aBut I would have called them, if Iad thought of it.a She watched his face, knowing that he was thinking the incident through.

aYou said you were outside. Where?a aThe woods,a she replied. aLucky I was.a He looked like he was going to ask another question, and she couldnat let him do that. Cupping the back of his head, she brought his mouth down to hers.

He could have pulled away, but the moment his lips touched hers, emotions exploded between them. It was like a jolt of molten energy that sent a wave of heat through her blood.

They had parted on bad terms, and she hadnat been sure that she would ever see him again. Now he was back in her arms, and her feelings for him surged. Later, she would have to deal with the pain of betraying him. But not now.

Now she would give him everything that was in her power to give.

She was trembling in his arms, and at the same time, she couldnat stop herself from running her hands over his broad back, his wide shoulders. And he was doing the same thing, his touch telling her how relieved he was that the man hadnat hurt her.

The urge to show him how she felt was like a primal need, wiping everything else away, sealing her to him.

She clasped him tighter, feeling his roda"no, his c.o.c.ka"wedged between them like an exclamation point. And she was just as aroused.

She had thought of him while shead been in her own world, but she hadnat dared let herself take the longing to a s.e.xual level. Now it felt like she had been aroused for days but hadnat been able to admit it. And she was free to give him anything he wanted.

As his mouth plundered hers, she drank in the familiar woodsy taste of him, sure that no other man could taste as good.

She made a needy sound, her mouth opening to give him better access, telling him that if he didnat make love with her, she would lose her sanity.

In the conscious part of her brain, she knew she should warn him to run for his life. Run as far from her as he could get, but he was beyond warninga"not when his hand was sliding down to her hips, pulling her more tightly against himself.

Under the protective canopy of the tree branches, she stepped back far enough to start tearing off her clothing. He did the same, both of them kicking off their shoes, then throwing shirts and pants onto the leaves to make a bed.

G.o.ds, he was magnificent, standing naked in the forest, his body all hard muscles and flat planes, his hard-on standing straight up against his body.

With a whimpering sound, she came back into his arms, rubbing against him, feeling like her body was going to ignite and set the woods on fire.

He reached up to take her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in his hands, his thumbs stroking over the hardened tips, bringing another whimper to her lips.

She needed him on top of her. Inside her. Here. Now.

Grabbing his arm, she pulled him down to the make-shift bed under the tree boughs.

Hot and hard, he clasped her to him, murmuring her name as he slid his lips over hers, caressing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with his face, then turned his head so he could take one pebble-hard nipple into his mouth, sucking on her, teasing her with his tongue and teeth while he used his thumb and finger on the other nipple.

She arched into the caress, her fingers sliding through his dark hair. He shifted so he could trail one hand down her body, finding the hot, slick core of her.

When he dipped his finger between the silken folds, she made a low, needy sound.

aNow. Please, now.a As he covered her body with his, she braced for the pain of their joining. But this time, when he slid into her, there was only pleasure that made her cry out in mingled surprise and joy.

On a sob, she circled his shoulders with her arms, holding him close as he began to move within her in a fast, hard rhythm.

Nothing so vivid could last for long, and the intensity quickly built to flash point.

Her inner muscles tightened around him, sending waves of shattering sensation through her body.

aOh!a she gasped as the heat of it blotted out the world.

Feeling her climax, he began to move with more urgency, crying out as he followed her into the heat of the explosion.

She was shaken to the depths of her soul as he collapsed against her, because she knew that the two of them belonged together for all time, and she must find a way to make things right between them.

Turning her head, she slid her lips against his cheek, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to burst forth. Because now that she had had this moment, she knew the reckoning was coming.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

TALON STIRRED BESIDE Kenna.

aWe should go back,a he said.

aYes,a she whispered, still waiting for him to start asking questions. When he didnat do it, she felt some of the weight lifted off her chest.

An idea was starting to form in her mind. A desperate idea. She didnat even know if it would work. But she had to try it.

They both stood. Picking up her shirt, she turned slightly away, shook off the leaves, then pulled her arms through the sleeves. Talon was also shaking off leaves and getting dressed.

aAre you going to call the police?a she asked.

aI got here too late to tell them what happened.a He gave her a long look. aAnd I doubt that you want to talk to them. That would bring up a whole bunch of problems for you, wouldnat it?a The question hung between them.

aYes,a she finally managed to say.

aHe hit you on the head. You donat want to get checked out, right?a This time she could only answer with a small nod.

aWe will work this out,a he said.

The way he spoke made hope leap inside her. It was followed by despair. How could they ever work it out?

As they approached the lodge, she could still smell the gasoline.

Talon made a face. aIad better check the foundation,a he said in a tight voice.

aYes.a She speeded up, hurrying inside, glad that he was holding back from pressing her and wondering why. Last time head been angry. This time he was . . . she didnat know what to call it. But she knew that they couldnat go on the way they were. She had to change things. And maybe there was a way to do it.

Inside, she hurried down the hall to the office where she stopped short. It was a mess, and she gasped.

Papers were all over the room.

And she knew what the man must have been doing after head hit her. Head come in here and started searching through Talonas records. Which was lucky for her. Because if he hadnat taken the time to do it, he would have set the fire earlier, and shead probably be dead.

G.o.ds!

She looked toward the door. She should tell Talon. But head find out soon enough. And she had to do something more important, before she lost her nerve.

Quickly, she pulled some papers out of the printer tray and found a black marker the man had thrown on the floor.

Leaning over the desk, her heart pounding, she quickly wrote one word on the top sheet.

SLAVE.

When lightning didnat strike her, she breathed out a small sigh.

On the next sheet she wrote: PORTAL.

When a dart of pain stabbed her in the head, she stood up on shaky legs and grabbed the papers and pen. Down the hall in the kitchen, she set down the stack of papers and shuffled the words shead written to the back. On the top sheet she wrote: SPY.

This time, the stab of pain was worse, and she dropped the papers on the counter. Backing away, she took several deep breaths.

After waiting half a minute, she grabbed another sheet and wrote: ANOTHER. She would have added WORLD, but that was all she could do now. The pain was starting to build up too far.

Scrabbling the notes into a pile, she carried them down the hall. But now the sheets of paper burned her hands.

All she could do was throw them on the dresser and back away.

Her breath coming in gasps, she staggered out of the bedroom, struggling not to pa.s.s out. It felt like the atmosphere in the lodge was thickening in her lungs, and she knew she had to get out of the house.

Since Talon was out front, she slipped out the back door, heading for the big rocks along the river where she sometimes sat by herself.

TALON stopped to wipe his sleeve across his forehead, then added another shovelful of dirt to the wheelbarrow head brought from the storage building. Luckily, the guy hadnat gotten too far with spreading the gasoline. A lot of it had evaporated. But some had sunk into the soil, and Talon knew that it would eventually get to the water table and contaminate the river down the hill. So he was digging it up and storing the dirta"until he could get it to a toxic waste dump.

He clenched his hands around the shovel handle and uttered a low curse. Fouling the environment was a sin, as far as he was concerned. But, of course, that thought hadnat entered the b.a.s.t.a.r.das mind when head been trying to burn down the house.

Until Kenna had stopped him.

As her name leaped into his mind, he looked up at the lodge, wondering what she was doing in there. After theyad made love in the woods, head been more sure than ever that she was his life mate. Head have to explain that to her, if they could ever have an honest conversation. Dammit.

Kenna was still lying to him. Lies of omission, if nothing else, and he had to figure out how to make her stop without making things worse. Yeah. And maybe shead explain to him why shead stolen a bunch of stuff from their neighbor. They hadnat even gotten around to that yet.

as.h.i.t!a He shoveled furiously, then picked up the shafts of the wheelbarrow and trundled it into the storage building, where he spread a large tarp.

When they made love, it was fantastic. Then . . . she kept shutting him out.

Or maybe . . .

What?

He thought about the times shead tried to speak to him and the pain that had struck her so suddenly.

Was that it? Something was in her head that kept her from speaking?

What the h.e.l.l could that be?

A phrase came to him. aPosthypnotic suggestion.a Jesus. Was that what was wrong with her? Shead been ordered not to reveal her background, and if she did, pain made it impossible for her to speak?

He cursed again.

Who would have done it to her? Was she part of some secret government project? Or did she belong to a cult that used hypnosis to keep their members from breaking away and revealing their secrets?

He had just started toward the lodge when his cell phone rang. Pulling the instrument from his pocket, he saw that the caller was Ross Marshall.

Did he want to talk to Ross now? He was about to put the phone back into his pocket when he changed his mind and flipped the cover open.

aTalon, this is your cousin Ross.a aYes?a aIad like to talk to you about Kenna.a aYou are talking to me!a he snapped.

aIad like to have this conversation in person.a His stress level made him growl, aWhy donat you start talkinga"and Iall decide whether we need to have a face-to-face.a aBecause there are things I canat say over the phone.a aFine!a Talon pressed the aoffa b.u.t.ton, then shoved the phone back into his pocket. He didnat want to talk to Ross. He wanted to talk to Kenna.

Jaw clenched, he stomped up the front steps and into the lodge.

aKenna,a he shouted.

When she didnat answer, his chest tightened. First he looked in the kitchen and the living room. Then he started down the hall. When he saw his office, his breath caught. His files were all over the G.o.dd.a.m.n room.

What the h.e.l.l! Had she been tearing the place apart while he was outside?

Or was it the guy looking for information?

Jesus!

Confounded and burning to confront Kenna, he sped down the hall, searching the bedrooms.

When he found the rope and the phone cord in one room, he cursed low under his breath.

His alarm grew when he couldnat find her anywhere. But on her dresser, he found a pile of printer papers and a marking pen.

Shead been writing on the papers in big block letters. One word per page. SPY. SLAVE. PORTAL. ANOTHER. What in the name of G.o.d did any of that mean? And why had she used so many sheets?

Was she a spy for a foreign country? Was that it? And thatas why she had a strange accent? Sure! A foreign spy in Bedford, Pennsylvania.

aKenna!a he called again, but the lodge remained silent.

Anger, confusion, and panic warred inside him. Taking a deep breath, he tried to follow the trail of her scent. When it led to the back door, the hairs on his arms p.r.i.c.kled. Shead gone!

Alarm bolted through him. Without giving himself time to think, he opened the back door and tore off his clothing, then began to say the chant that would transform him.

When he came down on all fours, he howled, then charged through the door, pausing to pick up Kennaas scent.

She had gone into the woods. Was she leaving because she couldnat bring herself to reveal her secret? Was she going to steal stuff from another neighbor? Or had she taken something from the office? He couldnat discount that. Maybe the mess was a smoke screen so he wouldnat see what was missing.

If he had been a man, he would have shouted his curses aloud. Instead, he only howled them silently in his head as he trotted along the trail shead made. It was as plain to him as if shead sprayed dye along the ground. He knew her unique scent. It had sunk into the pores of his skin, the fibers of his heart, and it would lead him to her. And then what? Was he going to change to human form and confront her?