Dane had helped Pi find her. An older woman who looked at Dane with love and understanding, hope and sorrow. Her grandmother was like her. Dane"s gift was from her.
"That"s right, my grandmother knew I was different and had offered to raise me, but my parents didn"t want to be shamed by giving up on me. I"m stronger than Grandmother. Her gift was just empathic and telepathic. I"m also clairvoyant too. James, have you had enough yet?" Had he? He didn"t think he would ever get enough of this woman. Her touch ignited him and set him aflame. Her voice caressed him and sent shivers along his spine in ways he"d never felt before. He loved her. Just as simple as that, Jamie realized he was in love with Dane.
*CHAPTER 9*.
Dane felt the moment he thought of love and tried to pull away from his touch. He grabbed her legs and sat up. His mouth covered her immediately and she knew he would not leave her now. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned into his body, into his heat and love.
"I don"t want to hurt you. I will, but I don"t want to. Please take me, James. Please have s.e.x with me."
"No, Dane, I"m going to make love to you. Open yourself to me, baby. I want all of you.
Give it all to me."
She watched as his hands skimmed along her legs and up her ribs. When he lifted her b.r.e.a.s.t.s up and pushed them together, she moaned deep in her throat. Her nipples puckered tight and ached for his mouth. Reaching between his hands, she unsnapped the tiny clasp and pulled her bra open for him. His mouth, hot and wet, took her breast into him and he bit her before she was able to pull her bra off her body. Shifting a little, Dane wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled her lower body tight against his as he suckled and tormented her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His c.o.c.k was hard against her and she wanted more of him.
Bracing her hands on his shoulders then down around his waist, she began to ride him. She surged her body on his cloth-covered c.o.c.k as he tasted one then the other breast, going back and forth between them over and over. When he flipped her to her back and came down on her, she came. It was hard and quick and only made her more needy, more achy for him.
"That"s it, baby. Don"t hold back. Come when you feel it. Come and scream for me. I love to watch you peak. Your body shudders over mine, and I feel you. Feel you everywhere." He moved down her body. When he forced her legs to let him go, she whimpered and tried to pull him back, but he kissed her hard and brought his hand to her mound.
"I"m going to eat you here, Dane. I"m going to lick you and taste you until you can"t stand it anymore. I"m going to drink you as you come, as you fill me. Then I"m going to drive my c.o.c.k hard into you. Deep and fast and f.u.c.k you until neither of us can move." When he moved this time, she grabbed the sheet beneath her. She could feel her p.u.s.s.y flutter and gush. Need curled inside of her and she had a hard time holding the part of her back that terrified her more than anything.
Jamie nuzzled her mound and when she felt him move the bit of lace from her, she tried to close her legs to him. He pressed her open and braced her with his shoulders as he ran his finger along her slit, gathering her cream as he went.
"Watch me, Dane. I want you to see me lick your cream from my fingers." He brought his fingers to his mouth and suckled each one, savoring the taste. "Hummm, you taste better than I thought, baby. Like honey and peaches."
When his finger slid into her, she could not stop watching him, seeing the look of rapture on his face. Struggling now to hold on, she knew she was slipping. More of her was getting away from her and he knew it.
"I want you, Dane. All of you. Please, baby, trust me." He pumped his finger into her over and over and when he added a second one, he lowered his head and slid his tongue into her. Moving more between her legs, he worried her c.l.i.t with his tongue as he f.u.c.ked her with his fingers. The coil of need tightened around her so tight she tried again to pull back.
Every time she got close, he would pull back and not touch her c.l.i.t until the need to come lowered a bit. But it was getting harder and longer to slow down. Wrapping her hand into his hair, she tried to get him to where she wanted, but he was stronger and did what he wanted.
Begging only made him chuckle and when she thought she was going to have to hurt him, he gave her what she wanted.
He bit her c.l.i.t hard and then suckled it into his mouth as he"d done her nipples; she knew it was too much. Her control snapped and so did her hold.
Her world froze for a second then everything in her shattered. She knew she screamed. It ripped from her throat, leaving it raw and sore. Every nerve, every cell in her body exploded.
Stars, bright and colorful, burst behind her closed eyes. Muscles contracted, her body expanded, and when she felt Jamie move over her and his c.o.c.k slide into her, she screamed again. Her body tightened around him, pulling his c.o.c.k deeper into her. Dane heard him growl, heard him speak, but she was beyond knowing what he said. As soon as he was close enough to touch, she wrapped around him and let go.
Her love poured into him, her climax rippled through him. He felt it along his c.o.c.k, but also along his heart and mind. He felt her try to pull back, but he rocked into her again and felt her again. Her terror, her needs, he felt her shame and her feelings of failure. It was nearly overwhelming, nearly consumed him, but he loved her and with that knowledge, Jamie knew that she was just what she said. He not only believed her in that moment, but he believed in her.
Watching her face, seeing her emotions fly across it, his climax gripped him in surprise. It grabbed him tight around his c.o.c.k and poured from him, his seed pouring into her, filling her body with his. When she came again, pulled hard at his c.o.c.k, he surged again, his body spent but needing to be deep within her. When he could not move anymore, he dropped over her and rolled. He was just able to pull her body over his and lean down for the blanket before sleep took him. Pulling her tight against him, he told her he loved her and fell into an exhausted, sated sleep.
When Jamie woke up, the room was dark and he was alone in the bed. He started to get up, but heard the door open and saw Dane come into the room and go to the window seat he did not notice before. She sat there and looked out at the moonlight. He propped his head up with the two pillows, leaned back against the headboard, and waited.
"I"ve never come like that before. Well, that"s an understatement. I"ve never come at all if that"s what it"s like to come with someone." He wanted to get up and do a happy dance at her confession, but was afraid he did not have enough strength in his legs for it.
"Neither have I. I didn"t think it was possible to feel that much with another being before.
Are you all right?" Jamie asked her.
"Yes. No. I don"t...I couldn"t hold it back. I tried, but it was...you took my breath away."
"Come here, Dane. I need to hold you." He waited for her to move and when she did not, he started to go to her. He stopped when she started to speak.
"When I was a little girl, about six, there was this girl who lived next door. I could feel her pain, but it frightened me. One day, I saw her in the back yard. She was huddled around a dolly.
It was battered and torn, though it was in better shape than the girl. Brenna Print was her name.
"I walked over to her and sat next to her on the snowy ground. I knew my mother was going to have a fit because I was sitting in the dirt, but more so because I was a.s.sociating with the "white trash" next door. My grandmother was coming, you see. And everything had to be perfect.
"Neither of us said a word and I"m not sure how long we even sat there, but eventually, Brenna reached out and touched my hand. My little body rocked with her pain. Her injuries were ma.s.sive and harsh. Her father beat her for anything and everything. He blamed her for her mother leaving and for his lack of work. He hurt her because the cable was out and he hated her for her inability to do anything right."
When she didn"t say anything for several minutes, Jamie got up and sat behind her on the seat. There was a throw near them so he picked it up and pulled it over them both as she leaned back against him. Her pain moved along his skin as though it was his and he pulled her tighter to him.
"When her daddy came out, I stood up and shielded Brenna from him. I"m not sure what I could have done against a grown man, but I stood there and waited for him to come at us, or her.
He shouted for her to come inside, but neither of us moved. I heard my grandmother"s car pull up and I felt her touch me, her mind touch mine. Before I knew it, she was standing in the yard with me and yelling at the man to back off. She had her driver call the police and we stood there together and waited. When they arrived, Brenna was taken to the hospital and the man was arrested."
"There"s more, isn"t there? Tell me, baby. What did your mother do to you?"
"It was the first time she beat me. My grandmother begged her to let me go live with her before she left. I remember them arguing about someone teaching me to use my gifts and my mother telling her that she knew how to teach me. I was actually excited to learn. That night, she drugged me. I don"t know what she used, but it knocked me out. When I woke, I was tied to a beam in the bas.e.m.e.nt. I was gagged and standing on a crate. She had taken my clothes off me and stood there waiting for me to wake. I was. .h.i.t thirty-one times that night. It may have been more, but I pa.s.sed out."
Jamie did not say anything. He wasn"t sure what to say. He knew from Cait that her mother would beat her. He just didn"t know how much.
"My mother went to the police and told them I had mental problems. She told them that I had more than likely hurt Brenna to make people notice me and that they shouldn"t believe a word that came out of my mouth. Brenna was released to her father again while I still hung in the bas.e.m.e.nt. By the time I was able to move again, her father had killed her and buried her in the back yard. I told my mother what had happened and she told me "good riddance," that one less welfare brat in the world was fine by her. I never spoke to her again until the day I asked for her help with the murders when I was sixteen."
Jamie tried to imagine not speaking to his mother for ten years and couldn"t even fathom not speaking to her for ten days. She was his world, his rock and his foundation. He pulled Dane deeper under his chin and held her.
He was so lost in thought that he didn"t even know that she had fallen asleep until she snored softly against his shoulder when she turned. Sliding out from under her, he picked her up and put her into the bed. He looked at his watch and saw that it was just after three in the morning. He had a cla.s.s in less than five hours. He didn"t know what to do. Setting his phone to wake him, he crawled into bed again and was rewarded with Dane curling around him. He was asleep in seconds, warm and held tightly.
*CHAPTER 10*.
Dane was alone when she woke this time. There was a note on the pillow next to her and she picked it up to read it.
"Love, If I could have, I"d have stayed and made love to you all morning. But I have cla.s.s until three today. Call me when you get up and if I don"t answer, leave me a number to call you. I love you, Dane.
James"
The words of love frightened her a bit and she tried not to think about them as she showered and dressed. Her body was sore in places, but she felt more relaxed than she had in months, maybe even years. Pi was in the kitchen when she came downstairs.
"Land owner called. He said tell you we have thirty days. I tell him we need more, but he said no. I have houses marked to look at, Missy Dane. You go with me today? We have to make decision."
"I thought we were going back home, Pi. Isn"t that what you want anymore? We can just put this stuff in storage, or sell it. It wasn"t anything we"d grown attached to much anyway, was it?"
"You leave man who love you? You be stupid to do that, Missy Dane. Man don"t come along much who care for you like Mister Jamie does. You stay and make babies with him. He take care of you."
"Men will say anything to get into a woman"s bed, Pi. You know that. He doesn"t love me.
How could he? My own mother didn"t. I"ll sleep with him, but that"s all. If you want to go look at houses today, we will, but no more talk about love." Pi was just about to impart some snarky remark, Dane was sure, when the phone rang. Dane wanted to ask her not to answer it and Pi even waited to see if she would, but Dane knew it didn"t matter. She would just have to check the voice mail and call Markus back anyway.
"Missy Dane, please take time off. You get sick again. I don"t want to have you sick. You my friend."
"You"re mine too. I love you, Pi, but he needs me and I have to help. Please answer for me." Markus needed her in Nevada this time. There was a missing woman and her son and the husband was frantic with worry.
"Why can"t you just send the stuff here again? I"m too tired to leave again. Just send it here and I"ll let you know if I find anything. I"m worn out, Markus."
"You"re not quitting on me are you, Dane? That doesn"t sound like you. Come on, just this one and I promise to give you as much time as you need to rest up. I need you here because this is where she went missing. Please?"
"Markus, that"s what you said the last time, and the time before that. I can"t keep doing this.
I need some time off. I appreciate you keeping me out of the media, but I"m exhausted and I need to have some down time. I"m not getting sick like before."
Anger surged through the phone at her. Anger and something that was there and gone so quickly that she nearly missed it. Hate-white-hot hate that boiled over her and through her. Fear rippled through her. Then he was talking again.
"You come out here and fix this for us and I"ll make sure I don"t call you for a while. You"re right, I"ve been pushing you pretty hard, but you"re needed so much that I forget about you sometimes. Please come out and I"ll make it right."
Dane looked at Pi. Dane was missing something and she was not sure what it was. When she tried again to read Markus, she hit a wall. If it was from the distance or the phone, she didn"t know, but she did not want to go to Nevada. Not now, not ever.
"Let me think about it. I"ll call you back tonight and I"ll give you my answer then. I have to go house hunting and we were just about to walk out the door. I promise I"ll give it my utmost consideration. Good bye, Markus." Without waiting for him to reply, she hung up. She turned to Pi.
"What is it, Missy Dane? He say something bad to you? I hurt his twig and berries this time for sure. He never get it up again."
"No, nothing like...twig and berries? I don"t even want to know. Let"s get going. I have to leave a number for James, but all I have is this one. Why don"t we stop at the mall and get us a cell phone for ourselves? I want one that you can watch programs on. How about it?" Dane went to her room and got dressed. She did not look at the bed that smelled like James.
She had already used the towel that he had when she got out of the shower. Feeling incredibly stupid for acting like a love sick teenager, she dropped it into the hamper, but not before putting it to her nose and smelling for his scent again.
The first stop was lunch. It was nearly eleven and both women were starved. Dane wanted to try something different, like anything that was not Chinese, and Pi agreed just this once she would go along. They had an enjoyable lunch of pasta and salad and Pi had two shots of Saki. It made for an interesting early afternoon.
The phone buying was funny and by the time they were given their new numbers and shown how to use them, it was nearly two. Dane called Jamie"s office and left her new number for him, telling him that she and Pi were out and that she did not know when they would be back. If he wanted to meet them for dinner somewhere, that would be fine too.
They were looking at the second house when he called her back. Pi had already crossed the first one off the list and this one was not fairing much better. Something was wrong with them both and no amount of trying to tell her that it could be changed helped. When Dane answered, she was a little tense.
"Having a bad day? You sounded so happy earlier. What"s happened?" She could just picture him sitting at a desk with his feet propped up.
"Pi doesn"t like this house because the kitchen is too small. Just how big does a kitchen have to be anyway? It"s to cook in, not raise a family in. The last house didn"t have a yard. Okay, I agree with that one. I need to build something on the property and that was a little yard." She took a deep breath and forced a smile in her voice. "How"s your day going?"
"I wanted to stay in bed with this beautiful woman, but duty called and I had to leave. I have an idea, why don"t the two of you come over to my house for dinner? I have a huge kitchen and Byron and Taylor are coming over too. I was thinking Pi could fix us some more of that Kung Pao that we had the other day at your townhouse. And Morgan wants to be there too. You think that would be all right? Or we can go out. It"s up to you guys." Dane turned to Pi and asked her. To be honest, Dane didn"t want to go home anyway. She"d have to deal with Markus and she hadn"t thought of him as much as she thought she might. It was too nice being normal for a change. Dane handed her phone to Pi when she started asking questions about the cooking arrangements.
She needed to make things right with Cait, Dane knew that. She had thought about the way she had treated the woman all these years after talking with Jamie. It was not fair what she had done, or what she had said to her. When Pi handed her the phone, Dane made a decision.
"Do you think your entire family would like Pi"s cooking? I mean, if she"s going to cook for a bunch of people, everyone might as well enjoy it, don"t you think? Unless you"d rather they didn"t. I can understand that." She closed her eyes and hoped he would understand what she was asking.
"I"m sure they would. Cait and Spencer won"t be able to make it. She"s still in the hospital, but I think Paddy gets to go to the nursery tomorrow. Maybe someone can take her some leftovers, if there are any."
Dane took at deep breath. "No. Pi loves to cook. I just hope your kitchen is big enough. She can get quite messy when cooking. We"ll clean up before we leave so don"t worry about that."
"I"m not worried, because you"re not leaving. I plan on making love to you again all night and in my bed. Tomorrow"s Sat.u.r.day, I don"t have to get up early, and you are not going to be able to move."
"Oh." She felt stupid, but that"s all she could squeak out. Her body felt as if he was standing next to her breathing on her neck, his fingers caressing her skin.
"Oh is right. I"ll see you at six. I love you, Dane." And then he was gone.
Dane and Pi ended up at the grocery store next. Neither of them wanted to look at any more houses and they had already set up three appointments for tomorrow afternoon and three more for Sunday.
Jamie was headed out the door at five-thirty when his phone rang again. He did not recognize the number so was slightly cautious when he answered. But the frantic-sounding foreign language at the other end threw him.
"Missy Dane break car bad. She call a-team now. You have swirl or gas to use at house?" Jamie sat down. "Pi?" He was trying to work out what she said when his office phone rang too. It was Damon. He answered it as well. "Hang on, I got another call."
"Yes, it Pi. You know more Chinese women? I say Missy Dane break car. You have gas?"
"Dane wrecked the car. Is she all right? Where are you?" Jamie stood and almost strangled himself with the other phone.
"She call a-team now. You very hard to understand. You don"t speak good English." Jamie was not even going to go there. He felt as if he was in an off world and he was the only one speaking his language.
Damon said, "Triple A, maybe? Ask if she called an ambulance. I haven"t a clue on the gas, buddy."
"Dane called Triple A? Is there an ambulance on the way?" Jamie started rubbing his forehead. He wanted to hang up with his brother and go to Dane, but he was afraid he"d need him to translate again.
"That what I said." More Chinese, then he heard Dane. "She mad at me. Said I should mind own business. I ask you who business is it when man try to kill us both? You come and get us?
We at Asian Market at Three Z"s road. Missy Dane head hurt, but she be fine she said."
"I"ll meet you at your house. I was just calling to confirm. Should I tell the others to not come?" Damon was saying. Jamie was sure he should say no, but knew that he needed to make sure Dane got to his house. Without Pi there, he knew that Dane would not come either.
"No. You can look at her there. Christ, I have a headache. I"ll pick them up and bring them to the house. Could you call Tucker for me and have him meet me at the Asian market on Triple C? I"m sure that"s where they are."
It took him less than twenty minutes to get there and Tucker was already there. He was rubbing his forehead as he stood in front of Pi. The woman was gesturing at ninety miles a minute. Jamie knew just how he felt. He saw Dane sitting in the back of an ambulance with her head between her knees. When she sat up to look at the medic standing outside the open doors, his heart clenched in his chest. Her face was bloodied and she had been crying.
*CHAPTER 11*.
Dane saw him coming toward her and wanted to leap from the bed and go to him. Her head was pounding, but she was not sure if it was from all the noise and people or her hitting her head on the steering wheel. She also did not know if she was mad at him or not. But when he touched her arm and then pulled her into his, she melted against him and started crying. He didn"t say anything. He just held her.
"Are you all right, baby? Pi was a little...well, I was going to say hard to understand, but I think you know what I mean. I"m either going to have to get a translator or learn Chinese. I still have no idea what she meant by my indigestion."
"Indigestion? I"m afraid I don"t know either. I told her not to call anyone. The guy must not have had insurance so he didn"t hang around. They"ve taken away our car. I don"t know how I can...I can"t ride in a taxi everywhere I go."
"We"ll figure it out. My brother is going to meet us at my house since you won"t go to the hospital. We"ll figure out what she meant about swirling or gas. I cannot imagine what she wanted to know for."
"Oh. Gas or electric. What do you cook with, gas or electric?" Dane watched the police captain come toward her. She might have laughed at his expression if she could not feel him so loudly. He was being promoted but was afraid he would mess up the job so badly he"d be fired, or someone would get hurt.
"Your friend said that you were stopped when you were hit. That sound about right, Mrs.