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The woman would be no threat, of
that he was sure. The disappointment he felt regarding her lack of knowledge
when it came to him grew deeper when he suspected that she did not know what he
was.

How could she expect to fight a
power of which she had no knowledge? Perhaps the man could to be useful.
Otherwise, she would never know how to fight the likes of him—not that she
could begin to put up much of a real fight—regardless, he deserved worthier
opponents. If she could not fight him, then she would prove to be no challenge
at all.

She had already proven once that
she was weak. He had not even done anything to her. She simply stood there,
frozen in terror, waiting for the man to jump to her rescue.

Millennia of being trapped had
bored him. He required some entertainment. Needed it like he needed the air to
breathe.

If one could not enjoy the hunt,
where lay the pleasure in being a hunter?

Now the man might prove
interesting, but still no real challenge. He had not been a expecting the
mortal’s ability to shield her.

Mortals, he thought with a shake
of his head. Foolish creatures. They always thought good would prevail and evil
would be vanquished. Even those moronic Druids had not been able to vanquish
him. True, they had managed to imprison him for millennia, but that only gave
him more time to perfect his plans.

He wanted more of a challenge,
demanded it. Maybe he could give the mortals a clue. He knew the woman had some
psychic abilities, paltry though they were. Perhaps a little message would help
them along. Then maybe, just maybe they would present more of a challenge and
become worthy of seeing his true power.

CHAPTER SIX

His being a shapeshifter didn’t
change much or her opinion of him. And making love with one? “I hadn’t really
thought about it,” she said with a grin.

“Thought about what?” Cole asked.

“You know, if you can’t remember
what you asked me not even a minute ago, maybe—”

He shook his head. “That’s just
it, Lana—I didn’t ask it. I thought it.”

The color drained from her
cheeks. “What?” Oh God, she’d read his mind? She’d never been able to do that
before.
What the hell is happening to me?
“You didn’t ask me?”

He shook his head again. “I take
it nothing like this has happened before?” he asked carefully.

Lana stood and paced, needing
time to think. She couldn’t read minds. That was ludicrous. He was playing some
kind of game with her. “You’re messing with my head,” she insisted.

He sighed and walked to her. With
gentle hands, he turned her to face him. “I’m not. It’s okay, Lana. It just
means your powers are growing.”

“I don’t want my powers to grow!
I don’t want any powers at all, damn it. It made my mother’s life miserable,”
she snapped. Oh God, what am I turning into?

He gave her a little shake. “Just
stop it. There isn’t a damn thing wrong with you.”

She pulled away from him and
stumbled back. “No. I don’t want this. Just take me home, Cole. I want to go
home.”

He crossed his arms. “You’re not
going anywhere, Lana. You’re not safe there, and you know it.”

“You can take me home or I can
call a cab. Either option is fine with me.”

He walked toward her,
deliberately invading her space, and leaned in so his face was only an inch
from hers. “I said no.”

Lana drew her arm to slap him,
only to have it caught in mid-air in an implacable grip. “Let me go.”

“Settle down, you little
wildcat,” he said, his voice tinged with laughter. “Lord, lady, you’ve been
chased, seen me change into a tiger, had a wolf make a leap for you…that’s
before we get into the hell you experienced the last few months. And now you
want to fall apart? Just because you happened to read my thoughts?”

“You don’t understand,” she said,
her voice weak as she slumped against the wall he’d backed her into.

She watched his eyes soften.
“Then explain it to me, darlin’,” he said gently as he lifted his hand and
brushed it through her hair. “I promise it’ll be okay.”

“My mom loved life, she really
did, but it wasn’t always easy,” she began. “She constantly saw the worst of
life, the worst disasters that could happen to people on any given day. I don’t
want to live like that. Don’t you see? I can’t handle that kind of life.”

“Don’t do this to yourself. First
of all, you’re not seeing things. If you do, we’ll deal with it then. Right
now, all you’re doing is hearing thoughts. Thoughts, I might add, that were
directed at you. You’d probably suspected, at least a little bit, that you had
some of her gift, hadn’t you?”

Damn him. Why did he have to
ferret out that insecurity? “Not really—I’ve just…sensed things. That’s all.”

“Come on. Let’s sit down and
talk, Lana.” He took her hand, led her to the couch and pulled her down next to
him. “Remember at your apartment? You sensed the thoughts I projected to you?”

“It’s not like I heard what you
were thinking. I just...felt your anxiety.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I’m the only
one you can read. Did you think that? Maybe there’s something in my
shapeshifter physiology that makes me easier to read.” She opened her mouth to
comment, but he held up a hand. “Don’t borrow trouble. Besides, if you can read
thoughts, it might come in handy while we try and find out who’s after you.”

She had a sudden, terrifying
thought. “Cole, what if my mother really did kill herself? What if her powers
were just too much and drove her over the edge?” she asked, giving voice to
thoughts she hadn’t even admitted to herself before this point.

He pulled her into his arms and
hugged her. “Then she wasn’t as strong as I know you are, sweetheart.”

She sighed. “I just don’t
understand any of this. I feel like everything is turning upside down and
spinning.”

“We’re going to figure this out,
Lana. Trust me.”

She heard the confidence in his
voice and drew on his strength. “I guess I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
she said with a shaky smile.

“Not really, I’m afraid,” he said
as he released her. “I’ve got some connections. We’ll see if we can’t find
answers to any of this. But for now, we need to talk about your abilities. I
know you’re not going to want to hear this, but we need to work on honing them.
It may very well come in handy.”

She gaped at him. “I don’t want
to hone it. I don’t want it period.”

“Think, Lana. You have it for a
reason. Maybe it’s meant to be. Just like I was meant to be a shifter. There
may be powers at work here beyond both of us, did you stop to think of that?”
he demanded.

She appreciated his attempts to
make her think logically, but this situation was illogical. “No. And I don’t
want to, either. None of this makes any sense to me. I’m not someone special. I
don’t have any deep dark powers that will save the world. I’m just me, and
that’s the way I want it.”

“Lana, are you forgetting that
just a little while ago a wolf disappeared before your eyes? Something is going
on, and we’re both right smack dab in the middle of it. If we don’t work
together and figure out what’s going on, we’ll never be prepared.” He paused.
“I don’t know about you, but I’ve always believed that forewarned is forearmed.”

She sighed, resigned. He would
never drop it. “What do you want me to do?”

He relaxed visibly. “As I said, I
think we need to work on seeing just how much control you have on your
abilities—including this new one. It may come in handy as we investigate this.
There’s a story my dad told me as a kid about an evil shifter, but I thought it
was a myth at the time, and I’ve forgotten the details. I want to find out
about that.”

“So, we’re going to go see your
dad?”

His eyes darkened with sadness.
“Yeah. Both my parents knew it, I think. I’m hoping one of them will remember
the story. Tomorrow we should go see them.”

“Where do they live?”

“A few hours south of here. We’ll
head out early in the morning, is that okay?”

She nodded and leaned back
against the cushions. “I still don’t like any of this.”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to see
that.”

“Are you making fun of me?” she
asked, her eyes narrowing.

He grinned, and his eyes sparkled
with humor. “
Moi
? Would I do a thing like that?”

“I could learn to not like you,”
she muttered, defeated.

He lowered his head and kissed
her, his mouth forcing hers to submit to his and she parted her lips on a soft
gasp. His tongue flicked against her lips, invaded, dueling with hers. He
groaned, pulling her against him and deepened the kiss.

Moving his hands to her hair, he
held her still for his invasion. Lana had the vague thought that she should
stop him, but instead moved her hands to his head and held him to her. It felt
right.

She nipped his bottom lip with
her teeth and felt a surge of power when he groaned deep. Her hand slid down
his hair, onto his shoulder. She loved the feel of his muscles through the
smooth material of his T-shit. God, she should stop, she thought yet again as
his hand found her breast.

She arched against his palm with
a muffled cry of her own as his fingers found her nipple and teased it gently.
God, he was going to drive her insane, and she could hardly wait. “I want you,”
she said, her voice shaky with need.

He lifted his head, his eyes
dark, his hair spiked from the trail of her fingers. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Be sure, Lana, because in a few minutes it’s going to be way too late to stop
again.” His tone may have been rough, but his fingers were gentle as he cupped
her face, silently willing her not to stop him.

In answer, she pulled his hands
to the button of her blouse. “I’m sure,” she said, and she was. This is what
she wanted. Needed.

She didn’t want to think about
the danger they were in or her abilities. She didn’t care to think about
anything but the pleasure she knew his body could bring hers.

Within seconds, he had her in his
lap, his fingers already at work unbuttoning her blouse. A moment later, he
unclasped her bra, carelessly tossing it to the floor. She almost cried out
when he put one hand on each breast, kneading not quite gently. “Yes,” she
whispered.

He studied her intently for one
moment, then lowered his head to her breast. He took one peak into the suction
of his mouth and teased the nipple with his teeth, laved it with his tongue.

Lana closed her eyes and let
herself absorb the sensations of his hot mouth on her breast. She wanted more,
needed him inside her now. She picked at his shirt with her fingers, desperate
to feel his bare skin against hers.

He released her captive breast
and didn’t take his gaze off of her as he pulled the shirt over his head and
tossed it aside. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and as he stood, wrapped
her legs around his waist.

His skin felt like fire, almost
burning to the touch, but it was an exotic stroke of freedom.

Cole carried her to the bedroom,
his gaze never leaving hers for more than a few seconds at a time, and placed
her in the center of the cavernous bed. The blanket had been pulled down
already and the sheets were cool against her hot skin, the contrast was
shocking.

Her train of thought trailed off
as he bent over her and reached for the snap of her jeans, his fingers skimming
the fabric against her skin. She lifted her hips to help him—whether to make
his job easier or have his fingers closer to her core, she wasn’t sure and
didn’t care.

In the next instant, he threw the
jeans aside and she lay almost completely bare before him. She watched him as
his hands moved to the waist of his own jeans. This was too soon—way too soon.

How could she jump into bed with
a man she barely knew? She reached for the sheet, trying to cover herself. It
was just too much.

Cole threw his jeans and boxers
aside and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at her steadily. “Don’t, Lana.
Don’t try and convince yourself that this is wrong. You know it’s not.”

“How did you know?” she
whispered.

He shrugged, placing his hand
against her soft stomach. “Dunno, just a feeling I guess.” He ran his fingers
through his hair. “Do you want me to stop?” he asked, and waited tensely for
her answer.

It would cost him, she knew, but
he’d stop if she asked him to. Just knowing that relaxed her. Knowing he would
be willing to stop was enough to assuage her fears. “No,” she said with a
smile. “I don’t want you to stop.”

“Thank Christ,” he said, lowering
his head to an inch from hers. “I don’t know that I’d have survived if you’d
changed your mind.” He rubbed his lips against hers. “I know I’m going to risk
my chances again, but…are you on some kind of birth control?”

Lana nodded and said, “Yes, I—”

She couldn’t finish her reply
because his mouth took hers again. The kiss rough, the passion barely
restrained now. His hands skimmed down her stomach to the juncture of her
thighs, and she tensed for only a moment. His hand paused, and as she relaxed
again, slowly eased her thighs apart for his touch.

She closed her eyes as his
fingers found her heated flesh. He glided them gently across the sensitive nub
of her desire, and she moaned, arching against his hand. She could feel the
scarcely controlled power of him—it both scared and excited her.

When she looked into his eyes
again, they had gone almost black. He lay above her, his jaw clenched, his
hands oh-so gentle as he stroked her, driving her closer and closer to a
precipice she hadn’t felt in so long. She jerked and arched her hips off the
bed as he drove one long finger inside her heated folds.

§§§

Cole watched as he loved her,
painfully aware of every movement she made, stroking the fire hotter and
hotter. He’d had sex with other women, but nothing before had felt like this.
She was the most responsive woman he’d been with. His fingers brushed against
her again and she groaned, coming off the bed, pushing herself against his
hand.