Anger now sparked. He lived a dangerous life, which meant she now lived a dangerous life. No matter where she was or what she did.
Another complication arose. To save her sister from his murderous clutches, she could easily kill him by killing herself.
Would she try?
No, highly doubtful. He knew her better now. Those memories he'd never lived had invaded his head all night. He'd managed to suppress most of them, but a few had weaseled past his defenses.
When her creators had punished her, strapping her to a bed and hitting her with a cattle prod, she hadn't responded with despair. She'd responded with determination.
She'd thought: I will survive. I will not be defeated.
He'd been filled with awe--such strength!--and with rage. If Walsh hadn't already killed the staff, Dallas would have added their severed heads to his collection, mounting them on his wall.
. . . When he tried to read her now, he came up empty.
She lifted her chin, a captivating mix of longing and rebellion. "I'm not your wife."
"I would have sworn you told me our divorce hadn't yet gone through."
"We'll find a way to negate the bond. Isn't that what you said?"
He offered a clipped nod. It was indeed what he'd said, and what he still wanted. Which was one of the reasons he'd fought her memories so diligently. The more he knew about her, the harder a separation would be. Already he wished he could fuse her to his side and protect her from any--every--hurt.
"Where were you going in such a hurry?" he asked.
"You mean you don't know?"
"I can't read you right now." He'd done his research. Extreme emotion slowed the flow of information that passed between them. Extreme arousal too. If he wanted to keep his secrets, he would need to keep her aroused.
Such a dirty job.
Secrets could also be buried. After the initial exchange of memories, only the information they specifically pondered while in each other's presence would flow through the bond.
"Where were you going?" he asked again.
"To find you."
Truth or lie? He would have liked to know that through the bond.
She wrung her hands. "I haven't been able to reach Jade. Do you know where she is?"
"Yes. She's somewhere else."
She closed the distance to fist his shirt, her hair and skin turning bronze, her eyes turning green to match her markings. With a shake, she said, "Tell me, Dallas."
His name on those two-thousand-dollar-an-hour lips . . . better than a stream of dirty words. He was hard as a rock in seconds . . . and she was close enough to rub against. So close he could feel the heat pulsing off her lithe body.
"Jade is injured but recovering in a secret location, where she's being guarded."
"Still injured? Tell me everything !"
The worry on her face softened the worst of his anger. "I don't know the specifics of her wound, and the guard is a black ops agent called John No Last Name."
She lifted her chin. "Is Jade to be bait for Trinity too?"
So. She'd picked up on his plan to lure Trinity out of hiding and end her reign of terror without hurting her. Lost my edge.
He changed the subject, gritting out, "You left me behind to deal with Walsh on my own."
"Uh, yeah. I'm evil. That's what I do." She chewed on her bottom lip. "But thank you."
The rest of his anger faded. Evil. The doctors had called her Little Wicked as a child and Lady Wicked as an adult. All part of an experiment. By calling her evil and making her believe it, they postulated whether they could predict how she would react to certain situations. She knew what they'd done, and why, but mental knowledge wasn't the same as heart acceptance.
"You aren't evil, Lilica."
"Yes, I am." The lights in her eyes brightened, swirling with the gale force of wind he couldn't feel. "I kill without remorse."
"So do I."
"Yes, but you do it to protect humans. I do it just because."
He cursed. She knew every aspect of his past, didn't she? She'd seen his memories the way he'd seen hers. "Did you kill anyone on your way here?"
Offended, she practically spit at him. "No."
"Then you don't kill just because. You used to kill, when you were told to do so or suffer the consequences. You had a reason. You hoped to protect yourself and your sisters."
She opened her mouth, closed it with a snap. He knew she wanted to refute him, to call him a liar, but she couldn't. The bond . . .
"You're welcome by the way," he said. "Walsh is dead. Again."
"How do you know he won't--never mind. You chopped off his head with an elevator."
Had he sent the image into her mind?
She backed away from him, and he nearly shouted a command for her return. "I won't let you end Trinity," she said.
"She's diseased. A predator." He wouldn't lie to her about that. Not because she would sense the truth, but because he respected her. Warrior to warrior, he tried to make her understand. "She purposely infects innocents, and there's no cure for her or for them."
Desperation darkened her features. "I'll keep her locked up. I won't let her hurt--"
"That's not an option. You don't have the resources to deal with her. If she isn't allowed to purge, the disease will strengthen inside her and kill her." AIR had locked up a handful of her victims and learned that truth at a high cost. "Then it will escape her and find a new host. She must be contained the right way until we find a way to destroy the disease. By taking her in, I'll be doing the world a favor. And when the time comes to kill her, I will do so humanely."
Her shoulders rolled in, and she whispered, "My sisters are all I have."
Her look, her tone . . . everything about her caused his heart to crack straight down the center. Part of him longed to tell her: You have me now.
He ran his tongue over his teeth. Not going there.
Her eyes widened. "Not going where?"
"Nothing. And I'm sorry you're going to suffer when she dies, sweetheart, but I won't change course. I can't. There's no other way."
Lilica drew in a deep breath, held it, then slowly released it. Dallas was somehow more beautiful to her right now, and it actually hurt to look at him. But it hurt to look away from him too. Like, her ovaries were seriously considering exploding.
The worst part? Desire for him no longer felt like a want but a need, as he'd once tried to tell her.
She had to save her sister. Through any means necessary.
Not all means have to be foul. . . .
She peered deep into his eyes, trying not to lose herself in his rugged masculinity. "You will not hurt my sisters," she said, using what remained of her power to compel him.
He simply arched a brow in a way she now despised. "So. You're able to compel."
Ugh! He was one hundred percent immune, most likely because of the bond.
There had to be another way to get what she wanted from him.
Sex? What about sex?
Her ovaries decided, yes, they would go ahead and explode.
"Vow to convince AIR to let Trinity live," she said, "and I'll give myself to you." Gladly.
He hungered for her the way she hungered for him; she knew he did. Others might see a freak when looking at her, but he saw a sex kitten ready to be stroked.
The knowledge flummoxed her . . . thrilled and delighted her.
His eyes narrowed to tiny slits. "As much as I want you, and I do want you, I'm going to decline. The moment we have sex, the bond will solidify."
He'd just . . . rejected her?
The realization stung in ways she'd never imagined possible. Which was odd. She'd been rejected the whole of her life. By the institute's employees, but also by the people she'd met upon her escape. This was just more of the same.
So why did it feel so different? So personal?
Wait. The bond hadn't yet solidified? "There's a way to break the bond?" He shouldn't know more about her race than she did.
He offered one of those clipped nods. "Over the next few weeks, we're going to become little more than animals who need to rut, but only with each other. If we can resist, the bond will fade and eventually disintegrate completely."
He wanted the bond to disintegrate. And so did she. Really. Truly. But . . .
Deep down, she also wanted to keep the man she'd chosen. Whether or not she'd chosen him wittingly or unwittingly. How was she supposed to give him up?
Um, quite easily! He was Trinity's future killer.
"You think you can resist me while you're in an animal state?" she asked, her gaze stroking over him. He had a hard-on.
"I don't think. I know."
His plan drifted through her mind: Lock Lilica away until Trinity is dead.
The coldhearted intention fueled her rage. No. Hell, no. She pounded her fists into his chest. She would never be locked away again. She would fight to the death to maintain her freedom.
He caught her by the wrists. "This. This is why I want nothing to do with your bond. I have no secrets."
"Your secrets are so unoriginal, I could have guessed!"
A stream of curses. The connection between them had gone quiet, no new information flowing.
Once upon a time, alone in her closet of a bedroom, she'd dreamed of sharing her life and her secrets with a man. He would love her and be loved by her. He would touch her all the time and welcome her hands on him. They would always be together, never alone.
But Dallas craved his solitude. And if he ever did decide to settle down and start a family, it would be with a short, curvy blonde. Someone sweet, with an easy smile. The kind of woman he wanted to want but didn't, not really.
Well, that short, curvy blonde didn't have a sister to save. If Lilica could get him to solidify the bond with her, he would never want to hurt her, mentally, physically, or emotionally, because hurting her would hurt him.
Her rage subsided. His must have as well. They peered at each other. She began to pant. He began to sweat. She licked her lips, and his gaze followed her tongue. Then he sucked in a sharp breath.
"You've got a picture of another man in your mind." He barked the words. "Who is he?"
Her eyes widened. He was jealous of her dream man?
"I'm not jealous," he grated.
He was. He really, really was.
I've so got this.
Any means necessary . . .
Though Lilica had never seduced anyone, Dallas had often been seduced. Through a new flood of memories, she detected a common thread. Nakedness. Not just the act of being naked, but the act of getting naked.
This is going to be as easy as taking candy from . . . anyone.
Peering into that gorgeous arctic gaze, she hooked her fingers on the hem of her shirt and lifted.
He stopped breathing altogether. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? Getting more comfortable." She unfastened her bra, tossed the material aside, and shimmied out of her pants so that only her panties remained.
As she straightened to her full height, shoulders back to properly display her breasts, he took a step toward her. Stopped. Took another step forward.
At war with his desires? Desires now clouding the bond. Once again, she couldn't read him.
"Do you want to touch me?" she asked, cupping her breasts. Her thumbs traced over her puckered nipples. Like the tatoveerimine, they possessed a glittery sheen, and they throbbed oh, so deliciously. "Perhaps I'll even let you taste me."
Agony tightened his features. "Don't you dare . . . put your clothes back on."
Feminine power flooded her--remade her. This man--this beautiful, perfect man--couldn't get enough of her.
Not you, the bond.
Whatever. She rested her hands at the waist of her underwear. "What about these? Should I take them off?"
"Yes," he croaked. "Off. Now."
Candy. Anyone.
But beneath her confidence was a yearning she couldn't deny, and she trembled as she drew the material down her legs. She kicked, the panties soaring. He caught them in a single fluid motion, his gaze never leaving her, but roving over her, as languid as a caress. Where he looked, she tingled and ached worse.
She traced her fingertips down her stomach, circled her navel, and delved between her legs, a moan parting her lips. A groan parted his. He closed the rest of the distance in seconds, invading her personal space.
"I was your first kiss." His voice was part pride, part demand. "I will be your first lover. Your only."
The words shook her to the core.
A handful of orderlies had attempted to start something with her, but she'd never known what was an experiment and what wasn't, and she'd never wanted to be filmed during an intimate moment.
And she would have been. Here, the cameras had never ceased to record.
"But I won't be your first." She cringed when she heard the pout in her tone. But how could she not pout? Other women had put their hands and mouths on her property.
He's my property now?
Only doing this for Trinity, remember?
Scowling, Dallas cupped her shoulders, the skin-to-skin contact electrifying her, desire vibrating inside her veins. He spun her, placing her back against his chest, and said, "Even though you're only using me, I'm sorry."
Heat spread across her cheeks. Both sets. "You don't need to apologize for having past lovers. You were living your life."
"Not sorry that I was with other women. One day, you'll even thank me for the things I learned. I'm sorry about this." He pinched her nose and held her mouth closed with one hand while restraining her with the other. "I'd use another sedative on you, but I'm not sure how I'll react to it."
What . . . why . . . bastard!
She fought him, cursing how easily he'd kept his actions hidden from the bond, but no matter how hard she bucked and clawed, he maintained his hold. A hold he should have softened as he experienced her emotions--or if he'd felt any remorse or guilt. But the only thing he projected at her was cold, hard determination.
Hope you pass out too, she mentally screamed at him. Then darkness descended, and she knew nothing more.
7
Lilica." Her sister's voice called to her from the abyss. "Lilica."
Lilica blinked open her eyes to find a thick white mist surrounded her. She frowned, confused and a little light-headed, and realized she wore a T-shirt, bra, and pair of panties. More than she'd had on before she'd passed out.
Passed out . . .
Dallas! The callous bastard had knocked her out. Then, through the tendrils of mist, she spotted Jade.
"Jade!" Already on her feet, she glided forward. "Are you hurt?"
Jade pulled at the collar of her shirt, revealing bruises around her neck. "Walsh tried to choke me out, but I'm healing."
As children they'd learned not to touch each other. And even after gaining their freedom, when the rules had no longer applied, they'd kept each other at a distance. But in that moment, Lilica couldn't stop herself from wrapping the stunning beauty with skin the color of a fern and hair as white as snow in her arms. The sweet scent of sugarplums helped anchor her. Jade's scent.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"This is the spirit world in existence around the natural world. I found you and pulled your spirit from your body."
Spirit world? Frowning, Lilica eased back, though she maintained a tight hold on her sister lest the girl float away. "We're dead?"
"Not even close. I've learned a lot these past few days. A person--whether human or otherworlder--is first and foremost a spirit. A spirit has a soul and lives in a body. Your spirit is your battery, or power source. Your soul is your mind, will, and emotions. And your body is the house that moors you to the natural world. With a little help, your spirit can leave its house for a short period of time. It's called spirit walking."
Fascinating. No telling what Lilica would have done if she'd known about this . . . if she'd been able to
move between the realms of the living and the dead, the daydream and the nightmare . . . when the doctors had lived.
"How did you acquire the ability to spirit-walk?"
Jade fluffed her hair. "I borrowed the ability from my protector." Like Trinity, she could steal a life force, even a specific ability. Unlike Trinity, she couldn't steal a life force or ability in its entirety. She always left pieces behind, and whatever she took always returned to its owner a day or two later. "His name is John. He's a Rakan."
Rakans. Golden ones, they were called, once hunted like the Forforn. Their pelts were made of malleable gold, the purest form this world had ever seen. "If he's harmed you . . ."
"No. He's actually been quite . . . gentle with me. When he can actually bring himself to touch me." Bitterness seeped from her sister's voice. "Contact with me literally makes him vomit."
Because he considered her a freak? Anger bloomed. "I will murder him."
"No. No." Jade shook her head, white tresses dancing over her shoulders. "He's built so many internal defenses, I can't read his thoughts or his future. For the first time in my life, I'm experiencing peace and quiet. I'll endure anything to stay with him."
Well. That, Lilica understood. The way Dallas affected her . . . she hated it, but she kind of loved it too.
"I'm here because I had to know you're all right."
Jade squeezed her hands. "John told me Walsh found you."
"I'm fine, and Walsh is dead."
"Truly?"
She nodded, a sense of pride welling inside her. "Dallas--my protector--killed him." My protector . . . and my tormentor.
Next time she wouldn't give him an opportunity to strike at her. She would not allow him near her until he would do anything, sacrifice anything, to get inside her.
Dallas . . . inside me . . .
She shivered, excitement waking up every nerve ending in her body, making her ache from head to toe.
"I tried to reach out to you," she said, doing her best to maintain a neutral expression, "but I was drugged and failed. When the drugs wore off, I tried again but failed again."
"I wonder if John is somehow stopping all telepathic communications." Jade pursed her lips. "We'll worry about that later. Right now, there's something I have to tell you."
Just then, Lilica was certain she was seeing the Maleahdolla part of her sister's DNA. Unwavering determination peered at her through eyes of emerald green. "What is it?"
"I found Trinity. This spirit world . . . I can see the ties between us, tattered though they are, and I followed the one I still have to her."