She’d felt dizzy and spinning again, finding herself standing right outside her back door. Running into the house, she saw her mother laying in a pool of blood with her neck slit, her father kneeling beside her, holding a bloody knife.
“
Mother!” She ran to her mother’s other side and touched her mother’s cheek, feeling a tearing sensation in her chest, like someone had removed an organ, followed by an empty hollowing in her mind. Her mother was dead. Jess looked up into her father’s vacant stare and knew that she was alone in the world, except for Aunt Moira.
Jess had come to Aunt Moira almost every night after that. They had cried together, both mourning the woman they had loved more than any other in the world. Eventually she visited less and less often, until the year she turned thirteen, when Jess had gotten very ill. That was when Moira had begun giving her the special drink. Whenever Jess went without it for more than a day or two, she could feel herself getting ill again.
It had been more than two days since she had visited her Aunt. She was feeling the effect of her drink re-energizing her.
“
I needed that.” Jess sighed.
“
So where have you been? I was very worried. I thought something might have happened to you.” Moira was watching her intently.
“
Nothing to be worried about. Eric talked me into teaching a class a couple of days ago. I was nervous and couldn’t sleep the night before. Shit, I fell asleep in the bath. I’ll be back to tell you everything later.”
“
Damn it, Jess. WAIT!” Moira called out.
She heard Moira calling to her. She could hear Shane calling to her too. She reached for the spinning dizzy sensation, willing her mind to wake up.
The minute Shane had ported back into his kitchen, he knew something was off. He couldn’t sense her presence; Jess was gone. He knocked on the bathroom door.
“Jess.” He knocked louder. “Jess!” he yelled, twisting the door open and lunging into the bathroom. Her discarded GI was thrown on the bathroom floor, her bag lying just inside the door. The tub was full of steaming bubbles, but no Jess. He ran into the bedroom, calling, “Jess,” but heard only silence.
Fates, what if she had panicked and left after all? Could she have figured out how to send her psychic energy into the entry and leave that quickly? He opened the stone entry, but the Jeep was still there.
“I’m sorry, were you calling me?” Her sweet voice came from behind him. He jerked his head around and looked into the open bathroom door. Her head was leaned back to rest on the back of the tub she was submerged in. “I must have fallen asleep.” Her sexy, sleepy voice soothed him with relief.
“You were gone. I checked the bathroom and you where not there.” He couldn’t help the accusation in his voice. She’d scared the hell out of him, and fear was not an emotion he was familiar with. Nor was the incredible sense of loss he could not understand.
“I was right here.” She was looking at him like he was nuts again. “Where the hell would I go?”
His relief and fear rapidly turned into irritation and anger. Was she serious? “Just tell me where you went.” Stomping into the bathroom, Shane stood in front of her bath with his arms folded across his chest. He wanted to shake her … until he looked into her eyes.
There was no denying the desire he saw there. The green had been completely engulfed by the gold starburst. Her eyes were so bright they were nearly glowing. His body’s response was immediate. He couldn’t breathe. Holy hell, he had to get out of there. He started to turn and walk out, but the siren that was Jess began to slowly rise out of the tub, captivating him, anchoring him in place.
Shane stood motionless. Inch by inch Jess’s luscious body lifted. Full, beautiful breasts broke the surface of the water, dripping bubbles off the pearl–tipped, tiny pink nipples, begging to be licked and suckled. Her toned stomach accented by a small diamond bellybutton ring that sparkled at him. His eyes followed the bubbles down as her body continued to rise up. Her narrow waist gave way to the flare of her hips. Shane swallowed hard. The water released its veiling of the sweet, hairless juncture between her thighs.
Behind his jeans he was throbbing, painfully, from just the sight of her. Her oleander scent, driven by her desire, was a powerfully intoxicating aphrodisiac. He couldn’t halt his dentes sliding into his mouth in anticipation of her taste. Every breath he took inflamed his lust. His control rapidly unraveled in a way it never had before.
His eyes traveled back up the wonder of her. She was still staring him straight in the eyes. Standing her full height left everything below mid thigh hidden beneath the water line. He was fully aware that his erection, straining for freedom against his jeans, was perfectly level with her full lips. Her eyes were nearly pure gold in her passion. It became clear to him that she was an innocent or very nearly so as she stood before him biting her bottom lip. After her brazen show, she seemed unsure of how to proceed. Her hesitation was both the saving grace of his control and a curse. Shane had never wanted a female more than he did Jess. If he was right about why they felt drawn to each other, she would be the only female he’d ever want for the rest of his immortal life. They both stood stock-still, starring into each other’s eyes, each silently daring the other to take the next step and neither doing it. The standoff seemed to last for eternity.
****
Jess knew her dreams were just dreams, so Shane’s freak-out confused her. She had not left the bath. She must have been sleeping pretty soundly to have not heard him enter the room. When he had stomped in, crossing his arms and demanding answers, her first thought had been to rip him a new asshole for being so arrogant and stupid.
That is until she perused his jean-clad thighs, fully appreciating the man standing before her. She had allowed her eyes to continue up, hesitating for a moment to note the not insignificant bulge in the front of his worn denim jeans. His hips were narrow. She could see just the hint of his tight abs pressed up against his T-shirt. His arms folded across his chest emphasized their definition and pulled his shirt tight against his chest, accentuating his broad shoulders. He had a stubborn set to his jaw. If the desired effect he was seeking was intimidation, he was sorely falling short. His lips were almost too sensual to be masculine below an aristocratic nose. Her gaze reached his eyes, and her breath exploded from her lungs. He was magnificent. Her body ached, for what she didn’t know, but even in the tub she felt her own juices flood her sex.
Allowing free rein to the unfamiliar wanton feelings he stirred in her, she stood before him naked. Hoping for what? She wasn’t sure, certainly not the tick in his clenched jaw. His lack of response was … mortifying.
Jess dropped her gaze first, suddenly self-conscious, embarrassed, and exposed. She had never felt want before, but she had felt rejection. This stung just as it should, she supposed. She had offered herself to him and he hadn’t even said anything, offered anything. He hadn’t shown any emotion at all. She could feel the blush rising up her cheeks. Why was he just standing there like that?
“Do you mind?” she asked. Thankfully, her voice still worked despite her suddenly dry mouth. She nodded at the towels still sitting on the shelf behind him. He didn’t move, just continued to stare down at her. She finally looked up at his face again. There was an emotion, fleeting. It looked like regret, but perhaps it was disgust or, worse, pity. She quickly dropped her eyes back down.
He forced her to reach past him for a towel, which brought her breast into contact with his thigh just above the knee. He sucked in a swift breath, jumping away from the contact as if she’d burned him. He finally stepped away from the bath and out of the room. Tears sprang into Jess’s eyes, and she was grateful that he had shut the door behind him when he left.
She couldn’t stop the tears that rolled down her face at her shame and humiliation. Had she completely misread everything? It wasn’t as if she had a lot of experience, or any experience. Maybe what she thought was attraction to her was simply his curiosity about her. He had been a perfect gentleman. He must have really brought her here to talk. She had no doubt that meant he wanted to question her about the anomalies he had seen from her at the academy. He had never done anything to indicate that he would welcome her throwing herself at him like it was prom night. He was probably horrified at her forwardness.
Jess took a few moments to steel her resolve. She availed herself of one of the plush robes that hung on the door hooks. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she gathered her battered pride, lifted her chin, and squared her shoulders. Then she opened the door and walked into the living area.
Chapter Five
There was nothing in the world Shane wanted more than to sink into Jess’s warm, silken flesh. Her innocent siren song in the bath had called to him as no other had ever called to him. The unexplained dentes punching into his mouth had tied his hands as well as his tongue. That moment represented the closest Shane had ever come to losing control. She was breathtaking. Perfect.
All it would have taken for her to break his tenuous control in that moment would have been a word or a touch. He wouldn’t have been able to restrain the beast he’d barely held at bay. He knew that if he had not stepped out of that room when he did, if he had lost control and taken her then and there, he would have terrified her. That was the best outcome he could have hoped for. Seeing her pain at his assumed rejection had torn him apart inside. He had been unable to even offer her a word of comfort with his dentes fully erupted.
Using his last ounce of common sense he’d, stiffly left the room, shutting the door behind him. Full of self-recrimination, he sat down on the couch with his head in his hands, using every ounce of his significant will to refrain from returning to her and carrying her into the bedroom, instead he was slowly dying inside at the sound of her quietly crying behind the door.
It was there he still sat with his head in his hands as she strode out of the bathroom wearing one of his robes. Jess snatched up the remote from the chess table as she plopped into his recliner and turned on the TV, which she quickly muted. Nonchalantly flipping through the stations, her actions reflected carefree defiance. The red-rimmed eyes in her beautiful face showed the truth; he had hurt her.
“Jess, this is not what you think,” Shane began, still holding his face in his hands. His dentes had retracted while he’d been waiting, but now that she was in the room they were on the cusp of erupting again. “There is much we don’t know about each other.”
Jess rolled her eyes at him. “Save the ‘we don’t know each other well enough’ speech. I’m sorry about what happened in there. You interrupted a great dream I was having about Matthew McConaughey. I must have thought I was still dreaming for a minute.”
WTF? “Who is Matthew McConaughey?” His eyes clashed with hers. She was lying, he knew it, but that didn’t stop him from feeling the sharp stab of jealously. How could she pull the thought of another man into her mind after what had just nearly happened between them?
Jess waved the remote at him like he was dense. “I know you watch TV.”
Ah. He got it. She wanted him to think he had interrupted some fantasy with an actor. His relief was palatable. He would not have to kill this Matthew McConaughey after all. Her nonchalance was her way of pleading with him to let her keep her pride. Making a great effort to keep a serious expression and not show her his amusement, he conceded. “I will try to be more careful and make sure you are awake from now on.” He was unable to contain his chuckle when Jess rolled her eyes at him again.
“What where you really dreaming about?” It had occurred to Shane while he was waiting for her to come out of the bath that she may not realize that she was traveling through space; porting might not be something she was doing consciously. Like her probing him for his intent earlier in the Jeep, she was oblivious to what her mind was doing, what it was capable of.
Jess let out a long sigh, turned off the TV, and tossed the remote onto the chair across from him. She came over to sit on the love seat next to him, tucking her legs underneath her, and he was awarded a quick view of her knees, calves, and feet before they disappeared beneath her. It was the only part of her that he had been unable to see below the water line of her bubble bath. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep that glimpse from returning him to the uncontrollable beast he had almost become moments earlier. His dentes were throbbing, but thankfully he was able to keep them from erupting into his mouth this time.
She sat close enough that he could feel the heat coming off her freshly bathed body. He was forced to stand and adjust himself behind his jeans again, and a blush colored her cheeks before she looked away. Shane smiled internally at Jess’s reaction. He sat back down, uncomfortably hard, but he was no longer being pinched. Did she still think he had rejected her? No matter. She wouldn’t be able to believe that for much longer—there was no way in hell he would be able to deny her a second time. His only hope was that she didn’t try to seduce him again until after he’d had a chance to explain a few things to her. Once she knew his true form, he prayed to the fates she would still want him. Right now he needed to know where she had gone.