Jory winced and then continued. “You made your choice, old man. Your daughter dies.” He ended the call.
Piper sat back, her mind spinning. “You’re not going to kill me.”
“No.”
Was her mother safe? Piper jumped up and rushed for the door. She had to get home.
Jory was on her that quickly, his back to her front, his hands caging her against the light-colored oak. Slowly, he turned her around. “I can’t let you leave, either.”
She shoved him back an inch. He pushed back, and being stronger, she ended up plastered against his hard frame, the door firm against her back. “You can’t stop me.”
His gaze morphed into something new. Not anger, not interest, not amusement. What was that?
Her breath caught. Determination. Hard, male, iron-clad determination.
He leaned down, his gaze right above her. “You made the choice, baby, and you chose me. Period.”
CHAPTER
17
WARMTH CAGED HER, and Piper’s knees wobbled. “You can’t keep me here.”
“We both know that’s not true.” Jory’s lips hovered near her right ear, spiraling along her neck. “Just for the night, and I promise I won’t touch you.”
“Then?” She cleared her throat to sound in control.
“Then you’re going to escape your PROTECT captors and head back to the compound. I’d appreciate it if you’d get me information on Chance and the other boys, but if you don’t, I’ll go another route. The commander believed you, so you’re not in danger.”
She kept perfectly still so as not to brush up against him. “How do you know?”
“I can hear a lie. Easily.” Jory’s lips enclosed the top of her ear.
Her knees wobbled, and her eyes closed. “Nobody can hear a lie.”
“You trusted me, so I’m trusting you. Whatever the scientists did to me in those petri dishes gave me extra abilities. I can hear and see beyond normal, and I can detect wave patterns even in air.”
She tried to focus with his heated breath against her neck. “That’s impossible.”
“I can also use pheromones to increase sexual tension.” His lips wandered down her jugular.
“Right.” She tipped her head back to allow him more room.
“Pay attention to your body,” he whispered against her collarbone.
Heat flared through her, vibrating with intensity, shimmering from her breasts to her clit. Hunger edged into a craving that forced her to flatten her hands against his chest. Her heart thundered, and her lungs overheated.
Desire. Red hot and devastating.
She opened her eyes, her vision blurring and then clearing. “How?”
The warmth in the air caressing her skin slowly dissipated. “Don’t know, just can.” His gaze dropped to her lips.
Even though he’d halted the sensual attack, her body thrummed, primed and ready. She shook her head. “Don’t use that on me again. Ever.”
“Don’t need to.” He grinned. “And you know it.”
True. Definitely true. “Why do you have a Southern accent sometimes?”
He stilled. “We were raised in Tennessee, and the accent gets loose every once in a while.”
The tenor melted her panties. Easily. Her mind turned to the crazy plan. “I have to escape tonight and get back to the computers to save you.” A large clock shaped like a bird ticked in the corner, each second a harsh reminder of the kill chip in Jory’s spine.
“No. Not until tomorrow.” He caressed down to nip her earlobe. “Too easy. And we need time to hide the bodies so they won’t be found. Right now, you’re safer here than if you returned home too quickly.”
Her nipples scraped against his chest, and she whimpered. “What about my mother?”
“Matt is keeping an eye on her house, on her, and on her neighbor. He won’t let anything happen to the people you love. I promise.”
Pure truth echoed in the low tone. Piper shook her head, her body moving against his. Her nipples brushed his chest, even through the shirt he’d tossed over her head, and this time, he groaned. “You’re the real deal, aren’t you?” she asked, finally accepting the truth.
“I’m afraid so.” Sadness and a lingering regret glimmered in his odd gray eyes.
Man. Weird as it felt, she’d give anything to comfort him. To give him some sense of hope. “I have to get back to the computer.”
He shook his head. “No, you don’t. My brothers have the program, and I can figure out the code to save them.”
“What about you?” she breathed.
His fist unfolded through her hair, and he cupped the back of her neck. “We both know there’s no way to reach my chip. It’s damaged too much.”
Tick. Tick. Tick. She shook her head. “I need to try.”
“You can try starting tomorrow. Tonight? You have to stay here.”
She couldn’t fight him and get free. What if she couldn’t figure out a way to connect wirelessly to the chip? “Please don’t give up,” she murmured.
He nodded. “You’re on board?”
“Yes.” And they had a night. So she threaded both hands through his silky hair and rose to her tiptoes before sliding her lips between his.
He breathed her in, his pectorals clenching. “What are you doing?”
“We have a night.” She spoke against him, not moving back an inch.
He blinked. “I’m letting you go tomorrow no matter what.”
She grinned, enjoying the firmness of his mouth against hers. “I’m not trying to seduce you to gain my freedom.”
He levered back, a veil drawing down over his eyes. “Then what are you doing?” Warning and something darker, something deeply intriguing, echoed in his low tone. Something she wanted to explore.
“Living.” She lifted her shoulders, stirring the scent of him in the cotton. “I’ve never been much for regrets or not jumping in. I believe you… all of it. And I want this night.” She believed him in that her mother was safe. And maybe he was right and she wouldn’t be able to deactivate his chip. The idea flared pain into her heart, and she shoved it away. Maybe this night was all they had. Trying to keep eye contact, she drew the shirt over her head.
He swallowed. “You saw me kill.”
She nodded. “I did. Interesting, that. It was self-defense, but even so, I got the feeling it wasn’t quite you. Not like when you MacGyvered the keypad back at the facility. That just seemed more… you.”
His chin lifted, while his gaze warmed. Hell. It heated over. “You think you know me?”
“No.” She kept a firm hold on his hair. “Something tells me I’d like to, however.”
He remained in place this time. “I don’t have long on this earth, Piper, and the time I have is going to be spent saving my brothers from the kill chips near their spines.”
Yeah. She got that. “You’re free tonight.”
His nostrils flared. “You sure?”
That warning voice in the back of her head screeched a hell no. “I’m sure.” She’d never listened to that bitch, anyway.
He didn’t ask again. Instead, his broad hands encircled her waist, and he traced her rib cage up and over to caress her breasts, his gaze following his movements.
Sparks zipped straight from his talented fingers to her clit. She gasped and leaned into his touch, so much need coursing through her she wondered at her own sanity.
Then, as he tweaked, as he twisted with just enough bite to weaken her knees, she forgot all about saneness.
Who wanted to be sane?
This? This she wanted. “Jory,” she murmured, releasing his hair to run her hands over those amazing pecs, the badass tattoo, and down to trace each individually ripped ab. “You’re nearly airbrushed.”
He chuckled. “You confuse me.”
“Then we’re even.” She slowly unbuckled his belt. “I’m attracted to you, and I know you’re telling the truth. The other night was good, but…”
“Not enough.??
? He reached for the button of her jeans. “I know.”
And life was short—probably too damn short for him. Although neither one of them said it, the truth of that sad fact hung like a fine mist in the elderly lady’s home.
Almost as if reading her mind, Jory glanced around. “You deserve better than this.”
She kicked out of her jeans, trying to erase shyness at her plain pink panties. This, more than ever, was one of those times she needed to accept herself, to like herself. But a guy like Jory? Yeah. He’d probably been with perfection before.
He glanced down at her, a low hum emerging with his breath. “You’re beautiful, Piper.”
This was crazy. So damn freakin’ crazy. But when he looked at her like that, when she considered the counting-down clock, when she allowed herself to acknowledge the danger she’d courted by trying to be in her father’s world… she wanted crazy. “Just take me away, Jory. Just for one night.”
His smile gentled, while his expression hardened into something so masculine he took her breath away. “That I can do, darlin’. I promise.”
She gulped and tried to concentrate, even though his too-warm hands had cupped her breasts. “What about your brothers?”
His cheek creased. “I think I’ll keep you for myself.”
The possessive tone wandered right under her skin and to her heart. “You know what I meant.”
“We have the night. I promise.”
She swallowed and tried not to blush. “I want this.”
He’d let her go. She knew, without any question, if she said no, he’d release her. This wasn’t about rebelling against her asshole of a father, nor was it about wanting to trust Jory. This was about her and taking the moment. For fun, danger, and dancing too close to the fire. “I want this.”
Then his mouth was on hers. No hesitation, no more talking, he went deep and hard, shoving her head back. His mouth was firm, his tongue demanding, all hesitation or question gone, leaving absolute possession in place.
His tongue thrust with hers, hard and sure, sending tingles through her entire body. Good. He was so damn good.
The world shifted. He swung her up and strode through the tidy home to sit on a bed, her thighs encasing his. One humungous hand pressed down on her head, pushing her entire body down on his full length. He controlled the kiss like he had everything else, with complete ease and a burst of passion.
All intelligence and masculinity rolled up into an explosive package.
The possibility of that explosion, of that detonation, had been hinted in him since the beginning.
She knew, without a doubt, that was the exact characteristic of his that attracted her. She wanted to detonate with him.
God help them both.
She kissed him back, her hands roving over his muscled arms and to his back, riding him even through his jeans.
Somehow he lifted her with one hand while still kissing her, and before she knew it, chilled air brushed across her bare ass. Then he set her down onto granite, smooth, lava-hot male hardness.
Her eyes flew open.
Even with his mouth working hers, those gray eyes met her gaze.
She stilled. He felt huge. Not huge in a make a guy feel good way, but freakin’ real huge. She’d seen him the other day, but he hadn’t been fully erect. She had to look.
Levering back, scooting back, she looked down. He was long and thick, verrrry thick. A dark vein wound around his penis, somehow looking both promising and menacing. “Wow,” she breathed.
He threw back his head and laughed, his body gyrating against hers. “You make me happy, Piper.”
She swallowed. “From the looks of things, you’re about to make me happier.”
The idea that this might be their only time flared pain into her, and tears filled her eyes.
He stilled. “Be here, baby. Just be here.”
She nodded.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he flipped them and moved her up on the bed until she lay on her back, covered by the most amazing male specimen she’d ever imagined.
“I hope I can trust you,” she breathed, batting back the tears.
He pressed a soft kiss on her nose, his pulsing shaft rubbing against her. “You can, although I’m not some easygoing accountant, sweetheart.”
Yeah, she got that. He’d killed easily, and there wasn’t much of a doubt that he’d done it before. But something sweet, something genuine, lived in Jory, and she wanted to know that side of him. While she still could. “Just be you. That’s what I want.”
His head jerked back, and an emotion she couldn’t track flashed across his face. Before she could question him, he dropped his head to the nook of her neck and nuzzled. Then nipped.
His hands went to work, exploring her, a combination of rough hands and gentle touch. Of need, lust, and futility.
Kisses rained along her skin, under her jaw, over her collarbone, to take possession of both breasts. He nipped and sucked, harder than she would’ve thought, more than she could control. Could anticipate.
His talented fingers found her, and she arched into his hand, crying out. Too much and yet not enough. She caressed down his flanks, knowing he couldn’t be quite human, marveling at the power barely leashed right beneath his skin. At the shift of muscle, the nearly animalistic perfection of his form, she believed he had been created on purpose.
Such perfection had to have a master crafter.
She gyrated against him, her mind blanking when he found that sizzling bundle of nerves inside her. “Now, Jory.”
“Slow,” he murmured against her breasts, his damp forehead slicking her skin.
“Later slow.” She was incapable of full speech. “Now fast. Please?” The tension built and created true pain, so her body rubbed against him as if reality no longer mattered. As if it ever had. “Please.” She dug her nails into his fine butt.
He stiffened.
So she did it again.
“You like to play with fire,” he groaned, his breath brushing her nipple.
“Now you figure that out?” She chuckled, but in the face of such tremendous need, the sound came out high-pitched and desperate. “Please.”
One hand slipped under her ass, cupping her completely, and lifting. “Spread your legs wider,” he groaned.
She complied, opening herself as much as possible, any doubts shot to hell by the raw need clawing into her.
He plunged into her with one brutal stroke, his balls slapping her butt.
She cried out, bombarded, taken over. Pain flared inside her followed by an unbelievable burn of erotic fire. It licked at her, tempted her, destroyed her. From her clit to so far inside her she hadn’t realized her own depth, she felt him.
He levered up, his mouth enclosing hers, his tongue thrusting inside.
It was too late to slow him down, and she knew it. He withdrew and slammed back inside, somehow gaining strength. Her eyes fluttered shut, no longer able to see when feeling was all that mattered.
He took her over, and for the first time in her entire life, she let surrender happen. The pinnacle she needed to reach more than she needed to breathe was in his control, in his hands, and in that spectacular body. The power and the strength.
So she widened her thighs and clasped her feet at the small of his back, her arms winding under his arms to dig into his moving back muscles.
At the moment of her surrender, her submission, his grip tightened on her butt hard enough to bruise. Another sensation bombarding her with the rest.
With a low growl, barely sounding human, he threaded his free hand into her hair and twisted his wrist, holding her in place. Jerking her up enough to take her completely, to render her helpless.
A sensation she’d already succumbed to.
Then he started to thrust. Hard, full, hot… thick and so damn deep she truly forgot where he ended and she began.
For the briefest of seconds, they both belonged to him.
His hand slipped, his fingers dipping be
tween her ass cheeks. She gasped, more feelings taking her over. Now, caught in the throes, she’d even give him that.
Everything she had, everything she was, everything she hoped to be somehow coalesced into this one moment and this one man.
And somehow… he knew it.
“Mine.” He said the word against her lips, not a question, not an ounce of arrogance.
Pure truth.
She nodded, tears filling her eyes as her thighs tightened. Energy uncoiled inside her, a rushing spark of burning fire, slowly—way too slowly—unraveling. He pumped harder, his grip tightening, his groin brushing her clit.
She exploded, her body slamming up into his, her cry echoing throughout the universe. Shattered into a million pieces, she could feel each one return to the whole, bringing her back together.
Not the same. Definitely reassembled differently into a complete puzzle created by Jory.
He released her mouth to once again press his lips against her neck, his pumping increasing in force, his body tightening, as he came against her.
His heart beat a rapid tempo against her chest.
Slowly, he lifted his head.
Sweat littered his brow, and a lock of his black hair fell onto his forehead.
Surprise and a darker emotion swirled through those gray eyes. It took her a moment to regain her breath and catch the emotion.
Possession. Sure and absolute.
Then he smiled.
CHAPTER
18
JORY SAT IN the old lady floral chair, his elbows on his knees, his gaze on the woman sleeping in the antique bed. The small, fragile, now bruised woman.
Things had changed. Hell. One night with her, and he’d changed. The plan from the day before, the one where he’d send her into danger, no longer worked. The woman couldn’t lie worth shit, and the aftermath of the night they’d just shared would be stamped all over her face for the commander to see. She couldn’t get hurt any more than she’d already been damaged.
As a kid, Jory had known love. But this feeling? This feeling could only be had by a man for a woman—the woman—a combination of possessiveness, need, and protectiveness. He neither understood it, nor did he want to quash it.