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  Dawn was streaking the sky with the promise of a clear day.

  Molly shot out of her chair, went to the window, scowling. “You’re right, that tree wasn’t there yesterday.”

  “It could be good,” Cord answered Kelly, taking the moment to lick her neck.

  Molly was firmly focused on the oak in Kelly’s front yard. Cord had noticed it when they came downstairs. Unsure if it was who he thought, he’d waited to see if it became a threat.

  It’d become clear Legion was figuring things out the same way he had. Only he was out there letting Cord do all the work handling his woman. Cord wanted to handle his own woman.

  Kelly’s acceptance of his physical needs wasn’t a puzzle. Her reasons for being on the lap of the creature she’d met a few hours ago were exactly what he deserved. She was doing whatever she had to. Protecting her child required he have access to power, her power. Here she was on his lap.

  “Are you telling me that the big stump out there is a dragon?” Molly demanded. There was an edge to her voice. She’d already proved she was aware of her natural talents, and Cord suspected she used them much more than she let on.

  Kelly was the one who didn’t seem to have any idea how powerful she was. Why had she been in the basement physically looking for her cell phone? A Wind Witch should have called it back up the pipe. Nor should she have been stuck under the tank. What was the problem? Was she simply not using her powers? Or was she as dangerously unaware of them as her daughter?

  There were a lot of questions Cord would have liked to ask, but Molly abruptly turned on her heel and exited the kitchen, headed for the front door.

  “Wait a sec, Molly,” Cord called after her as he set Kelly in the chair next to him, Cord got to the front door but not fast enough. He grabbed Molly’s arm to stop her marching into the front yard. “Will you hold on, woman? He might be dangerous.”

  Molly’s head whipped around, her body half turning to say something to Cord but she never had the chance.

  “Hands off her, Windweaver,” gravelly tones demanded.

  There was no longer an oak in the yard. Behind Molly stood over seven feet of hard, male. His skin the color of rich soil, he appeared more rock than man. Simple T-shirt and jeans covered massive muscles that moved in fluid grace as his large palm slid around Molly’s waist to pull her against his abdomen. Tall, dark and gravelly turned her with the move so they both faced Cord, who held her arm. Standing in front of Legion, with her jaw hanging open, Molly’s head reached the bottom of his pecs.

  Kelly’s gasp of shock warmed Cord’s neck as she saw the exceeding large male. Cord’s other arm flashed behind him to hold her there, making sure she stayed back.

  “The lady’s choice,” Cord replied in calm tones.

  The bastard was huge, not a gaunt molecule in his form. Cord’s eyes didn’t flicker as he surveyed Legion. “Though considering how well fed you appear, I’m guessing you’ve been hanging around for a while? Perhaps you can clear something up for me since the old ones were obviously full of shit. Do dragons really go a little blind from beating it that much?”

  Cord’s eyes flick down to Molly’s round ones. “Been having hot dreams lately? We feed on sexual energy and the boy looks well fed.”

  A little gasping, “Oh,” escaped Molly as she stared at Cord. Then the shock on her face did an amazing transformation into indignant anger. “Oh!”

  Her head twisted around to look up at the male holding her. “Let. Me. Go!”

  Kelly’s hands fluttered on Cord’s back. “Um…is he safe.”

  Cord remained in ready stance but his voice was relaxed. “Oh yeah. Big boy has been here awhile. He figured it out long before I did.”

  Legion immediately released Molly and stepped back as the ground rolled beneath their feet. “Shut up and get your hands off her, Cord.”

  His hold on Molly was loose. She easily pulled her arm away. “Seriously? Sexual energy?” she asked Cord.

  “Listen, it’s not like that,” Legion started behind her.

  Molly simply held up a hand at his face without bothering to turn her head and look at him. “I’m not speaking to you, Rot Wood. Fungus can explain it.”

  A slow smile spread across Cord’s face as he relaxed to lean against the doorjamb. His arm drew Kelly around beside him. “Well, it’s like this,” he began.

  “Enough!” Legion growled. “You’ve helped me enough, Windweaver. Molly, calm yourself,” he commanded.

  “Oh, so not a good idea,” Molly replied in a quietly controlled tone, still not looking at the tall male. “I think I’ll go home. If anyone here is so stupid as to follow me, I am from the Islands and very aware of my craft. You will end up a twig with a bad case of termites.” She nodded at Kelly. “Thank you for breakfast.”

  “You cooked it,” Kelly murmured.

  Molly had already turned and was heading to her house. Legion scowled after her and glanced at Cord. “You talk too much.”

  “You could have talked a little more. How long have you been here?” Cord shot back. “A warning would have been welcome.”

  “When? You’ve been in a bottle since the last moon phase. You were in no shape to protect the child. It was my duty.”

  Cord raised a brow and motioned with his chin at Molly’s retreating form. “And you have such a handle on your duty?”

  Legion grunted and turned to follow Molly.

  “Bottle? What does he mean by you were in a bottle?” Kelly asked as Cord shut the door.

  “He means I preferred the oblivion of scotch to being aware of how hungry I was,” Cord confessed as he looked down at her. He wasn’t quite sure which way he wanted to go. Back to the kitchen or the other way to the box-jammed sitting room? He glanced up the stairs and rejected that temptation.

  “Are you an alcoholic?” Kelly wanted to know.

  She was planted in front of him, frowning, and he realized how serious a subject this was for her. Of course it would be if he were human.

  “Kelly, I’m an addict. Consider me a crack junkie. My drug is you.” He resisted the drive to touch her as she looked at him.

  He had no choices and neither did she. To protect her daughter she’d do precisely what he needed. The one possession he had, the thing they could not program out of him was what he was determined to give her now. The truth.

  Chapter Five

  “Cord, that is an amazingly sweet thing to say in a really weird way, but I’m being serious. Do you have a drinking problem?”

  Her hands were on her hips, and if she’d had a tail, it would be fluffed in irritation. Did he find her irritation cute because he was programmed to? Or was she really adorable when she was annoyed? What did it matter, his reaction to her would only grow.

  “Sweet? I’m being direct. Using the illustration of an addict is not a ploy. It’s as close as humans can come to what’s been programmed into me. The only thing I can choose to give you is a little time to grasp what I am. I don’t even have much of that. The rest—protection, defense, these things are yours whether you want them or not.” He continued after a brief pause, it was all he could manage to make sure she heard this part. “The way you get rid of me is to refuse contact. I’ll become diminished and one of your attackers will eventually figure out how to kill me.”

  Kelly’s head cocked to the side as she listened to him, and then she reached for his hand. “Come here.”

  She led him into the living room, around a haphazard stack of boxes and to the couch. “Sit.”

  Cord sank down on the couch. Kelly girl wasn’t processing the information he was trying to give her in the manner he’d expected. Sure, he expected her to be ticked, who wouldn’t be when they became a possession as opposed to a free woman? Mad at him was a natural response. He was the monster and she had no alternative but to accept him into her life in the most intimate way imaginable. But she didn’t seem mad at him for reasons he couldn’t fathom.

  She stood between his wide-spread legs and frow
ned down at him as if he were messing things up.

  “Do you know what I see when I look at you?” she asked.

  Cord resisted the urge to run a hand through his hair. “No.”

  “Give me your hands,” she requested softly.

  He held them up and Kelly grasped them, letting him take her weight as she slid both knees onto the couch, straddling his hips. She then sat back on his thighs and laced their fingers together. Holding his hands, her eyes studied his face.

  Cord didn’t move. She was touching him. His body tightened as he savored the feel of her weight on him. She’d placed herself on his lap as if it were natural for her to sit there. Why she would do that didn’t have much time to bother him. The globes of her perfect ass resting on his thighs took too much of his attention.

  “I see midnight in your hair, so dark the black becomes purple when I glance away and I have to look again. My fingers want to touch it to feel the night. Your eyes are the steel gray of winter morning. Lush lashes can’t soften the coldness there, but when you look at me, they become the color of steam rising from the fire within.”

  Her voice moved through him, a melody of sounds that almost drowned her words. It was intimate, softly open.

  Letting go of his hand, the back of her knuckles feathered down his cheek. “High cheekbones, a straight, arrogant nose and those amazing lips. The close-cut beard brings night’s shadow to your face without disguising its strength. A male face that is so perfect it’s a mask, except when you look at me.” Her eyes lingered on his lips a moment then met his gaze as she continued.

  “I refuse to believe the honor holding you still under my hands is some programmed thing. I feel your body shudder and I’m not so ignorant as to think it’s sweet emotion moving you. If you are even a little bit of what you say, the choice to give me this freedom is one you are making every second, isn’t it? Comparing yourself with a drug addict is unacceptable. Please do not.”

  “What would you like me to do then?” Cord asked tightly.

  Kelly let go of his other hand. As her hands settled on his shoulders in light exploration, she smiled into his eyes. “Like yourself a little,” she murmured.

  Cord leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eyes. His hands started at her knees and slowly glided up silky flesh, curving around the back of her thighs to pull her up and into his body. She flowed into him just as he’d asked her to with the gentle pull. Keeping his eyes closed to give her a little more gentleness, he grimaced sadly.

  “Kelly, we both know what you’re doing. If even half of what I’ve said is true, you need me to protect Minuet. Knowing your response is what feeds me, strengthens the beast, you’re willing to try. If you want to ascribe some sort of honor to me because it helps you deal with this, I’m all for it.”

  Her hands framed his face as she demanded, “Open your eyes. Look at me.”

  His lids lifted in lazy sensuality. Her face hovered over his and there had never been a sexier sight than Kelly panting slightly and little bit mad.

  His caress grew bolder as knowing fingers played over soft inner thighs then trailed down her legs to casually caress the backs of her knees and upper calves. He felt her pulse quicken. The sweet fire of desire was well kindled low in her belly. He would keep building it. Carefully, slowly, knowingly drawing her deeper and deeper into sexual abandon.

  His body drank her pleasure and he’d take that substance from her until she was helpless in a sexual frenzy. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to get more of her and when he was done, there would be nothing she wouldn’t do for him.

  He knew exactly how to get what he needed from a woman. But she had no idea what he’d take from her. She was already feeding the beast, giving him her soul. What she asked of him was impossible. She’d understand that eventually. He was a user and she was the drug.

  “Kiss me,” she breathed into his mouth as she lowered her lips to his.

  Her touch was not tentative as she opened and kissed him with fierce female claim. His response was a flash fire of demand. He ignored it, letting her take what she needed from him. Perhaps he could give her this, this little bit of control. It wouldn’t last, but she needed it right now.

  Sucking her tongue deep in his mouth he stroked it as she withdrew, his head lifting off the sofa to follow the nectar, demanding she enter again. Her hips took up the rhythm, pressing into him and retreating as he continued the light touches along the length of her legs. The gliding caress was no longer enough.

  Her body asked for more and he denied her, only giving her his mouth in full abandon. Her hands became claws, raking from his hair to his shoulders. Kelly moaned into his mouth and that was the trigger he couldn’t refuse. Abruptly it was his tongue invading her with a hard push as his body shifted in a liquid ripple of muscle, turning them to lay her back on the couch, his body blanketing her.

  Steel thighs pushed between her legs, giving her no other option but to wrap those long columns of perfection around his hips. His fly thrust into the crotch of her shorts, driving material between soft wet folds. There was no mimicking going on anymore. He stroked her with a hard length of distended jeans. The layers of clothing between them added to her frustration.

  Soft hands grabbed fistfuls of shirt and wrenched it out of his jeans. Finding the moving flesh of his back at last, she was desperate to touch all of it.

  His hands remained fisted in the couch cushions beside her body. Bulging biceps trembled with the effort of restraint as he kept most of his weight off her. His hips and mouth engaged her with pounding response, but he would let her see where they were going. This one time.

  Friction on her sensitive folds drove her up the sensual ladder. Her response sank into his starved body and it felt better than anything he’d experience before. It had been so long since he’d indulged sexual hunger. Then it had been good, this was nothing like that. Bursting spears of pleasure pierced every cell in his body.

  Her legs locked around him, heels digging into his ass, and he felt the electric flash fire wash over her. She was close and exactly where he needed her to be. His hips slowed. Pressing his cock down on her clit, he let the material tease, keeping her on the edge of release. His mouth ate her as her hands grew more demanding. She raked down his back with nails, and Cord growled in satisfaction.

  He gave her several hard thrusts in reward and she arched into him, trying to get more, needing the push over the edge. He withheld it.

  Her hands thrust down the back of his jeans, greedily clenching into his ass, pressing him into her. He lifted his crotch off her as her hands raked up to the small of his back. Yes, that’s what he needed from her.

  The power of her desire poured into him with each twist and pull of her body. She was more, so much more gratifying than he’d thought a woman could be. Pleasure snaked around his brain, infused his body, jumping with the snap of electric current from unused muscles to sleeping bone. She ignited him and they were fully clothed.

  She wrenched her mouth from him, but he couldn’t give up contact. Open mouthed, he dragged his tongue down her neck, seeking the sensitive nerves he knew were there. He was rewarded as soon as he licked over them. Her response speared him and his mouth smiled into her neck, licking lightly. The feathering strumming resulted in her head arching back and her hands clutching the back of his nearly shredded shirt in frustration.

  The sound of material ripping and woman hissing through clenched teeth was an interesting mix. He liked it. His lips fastened down and he sucked that bit of flesh into his mouth as his hips thrust hard up the valley of her legs. One hand shot up over her mouth, the other reached down and clamped around her hip to hold her as he push his hips over her clothes-covered crotch.

  He could feel the lightning racing through her body. Drinking it, he tasted how close she was. His lips lifted and the hand at her hip skillfully worked snap and zipper. The soft flesh of her belly met his palm and he slid thick fingers under damp silk to reach the center of her. Two f
ingers spread plump folds, uncovering her clit for a third finger’s attention. Strumming that sensitized group of nerves, with each touch he enjoyed the burst of pleasure she couldn’t contain.

  He held her on the edge with light contact. Her hips rocked up into his grasp, but he wouldn’t let her take control. Pleasure was white hot and ripping through her. Still he refused.

  Kelly’s teeth closed on his palm and Cord jerked in response. As she bit down, his long forefinger left her clit to slide into the tight opening clenching below. The heel of his palm slammed down on her clit, grinding in a circular motion as he invaded her.

  Kelly exploded. Her body clenched in ridged shock then convulsed under him. His hand on her mouth muffled her vocal response but he was pretty sure there were a few curse words in the screaming moan.

  She came into him with such a punch of power he nearly lost control. Fire raced through every joint and muscle. It burned deep in his back and lanced down his legs. For a moment he was drunk with it. Intoxicating, excruciating in this volume.

  His mouth let go of her neck as he clamped it shut to hold back the roar of fulfillment and cut off his own answer to her release. Not this time. This one was hers alone. Eyes squeezed shut, the pleasure became pain as he refused his response to her gift of power.

  Their bodies gradually stilled, his hips resting heavily between her legs. His hand released her mouth and he opened his eyes to look down at the woman beneath him. She was looking back. He might be mistaken but the round eyes and slightly slack mouth as she panted looked a lot like shock.

  He held her with his weight and let her work through it. There was no way he’d crawl off her now and pretend they’d just been necking and indulging a little heavy petting. They’d been doing a lot more than that, and she needed to face it head-on. He’d be taking more than that from her very soon.

  “Kiss me,” she whispered into the silence.

  He gave it to her, slow and deep. She wanted to feel cherished and he had no problem with that. He cherished the hell out of her. There was no adequate way to express how deeply he valued her, but nor was he capable of what she was looking for now, and that burned deep in his mind. He could pretend though. If it made her happy, he could be any freaking thing she needed. Ruthlessly, relentlessly.