Hidden Magic (16 page)

She stared at his hand. Much as she’d enjoyed herself last night, she refused to form any romantic attachment to Zander. Well, any more than she already had. If she started leaning on him too much she’d get soft and forget how to depend on herself.

He shrugged then took his gun out of its holster and set it on the coffee table. “If this is some kind of game, count me out. I’m not bargaining with your safety. I’ll sleep right here.” He fluffed the throw pillows then toed off his shoes and lay across the sofa. But he had to bend himself up to fit.

She sank into the loveseat. “No, you’ve got me all wrong. I’m not playing a game, Zander. Last night was…amazing. But I told you, I don’t do relationships.” She pulled her feet up underneath her and let the seat swallow her. Sleeping with him again would only forge an even stronger connection. No, she couldn’t.

“You can put whatever label you want on what this is between us. But you can’t tell me we don’t have a deeper connection than one night of…earth-shattering sex. And don’t even try to deny that it was fantastic.” He rolled onto his side and shut his eyes. “I’m too tired to discuss it now. Turn off the light, will you?”

No sense trying to convince him tonight. “Fine. We’ll talk in the morning.” She grabbed a throw blanket from over the back of a chair and spread it over him. Then she shut off the lights and headed to her bedroom.

An hour later she was still wide awake, glancing at the window every few minutes, wondering if Jamal or whoever had attacked her was out there, watching. A chill snaked up her spine. Rolling onto her other side didn’t help. If it was Jamal and they caught him, he’d tell Zander who she was, that she was nothing but another messed up black girl from the hood, whose mother was a drug addict who didn’t even know who’d fathered her only child.

Something pulled her attention to the doorway.

Zander stood there, very still. “Can’t sleep?”

She let out the breath she’d been holding at the familiar sound of Zander’s voice. Muscles deep inside her pulled taut as he strode toward her, slow and deliberate. Much as she knew she shouldn’t lead him on, she wanted him, even more than before. Her traitorous libido took over and turned her resolve to mush.

“Your couch is lumpy.” He was only a couple feet from the bed.

“Yeah, well…the place came furnished.” She sat up, suddenly very aware of her pounding heart and her flimsy nightgown. With nothing underneath.

He stopped right next to her, so close she could smell his aftershave and feel the warmth of his breath. Mixed in with his red aura signaling arousal there was pink, the color of romantic feelings. His attraction was moving beyond the physical aspect.

She didn’t want to hurt him. Returning his romantic feelings was impossible for her. Although she suspected deep down she might be breaking her own rules on that score.

“How’s the bed? I bet it’s a lot more comfortable than the couch.” His voice was low and gravelly, full of innuendo.

She pulled the sheet tighter around her. Yet at the same time she wanted more than anything to feel his body next to hers, to taste him. One more time. “This isn’t a smart idea, Zander.” But spending the rest of the night in the safety of his arms was beyond tempting.

It was more than that, though. Every cell in her body ached for his touch. She quivered  at the memory of making love with him. He’d started an inferno deep inside her and stoked it to fiery oblivion.

Her breasts grew heavy with need. The nipples tightened and pushed against the thin fabric of her nightgown. Her body’s visceral reaction to him didn’t bother her near as much as her longing to lie in his embrace. To feel his strength around her. She wasn’t the weak, frightened girl she’d been before she left Jamal but the attack tonight had unnerved her, stirred up all those insecurities she thought she’d left back in New Orleans.

“If you don’t want me in here, I’ll sleep in the other room. But…” He trailed a finger lightly over the sheet covering her leg. “I’m not so sure you’re being honest with yourself.”

The air between them crackled with electricity. She reached out for him and he sat on the edge of the mattress, cradled her cheek in his hand. His touch set off a storm of passion that chased away her doubts.

He covered her mouth with his and coaxed a slow, sweet kiss from her that grew deeper and more urgent. A growl rumbled in his throat.

She broke the kiss the threw back the covers, inviting him into her bed. He stripped down to his briefs then climbed in next to her. His masculine scent, the heat from his skin and his big, strong body conspired to engage all her senses.

She splayed her fingers over the hard ridges of his chest and felt his breath catch. Her skin tingled with anticipation.

Zander skimmed a knowing hand over her thigh, then pushed her nightgown up to her chin. He claimed her breast and strummed the needy point. Coherent thought slipped away on a breeze of desire.

“You smell so good.” His breath gusted over her neck and the hard evidence of his arousal pressed against her leg. He trailed soft kisses down her torso, over her breasts and along her stomach to her navel.

She shut her eyes and let the delicious sensations have their way with her. Zander licked the inside of one thigh, then the other. A whisper of awareness rolled over her skin. She lifted her hips to encourage him closer to her entrance.

But he took his time, teasing and tempting her with that wickedly skillful tongue. “I love your taste.” He grazed a finger over her sex, maddeningly brief.

A desperate whimper escaped her lips.

“I want to hear that more. I’m going to make you come again and again, but I think I’ll tease you first. You’ll have to beg.”

She bit at the corner of her lip, holding back a moan. Ripples of need vibrated through her.

He kissed his way to the juncture of her legs and she arched toward him. “Not so fast, baby. We have all night.” He spread her intimate lips and blew on her exposed flesh. She shivered at the erotic sensation and grabbed fistfuls of the sheet.

“Please, Zander.”

“Please what? Tell me how much you want this.”

“I do want it. I want you.” There. She’d said it. She’d worry about taking it back later. She threaded her fingers through his hair, tried to pull him toward her need.

Finally, he licked her folds, tantalizing her with his tongue and teeth and lips. Goddess, it felt like heaven. Her legs stiffened and muscles inside her tightened to near the breaking point as she teetered on the brink of her orgasm.

Tides of pleasure washed over her in a pulsing beat, consuming her in bliss. She writhed and moaned, came apart at the seams.

Zander moved up to hold her in his arms until awareness slowly returned to her.

She pulled the hem of her nightgown down so the garment covered her scar. Then she drew him to her for a kiss. When she rubbed her hand over the hard bulge in his briefs, he grabbed her wrist. “I’m not through with you yet.”

“But you—”

He stilled her with a kiss then took both her arms and pinned them over her head. “Don’t argue with me, woman.”

Her first instinct was to fight him and pull away. She didn’t surrender control easily, not anymore. But he was different from Jamal, and from any other man she’d known. She relaxed, confident he’d release her with a word.

He kissed a line from her hand past her elbow to her shoulder. Before she realized what he was doing, he lifted her nightgown off and tossed it away.

She automatically twisted away to hide her scar, but then remembered the room was dark enough that he wouldn’t be able to see it well.

As if reading her mind, Zander touched a finger to her lips. “You’re beautiful, every single inch of you. I want to make love to you with the lights on. Doesn’t have to be today, but when you trust me, you’ll let me see that scar.”

She winced at the notion. But now wasn’t the time to dissuade him. He cupped her mound and all thoughts of her imperfect body vanished from her mind. There was nothing but the two of them and the wonderfully sinful things Zander was doing to her. He rubbed and stroked, pushed his fingers through the swollen lips of her sex.

Desire rose in her, a sweet burning flood. She clutched at his shoulders, dug her fingernails into his skin. Deep spasms of pleasure overtook her. She had no idea her body was capable of such ecstasy over and over.

She was vaguely aware of Zander getting out of bed then returning moments later. He lay across the bed and pulled her on top of him. Mating his fingers with hers, he shifted so she sat on his thighs.

She rocked her hips, sliding back and forth along his erection and let her fingers explore his body, his sculpted chest and rippled stomach.

He closed his eyes and moaned. “I need to be inside you now, baby.”

His words ramped up her need. She lifted onto her knees then lowered herself onto his shaft, inch by inch as he tightened his grasp on her waist.

Their eyes met and held as he pushed inside her, guiding her movement. He pulled out slowly then thrust deeper. Her sex stretched to accommodate his thickness and length.

He never released her stare as they found their rhythm, slow at first, building harder and faster. With one hand still on her waist, he moved the other between them and started rubbing her sex.

She arched her back, churned her hips as another climax built. The sweet ache spread like wildfire until a deluge of delight overtook her. The waves of bliss kept coming and coming.

Zander let out a deep growl that was becoming familiar as he pumped into her, then finally stilled, panting and sweaty.

She rested against his chest, taking comfort in the steady thumps of his heart. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbed her back. How could she feel so much a part of a man she’d just met? Soon she’d have to put an end to this but for now she just wanted to enjoy it. She kissed his shoulder.

Would he be upset if she brought up Hannah now? Waiting could cost the girl her life. She cleared her throat. “Um, Zander?”

He groaned. “Why do I have a feeling that whatever you want to talk about is going to be a buzz-kill?”

She grinned. “Maybe because you’re starting to tune in to the psychic part of your mind.”

He held her against him. “I was afraid of that. What is it? Never mind, I think I know what’s on your mind. It’s my case, isn’t it?”

She skimmed her fingers lightly over his nipple and felt him quiver. “I’m so close to a key piece of the puzzle. I can feel it.”

He took her wrists and held them still. “I’ll make you a deal. You can use your tarot cards, your runes or tea leaves, whatever you want to tap in to your visions. But you’re not coming with me when I’m working the case.”

She freed herself and sat up. “Fine. I can do plenty of investigating on my own.”

Even in the dark she saw his eyes flash dangerously. “No you’re not. I’ll arrest you for interfering with a police investigation if you do. There’s always the possibility that whoever attacked you last night is the same person who’s responsible for Hannah Saxon’s disappearance.”

The hazy afterglow of their lovemaking evaporated. “You wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Try me.” He reached under one of the cushions and pulled out the knife she kept there. “You think this will protect you from him? Chances are better that he’ll get it away from you and use it against you.”

How had he known the knife was there? She climbed off him and out of bed. Swiping her rumpled nightgown from the floor, she headed to the bathroom without replying.

How dare he tell her what to do? Maybe he wasn’t all that different from Jamal after all. No, that wasn’t fair. But having a man issue an order over her made her want to scream.

He had a point, though. She couldn’t be sure it had been Jamal who’d grabbed her and broken into the store. But if it was the man who’d taken Hannah, she’d make a perfect decoy to smoke him out.

Zander would never go for it. But since she had a police guard who’d make sure she stayed safe, why couldn’t she try? She couldn’t live under Zander’s protection forever. She was already starting to enjoy having him around, way too much.

After she washed up, she returned to the bedroom to find it empty. Shouldn’t bother her so much. She peeked into the living room and found him fully dressed on the sofa, feet hanging over one arm. He turned onto his side facing away from her.

A beam of light skittered across the window and she held her breath. She ducked behind the loveseat. “Zander,” she whispered.

“It’s only the deputy assigned to patrol the camp.” The couch creaked under his weight as he rolled over again.

She placed her hand over her heart. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for investigating crime but she had to help Hannah. “You can’t lock me out of this case.”

He groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Go to sleep, woman.”

She huffed. “Throw me a bone or something. This isn’t fair.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. “Here.”

She took the glittering jewelry item from him, the necklace he’d let her hold the day he’d first come into
Mind’s Eye.

“You can hang onto that for now.” He shifted and pushed his hand into his other pocket. “This might have belonged to Ricardo. It was in his room but his father wasn’t sure if it was his.” He dropped one of those flattened pennies you get from machines at carnivals into her hand.

“Why didn’t you give it to me before?”

He shrugged. “I forgot I had it. It might not even be his.”

She held both items to her solar plexus and shut her eyes. Nothing.

Zander’s rhythmic breathing told her he was finally getting some much needed sleep. She didn’t want to disturb him so she returned to her room and lit a candle. Then she climbed onto the bed and stared at the flame as she brought herself into a meditative state.

Rubbing the trinkets Zander had given her between her fingers, she shut her eyes. Then she lowered her consciousness into her meditative state.

She was at an arcade.

Hannah was laughing as she handed Ricardo a penny to put in the machine that would flatten it. While the machine cranked out the squashed coin, Ricardo retrieved something from the ground and gave it to Hannah.