Deadly Seduction (15 page)

“I want you to think of your friend, Taz. The two of you were close,” Erin began. “You trusted one another. You depended on each other. You had a bond.”

Max nodded almost imperceptibly.

“And that bond grew stronger with each day you were together. You discussed plans about helping each other. You can recall the sound of his voice as he spoke. You agreed to meet someplace if you were separated. Nod if you recall talking about that meeting place.”

Again Max nodded. Erin glanced at the clock. Nearly thirty minutes had passed. That was enough for now.

“You will recall everything you’ve remembered upon awakening, Max. Now it’s time to return.” She began a reverse counting sequence to bring him back to normal alertness while assuring him that the process could be readily repeated in the future.

“And, one. Open your eyes, feeling refreshed and alert and able to recall everything easily.”

Max blinked and drew in a deep breath, but he didn’t move.

“Pretty relaxed?” she prompted.

He closed his eyes and nodded.

“What do you remember, Max?” she asked. It wasn’t unusual for a patient to want to drift off to sleep. But discussing the session first was important. Talking also reengaged their attention.

“The beach.” Max turned toward her and looked directly into her eyes. Then he patted the edge of the mattress. “Sit here. And I’ll tell you.”

Erin moved without thought. Max looked so tranquil, so at ease.
Don’t break the spell.

His gaze held hers as she eased onto the bed. In the dim light his eyes took on that silver glint again.

“Tell me what you remember,” she said again.

Max rolled onto his side, drawing closer as he faced toward her. His thighs pressed against her buttocks, but when she went to scoot forward, his hand touched her waist.

“Don’t. Stay. Please.”

Once again, with the “please” she didn’t move.
Couldn’t
move.

His hand stroked her side lightly as he began to talk, speaking so low she had to lean in to catch his words.

“The ocean. The beach. There were no foot-prints in the sand but ours. We had the entire cove to ourselves. You took off your shirt…”

She felt his fingers skim lightly across the bare skin at her lower back. He rose slightly, shifting his hands as he moved back to the middle of the bed, drawing Erin with him.

She went willingly. In her mind, she’d watched herself take off her shirt, then his. They were on the beach and he’d grown hard, his erection tenting the front of his swim trunks. Her hands closed over his hard length, groping him through the fabric as he stripped away her bikini top.

She drew a sharp breath, feeling his hands cup her bare breasts. His fingers teased and molded her before circling in and capturing the tips between finger and thumb. Her nipples responded to his touch, tightening. She moaned when he squeezed and tugged, and she realized he mimicked the motion of her hand as she rubbed and squeezed his cock.

“I want you,” she whispered. And was rewarded with a kiss. His tongue swept inside her mouth. Bold. Precise and totally irresistible.

“Say my name,” he commanded.

His hands swept down her sides.
Not where she wanted them.

“Max.”

As soon as she spoke, he bolted straight up and pushed her away.

Caught off balance, Erin tumbled to the floor and was jolted back to…what? Reality? She shook her head, feeling dizzy.

What had just happened?

“Hades,” Max snapped. “I am Hades!” Then he started making a strangled sound.

Instantly, Erin pushed away the web of confusion and scrambled back to her feet. The strangled noise meant
seizure!

“Max!”

He didn’t respond, his eyes half shut and rolled back. His jaw clenched and his body shook violently as the seizure overtook him fully.

Erin turned and grabbed the phone off the night table, but there was no dial tone.

“D-d-don’t,” Max hissed.

She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m calling nine-one-one. This is serious.”

He lunged forward, knocking the phone from her hand before grasping her wrists and tugging her down on the bed. His strength shocked her—superhuman yet controlled.

“It’s me. Max. That other—”

“Hades? Who’s that?”

“He’ll never hurt you.” Max panted now. “Sorry.
I’ll
never hurt you.”

His explanation cemented what Erin had begun to suspect: multiple personality disorder. His background would surely support it.

But one aspect didn’t fit. What about when she’d felt driven to seduce him? When she’d imagined them together at the beach. It was like they’d shared a dream.

“It’s complicated…” he said.

She drew a sharp breath. “You’re reading my mind!”

“Not…not now. Give me a minute.” He was shaking now, clearly in pain.

“Shhh. Don’t talk. Just relax.” She grasped for his wrist, found his pulse elevated. Almost immediately it started to drop.

He released a sigh. “Don’t let go. Your touch grounds me.”

She tried for a softer approach. “Max, please. Let me call for an ambulance.”

“I’ll be fine. And—” He took a deep breath and shook his head, as if to clear it. “It worked, Erin. I made contact with Taz.”

The session with Erin had gone better—and worse—than Max had expected.

His skepticism that hypnosis wouldn’t work on him had begun to erode while listening to her voice. Before starting, he’d seen enough of her thoughts to judge her honest, and that initial thread of trust had allowed him to relax.

It felt like he’d gone under immediately. The headache that had been present all day had even seemed to lighten, morphing into a sexual high when he subsequently projected her into the beach scenes alongside him.

Yours for the taking, mate.

The command had come out of nowhere. He heard Taz’s voice and it confused him. Rejecting Taz’s command, however, had plucked Max away from Erin, plunging him instead into darkness, pinning him to the ground with a crushing force.

But in the depths of that hell, Max had found memories. Not all were good. When he tried to explore the dark caverns further, the pain spiked to an excruciating level.
Taz, where the hell are you?

Erin had been his lifeline out of the darkness. She had touched him and he’d wanted to live, to survive.
To know more of her touch.

Max had literally fought his way back to consciousness, fought to bring back a few precious recollections. But at what cost?

“Did he hurt you?” Max demanded.

“He?” Erin repeated.

“Hades.”

Her eyes grew guarded. He had no strength left to probe her thoughts, forcing him to communicate the regular way. With words.

“I’m sorry for whatever he did.”

Erin shook her head. “Nothing really happened. Nothing bad anyway.”

“We were on the beach together, right?” he asked.

She nodded. “This is embarrassing…but do you remember kissing me?”

He’d done more than kiss her. He’d removed her shirt.

“Yeah. We did it in the sand.” At her blush, Max apologized again. “I mean, I had this image of us, together. We were alone and things got…romantic.”

“I wore a red bikini under my shirt. You had on black trunks. I think we both remember what occurred next. In our imaginations,” she hastened to add. “Max, I’d say you’re doing something more than mind reading. You projected images and—”

“And what?”

“You, or a part of you, may have manipulated my reaction somewhat. I felt
compelled
. And you acted differently when you first came to.”

“Different how?” Max asked.

“More calculating.”

“It wasn’t me. It was Hades.”

“Max, I suspect Hades is a name for an aspect of yourself created as a defense mechanism to help you cope with abuse.”

“Stop right there.” Max finally got a few of her thoughts—enough to know she thought he was a potential nut job. “It’s not a multiple personality disorder. At least not in the conventional sense. I didn’t create it.
They
did. Hades was a character, a role, I played.” He stopped and rubbed his head.

“You’re hurting again,” she said.

“But not for the reason you think. These headaches, the seizures, are booby traps. When I try to remember what I did while held overseas, it triggers an internal meltdown. Part of me wants to turn it off, but at the same time I know I’m getting closer to the truth. The hypnosis helped. I definitely want to try it again.”

“Fine. But I won’t be the one to do it.” She shook her head, adamant. “You need to be back in the hospital, Max. These seizures could be causing damage you’re unaware of. It’s imperative to find their cause and get them under control.”

“Your concerns are duly noted.”

“Meaning you have no intention of taking them seriously.”

“Not until I’ve found Taz.”

“You mentioned making contact with him. Are you telepathic, too?”

“I don’t know what you call it exactly, but Taz and I are able to communicate, at times by thought, sometimes with images. Occasionally I hear his voice. It’s far from flawless and is never consistent.”

“Do you know where he is now?”

“I’m not sure. He wouldn’t reveal that.” The connection Max had made with Taz had been brief but powerful.
Remember our plan.
“I think he’s sick. He damn sure doesn’t trust anyone. But he’s acting on our plan. We agreed to meet at a certain cave, if we escaped and became separated. Or leave a message there.”

“Was this a cave overseas?”

“No. I don’t think so. In fact, I’m sure it’s one from my childhood. Taz spent a summer in California as a teenager, whereas I grew up traveling all over the West. We used to talk about it. Taz probably knows my childhood stories better than I do right now.”

Erin seemed to relax now as if convinced that Max wasn’t loony.

“Did any of those stories involve caves?” she asked.

“Most all of them. My Uncle Stony had gold fever. His father had supposedly discovered a gold vein in an abandoned mine, but he died before disclosing specifics. Stony inherited his father’s maps and journals. Every summer after the snow melted, we’d hike up into the mountains, retracing his father’s expeditions, looking for the mother lode.”

“Did he find it?”

“No.” It angered Max that he had to wrestle to get to that precious legacy of memories. “Stony died eight years ago. I was in the Army at the time. Stony went out alone and suffered a heart attack. Some hikers found him, but it was too late.”

“I’m sorry, Max. It’s hard to lose someone.”

The pain in her voice was tangible, making him wonder if she, too, had been away when her father had died. Before he could ask, she changed the subject.

“Is there a particular cave that comes to mind when you think of your uncle?” she asked. “One that sticks out even if you don’t recall why?”

“That would be the cave where my uncle died.” Max shook his head. “The irony is I’ve been meaning to go back there, but never have. That’s got to be the one.”

“So where is it?”

“I’d rather not say.” He met her gaze squarely. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Erin, it’s just that, I believe you’d tell someone, thinking it was in my best interests.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You intend to go off alone, don’t you? Max, please, I urge you not to—”

“I’m the only person Taz will trust, the only person who can convince him we’re safe.”
You’ll never be safe. You will never be free. We will find you
. “I owe him a hell of a lot.”

“I understand you feel a sense of obligation, but to risk your life helps no one.”

Max felt his temper flare. “You know how many times I wanted to die over there? Just give up, eat a bullet? Taz never let me forget that if we died, they won. We knew that we had to live to put an end to what they were doing.”

“What were they doing?” Erin’s voice was raspy. “I saw pictures. A chamber.”

“We were being brainwashed—reprogrammed. In a very ugly way. Trained to be robotic killing machines who’d stop at nothing to get the job done. No questions asked.”

“Oh, God, Max.”

“Near the end, I think they figured out Taz and I were each other’s only hope. So if I didn’t perform flawlessly, Taz paid the price. I remember him being strung up and whipped because of something I did or didn’t do. I begged them to cut him down, to whip me instead. The whole time Taz sent me messages to shut up. That he could take it. That I should be stronger.” Max met her gaze. “Nobody but me can go after him.”

Her next words surprised him.

“Let me stay with you, Max. What if you have another seizure and fall off a cliff before you get to the cave?”

“Getting to this cave doesn’t involve climbing, just hiking.”

“Then think about Taz. I’m not an M.D., but I’ve had experience with patients suffering severe PTSDs. If he’s confused, paranoid, maybe I can help. You also have to acknowledge that he, too, could be having seizures, Max.”

Her points were all valid. Underlying that was the fact that Max wanted Erin to stay. He tried to read her thoughts, but sparks of pain erupted in his mind. Suddenly he felt raw. Vulnerable. His body felt on the verge of shutting down again.

“Before you agree to go with me, we need to get clear on a couple points,” Max said. “First, I’m in charge. And you don’t strike me as the type to take orders blindly.”

“What’s the next point?”

“This thing between us. I’m attracted to you, Erin. Deeply. Sexually. And while I’d never force myself on you, I’m no gentleman. You say ‘yes’—and I’ll be on top of you like that!” He snapped his fingers. “And before you start that doctor-patient rant again, I’ll remind you we have no professional relationship.”

“Um. Wow.” She cleared her throat. When she spoke again, she looked him straight in the eye. “I suggest we both try to back-burner our personal feelings. Things are…complicated enough without that. Let’s concentrate on finding Taz.”

“Agreed.”

“And after we explore this cave, we need to go back, Max. My boss is dead. I have responsibilities. You, too. There is a limit to how much longer we can keep on like this. Stealing cars. Sneaking around. It feels like we’re Bonnie and Clyde.”

“If it’s any consolation, I plan to take full responsibility for all of it. Except Winchette’s death, of course.” He pushed up and for a moment he was tempted to kiss her. Except a kiss would only be the beginning.

He sighed. “Then let’s get back on the road, Bonnie.”