little hairs to attention along with other
things.
He shook with a fear so dark it threatened to pull him over
the edge into a bottomless abyss. Behind tightly closed eyes, he saw his puma
standing at the edge of that cliff, overlooking the canyon while the hordes of
victims he’d mindlessly executed with the click of a button slowly slipped
away.
Derrick shook his head.
Sweet sounds of feminine laughter fluttered over his ears
like the day’s fresh breeze.
The puma shook its muzzle, and Derrick saw creamy flesh
eager for tasting.
He lifted his head, met her heated gaze, and pressed his lips
to hers. Unthinking, his mind went on autopilot and led his body into hers. The
energy around them charged with a different heat, one filled with promises of
lust and darker, sensual fun.
Just the briefest of touches against her lips threatened to
steal his control. Was this her magic or the pure attraction the two obviously
shared?
Hands gripped his shoulders, nails dug into his flesh.
Derrick caught her arms, caressed them. Felt waning strength
in them and vowed to support her if she felt even an ounce of the heat between
them that he did.
Soft, full lips kissed him, parted for his tongue, curled
upward in a smile when he swept his tongue over her bottom lip. Fingers tangled
in his hair, in hers, too, caressing her while he ate at her mouth, then pulled
back, met her fierce stare, saw the power in those eyes.
Knew she’d play with his beast.
The puma in him wagged its tail.
The second round was all Sonja, all control, all feminine
power. Her arms wrapped around his neck, fingers locked behind his head while
she moved him how she wanted him. Her body pressed into his, making the kiss a
full-on affair, rather than the chaste kiss he’d given her earlier.
Then she pulled back and he swore he heard a growl that
didn’t come from him.
Low, the sound vibrated and made him even more eager to
taste her. But he remembered her earlier, trembling and afraid in the corner of
the couch, curled up in a ball. So he did the sweet thing, shut his libido
down, and took his cue from the rational thinking part of his brain that still
had some blood flow.
When he kissed her, her perfect mouth kissed back, then
pulled away. She kissed his nose, then moved to kiss his forehead. Desire still
danced in her eyes all while a sweeter side of this woman emerged—something
Derrick had never expected, not after seeing her onstage.
Then she leaned in again, smiled into the deepening kiss.
Her mouth continued to work with his, while her tongue licked his lower lip.
Her arousal, along with the taste of fine brandy, filled his
nostrils, surrounded him. Hardened him further. Quickly, he realized if he
didn’t stop this train he’d either have her naked and owe her a new bra and
panty set—not a problem—or just fuck it and shove the damn things aside while
he ravished her.
Slowly the pressure on his mouth eased up. His mouth felt
empty from the loss of contact.
She moved back and frowned.
Her expression confused him. “What? Was I too forward? I
thought—”
She rose, shook, and wrapped her arms around her body.
Turning, she headed back to the couch and curled up against the corner.
Derrick stood and stepped back. He didn’t know what had just
happened, but he needed to get Rob. His client was going to be more difficult
to watch if she couldn’t control her magic.