3

Chapter Three

Not good. Not good. The mantra ran through Lynn’s head as she paced the small sitting room outside Ariel St. James’ bedroom days later. The soft rose carpeting beneath her feet muffled her steps as she paced back and forth in the room that was twice the size of the largest room she had in her own home. She could feel the added power of the warriors now prowling the outside grounds. The mental force they fought and lived by seemed to settle over every inch of the estate, snaking into the smallest holes, rooting out the most deceptive traps laid. And there had been several.

Breach Control had known for years that the terrorist network known as Blackthorne wasn’t your run-of-the-mill group. No car bombings, no buildings exploding, no loss of mass populations to make a point.

Whatever Jonar was after, it wasn’t world domination. At least, not as most groups were after. Jonar was after power. Not monetary power. Not worship. Such men were after a power that was said didn’t exist. A power that would leave Earth decimated, broken, unable to support life if it were stolen. Jonar wanted the powerful heart of the Earth, rumored to be under the protection of the Shadow Warriors, Devlin’s group of four. Guardian-gifted men who fought against Blackthorne. Lynn paced to the bedroom door, staring at the woman who still slept peacefully in the king-sized bed of silk and satin. She knew that beneath the linen gown Ariel St. James wore lay the second of four stones that was rumored to be the heart of the Earth. If she died, there would be nothing to stand between Jonar and the theft of it. If she didn’t heal, she would never be strong enough to use it to aid in his defeat. Damn. She remembered a time when she believed such plots, such evil, could only exist in the pages of a book. Psychic power was a charlatan’s trick and what little did 25

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exist was undependable at best. She had learned differently. Some powers weren’t entirely reliable, unless those possessing it learned to control it. Like her. She still had not learned complete control. She could sense evil, could block it, but she couldn’t find its source. She didn’t have to find its source to fragment its power, though. The three men who had popped into the sitting room earlier wouldn’t have those problems. They were Prime Warriors, Alyx had assured her. The best of the best. Alien. Advanced. Undefeated. She turned away from the bedroom and paced back into the sitting room. She hated aliens. She really did.

“Riding the waves,” her brother had called the little trick the three men had used to travel the distance between their offices in New York and the sitting room in Kentucky. A dimensional wave that none of their psychics could reach. They could feel it. They knew it was there. But no one born to Earth had ever learned its use that she knew of. Dragon, or Alyx, was going to be a problem. She had seen the lust in his eyes, the way he looked at her, as though he were starved and she was the meal awaiting him. Even more confusing was her response to him.

His lips… She drew in a hard breath as her own tingled in remembrance. He had weakened her, made her think of something other than the job at hand or the psychic impressions that often bombarded her brain. His touch had stilled something inside her, had eased the ragged impulses of power that often tormented her. And, she admitted, that scared her more than anything else had in years. Then there were the psychic sparring matches he seemed to delight in playing with her, waves of sensuality that she fought to block. Sometimes it was no more than the awareness that he was finding a way to catch her alone, to impress upon her the desire that flowed between them. In turn, she was forced to find a way to stay out of reach. At times, it had almost been amusing. At other times, it was too intense for her to bear. She had taken the coward’s way out, though. She had run from him and had escaped him at every opportunity. She was terrified that if given the chance, he would walk away with something she had sworn she didn’t possess. Her heart. 26

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The past two days had been harried as the agents attempted to align their powers with the beings suddenly in their midst, so avoiding him hadn’t been that hard. It was imperative that they all worked on the same psychic plane. Otherwise, their powers were weakened, diminished, and their abilities to communicate during an attack would be hampered. Learning to work with the Prime Warriors wasn’t easy, though. And though Alyx hadn’t overtly stepped in as commander of the mission, the very strength of his power demanded that she stand aside. He knew Jonar and his tactics much better than Lynn or her brothers. He knew how to counter the attacks that Lynn’s agents were falling beneath. They couldn’t afford to lose more men. But letting go of her position of leadership to the arrogant alien wasn’t coming easy. No matter the logic that demanded it, it irked her.

Rationally, she knew it wouldn’t have bothered her nearly as bad if it weren’t for this reaction she was having to him. She had stepped aside many times for her brothers when their unique strengths outmatched hers in a given area. Several times, she had aided Devlin’s warriors, assuming a position of backup rather than leadership in missions that had begun as her own. She felt no resentment when it was required. Felt no need to prove herself stronger than she was. It was seldom necessary. The very nature of their business demanded that the strongest lead. The one with the most power had a greater ability to stabilize the others and center the force where it was most needed. To do otherwise only endangered the mission and the client.

“You worry too much.”

Lynn couldn’t halt the squeak of surprise that came from her throat as the alien was suddenly there again. In front of her. Staring down at her with those strange silver eyes. His long silver hair lay past his shoulders, thick and tempting to touch. If she could reach it, she told herself silently. Every inch of his body was corded with muscle, and between his thighs… She jerked her gaze up, flushing at the knowing glint in his gaze.

“You’re supposed to be outside,” she snapped, fighting her response to him with every weapon she possessed. “Not in here scaring the hell out of me.”

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A wicked, knowing glint flared in his eyes. As though he were well aware of the fact that her body liked having him around.

“Hell is a bad place, baby. If you have it in you, then it shouldn’t matter how it comes out, as long as it does.”

She gaped at him. She would have wondered at his supposed intelligence if his lips hadn’t quirked just slightly at the corners.

“Ha ha.” She rolled her eyes as she tried to put more distance between them. She didn’t know what that black, form fitting cloth was he wore for clothes, but it made him look too big, too broad, and too damned sexy for her peace of mind.

“You should rest. One of my men will watch the girl.” She was sure he wanted it to sound like a suggestion. Unfortunately, it came much too close to an order.

“My post,” she snapped. “I’ll nap on the couch when I feel all the safeguards are in place.”

She couldn’t make sense of the psychic waves suddenly surrounding the house. The tentacles of power from the newcomers were too difficult to follow, which made it harder for Lynn to be confident Ms. St. James was safe enough for her to allow herself to rest.

“I give you my word as a Dragon warrior she is safe. Should an attack come, you will be awakened. You need to rest.” His voice was infinitely soft, caressing. Lynn’s eyes narrowed as she felt energy weaving around her.

“You put me to sleep and I’ll kick your ass on a wave straight out of here,” she snarled. “Rein it in, buster. I don’t have time for your macho tricks.”

The energy dissipated but his amusement seemed to grow.

“Fierce little thing, aren’t you?” He glided over to the couch, taking a seat with a casual confidence that smacked of male arrogance.

She wasn’t little. She wasn’t petite. She wasn’t delicate. His tone made her feel like a love kitten and she didn’t like it.

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“Arrogant bastard, aren’t you?” She smiled sweetly.

The wicked smile that tipped his sensual lips had her heart rate picking up in speed. Unfortunately, it also sent her libido into overdrive. She could feel her breasts swelling beneath her sports bra, her nipples peaking. Further down, her pussy was moistening at a frightening rate. She wanted to be fucked. She wanted to be fucked by him, and she wasn’t pleased by the thought.

She didn’t have time for this. And she sure as hell didn’t need to get involved with an alien. God, she needed to be one of the innocent millions who had no idea of the power games being played in the universe.

She was growing tired, she realized with a sense of resignation. Tired of fighting the same battles, the same dark forces, the same nightmares within her own mind. Unfortunately, she was starting to get the feeling that Alyx had more than a little to do with those nightmares.

“Arrogance is worth little without the power to back it up.” He shrugged his shoulders casually, the black material rippling over the powerful muscles. Lynn’s fingers curled at the need to touch. Maybe she did need to sleep, she thought with a touch of fear, because she was having a very difficult time keeping her focus here.

She had gone from calm and controlled, to the type of woman she hated above all things. A woman whose body overruled her head. In her entire life she had never been faced with her desires, her needs, overcoming what she knew was best for her and her goals. Learning that Alyx could well become her greatest weakness wasn’t a piece of knowledge she welcomed.

“Don’t you have work you need to be doing?” she finally sighed as he continued to watch her with those intent, strangely colored eyes.

“I’m going to fuck you, Lynn.” He propped his chin on his palm, his elbow braced on the arm of the couch as he watched intently now.

Lynn blinked. He hadn’t just said that. Had he?

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“Excuse me?” She swallowed tightly. “I don’t think I heard you right.”

“Yes you did.” He smiled with a touch too much confidence. “You just want to pretend you didn’t.”

She licked her dry lips quickly, fighting back the excitement building through her system and reminding herself, He’s an alien, Lynn. You know. Not human. No red blood. Not Earth-based. Alien.

“Look, I have a job to do here…” she began furiously, fighting to keep her voice low, to keep from disturbing the woman sleeping in the other room.

“It is being taken care of.” He shrugged. “My men are the best, little one. They will let none of Jonar’s men through. You may take time to play now.”

His eyes seemed to glitter, the strange silvery color deepening, swirling with a sexual threat she had to fight herself to deny.

“Oh, may I?” she sneered as she fought her own response. “Unlike big bad aliens, I like to be certain my job is done and done correctly. So forgive me if I just stumble around on my own here, and do just that. I think it’s time you leave.”

“Leave?” He lifted a brow with mocking amusement. “I don’t think so, my lady. I will not leave you, even for a second. You will not escape me, Lynn. And you will, before much more time has passed, be beneath my body screaming in need for me. I promise you this.”

He rose to his feet as she watched him in amazement, astounded by his sheer nerve. She stood stock still as he approached her, certain this had to be some amazing dream that she just hadn’t awakened herself from yet. No man, human or alien, could be this arrogant. Could he? Or touch her so deeply in such a short time. But she admitted that arrogance, that supreme confidence, drew her like a magnet. No man had ever made her want to forget herself, her inhibitions and fears of submitting to such hungers, until Alyx. That he was alien was a problem. But she was starting to fear that it was only a problem because she had unconsciously known that 30

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only one of the Guardian warriors could be powerful enough to defeat her. It was hard to desire a man she knew she could best with only the strength of her mind. The thought that such ability, such power strong enough that it could overcome her own, made her body heat by several uncomfortable degrees.

“Look how hard your little nipples are.” Lynn trembled in response as he stepped close to her, his hand reaching out, the tip of one finger touching the hard little point poking through the cloth of her bra and shirt. “I want it in my mouth, Lynn. My tongue swirling around it, making you moan for me. I want this very badly.”

She slapped his hand away, jumping back out of reach, her pussy sizzling with a sudden fiery ache to feel him pushing inside her, taking her. Hard. Oh hell. Lynn put as much distance as she could between her and the strange alien watching her curiously. As though her response was no more than he expected. Her flesh craved his touch. Something hidden in the very core of her being seemed to be awakening, and though it terrified her, she was finding it harder to fight each day.

“Touch me again and I’ll leave,” she snapped, knowing she couldn’t fight herself as well as his touch.

To admit to that weakness was the hardest thing Lynn thought she had ever done in her life. He had a power over her that came close to terrifying her.

“You’ll leave?” He tilted his head, watching her with a faintly quizzical look. “Are you not in charge here? I rather expected a threat to force my departure instead.”

As though she could force him into anything. She had tried several times already, pitting her power against his and coming out weak and disoriented as he watched her blistering arousal. It had turned him on, sparring with her psychically. It had turned her on as well. And she couldn’t seem to manage to turn it back off.

“I’m not a fool.” She shook her head as she backed into the desk she had sat at earlier. “You and your men are stronger than my whole force. You don’t need us here. You could take care of Jonar yourself.”

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He shook his head at that. “You are wrong there,” he informed her softly. “Her life is tied to your presence. The power you hold is aligned with hers. You will give her strength she will not accept from me. If you leave, little love, she dies. And with her goes the hope of your world. If she dies, then we all fail. Will you risk this?”

She thinned her lips as anger overwhelmed her. He thought he had her, and in a way, he did. But she’d be damned if she made it easy for him. Her body might be caving in to him, but that didn’t mean she had to give into it easily.

“Will you?” she retorted softly. “You aren’t here out of the kindness of your heart, Dragon. She’s important to you as well.”

She didn’t like the smile that tipped his lips. It was a crooked, amused grin, filled with wicked sexuality and devilish intent.

“Wrong,” he whispered. The sound was almost a physical caress. “I come to aid you alone, little love. I come to take what is mine. To claim what was stolen from me before. I came, Lynn, as I have already told you, for you…”

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