The Touch (6 page)

His eyes settled on her naked breasts and
heat rushed over her. “What’s the matter with you? We just got shot
at, you could have been killed, and you hit your head when you
fell.” She placed her hands on her hips. “And now you’re staring at
my chest?”

In the dim light she saw him grin. “Just call
me a breast man.”

Chandra resisted popping him upside the head
and reached for the shirt that lay nearby on the floor. She slipped
it on and the rough fabric immediately took away some of the
chill.

After quickly buttoning the shirt up, she
rolled the sleeves to her elbows. The shirt reached her upper
thighs. The only other thing she had on was her pendant with the
chip, and it lay cool against her skin. She felt a twinge of guilt.
Should she tell him about it?

Why would he need to know?

Wade got to his feet and eased into a chair
in front of a dozen screens. Some appeared to be incredibly
high-tech flat screen monitors and were far beyond her experience.
Other panels above were screens that showed all angles of his
house, inside and out. And then there were telescopes, one large
enough that it took up a good portion of the room.

“Nothing can penetrate this place.” he added
as his gaze raked the monitors. “Damn.” His jaw tightened as he
tapped one of the screens. “They have us locked down and they’re
ripping the hell out of my home.”

Chandra frowned. What was going on? “Is there
better lighting in here?”

He didn’t turn away from the monitors.
“There’s a switch by the lock. Be careful to not hit that trapdoor
button.”

She found the switch, pressed it, and
immediately low lighting filled the room. Even though it wasn’t too
bright, Chandra had to blink while her eyes adjusted to it. She
walked back to Wade while he cursed and checked his monitors.

Chandra looked at one of the screens that
showed someone in black ripping a hole in one of his couch
cushions. “I’m not so sure this is what I’d call a fun date.”

He gave a low laugh. The woman was something
else.

Wade’s laugh faded and was replaced by anger.
“Where the hell is Mike?”

He narrowed his gaze as he watched the
mercenaries ransack his home. They wouldn’t find what they were
looking for and it infuriated him that they were tearing his home
apart. At least they’d arranged for the merchandise to be delivered
tomorrow morning. “He should’ve been here with backup by now.”

A sudden thought chilled Wade. What if
Chandra had some kind of transmitter with her, maybe in her jacket,
that had allowed the mercenaries to locate his home?

He couldn’t seem to find it within himself to
think the worst about Chandra. More than ever he felt like she was
an innocent caught up in this dangerous game.

But was he an idiot? She worked for
Psion.

He gave a low growl as he watched the
monitors. The men and women slashing and ripping apart his home
were quick and efficient. It seemed like the ordeal lasted
hours.

Finally, the assault team slipped into a
waiting van large enough to hold them all. Gravel spewed from
beneath the vehicle’s tires as they shot out of the driveway.

***

Wade leaned back in his chair and rubbed his
hand over his stubbled jaw. What in the hell had just happened?
Someone had to have tipped them off. Someone deep within his covert
team—or someone with high-level access.

Now to wait for reinforcements in case any of
the bastards remained behind. Mike must have been involved in
something else going down to not be here by now.

When Wade glanced at Chandra, she was sitting
in a chair giving him a hard look. “Mind telling me what is going
on?”

Wade pinched the bridge of his nose and shut
his eyes before looking at her again. “I can’t tell you.”

She stood and practically got into his face,
her gaze furious. “Bull.”

Damn, she was beautiful.

Hell, what was wrong with him?

Wade ran his hand down his face. “They’re
looking for something. Something they’re not going to find. As soon
as backup arrives, we can get out of here.”

Chandra opened her mouth then sucked in her
breath when he captured one of her wrists. But he was careful not
to touch her hands this time because of the Touch.

He drew her onto his lap so that she was
straddling both of his thighs, facing him, close enough that he
felt her body heat. Her features were pale, and he felt the
pounding in her veins from his fingers on her wrists.

“I’m sorry for getting you into this.” He
released one of her arms and reached up to stroke hair away from
her face. “It shouldn’t be too long before my backup arrives. We’re
safe here.”

Chandra met his gaze head on. “Damn it, Wade.
You’re going to have to tell me what’s going on.”

He slipped his fingers into her silky hair
and brought her closer so that he could kiss her soft lips. He
still tasted her on his tongue and despite the situation he wanted
to taste her again, to have his cock deep inside her.

Damn, her mouth felt so good against his and
she gave a soft moan as she gave into the kiss and rested her
fingertips on his shoulders.

Blood still rushed through his body and he
grew hard beneath his jeans against her bare folds. She wore
nothing but one of his shirts. He slipped his free hand through the
open neck of the shirt and grasped one of her heavy breasts in his
palm.

She gasped and drew away from the kiss. “How
can you think of doing
this
when all
that
just
happened?”

“Can you think of anything better to do while
we wait?” He flicked his thumb over her nipple, causing her to
gasp. “Don’t you feel the need to fuck more than you ever
have?”

In the low lighting her cheeks flushed and
she didn’t answer.

“It’s the adrenaline rush. Blood lust, a
normal reaction to fighting or battle.” He brought both hands to
her shirt and jerked it open. Buttons popped and made soft clatters
on the linoleum as they landed.

She frowned. “You could have just unbuttoned
it.”

“What’s the fun in that?” He left the shirt
on her, but kept it open so that the rest of her was bared to him.
“I promise you it will be the best sex ever.”

She shook her head. “You’re injured from
hitting your head and I’m pissed.”

He pinched her nipples. “The only thing
that’s hurting me at this moment is not being inside you.”

Chandra squirmed on his lap, making his
erection even more painful against his pants. She tried to slide
off his lap but he pressed one of his hands at the small of her
back.

“Wade,” she said. “Don’t do that.”

He pinched one of her nipples harder.

She sucked in her breath and he gave a low
growl as he brought her to him and suckled one of her nipples
before moving to the other. He nipped down on her. She moaned and
rubbed herself against him, riding him through his pants.

He couldn’t take much more of this.

With one hand he unfastened his jeans and
moved her just far enough back that he could quickly free his cock
and balls.

“Wade, this is nuts,” she said just as he
grasped her by the waist and brought her down hard so that his cock
rammed into her core.

Chandra shouted and Wade sucked in a deep
breath. She was slick, tight, and felt incredible. He could barely
keep from coming at the first stroke.

She went from argumentative to having a
determined and desire-filled look on her face. She placed her
fingertips on his shoulders and rose up before slamming herself
back down on him.

“That’s it, baby.” He palmed her breasts and
thrust up to meet her as she rode him.

Her eyes were focused on him, and she didn’t
release his gaze for a second. “This time you’re not stopping till
you climax.” Her hair fell over her face as she bent, her lips
close to his. “I don’t care what arrives at your front door. A bomb
can go off for all I care.”

He would have laughed but he was so hot, so
close to coming, that all he could do was clench his jaw.

She nipped at his lower lip. He groaned and
she slipped her tongue into his mouth in exploration.

Chandra continued to ride him hard. Her
thighs clamped his, her core sheathed his cock, and he could smell
her sweet citrus scent mixed with her woman’s musk. He was on
overload. It wasn’t going to be much longer before he exploded
inside her.

Wade reached between their bodies and rubbed
Chandra’s clit so hard she gasped, threw back her head and gave a
combined moan and cry. Her body began to jerk and vibrate and he
felt her core clamp down on his erection as her orgasm rocked
her.

His climax hit hard and fast—so fast he
didn’t see it coming. His balls drew up tight and pure sensation
shot through his cock and inside Chandra. She continued to ride
him, taking his semen and drawing it out of his body until he
couldn’t take it anymore.

When the last shudder passed through him, he
grasped her hips and drew her close, holding her body tight to his.
She wrapped her arms around him, slipping her fingers into his
hair, and sighed as she buried her face against the curve of his
neck.

Chandra breathed deeply of Wade’s musky scent
along with the smell of their sex. Despite the fact they’d just
been shot at, Wade’s house ransacked and they were trapped in a
high-tech impenetrable shelter, she felt safe in his arms.

The stinging in her palms and knees started
to make themselves known as the pounding of her heart slowed and
the adrenaline rush faded away. It was unbelievable what they had
just been through, and then they’d had sex, too. She had the absurd
desire to giggle, scream and cry all at the same time.

Her palms burned and she sighed. She would
have to take care of her injuries now that they had time to slow
down. She eased away from snuggling him and almost melted all over
again when he gave her a sexy smile and stroked hair from her
face.

“I think I have glass in my palms and knees.”
Chandra looked at her hands that were a little sliced on the fleshy
part, only a tad bloody.

“Damn, woman.” Wade raised them both out of
the chair so that they were standing, and he was no longer inside
her. “You should have told me you were injured.”

She shrugged. “It was low on the priority
list.”

Wade tucked himself back into his pants and
fastened them, then reached into a cabinet. He drew out a medical
kit, opened and searched it, and brought out a pair of
tweezers.

“Sit.” He pushed her into a chair next to him
as he settled onto the one they had both just been on. “Let me see
your hands.”

Chandra jerked away from him, protecting her
hands against her body. She didn’t want the Touch to invade her
mind right now. “I’ll do it.”

He studied her for a long moment then kept
his eyes on her as he held out the tweezers and she took them.

She looked away as she focused on pulling
small bits of glass and dropping them into a waste can that Wade
drew out from beneath the counter.

“I think it’s time you explained why I can’t
touch your hands,” he said in a voice that told her he’d had
enough.

Chandra stiffened and said in just as hard of
a tone, “You owe me an explanation more than I owe you one.”

His jaw tightened. “I’ll tell you as much as
I can. But I’d like you to go first.”

After she studied him for one long moment,
she looked down and took the last tiny shard out of one palm.
Before she started on her other, she met his gaze again. “I have
the Touch.”

She paused to see his reaction, her stomach
twisting. But his features were unreadable.

“If I have hand-to-hand contact with anyone,
I always see visions of their future and sometimes I see something
terrible is going to happen.” She sighed before continuing. “My
visions always come true. There’s no changing fate.”

Still he studied her, not saying a word. For
some reason that gave her the confidence to go on. “It has always
been very painful—pain shoots throughout my head.” His eyes were
dark as he continued to look at her with an unfathomable
expression. “The first time it didn’t hurt was when you touched me
yesterday.”

“You have the Touch,” he finally said, very
slowly.

For a long moment Chandra studied him.
“You’re PIA, aren’t you,” she stated.

He gave a single nod.

Chandra looked away from him to concentrate
on her other palm, afraid of what he was going to say.

“No one has been known to have the Touch for
at least ten years.” His voice was calm and he didn’t appear to be
judging her.

She shrugged even though the movement didn’t
seem so casual. “My mother, my grandmother and so on have had it
for generations. My cousins and sisters, too. When it started to
die out and none with the Touch were to be found, my grandmother
chose to hide it rather than for us to deal with the PIA’s
demands.”

At that she bit her lower lip. If this leaked
out, the PIA would find a way to force her and her family to work
for them. One rationalization had always been that the government
didn’t want those with the Touch in the wrong hands. “You’re
putting a lot of faith in me by sharing this,” he said and Chandra
nodded, but she continued to look at her palm while taking out
another small shard of glass.

Wade hooked a finger under her chin, forcing
her to raise her head and look at him. “What did you see when I
touched you the first time?”

Heat rushed her face. She didn’t want to tell
him. Eons could pass and she still would want to keep it
secret.

His eyes were mesmerizing as he held her gaze
with his. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

“Ah…” Chandra swallowed and tried to look
away but he brought her around to face him. She took a deep breath.
“I saw us.”