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  A flush of heat warmed her cheeks. The idea of him taking her in that position, made her want to squeeze her legs together and create some friction where she needed it most. Kane had other ideas, which included kissing his way to her knee and then up the soft skin of her inner thigh. His tongue traced a short path at the crease where her leg met her torso before teasing her clit with one small kiss.

  Her hips rose immediately from the mattress, begging for more. He stretched out with his feet on the floor and his face above her pussy. His hands slid under her ass cheeks, forcing her knees up and over his shoulders. He started just above her anus and licked his way to her clit.

  Losing her battle to stay quiet, she screamed as his mouth settled over her bud. He suckled her gently and then harder. She bucked against his face, bringing him in. His tongue slipped inside her and she screamed louder. He replaced his tongue with his thumb and licked around her clit until she was crying out in short gasps and begging him for release. All the while, his thumb pressed in and out of her slit. He sucked hard on her clit and she called his name.

  It was as if she were a bow, strung too tight. The top of her head pressed to the mattress and her feet to Kane’s back as she arched into his torturous mouth. The bow snapped and her orgasm crashed around her. Her body trembled with pleasure, while Kane’s mouth pressed hard against her clit, allowing the flow of sensation to peak, before he lightly kissed her sensitive flesh.

  He stood up and she watched the passion burning in his eyes. He stripped out of his jeans and took a condom from the pocket before tossing the denim away.

  She raised an eyebrow. “You knew?”

  His shy smile was completely out of character. “I hoped.” He opened the foil packaging.

  He made no effort to break down her protective wall as he knelt between her legs. First he lifted one leg to his shoulder and then the other. His shaft rested between her legs. He reached down, rolled the condom over his cock, positioned the broad head at her entrance and slowly slid inside.

  Her body clutched at his cock, wanting more of him. His head thrown back, he whispered her name. Her legs were nearly closed in that position and he felt even bigger than usual, filling her completely before pulling back and burying himself again.

  Lena clutched at her nipples, heightening her pleasure. Kane pumped into her over and over again, faster and faster. Then he slowed, sliding all the way out and pressing in so slowly she wanted to scream at him to take her over the edge again.

  He smiled knowingly and let her legs fall open. He leaned forward, catching himself on his arms, one on either side of her head, before lowering to his elbows and grinding forward. Each movement rubbed her clit and heightened her pleasure. She clutched his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his ass, pulling him in tighter and demanding more.

  Her body shook as she came a second time. Her pussy pulsed around him and he groaned deep in his chest. Her nails dug into the flesh of his back as she gripped him through her rapture.

  As she relaxed, he resumed his slow, consistent thrusts. He’d move nearly completely out of her sopping slit before gliding back in and stretching her wide. His pace quickened and he rose up on his hands. His biceps and triceps strained against his weight as he slammed inside her.

  She’d never liked it rough, but as Kane fucked her harder and faster, her excitement grew and she thrust her hips up to meet his.

  Her body careened for a third time just as he threw his head back and grunted his release. He pressed in three quick times and his body shook violently.

  She gripped his arms and tried to catch her breath. “That was…”

  Kane lowered himself and rolled off, but not away from her. His body pressed against her side. He kissed her temple. “You’re incredible.”

  “I don’t think it’s me,” she said.

  “I know it is.”

  Chapter Nine

  He’d told the truth when she’d questioned him bringing in a condom. He’d been hopeful she would let him make love to her. He wanted her, but if she had been even slightly reluctant, he would have backed off. Her willingness and responsiveness brought him more pleasure than he could ever have imagined.

  She was in his arms, though still not sleeping, and he couldn’t help how happy he was to have her there. He should be worried. In only a few hours, she would be carted off to jail. Still, he was content with the time they had and confident they would be together.

  In truth, he barely recognized himself. What had happened to the pessimistic Psi-hunter who thought humanity was a collection of hate and depravity? He couldn’t find him anywhere.

  He still had to deal with Thorn and Banta. He looked down at her sweet face where it was tucked against his chest. A wave of possessiveness washed over him. She was his and anyone who hurt her would have to pay.

  “Lena?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was sleepy and sexy as hell.

  “You should sleep. Tomorrow will be another long day.”

  She opened her tired eyes and stared up at him. “I wish I could.”

  He rolled onto his side so he faced her and her head shifted to rest on his biceps. “I can help you. We are safe, and if you let me, I will help you fall asleep, but you have to trust me.”

  Her face was tight with strain. When they’d made love, she’d been relaxed. She had let go of the demons in her mind. Now in the dark, they were tormenting her.

  “When I start to doze, he’s there.”

  “I know. Let me take him away, just for tonight, just enough of it so you can sleep.”

  She leaned up on her elbow and moved just slightly away from him. “You want to get into my head.”

  It took all of his restraint to not move closer to her. “Do you want me to tell you exactly what I would do?”

  She nodded, looking as if she was a little girl who feared the monsters under the bed. Except Lena’s monsters were real.

  “You’ll have to let down your barrier.”

  She stiffened, sat up and turned away from him, rubbing her arms as if she were cold.

  He sat and touched her cheek. Her skin was soft and warm. “I will barely need to breach, Lena. Just enough to put a block up.”

  She turned her head to look at him. “What kind of block?”

  “It’s only temporary. You can remove it whenever you want and I will help you do it in a few days. It’s not good to block the things that torment us. We have to deal with them or they drive us crazy. But for now, I think it would help if you could get some sleep.”

  “I feel as if I’ve lost my mind and I’m terrified, Kane.”

  He moved to sit behind her and she leaned back against him. Instantly, he wrapped his arms around her. “You won’t lose your mind. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met. You just need some time and sleep. Let me help you.”

  She nodded.

  He maneuvered them so they were lying on their sides facing each other. Her eyes were closed tightly. She looked ready to take some kind of punishment. His anger at Troth Banta surged. He had to fight to suppress it. Anger could not enter into what he was about to do.

  “Look at me,” he said.

  She opened her eyes.

  Normally, he would take the person’s head in his hands, but he didn’t want to frighten her. Resting his forehead against hers, he took a deep breath. “Let down your wall, Lena.”

  He felt the barrier strengthen for a moment before it slowly lowered and disappeared. Kane couldn’t help the joy blossoming within him as she showed her complete trust. He pressed forward with his mind, not invading or sharing. He only searched for the darkness. It wasn’t hard to spot. Lena’s natural mind was filled with love and light. When he found what Banta had left behind, it was dark and angry. Kane used his gift to push the spot into a corner. She would still have to deal with it at some point or let him help her convert the energy into something else, but that would take time.

  He built a psychic wall around the memories which were not her own. As he
backed out of her mind, he suggested, Sleep.

  By the time he was out and his eyes opened, she was breathing evenly in her sleep. He tucked her protectively against his chest and closed his eyes.

  * * * * *

  As soon as she woke up, her wall went back up.

  Kane opened his eyes and watched as she quietly pulled her jeans and shirt on. He didn’t know what he expected when she turned and saw him watching. Not the shy smile she gave him.

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “Better.” She looked as if she wanted to say more. She was searching for words. Her eyes looked from one corner of the room to the other as if the small room could help her with the answers. “Banta is still in here.” She touched her head. “I can feel him, but it’s as if he’s in a fog.”

  He nodded, sat up and grabbed his pants.

  “Is that what you did?”

  She was adorable standing there with bare feet, looking for answers.

  “I tried to tuck him further back in your mind. For now, he will seem like a distant memory.”

  “You said you can get rid of him.” She either wouldn’t or couldn’t look at him.

  Kane stood up and pulled her hard against him. Her head turned up. “When this is all over,” he said. “We’ll work on it.”

  “Why can’t you just take it away?” A plump tear tumbled over her lower lid.

  He caught it with his thumb and wiped it away. “It doesn’t work that way. Your brain is not like a library where I can pop in and remove a book.”

  “What then?”

  “We can move the memory or turn it into another kind of energy. Right now, behind the block I put up, Banta’s memories feel as if they’re your own. We have to put them in their proper place. Since you’re not a telepath, you never learned how to do it. I have the memories of several people in my head, but I know how to organize them so I don’t confuse those thoughts and images with my own.”

  “I get it.” She seemed disappointed.

  His entire body strained with regret. “I wish I could take the memories away, Lena. If I could safely do that, believe me, I would. People have tried it and they never manage it. The person is never quite right after that kind of procedure. I could never risk losing you that way.”

  She must have noticed his distress. Her hand touched his brow, smoothing the spaced between his eyes. “None of this was your fault, Kane. Stop blaming yourself. If anyone in this room is to blame, it’s me. I should have seen Oscar for what he was long before he put us all in danger.”

  The knock on the door ended the conversation. He reluctantly released her and let Wade in.

  “I have coffee. I didn’t know how Lena took hers. I brought sugar and those little creamers. I also got a few donuts.” Wade’s smile was bright and he looked very pleased with himself as he placed the pink-and-orange box of donuts on the card table with the cardboard carrier containing three covered coffee cups.

  Lena plucked one cup out of the carrier, opened the lid and poured a couple of creamers in. “Good job, Shamus.”

  Wade actually blushed. Then the big man shuffled from one foot to the other. “I’m sorry for hitting you back in Savannah. If it’s any consolation, those bikers beat the hell out of me after Kane grabbed you up.”

  Her smile went right to Kane’s guts. His stomach tightened and so did his cock.

  “It does actually make me feel a bit better,” she said.

  Kane laughed. It made him feel better too. He liked the image of the tattooed biker woman and her friends beating the hunter down until the cops broke up the scene.

  It took Wade a few minutes longer, but then he chuckled too.

  They drank coffee and ate donuts. Kane was happy to see Lena munching on a cruller and listening to Wade recount every kick, punch and pinch they had inflicted on him in Savannah.

  After fifteen minutes, Wade sobered. “I told the court I would deliver you at nine sharp.”

  She nodded and went into the bathroom. The water turned on.

  Wade broke the silence. “You’re really with her, aren’t you?”

  Kane ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. I guess I am.”

  Wade’s eyes widened. “I never thought you would fall for a mark, Lakeland.”

  “Me either.”

  “She’s special, I guess.”

  Kane liked the way Shamus said it. He wasn’t jabbing at Kane. It was more like he was in awe of Lena.

  “Would you have brought her in anyway?”

  “Yes,” Kane said without hesitation.

  “Does she know that?”

  He got up and dug his hands in his pockets. He hated how he and Lena had met, but he couldn’t change it. He was a hunter and she was a fugitive. Neither one of those things had been his choosing. “Stop asking so many fucking questions.”

  Shamus put his hands up in surrender and didn’t say anything else until Lena came out of the bathroom twenty minutes later.

  * * * * *

  There was no mistaking the federal agent who was waiting for them in the room where they were led. Kane thought they were going to throw him out as soon as they took her into custody, but they filled out the paperwork transferring Lena from Wade to the courts and ignored his presence.

  After Lena was asked some standard questions, they were led down a hallway and into an interview room where a short man in a black suit waited.

  Kane stepped between Lena and the man.

  The agent stayed in his place, leaning against the far wall, and held up his hands. “I’m not going to harm Ms. Cruz, Lakeland. That’s the last thing we want.”

  “What’s the first thing?” Kane asked.

  The agent laughed. “My name is Blake. I work for the FBI. We want to help you, Ms. Cruz. We know you didn’t steal anything from Oscar Thorn.”

  Lena sat down on the metal chair and leaned her elbows on the gray table. “What do you want from me?”

  The hair on the back of Kane’s neck stood up. “Wait a second. How long have you known Lena was innocent of the crimes she’d been accused of?”

  “Since the beginning,” Blake said smugly.

  Kane rushed him and pinned him against the wall with his forearm pressed against the man’s throat. “You knew from day one and yet you let her sit in prison for all those weeks.”

  The chair scraped on the floor behind him. Lena put her hand on his shoulder. “Kane, let him go.”

  Another agent burst into the room just as Kane let Blake go.

  Blake rubbed his neck and waved the second agent off. He narrowed his eyes and stepped back outside the interview room. “Jail was the safest place for her. It never occurred to us she would escape. We had planned to wait and then ask for Ms. Cruz’s help.”

  “You mean you were hoping she would get desperate enough to help you if you let her rot in prison long enough.” The biting accusation in Kane’s voice was unmistakable.

  Blake sat in the chair opposite Lena. “You know how these things work. We have to use all the resources at our disposal to get the just result.”

  Kane narrowed his eyes on the agent. He had no discernible psychic talent. He was just an FBI agent doing his job. “And you thought it was just to leave an innocent young woman in the prison system while you tried for your ultimate goal, which I assume is to get Thorn.”

  For an instant, Blake’s eyes widened before he resumed his mild, watchful gaze. “It was necessary.”

  Lena watched both men. “What is it you want from me, Agent Blake?”

  “We want you to help us prove that your ex-husband is using illegal methods to manipulate the stock market.”

  “And you won’t use the fact that I helped him do it against me.”

  Blake’s face grew very serious. “We are well aware you were coerced, Ms. Cruz. You cannot be held accountable for what Thorn forced you to do under threat of bodily harm.”

  “How do you know all of that?”

  “We’ve been watching Oscar
Thorn for a few years.”

  Lena seemed to be processing the information. Kane wanted to strangle the fucking guy. He’d known she was being abused, but did nothing because he didn’t want to screw up his investigation.

  “I’m sorry, Agent Blake. I no longer have the means to help you.”

  “You mean the glass beads you use to view the future. We know you left them with your grandmother, Ms. Cruz. She’s been placed in protective custody with the Flacks.” He looked at Kane. “Your brother requested help when Banta came after them. He’d already gotten them to a safe house, but agents were watching the Thorn residence and followed Banta to the Flack farm. Once they realized who they were after, we contacted the other agency and your brother was informed of the danger. He agreed to allow the three people under his protection to be brought in as long as he was allowed to remain with them. He was adamant on the subject. Ruffled a few feathers, I can tell you that.”

  Kane had to suppress his smile. “Joshua has a way of doing that.”

  “My grandmother is safe?”

  “Perfectly.”

  Lena sagged in the chair for several seconds. She then sat up straight. “If I help you, how long will Oscar go to prison for?”

  “If we can prove some of the other things we know he’s done, he could get fifteen years.”

  “He’d only serve a few years,” Kane said.

  “It’s not enough.” Lena’s voice was strong and definite.

  The agent stammered. “I can’t change the sentencing laws in the US, Ms. Cruz.”

  “Well, I’m not going to put my family at risk so you can get some money from Oscar and in a few years he gets out and kills me. You’ll have to come up with something better if you want my help.” She turned her head toward Kane, but her walls were still in place and he could read nothing from her. Of course, Blake didn’t know that. All the agent knew was that Kane was a telepath.

  It only took a few seconds. Blake asked, “Is there something you want to tell me, Ms. Cruz? Do you know something about your ex-husband’s activities that could be of interest to the FBI?”