Chapter Four

Faith pushed her hair away from her face, tucked the ends behind her ears, and picked up her mug of tea. Her eyes ached from hours of staring at the computer monitor. She knew more about Special Forces operations now than she did about her own family, and it still wasn’t enough. She had the basic structure and the chain of command. Even the location of SOCOM—Special Operations Command—at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. But that was as far as she could get. And Mark could have been deployed from there or Fort Bragg or Fort Lewis, or any one of a number of other bases where the Delta Force teams trained.

Still, she was amazed at the amount of information out there for just anyone to find.

“We might as well hand our enemies a blueprint,” she snorted to herself. “Why do we ever try anyone for leaking secrets? All they need is a computer and the ability to Google anything.”

She finished the last of the now-lukewarm tea and leaned her head back against the chair. She needed a few minutes to clear her mind before tackling anything else. She also had a list of questions for Aunt Vivi and The Lotus Circle, which she’d call about in the morning.

Closing her eyes, she tried to empty her mind, but an old memory rose to the surface.

* * * * *

“You look gorgeous, Faith.”

Mark’s deep voice was like a caress, and she shivered as it wrapped itself around her. They were moving in place to a slow ballad, jammed with a hundred other couples on the dance floor.

“Thank you. I’m glad you think so.”

He brushed a kiss against her forehead. “I’ve always thought so, Tidbit. Even when you were a skinny little rabbit afraid of everyone and everything.”

She smiled up at him. “But you always took care of me.”

“And always will.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder, inhaling the fragrance of his citrus cologne mixed with his special male scent. “I still can’t believe you came home to take me to my prom. I know how busy you are at college with finals coming up and all.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he murmured.

So slowly she was barely aware of it, he danced her out of the room and through the French doors to the patio outside. Away from the ballroom he took her hand and led her down the broad, stone steps to a secluded area among some trees. The night air was crisp and sharp, the music like a faint symphony serenading the stars overhead.

“This is more like it.”

Mark cupped her face with both hands and lowered his mouth to hers. They’d kissed on and off over the years, tentative, exploratory kisses, but nothing as sensual as this. Mark’s tongue danced along the seam of her lips, pressing lightly until she opened for him. When his tongue swept inside her mouth, heat spread through her body. Her nipples tightened, and her panties dampened. Pulses she didn’t know she had began an erotic drumbeat.

God. What’s happening here? This is Mark. My best friend Mark.

This was far from a friendship kiss. He held her head firmly in his palms, plundering her mouth, the kiss one long, sensuous mating. She felt his tongue everywhere, tasting the roof of her mouth, the inside of her cheeks and her lips. Tentatively she pressed her own tongue against his, and the jolt of electricity that shot through her ignited every inch of her body.

At last he lifted his head and looked at her with heavy-lidded eyes. She saw desire there, heat and . . . something more. Then it was gone.

“Mark . . .”

He silenced her with another kiss. This time his fingers slid down the bare skin of her arms, touched her waist, then moved up to cup her breasts through the silky material of her dress. His hands, large and warm, held the weight of her flesh in his palms, and his thumbs brushed across the tingling nipples.

“You are exquisite,” he breathed when he broke the kiss. “So beautiful. Jesus, Faith, when did you grow up like this? I’d love to strip you naked right here and feast on your body. You have no idea how many nights I’ve dreamed of just that. Of the things I’d love to do to you.”

She flushed at his words, a tiny drop of arousal trickling along the inside of her thigh. “Y-you have?”

“Oh, yeah.” He blew out a long breath. “But my God, you’re only eighteen years old.”

She scowled at him. “Oh, and you’re such an old man? You’re only two years older than me, Father Time.”

He grinned. “Nearly three.” His face sobered. “Not only that, I’ve known you most of my life.”

She wiggled her arms up through his and clasped her hands around his neck. “What does that matter? If we feel this way about it, why should we deny ourselves?”

He shook his head, a rueful smile twisting his lips. “Because you’re still so naïve. So innocent. I can’t take advantage of you this way. Though God knows I want to.”

“We have tonight,” she told him. “I know you have to leave tomorrow, but let’s at least have this.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder. “You say you’ve dreamed about me? Well, I’ve done the same. I think I’ve loved you since we were kids.”

“You aren’t much more than that now,” he chided.”

She looked up at him, trying to put everything she felt into her eyes. “I’m a woman. And I know what I want. Every female wants the first time to be with someone special. I want mine to be with you.”

“Shit,” he groaned, and his entire body tightened.

“You aren’t going to make me beg, are you?”

“What about your folks? Won’t they expect you home? And I’m damn sure not going to do this in the back seat of a car. You deserve far more than that.”

“Prom night is traditionally an all-nighter. You know that.” She looked up at him and grinned. “Besides, I’m with you. They trust you.”

“Jesus, don’t remind me.”

For a long minute she thought he was going to refuse again. Then the music stopped, and instead of taking her back to the table where they’d been sitting, he led her to the door and out into the parking lot.

“Where are we going?” He was walking faster now, and she had to hurry to keep up with him.

“The cabin.” His folks had a cabin in the Hill Country where his father went to hunt. And Mark, when he’d gotten older.

They said little to each other on the drive. When Mark pulled into the copse of trees next to the cabin and shut off the engine, he turned to her.

“Last chance to change your mind, Faith.”

But she was so sure of this. She shook her head. “I won’t. I don’t want to.”

Inside he turned on a small table lamp and the ceiling fan to stir the stale air. Faith stood in the middle of the room, unsure what to do next. Then Mark came over to her, put his big hands on her shoulders, and bent his head to kiss her. His lips were warm and firm, soft and rough at the same time. He traced the seam of her mouth with the tip of his tongue, and she opened for him willingly.

When he plunged inside streaks of heat shot through her body, and the crotch of her thong became suddenly very damp. The pulse in her womb set up a low beat that echoed in every nerve and muscle. She opened her mouth wider, eager for more, and Mark took everything she offered.

He spent a long time on the kiss, seducing her, teasing her, rousing feelings in her that she’d tried to ignore for so long. Lightning sizzled through her, making her weak with a desire unfamiliar yet so strong she wanted to cry out. All the nights she’d dreamed of this, all the times she’d masturbated herself to completion with Mark’s face in her mind—none of it could compare with his actual touch and to the responses he was coaxing from her body.

When his hands slid down her back to the zipper on her dress, a tiny thrill ran through her, and the sensitive nerves in the walls of her sex sparked in response. The dress was strapless with built-in support, so she hadn’t needed to wear a bra. When the fabric fell to her waist she was naked to his touch.

It excited her to hear the intake of his breath and then to feel his hands on her bare skin. Long, lean fingers imprinted their individual brand until there was no mistaking who she belonged to. He stroked her back, those same fingers dancing along her spine and the line of her shoulder blades, before moving to her sides. He never broke the kiss, his tongue everywhere inside her mouth, licking and tasting. She dared to thrust her own tongue at him, and the thrill of contact raised her heat level even higher.

When he cupped her breasts, weighing their fullness in his palms, the throb of her pulse kicked up another notch, and her legs trembled. His thumbs rasped her nipples, chafing them into hard points. Sending streaks of fire straight to her cunt. And still he kept kissing her.

Desperate to feel his bare skin against hers, she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and tried to wrestle it from his shoulder. He laughed into her mouth and took a step back.

“I’ll do it.” His voice was deeper and rougher.

He shrugged out of the jacket and tossed it onto a chair. His shirt and tie followed. Then he pulled Faith back into his arms.

The instant contact of her breasts against his chest, the hard wall of muscle covered with a soft pelt of hair, made her quiver, and the spasms that rode through her when she pleasured herself—always thinking of Mark—raced through her now, only stronger. She clutched at his arms, barely able to stand. And when he lowered his head to take one nipple in his mouth she moaned in pleasure. She could do nothing but hang on while his mouth and tongue and teeth pleasured each taut bud until she was screaming for more, more, more.

It was almost a relief when he tugged her zipper the rest of the way down and pushed the dress to the floor. She stepped out of it, kicked her shoes to the side, and stood before him naked except for the tiny thong.

“Jesus,” he breathed, his voice filled with awe and something close to reverence.

His eyes were so dark they were almost opaque. She knew it was desire, and it filled her with a sense of power that she could make it rise in him like that. He kept his eyes on her while he unfastened his trousers, then they were gone along with his boxers, socks, and shoes. She couldn’t take her eyes away from him, from his lean, muscular body, strong thighs, and most of all, his incredible cock rising proudly from the thick nest of curls.

“I want you.” His voice was almost unrecognizable.

“I want you, too.”

“You should have candlelight and roses and soft music,” he told her.

“As long as I have you, that’s all I want.”

Then she was lying on the bed beside him, and he was kissing her again, his hands learning every inch of her body, all the dips and curves and crevices. When he slipped his fingers into her thong and traced the line of her slit, tiny explosions burst everywhere in her body. Mark captured her mouth again, his tongue both soothing and arousing.

He took a long time with her, using his mouth and his fingers on her nipples, the swell of her tummy, and at last her sex. She was trembling when he stripped away the thong and put his hot mouth over her wet flesh. And when he licked her, flicking at her clit with the tip of his tongue, she screamed, and another miniorgasm gripped her. Everything fell away except this man and the things he made her feel.

Mark knelt between her thighs and held her while small tremors shook her. Then he began again, using his tongue and his teeth everywhere on her core, driving her higher, rousing her more. At last, when she was screaming with need, he pulled a foil packet from his trousers and sheathed himself.

“This will hurt a little,” he warned in a soft voice. “I’ve tried to arouse you enough to make it easier, and you’re very, very wet. That’s a good thing. But after that first pinch of pain, I promise it will get better.”

And he was right. Faith held her breath as he entered her slowly, not daring to breathe as he pressed against the thin membrane inside her, biting her lip at the pinch of penetration. And then she was floating on black velvet, suffused with a sensation that invaded even her pores.

“Okay, Tidbit?” Mark brushed his mouth against hers.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Don’t stop.”

And he didn’t. He paced himself, his big body taut with the obvious effort at control. But he took his time, building her again, bringing her to where she needed to be, holding her gaze as he increased his tempo. The steady in-and-out pumping of his cock sent every nerve into orbit, driving her body to a level of pleasure she hadn’t even known existed.

When she didn’t think she could wait a moment longer, when she was hanging right on the edge of the cliff, desperate to take that leap, he finally gave her what her body was begging for. Thrusting into her again and again, he took them both over that edge. She exploded and spun out, everything falling away except the unbearably pleasurable spasms gripping her. Her inner walls clenched and clenched, and if she was aware of anything it was of Mark’s swollen cock filling every inch of her greedy sex.

A long while later, when reality slowly returned, Mark eased gently from her body. She lay there in the dim light as she heard him in the bathroom, disposing of the condom and running water in the tiny sink. Then he was back, cleaning her with a warm cloth.

“Take a long, hot bath when you get home,” he ordered, before giving her another of those drugging kisses.

She did just that, lying in the tub with the feel and taste of him still on her body. The next day he was off to A&M to finish college.

“We’ll keep in touch,” they told each other.

“I’ll always be here for you,” he said.

“Me, too.”

“One of these days the time will be right, and we’ll be together again.”

 

She’d reached for him and drawn his head down. “I love you, Mark.”

He’d kissed her, a butterfly touch. “I love you, too, Faith.”

 

* * * * *

She was drifting somewhere between dreaming and wakefulness. The memories of the dream still clung to her, and she swore she could still feel Mark’s lips on hers, his hands on his body.

Why hadn’t she argued more with Mark, protested that she’d save her innocence for him, that what they wanted to do was more than all right. Damn him and his reasoning anyway. They’d emailed all the time, but except for their one intense weekend when he met her after her book signing, there hadn’t been another opportunity for them to be together. A situation that he told her more than once dogged him as much as it did her.

She wished now she’d found a way to make them move forward, explore the relationship, see what they actually had between them. She knew it was powerful, and she was sure he did, too.

Head resting on her arms and her eyes still closed, she called up the image of him from that night, overwhelming in his tux, his eyes heated with desire for her. And the long hours in the cabin, where he’d pleasured her over and over until she didn’t know whether she’d ever be able to move again.

They didn’t need a phone to send each other messages, only their minds. And some of his messages made her blush. Then right after graduation he’d left for basic training. She was a junior at Texas Tech University and hot to graduate. To pursue her career. There’d always be time. Later.

But they never stopped their messages. During the four years after that, when she least expected it, his voice would echo in her head, and he’d be there. It was better than email, texting, or a telephone, because they could be any place and still communicate.

Even when he was first deployed they’d managed to keep the thread in place. It was like an invisible pipeline, immutably intact.

Trying to hold on . . .

The words pierced her foggy brain like a knife.

Was she still dreaming? Faith bolted upright, shaking off the images that had danced through her mind. She had fallen asleep, dreaming of Mark, then thinking about the night of her prom. So had she now just imagined his voice, or was he sending her a message again?

You there?”

There! She heard him!

The sound was sharp, and his voice had a painful edge to it. The unexpected white-hot pain in her leg slammed her again, taking away her breath. She grabbed her leg, rubbing it, and tried to still her pulse.

I’m here, Mark. Please tell me where you are?

Silence.

She shook off the heavy tentacles of the dream and forced her mind to focus.

Come to me, Mark. Answer me.

Can’t . . .

Mark? Can you tell me where you are? I know you’re in pain. Her throat tightened. Please give me more.

Silence again. Her stomach knotted with fear and anxiety, but she knew she had to block her emotions or she’d never get a message through.

Help!

The word was almost a scream, and an intense feeling of pain racked her entire body.

I will. Oh, Mark. Help me find you.

But instead of hearing his voice a sense of menace swept over her, of unrestrained evil. Fear pressed down on her with a heavy weight.

The other telepath. The menace. Whoever he was, he knew Mark was reaching out to her. He was not only blocking her but also sending her his own message. Malevolence and death. Suddenly she felt as if hands were squeezing her throat, choking her.

She leaped up, the chair crashing to the floor, sweat pouring from her in rivulets. Her heart raced, and she shook all over. Then, as suddenly as it came it was all gone, and she collapsed in a heap on the nearby armchair.

God. What horrible things were happening to Mark? She had to find out where he was. And quickly. Her inner senses were telling her loud and clear that there wasn’t much time left.

Faith swallowed two aspirin and dragged herself off to bed. She finally managed to fall asleep, but it was fitful and anxiety-ridden. She tossed and turned, now awake, now barely asleep. One minute she recaptured bits and pieces of her dream about the prom. She could almost feel Mark’s mouth on hers, his hands on her skin. The whisper of his breath against her mouth.

But then that awful scream would intrude, and a red mist would hover over her, carrying evil and danger. Her mind would be invaded by such visions of horror they’d frighten her awake. A warning, she was sure, but one she had to ignore if she were to find Mark.

How could she have been so stupid as to waste all this time?

When she finally pulled herself out of bed, her body ached as if she’d been pummeled, and her head throbbed. She stumbled into the kitchen, brewed a pot of lotus tea, and dialed Aunt Vivi’s number.

“I need help.” She failed to keep the trembling from her voice.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Vivi’s warmth reached out to her through the phone connection. “I was afraid of this. Come right over. I’ll call Sarah and Emily to come at once.”

Faith showered only enough to wake herself up, threw on jeans and a T-shirt, and headed for Vivi’s. The women were waiting when she arrived.

“The stranger is assaulting your mind,” Vivi guessed.

Faith nodded. “Not with words but with . . . his presence.”

Vivi sighed. “We never taught you to build shields because we never thought you’d need them. The connection was only between you and Mark so it wasn’t a problem. But now, if other people can attack you . . .” She gave Faith a reassuring smile. “We’ll see what we can do.”

The session was energizing. Faith couldn’t believe how much better she felt when she finally left. During the process she’d visualized building a wall brick by brick to block out the intruder. At once she’d felt the pressure ease. And the energy that flowed from the other women had strengthened her determination. She would get this done. She would.

“Oh, Mark. I wish we hadn’t wasted all these years.”

The thought popped into her head unbidden. Even when they’d had their long weekend together they’d never talked about the future, what might have been, or what might be. The danger was what brought it all to a head and made her take an honest look at her feelings for him.

South America . . . terrorist camp . . . moving . . .

Faith swerved the car, jolted by Mark’s voice. Steadying herself, she pulled off onto the shoulder of the road.

Í hear you, Mark. I’m right here.

She waited, but nothing else came through. The feeling of evil returned, bringing the same pressure on her chest as the night before, but she closed her eyes and brought up the image of the brick wall. The menace began to recede.

Mark?

Then Mark’s voice came through to her again. Mission . . . all killed, except . . .

Except who? Someone besides you? Please tell me more.

But this time she was sure he was gone. The sense of his presence faded away.

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Tess. “Hi. Just wondering if you’ve had a chance to pull anything together yet.”

Tess laughed. “This must be some book running around in your brain. Usually you give me at least twenty-four hours.”

“Yes, it is. I’m really anxious to get started on it.”

“Well, lucky for you I couldn’t sleep last night, so I’ve made serious inroads in what you asked for.”

“Great.” Excitement nipped at her. “Could you meet me at my house? I . . . had to run an errand, but I’ll be home in about fifteen minutes.”

“Sure.” Tess chuckled. “What else would I do with my life?”

“You are a gem and a treasure,” Faith told her. “See you in a bit.”