Feel the Heat (8 page)

He knew there were some who would ask how much money is enough, but for Olberman the answer was…no answer. There would never be enough. Money was power and he ate power like a starved animal.

McFadden lifted an eyebrow. “And I assume this patient…” He looked down at the folder. “Clark Hauser is part of that plan?”

Olberman nodded. “He is. I chose him over others because he’s in a San Antonio hospital. The Cahill woman lives there and rarely travels. This should be convenient for her. I want you to go there. Use one of the jets and take Fred Bonner with you. Contact the wife. Offer her five hundred thousand dollars, no strings attached, if she will call Lauren Cahill and beg her to come heal her husband.”

“Why do we need to offer that much? Or anything? Can’t we just plant the seed and give her the idea to call the woman?”

“No. Vivian says she’s beside herself trying to figure out how to pay her husband’s medical bills. This will take care of that and more. Tell her a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous wants to help.” He flicked an ash into the receptacle. “But there is to be no mention of this to anyone. And she must ask the Cahill woman to arrive secretly to avoid the media.”

McFadden snorted. “Exactly how is she supposed to do that? From what I saw on television the other day, they’re practically camped out on her lawn.”

“If she’s smart, she’ll find a way. Tell Mrs. Hauser to plead her case successfully if she wants the money.”

“All right.” The other man rose from the chair. “I’ll get hold of Bonner and tell him we’re taking a little trip.”

“I expect you to be successful,” Olberman warned.

McFadden gave him a smile that was definitely not humorous. “Aren’t I always?”

“There will be another nice bonus for you this time, so be sure you succeed.”

“No problem.”

When the door had closed behind him, Olberman turned to look out at the grounds surrounding the house again and the mountains in the distance. Yes, this would be a perfect place to set Lauren Cahill up, for as long as her powers lasted. Out of reach of anyone but those he sold her services to.

Chapter Four

“Geoff, I really appreciate the offer,” she insisted, gripping her cell phone. “Truly I do. And thank Lissa for me too. But I’m perfectly safe here. I have a great security system and someone…helping with the crowd and everything. And I really don’t want to bring the craziness into your home.”

“I want you to know I’m here for you,” he told her.

He hadn’t been too happy about the articles in the papers, online and on television but then she couldn’t blame him. The results of her notoriety couldn’t help but spill over onto the rest of her family. Her mother still refused to accept that she had a special ability, denying her own Cherokee heritage when anyone mentioned it. Her father of course supported her mother and resented the surrounding hoopla. Geoff and Lissa had been neutral, which she supposed was something to be thankful for.

She wanted to tell her brother his timing sucked but she didn’t want to be rude. It was just that today had been a little quieter, with a Phoenix Agency guard keeping things quiet outside and all the phones unplugged from the landline except the one in her office. She wasn’t stupid enough to think it was over but at least she had a few moments of respite.

“I know that and I appreciate it. Really. But I don’t want to bring this craziness to your house. This damn circus will just shift location.”

“I’m not sure you should have a stranger staying there with you,” Geoff went on. “I’m not comfortable with you living with a man you hardly know.”

“Oh for god’s sake, Geoff. I’m not
living
with him.” Not exactly, she thought, and smiled. “And he’s not exactly a stranger. He’s a very good friend of the Hallorans and a partner in Mark’s business.”

“Oh.” The disdain in the one word sliced through the connection. “So he’s a mercenary.”

“No he’s not.”
Damn it.
“And we’ve covered this ground before. Listen, thanks for your concern but I’m doing fine.”

“I want to meet him.”

“What?” She held the phone away from her and stared at it. “What did you just say?”

“I said I think I should meet him. Look, I can stop by your house on the way home from the office. I won’t stay long but please do this for me so I’m not going out of my mind imagining all sorts of wild things.”

“Are you going to put on your lawyer suit and cross-examine him?”

Geoff had the good grace to laugh “No, honey, I’m not. I just think he needs to know your family hasn’t dumped you on strangers.” He paused. “At least not all of your family. And that someone’s watching out for you.”

“Okay.” She sighed. “But please don’t grill him. Show up with an open mind. Can you do that for me?”

He chuckled. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

She disconnected the call and shoved the phone in her pocket.

“Problem?”

She hadn’t heard Troy come up behind her and the touch of his hands on her shoulders sent a burst of warmth through her.

“Not really. Just my brother being his usual self. He’s going to stop by for a little bit on his way home from his office.”

“To check out the strange man in your house?”

She relaxed a little when she saw the twinkle in his eye.

“Got it in one. Sorry about that but—” She lifted her hands helplessly and let them fall. “I haven’t really given you the entire lowdown on my family and I suppose I should.”

“If they make you unhappy then damn right I want to know about it. It’s bad enough for you that the bloodsuckers are still camped outside your doorstep and the damn stalker keeps calling. You don’t need added stress. So let’s talk about your family and why they’re giving you a problem.”

Taking her hand, he tugged her over to the big armchair and sat down with her in his lap. Lauren wanted to just sink into him and pretend that nothing else existed. She loved inhaling his male scent and feeling the heat of his body. With his arms around her she could almost pretend the craziness didn’t exist.

“I think it’s always been like this,” she told him, leaning against his shoulder. “Ever since I discovered my…gift. My mother hated it. Hated
her
mother who also was a healer. She stopped talking to her mother when Nonnie helped me realize the abilities I had.”

“What about your dad?”

She shrugged. “He doesn’t understand it, so he supports my mother. Keeps trying to tell me to stop all this woo-woo stuff.”

“But you’re his daughter,” Troy protested.

“I know, and it hurts. But my mother is his wife.”

His big hand was stroking her back in soothing motions. “And your brother? I gather that was him you were talking to.”

“Yeah. He’s okay. He and Lissa, his wife, are really supportive of me but they kind of walk a tightrope between me and our parents. Not a comfortable place to be in.”

“He wanted you to come and stay with him,” Troy guessed.

“He said, but I think he was secretly relieved when I turned him down. They live a very conservative lifestyle, just like my folks. All of this is hard for them to deal with.”

Troy’s hand tightened on her for a moment. “Do they know about your stalker?”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t tell them. They’d freak and create an impossible situation.” She gave a nervous laugh. “Anyway, it seems Geoff’s more worried about someone staying here he knows nothing about. He doesn’t know Mark and Faith well. He’s only met them a couple of times, and he’s trying to play parents and big brother at the same time.”

He shifted and his hand came up to cup her chin, turning her face toward him. “And you, Lauren? How do you feel? Am I making you uncomfortable by being here? Are you nervous?”

She smiled at him. “No. At least not now. I admit I was a little at first when you walked in yesterday.” She wet her lips. “Part of it was because I felt such an unexpected connection to you.” She dropped her gaze. “I haven’t had the best luck with men in my life. My family keeps telling me it’s because I make poor choices. That a lot of them are just curious about my gifts.” She made a rude noise. “They come on so nicely, then like to brag about how they…slept with the crazy woman.”

She felt the tension race through his body at her words then slowly relax. “I hope you don’t put me in that category.”

“Oh Troy, no. I haven’t known you long at all but I told you I feel that connection, my inner senses telling me you’re different than all the others. Besides, you said you’d worked with healers before and you know I’m not nuts.”

“It’s a lot more than that, Lauren. Forty-eight hours ago, neither of us even knew the other existed. Now I feel as if we’ve been together forever.” His gaze darkened. “Am I wrong in thinking you feel the same way?”

She shook her head. “I told you. People say danger escalates things, and I think they’re right.”

He threaded his fingers through her hair, eyes searching her face. “It’s a little calmer right now. Dan’s had a security guard parked down the block all day and I think that kind of keeps the lid on things. All the security sensors are set and the phone’s set for the answering machine. Let’s say we enjoy a little downtime while we can. Sound good to you?”

Lauren smiled. “Sounds great to me.”

He lifted her in his arms and carried her up the stairs, his mouth pressing softly to hers as he walked. Late afternoon sunlight slanted in through the windows, giving the air an amber glow. He set her on her feet while he drew back the covers of the bed then proceeded very slowly to undress her. He drew her t-shirt slowly over her head and tossed it to the side. Then came her slacks, followed by her bra and panties. His eyes drank her in, memorizing every inch of her naked skin. At last he leaned toward her and brushed his lips over hers. His mouth traced kisses along her jawline and her neck, on the upper swell of her breasts.

Shivers skated over her as his tongue traced little circles at the hollow of her throat and his hands palmed the cheeks of her ass. Desperate to feel him, touch him, she tugged up his t-shirt and smoothed her hands over the hard plane of his abs, up, up to feel the soft mat of hair on his chest. His heart beat beneath her fingers, accelerating as she dragged her fingernails back and forth over his nipples.

When he unhooked her bra and bent to take a nipple into his mouth, she let her head fall back and arched into him, letting the sensations race through her straight to her cunt. Little whimpers drifted from her mouth as he sucked and pulled on first one nipple then the other. Harder, she wanted to tell him. Suck harder. His teeth nipped lightly at the pebbled flesh and the pulse in her womb ratcheted up.

“Off,” she said, desperately pulling at his t-shirt.

He yanked it over his head and pulled her against him, crushing her breasts against his solid chest. She lifted her face and he took her mouth in a hot, searing kiss. His tongue in her mouth moved over every surface, gliding over hers and teasing it to dance with his. She clutched his biceps, trying to anchor herself as the kiss went on and on and his hands moved over her shoulders, her arms, then up to cup her breasts.

He lifted his mouth from her, drew a line with his tongue to her navel and then knelt before her. “Sit,” he whispered, and nudged her until her ass landed on the edge of the bed.

Then he lifted one foot, cradling it in his hand as he kissed her toes and her arch and on up to her ankle. She moaned softly as he moved his lips up the inside of her leg to the top of her thigh, blew softly on the curls covering her pussy and kissed his way down the other leg. She was trembling all over by now, the need a tremendous pressure building inside her.

When he separated her thighs and put his mouth directly on her cunt, she cried out and grabbed his hair to pull him even closer. His tongue was a flame on her clit, swirling around it and brushing over it, then dipping into the channel of her pussy. Her inner muscles clenched around his tongue and his fingers tightened on her thighs. She tugged and pulled on his hair as he worked her with his tongue, in and out, then teasing her clit until without warning, the orgasm burst from her. He held her tightly as she rode his tongue, drawing the very last tremor from her, licking the lips of her pussy and grazing her clit with his teeth.

She fell back on the bed, exhausted yet still unfulfilled. Troy rose, a smile of satisfaction on his face.

“I purely love pleasuring you, Lauren. You are so damn responsive.”

As he spoke, he divested himself of his jeans and boxer briefs, his gaze raking over her with barely disguised hunger.

“I want to touch you,” she said, mouth watering at the sight of the rigid cock extending from his body. She reached out a hand. “Please let me touch you.”

He knelt over her on the bed, straddling her, his shaft barely an inch from her mouth.

“Take it, darlin’. It’s all yours.”

She wrapped her fingers around him, feeling the thick vein pulsing on the underside of his cock.

Troy sucked in a breath at her first touch. Her slender fingers sent heat pouring through him straight to his balls. When she opened her mouth and licked the head of his shaft he closed his eyes at the surge of pleasure. Every muscle in his body tightened and he closed his eyes, the softness of her tongue so teasing and tantalizing. She swiped over the soft flesh once, twice, then closed her mouth around him completely.

Oh Jesus!

He ground his teeth together at the intense pleasure, digging his fingers into his own hips to maintain control. He’d always prided himself on being able to take his time with a woman, make sure he had satisfied her in every way possible before giving in to his own needs. But Lauren Cahill was different. One touch of her fingers, one brush of her lips against his and he was hotter than a two-dollar pistol.

One hand slipped between his thighs to cradle his balls as she took him deeper into her throat, sucking hard. And god, he wanted to come in her mouth. Just shoot down that lovely throat and let her swallow it all.

Maybe next time, when I have a little more control over myself.