Desire the Banshee

Desire the Banshee

Ella Drake

Daisy is a banshee, a mage of sound. On missions for the Cinder Task Force, her handler Sean joins her telepathically to help control her turbulent powers. What she really wants is a little hands-on-Sean time, but that’s impossible. She’s never seen him in the flesh.

Deaf since the onset of his para-talent, Sean can only hear when inside Daisy’s thoughts. He dreams of possessing her, but fears the worst—that fulfilling the sexual lust between them will lower his shields and he’ll shatter her mind.

A rogue group has gathered and targets Daisy. Sean has to act. They’re finally in the same room, their powers meld and their bodies want nothing more than to do the same—again and again. But to rescue Daisy, they have to put aside the raging attraction. Easier said than done.

Desire the Banshee

Ella Drake

Dedication

For my man. You’re always there for me.

Acknowledgements

Thank you so much to Hailey and Crista. And of course, my appreciation to the mudpuddlers who helped me learn to stand on my own two feet: Vee, Dee, Sandra, Kimber, BrendaND, Laurel and Linda.

Chapter One

Daisy slunk against the side of the convenience store as the artificial fog lowered to the asphalt. The illumination from the buzzing streetlight dimmed to a dull glow. Handy. Both for the car thief sneaking toward the hot rod parked in back as well as for Daisy—bender of sound, a mage of aural wavelengths, the para-talent who was about to take this petty crook down.

With a quiet step forward, she hummed in the back of her throat. The resonance centered her, calmed the rapid pulse galloping loud enough to rush in her ears until she was interrupted by a telepathic prod from her handler, Sean Twenty, sitting in his office at least a dozen miles away.

Just a link, and her damn body reacted—immediately—without her permission. Nipples tightened, her mouth watered and her pussy throbbed.

Daisy. Talk to me. You found the weather tinker?

Her humming stopped. Shrugging off her reaction to Sean, she backed against the brick wall and splayed her fingers on the rough, damp surface. The rogue, a nearly invisible shadow to her left, bent at the door of the car and apparently hadn’t heard her movements as he continued his efforts to steal the car. A cloak of fog, created by the thief’s para-talent in weather control, wrapped around them, dampened the sound of passing cars and disguised their presence.

Thought about my offer to go down on you. Lick you up one side, down the other, suckle your…

Daze!
Sean’s tension trickled through, as it always did. She smirked and let out a deep breath. Knowing she made him suffer almost made it worth it—the sexual frustration she put up with during their mission link-ups. But not quite.

Go away!
She sent her reply with a taunting image of what she did right now—staring down as she cupped her tits, pushing cleavage up to nearly spill from her dress. A tingling vibration threaded into her mind from him, ramping up her response, making her press her ass against the wall, seeking pressure. The air thickened in her lungs and she squeezed herself. Then Sean drew back a bit, the thread popped and a sense of wariness replaced the awareness he had for her.

She dropped her hands with a disgusted shake of her head. Sean did nothing but distract and frustrate her. She’d lived with it for a decade. Another night would make no difference. Yet, at times, his sexy yet dissonant tone in her head made her want anything but for him to go away.

With a roll of her shoulders, she sighed out a long breath before filling her lungs again with the damp fog. Time to work.

The scent and flavor of gasoline mingled in the humid air.
I found him, in his hunting grounds where the Hillcrest mages said he’d be. I’m going to give him a low-level hum to knock him out. Then you can send in the good guys.

Wait for Griffin. He is still at the tinker’s last known address. He hasn’t broken into the car, yet. We have time.
His telepathic projection pitched low, comforting, but he didn’t push into her mind to force her to do as he asked. He never had.

No. I’ll take care of the rogue now. No need to wait on Griffin
.

Do your job. And come home
.

Home was at CTF, Cinder Task Force, headquartered at a sprawling ranch that housed an extended family of paranormal talents. They served as a watch group, guarding the secrets of the mage world by keeping rogues like this one from getting them all into trouble. Home. Where her handler lived and she only visited.

I’ll come back tonight if you’ll finally show your face.

A hesitation, then the expected,
You know I can’t
.

Then I’ll see ya when I see ya
. But she’d never seen him. Ever. If the Cinder brothers hadn’t insisted the elusive Sean Twenty existed, she’d think she had an imaginary friend in her head to add to the rest of her troubles. For all that she sometimes wanted to ignore him, Sean kept her from the last step into chaos. The chaos of her powers, which she lovingly called her banshee, a separate part of her that came to the fore when she used her talent. Sean was the tether that brought her back.

Grudgingly.

She started her thrum again and strolled forward. Her loose dress whipped around her legs with each long stride.

The lean, gangly thief popped open the door and bent to get in the red, expensive-looking sports car. He couldn’t leave yet. They were just getting started.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” She purred.

He lurched up and whipped around to face her. Scrawny faced, bags under his eyes, he looked like he’d seen better days. Though he appeared to be in his middle years, he had to be younger. Whatever his age, he had no future. Neither did she. She laughed, a low taunting sound.

His frown edged into a leer. “What do we have here?”

“A woman who can take you down without lifting a finger. Now be a good boy. Close the door and move to the side. One of the Cinders will be here soon to deal with you.”

“Don’t know or care what this Cinder is and I’m not waiting on a thing. But if you want to hop in, I’ll take you on a ride.”

“Oh and I’ll bet I know what kind of ride you want.” She licked her lips. Her hum modulated, the tone idling back from danger levels to a seductive beat.

Daisy, calm down. You’re there to keep him contained. You don’t have to ramp up all the way.

Her bottom lip protruded as she swept fingers down her side, molding her thin dress to her hips.
I like to play.

You can. Later.

Sean tried to send soothing thoughts across their connection, but she didn’t want to be calm. She flowed with the chaos of her moods. And one of those moods was constantly attuned to a sexual attraction to a voice in her head. Psychiatrists would have a field day with that one.

“Let’s go.” The thief folded himself into the seat and started fiddling with tools plucked out of his pocket.

“Stop. We’re not done talking. You said something about a ride.” Her body was awake, clamoring for attention. Nipples beading ever tighter, she ran a hand along her breasts to ease the friction of the fabric against her sensitive skin. A flush flowed over her, heating as it burned, insistent. She grew wet between her legs and hungry to fill the ache. The thief in front of her had no idea it was Sean in her head turning her on instead of him, but she let her heat show, caressed it, reveled in it.

“Sure thing, sexy. Get in and I’ll give you all you can handle.” He gave an “I know I’m getting laid tonight” smirk. The car started with a quiet roar.

Stay with me, Daze.
He used the nickname only he ever used for her.
Go ahead and give him a burst and tie him up while he’s out. Griffin is only a few minutes away. Then you can back it down. Take it easy.

Back it down? Like hell. The banshee inside called to her, wept to be released.

Let’s play
. She flung her arms out to her sides, let her head fall back and opened her mouth wide. A low moaning filled the unnaturally cloudy night. Wind whipped around her, pulling the murky fog apart.

“What are you doing?” The young man slammed the door and reached for the gearshift. She could practically smell the sweat and fear rolling off him. She funneled the sounds up through her chest and expanded out, shaping and molding the wavelengths. With a grimace, he hunched in his seat and cupped his ears.

This boy dared to not heed her call to stop. Puny, weak boy would pay. She’d let loose her banshee wail and scramble his so-called brains. That’s what she’d do.

Keep it low, Daze. Don’t burst his eardrums.

Somewhere, deep inside, she understood the turbulence in her emotions, but she embraced it, clamped on for the glorious tumult.

He deserves it
. Daisy huffed. Sean didn’t understand.

If you hurt the kid, Griffin will be upset. He’ll want to bring you home. Then you wouldn’t be able to go out on the town. Just keep calm and wrap this guy up
.

Sean was right, damn him. The sooner she knocked this kid out, the sooner she could find somebody to give her the ride she craved. The one Sean wouldn’t give her.

Fine
. She clenched her fists and let loose an attuned wail directed at her prey. The sound would scatter his thoughts, give him vertigo and knock him senseless.

The wail built, grew, expanded. It flowed into the night and
sang
.

When the kid slumped over the wheel, she slammed her mouth shut and stalked away. Time to find herself a bar full of randy men.
Later, Sean
.

Wait.

She slammed their link closed, shutting him out of the night ahead. A night whose promise thrilled across her heated skin. Her mind swirled with unabated lust. Sean wouldn’t want to be in her head when she found herself a good fuck. She didn’t dare consider how much she wanted him to be the one beneath her tonight. She’d never know the feel of him, a man she’d never met, eye to eye, flesh to flesh.

The banshee wallowed in the hedonism she craved. Every time she let her talents out, she couldn’t stop the rush to enjoy, in excess, pleasures of the flesh. Sensitive to the point of pain, her nipples rubbed against her dress. She licked her lips, eager to taste a glass of rich, smoky whiskey while she chose her lover for the night.

Behind her, a car skidded into the empty lot. A door wrenched open, but she kept walking down the sidewalk, back toward her place to change into her sex-in-heels outfit. Then, to the part of town still awake and hopping.

“Daisy, stop. We have a situation. I need to bring you in now,” Griffin Cinder called.

Griffin was her adopted uncle. He couldn’t give her what she needed tonight either.

“Daisy O’Grady!”

She ignored the urgency in his voice and kept walking.

* * * * *

Daisy sat at the long, expensive antique table in the meeting room and waited on the lecture, but Ray Cinder didn’t mention the night before—when she’d ignored the summons to come in. He didn’t mention Griffin had to hunt her down, pull her away from her tryst and forcibly sedate her because once on the prowl, the banshee wouldn’t go back into hiding inside her until utterly sated. They’d never sedated her before. Something bad was coming. Knowing that was the only reason she didn’t lay into them for daring to pump drugs into her. She’d listen to what Ray had to say first.

She shivered in the warm room. Shifting in the chair, she sent a small mental feeler out for Sean, but he didn’t answer. She was well and truly alone. She crossed her legs and sat back in the chair.

The head of CTF got right to business.

A folder slapped down in front of her. She turned the pages. The dossier pictured a remote cabin in the woods. Idyllic and peaceful, the surrounding campgrounds would pass as the perfect vacation spot, but she didn’t think families spent their vacations there. Otherwise, the picture wouldn’t be in a mission folder.

Ray turned the page and tapped a surveillance photo. “There are a dozen of these cottages. All house two to four rogues. See the heat signature patterns here?”

The red and yellow zones highlighted on the infrared shot grouped in small clusters, horizontal, most likely rogues sleeping in their separate cottages.

“I’ve never heard of so many together before.” She couldn’t help her flat, non-emotional reply. The sedation still had her unnaturally even. Otherwise, she might be frightened of this development. Or pissed off.

“I haven’t either.” Hands laced at his back, Ray paced the length of the table.

He took his time continuing the briefing. She’d never seen him this way, agitated and rumpled. Raymond Cinder, who had to be in his nineties but didn’t appear to be a day over forty, a fire mage of unbelievable power, had never been one to rush her into the field. That the man of action and temper appeared to be nervous should have bothered her, but she sat waiting. Calm.

Her sedate nature wouldn’t last long. The power she brought to the table came with a price. A sensual creature who fought to get out when a bright shiny caught her attention.

“Here’s what I have.” He frowned, accenting the uncharacteristic stubble darkening his cheeks. Smudges under his eyes proved he hadn’t slept.

“A new recruit named Stan walked out after a training session with his handler. He’d been assigned to Clarissa.” At the mention of the water mage, his frown deepened.

Even in her near desperate need to close herself off from everyone, she read Ray’s attraction to Clarissa, but everyone at CTF knew he wouldn’t act on it. Para-talents were like any human. They could date and marry whoever they wanted, with one exception. A connection to a talent’s polar opposite was a gamble.

It went one of two ways. One partner could drain the other’s power in a lopsided draw or the partners could combine to balance each other and reach a higher level together. Part of that higher level was an even longer life span. Flip side, if the partnership wasn’t balanced, death to one happened pretty quickly, sometimes within days. Ray didn’t seem keen on the risk.

For herself, she didn’t dare think about it. The thought passed as quickly as the urge to reach out to Sean over their connection again.