He clenched his fists and fought for control as he followed
her into her living room. He noticed a music amplifier and turned it on.
“What are you doing?”
“Masking our sound. Otra can hear pretty far, especially
when it’s dark.” He paused. “You can still see me, can’t you?”
In the darkness, he saw her blink in astonishment, then nod.
“Yeah. I’ve always had pretty good night vision.”
“Me too.” Was she hiding her nature, or did she honestly not
know she was Otra?
“So why are you here, Romec?”
“Romy.”
“What?”
“My friends call me Romy.”
She snorted. “I didn’t know we were friends.”
We’re going to be. Oh, baby, are we ever.
He cleared
his throat. “I wanted you to know Trotter’s got something on your brother.”
“
What?
”
“Shh, keep it down.” He looked over her shoulder through the
kitchen window, able to see Trotter still pounding into the woman. No doubt the
bastard had come and was planning to again. Sometimes being Otra had its
drawbacks. “Good, he’s still busy.”
She made a sound of disgust. “Does that man ever take his
business indoors? What I don’t understand is how the women don’t seem to mind. I
get the prostitutes being paid, but he’s with
a lot
of women. And hell,
it’s too hot outside to be doing…what he’s doing.” She glanced out the window
and quickly looked away. “Good Lord,” she choked.
“He’s giving you a show, trying to turn you on,” Romy said
dryly, aware of a flush of pink in her aura. “Apparently it’s not working.”
Good.
“Oh man. All that action out there is for me?” She ended in
a high note.
“Yeah. Trotter’s got it bad for you. He’s not going to take
no for an answer anymore. He’s coming here tonight to—” A sudden whiff of the
most incredible perfume froze him in place. An alluring, sexual, feminine scent
that called out to everything Otra in him.
“Are you okay?” Her eyes gleamed silver in the dark, and she
took several steps closer.
By the stars, the woman had entered Selection. His Testing,
compounded with her Selection, had just sealed her fate.
Tara blinked and her eyes turned dark again. She stopped and
took a deep breath, then stepped back. “What were you saying about my brother?”
Romy shook his head and tried to ignore his throbbing cock.
“Killer Drake is the BCF southeastern heavyweight champ, right?”
“Yeah.”
“A human who fought other humans.”
She looked puzzled. “What of it?”
“Trotter has some kind of evidence that your brother is
Otra, like you.”
She gaped. “Like
me
? That’s crazy. I’d never even
seen an Otra before moving here a few years ago. Mannie and I have been
together since I was two. I think I’d remember if he were an alien.”
“Since you were two?” He tried to piece together this puzzle
that kept growing. Normally when he sought answers, he found them on the
psychic plane. But Tara seemed to have a dampening effect on his abilities. One
he liked, because it gave him a measure of peace. “So you’re what, not really
brother and sister? He’s your half brother?”
“He took care of me at the centers, at the foster homes and
orphanages. And when he made it big, he took me with him. He’s my brother and I
love him. And if you think for one minute I’ll let you hurt him, I’ll—”
The scent of her lust once more grew as she raged. He
groaned as her carnal energy wrapped around both of them. He couldn’t help it
when he cupped himself, giving in to the need to soothe the rampant lust
between them.
Her gaze caught and held on his hand between his legs, at
the same time her eyes shifted once more to silver. “What’s going on?” She put
a hand to her chest, and the clothing might as well have not been there for all
Romy could see.
He wanted to offer comfort, but he couldn’t. Despite the
uncertainty and even fear he could see in her eyes, Romy couldn’t resist such a
prime piece of woman. “Tara, fuck. Sweetheart, you’re entering Selection.” And
if she had any windows open, her scent would drift out and over the idiots at
the shipyard. Or any Otra wandering closer. “We have to get you out of here. Do
you have a hovercraft?”
“A hovercraft? No. I normally walk to the bus station down
the street. But…” She paused and blinked those molten silver eyes at him.
“Selection? Isn’t that an Otra thing? When the women go into heat, right?” She
shook her head. “I treated a woman once who knew a few things about your kind.
But I didn’t know humans went through it. Oh wow, I’m feeling really strange.”
Romy did his best to ignore his needs. He let go of his cock
before he came in his pants. “I told you, you’re Otra. I knew it the minute I
saw you. And I think Mannie may be Otra too, or at least part. Trotter’s going
to blackmail you into sleeping with him to keep the news quiet. Because if the
world finds out Killer Drake had Otra abilities in the ring, the fights were
unfair, and he’s a dead man walking. Fortunes are made and lost on the gambling
circuit all the time, and your brother is a huge draw.”
He could see that even as her body became a stranger to her,
she recognized the danger in what he said.
“Mannie never knew, I swear. But if Trotter makes it public,
then all his fights, his wins, will be in question.”
“Yeah,” he rasped, wanting to sink inside her. Just a taste,
a quick touch of her pussy around his cock. He groaned. “Tara, you can think
about it on the move. That strange feeling you’re getting? It’s called lust.
And it’ll broadcast to every able-bodied Otra out there. Hell, you’re so
potent, your energy is going to call to them more than your scent. We have to take
you someplace safe.”
A harder wave caught her, and she hugged her stomach and
looked up at him with sexual hunger in her eyes. “I-I just need to pack a few
things.”
“No time.”
But she was already moving. She grabbed something from a
nearby shelf and rejoined him. “Okay. I’m ready. I think.”
He nodded and moved at the same time she did. Their hands
touched, and the contact set his every nerve on fire. Without meaning to, his
psychei
latched onto hers, and the ache became both physical and mental.
“I need.” She stared into his eyes, and he knew she saw her
own hunger reflected there. “I want so much. But I’ve never felt this kind of…”
“
Never
?”
She blushed and put a hand on his chest. “I’ve known a few
men. But Mannie was really protective of me when I was younger. And as I grew
older, I just didn’t seem to attract the right kind of man. They never lasted.
And then I just kind of lost interest.” She moaned. “I can’t be Otra, can I?”
“Tara.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “There’s no
doubt in my mind you’re like me. But honey, you’re so much more.”
Mine. My
mate.
Suddenly mindful that to cement ties to this woman he’d need an
eda
,
he wondered what would happen if he refused to take one. He wanted no one and
nothing between him and Tara their first time.
Or any other time.
He
growled low in his throat.
Instead of stepping back, Tara put her arms around his
waist.
He tried to do the right thing, to push her away, but could
only hold her tighter as he drew close to her mouth. Something dropped to the
ground, and he realized she’d let go of whatever she’d grabbed earlier.
No longer able to wait, Romy leaned down and met her
halfway. The touch of her lips started his downfall. Pressing harder into her
mouth, he deepened the contact and hugged her back, groaning at the feel of her
breasts against his chest.
“Luke,” she groaned.
“Romy,” he corrected, and for a moment she stilled, then
laughed.
“You said that before. But that’s
his
name.”
He turned, prepared to seriously harm whoever stepped closer
to his prize—
his woman
—and stared uncomprehendingly at the black cat
watching him with unblinking eyes.
“I named him that too, isn’t that strange?” She looped her
arms around Romy’s neck and swallowed his next breath. Her tongue dueled with
his, her lips tasted and urged him to claim her, her flavor bursting on his
tongue. He hardened more, if that were even possible, and took her hands from
his neck to mold them over his cock.
“Tara,” he breathed. “Touch me. Just one little touch before
I lose my fucking mind.” Of their own accord, his pants and underwear slid down
his thighs. The magic of need and his
psychei
.
She found the heat of him without any more urging. The
moment her hands clasped him, he groaned and rubbed the wet head of his shaft
into her palms.
“So good,” she breathed. “So big and hard.” Her fingers
brushed him and set his libido on fire. She stroked him, pumping as he panted
and plastered his mouth to hers. He stabbed her mouth with his tongue,
thrusting the way he longed to with his cock. And as he imagined her finishing
him, she closed her hands tighter around his shaft and broke the kiss. She
caressed his balls with one hand while the fingers of the other slid against
the sensitive spot under his crown.
“Come in my hands, Romy,” she whispered. “You know you want
to.” She nipped his earlobe and thrust her tongue in his ear, causing him to
seriously lose it. Her touch, their danger…
“Damn, honey. That’s so good.” He tilted his head back, lost
for the first time in his life. “I’m gonna come. So hard. But I want it all
inside you. To fuck that sweet pussy.
Tara.
” He gripped her shoulders
hard as she pumped him, and then another waft of her need surged between them.
The scent of her overwhelmed him, as did her grip, and he exploded in her
hands, drenching her with his seed. He cried out as he came, his orgasm both a
relief and a disappointment, because he should have been inside her their first
time.
“Oh wow. So much. And you’re still hard.” She sounded
amazed, drugged on the same lust he felt.
He wanted her to suck him off, to take him down her slender
throat. And then she started to go down to her knees.
Romy lifted her up so her breasts were level with his mouth.
Her breasts tantalized, sweat making the shirt stick to her in places. He
stared hard at her nipples, wanting to bite, to suckle and to slide his cock
between those mounds.
He sucked her nipple through the cloth, loving the hard tip.
She gasped, and he said to hell with it. He pulled the shirt off her and sucked
on her tits, reveling in the sultry essence just under her skin. The taste of
her made him hunger for more.
Her fingers clenched in his hair but didn’t pull. She held
him fast, groaning her pleasure.
“So good. So pretty pink. I need to fuck these later,” he
murmured, not sure what he said. He devoured her breasts, sucking and pinching
while she squirmed in his arms.
Romy tore his mouth away and lifted her in his arms. He
carried her to the closest wall and propped her against it, enthralled by the
sight of her, half naked, her tits full and flushed, his cum staining her
shorts.
“You’re mine.” He didn’t recognize his voice, but he could
hear the possession. Tara Drake belonged with him. He had to prove it to her.
Dropping to his knees, he stared hard at the wet crotch of
her shorts and seconds later it vanished. She was bare, her skin smooth,
hairless like the Otra. And the sight of that silky, wet pussy pushed him past
reason. He nudged her legs apart and latched onto her clit, licking up her
sweet cream.
“Romy,” she cried out and gripped his shoulders for support.
“Oh yeah. Oh please. Don’t stop.” She moaned and clutched him tighter, her clit
so hard and full. “Suck it.”
He did and shoved a finger up her tight cunt, and she
shattered.
Waves of energy pushed through him, catching his
psychei
and melding with him. Her scent, her taste, forced him to take more. He shoved
a second finger inside her, stretching her, preparing her for his entrance.
His cock felt too thick, too heavy. He needed to release
inside his mate, to bond them together forever.
“Tara, I need you.”
“Yes. Yes, inside me,” she moaned, still coming. Her orgasm
was long and unwavering, and unusual even for an Otra.
He rose and lifted her, palming her ass as he lined up his
cock with her wet pussy. She felt so hot, so damn good against his cock head as
he eased inside her.
“One thrust and you’re mine.”
Always.
“Yours,” she agreed, her eyes so bright they looked like
diamonds.
And then outside noise penetrated.
“Fuck.”
Trotter’s men.
She squirmed and tried to lower herself onto him, lost in their
embrace.
But Romy knew if he took her now, he wouldn’t stop. And they
had to escape. As lost as he was, he’d never be able to control his abilities.
And he had to protect Tara. Noting else mattered right now but his mate.
Romy used all his strength to leave her heat. He set her on
her feet and moved back to quickly dress. Trying to cover up a massive hard-on
wasn’t comfortable, but he managed. Tara didn’t move.
She stood, naked and dazed, her gaze fixed to him with
unnatural hunger.
“I know it hurts. But not here.” He shook his head, wishing
for calm, but was unable to relax his racing heartbeat, or his maddening cock.
“I need time to give you what you need, honey.”
“I want you now.” The strength of her
psychei
threatened to drag him back to her.
To his shock, the woman had more power than he’d suspected.
Hell, more than he’d felt in anyone in a long, long time. He took a step closer
and shook his head.
“Tara, I—” She cupped her breast and held it out to him. Her
other hand sought her pussy. She started fucking herself with her fingers, and
he nearly lost it.
“Damn.” Romy blew out a breath. “
Please.
Those men
out there want to take you. Trotter wants to be here, fucking you. And he’s a
monster.
I’m
the man for you, Tara. Look at me.”