Taylor set his book aside and rolled onto his back with a sigh. The words weren’t holding his attention. He still felt all the emotions in the surrounding motel rooms. Someone’s anger set him on edge and mingled with waves of lust from another room; it was driving the empathic parts of his mind nuts. He felt everyone except one person.
Sitting up, he raked his fingers through his hair and let the black strands fall back into his eyes. It was probably time for a haircut. His roots were so long the blond bled into the bad dye job.
He studied the back of Max’s head, watching the way her own auburn hair draped over the back of her chair. His entire life he had been grateful for the fact his best friend was a null. Not being able to read her emotions had saved his sanity more than once in the past. But just then it was driving him crazy.
“It’s creepy when you stare at me.” Max’s soft taunt broke the silence in the room. She didn’t turn around.
He chuckled. “What’s creepy is that you knew.”
She spun halfway in the chair, arm resting over the back and brown eyes locked on him. “I can see your reflection in the screen.” She nodded at her laptop. “What’s up?”
He shrugged. Part of him was screaming to tell her the truth. They didn’t keep secrets from each other and this was one he desperately wanted to know her thoughts on. But he was terrified it wouldn’t turn out well. “Nothing. Just thinking.”
Max slid from her chair and moved to his bed, crawling toward him on her hands and knees. “Thinking implies there’s something to think about.”
He tried to pull his gaze away from the front of her shirt, and the fantastic view the angle gave him. It didn’t help that she was only wearing a night shirt. She had shed her jeans a couple of hours ago. He stared past the crease between her perky, round tits, down her bare stomach.
Was it a blessing or a curse that they were so comfortable with each other she was okay with dressing like that around him? He pushed the images away and focused on her face. “You’re busy. It can wait.”
She stopped in front of him, nose almost touching his. Her brown eyes swept over his face, brow furrowed. The sharp sweetness of cherry Lifesavers traced her breath. “Too late. I already stopped working. Now you have to tell me.”
His skin hummed in anticipation. He clenched his hands into fists, fighting back the desire. It was different with her. Every emotion he felt was his and he knew it, and somehow that made the need that much more powerful. What was he going to say?
“Taylor?” Her playful tone held a hint of concern. “What’s wrong?”
Great, now she was worried. He didn’t even need his empathic power to recognize that. Regardless of what he wanted or needed, he couldn’t lie to her. “It’s about this thing between you and Sonja.”
She tilted her head to the side, some of the worry in her eyes fading. She winked. “You never told me you had threesome fantasies. I mean, she’s kinky, but I don’t know if the two of you would work, you know, psychically together.”
The images flooded his head without permission, but Max won out in every one. Moaning, writhing, and grinding against him in next to nothing. Warmth flooded his skin. Maybe he should have turned the heat down.
“It’s-not-that.” His denial tumbled out in a single word. He took a deep breath. Why was his heart hammering so hard?
“So what is it?” She brushed a strand of hair off his forehead.
Her fingers sent a jolt of lust through him and he didn’t know if he should pull away or dive into her touch. The indecision left him frozen. “It’s just…you know how you were teasing me about being jealous?”
She frowned. “Yes.”
He swallowed. It didn’t help. “It’s true. But I’m jealous of her, not you.”
“I–” She paused, mouth slightly open, staring at him. “What?”
She hadn’t laughed at him or hit him yet, that had to be a good sign.
He raked his fingers through his hair, dropping his hand back into his lap when he realized he was shaking. It was too late to back out now. The revelation relieved him. “I don’t like seeing the two of you together, because I want to be the one you’re spending your nights with.”
She laughed. “I do spend my nights with you we share a ro-…oh.” Her lips drew into a circle and she ducked her head. An auburn curtain fell around her face and an awkward silence hovered between them.
Should he say something? Crap. Had he screwed up in telling her?
Her head came up again, and she closed the distance between them. Pausing with her mouth hovering near his, she whispered, “I’d like that.”
Her lips brushed his and he gasped. Normally any contact with another person flooded him with their emotions, but since he couldn’t read her all he felt was her touch. It raced through every nerve ending. He leaned into the gesture, feeling her mouth, tasting the lingering sharp of the candy she’d been sucking on.
She pulled back, eyes wide and locked on him. “Wow.”
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He wanted more. Needed her. His fingers wrapped in her hair and he pulled her back in. He was intensely aware of each strand tangled against his palm, and then her lips crushed against his.
Her tongue flicked out, dancing into his mouth. Her teeth grazed his bottom lip. The outside noise vanished. There were no other emotions in the room. All he felt was her skin against his and the desire for more.
She kissed along his jaw, teeth nipping his neck, and then his earlobe. Her whisper brushed his skin. “Do you have any idea.” Her tongue traced along the inside of his ear. “How many nights I wished you would say something just like that?”
Every new sensation set his skin on fire. His head felt like it was filled with helium. “Sorry.” Was all he could manage.
“Doesn’t matter.” She nudged his legs apart and slid between them. “As long as you make good on it now.”
Her nails dragged down his spine and under his shirt. He moaned at the caress of her fingers on his bare back. He ran his hands down her arms, hesitating for a moment before brushing her breast.
She moaned and pushed into his touch, hand covering his and squeezing.
Taking the hint, he brushed her nipple through fabric. Her moans grew louder and he tweaked harder, rolling the nub between his fingers. She pushed his shoulders and he took the hint, falling onto his back.
She moved from between his legs, kneeling next to him. He pulled her closer, pushing her nightshirt up and raising his head enough to take a nipple in his mouth. The tiny creases against his tongue made him harder, and her whimpers sucked the air from his lungs.
Her hand found his jeans, fumbling with the button and zipper only for a moment before sliding it down. Her cool fingers freed him. Each touch sent a shiver through him.
His disappointment when she pulled away was short lived. Her mouth glided down his chest. He gasped and arched his back when her tongue flicked over the head of his cock. Her fingers stroked the shaft, and she took him completely into her mouth before pulling back again and resuming her licking.
His eyes followed her curves, from her head bobbing up and down, to her ass sticking up in the air. Hand resting on her inner thigh, he stroked the smooth skin between her legs.
She moaned and stroked him faster.
His fingers brushed the outside of her panties. She squirmed closer to his touch, never letting go of him.
He pushed her underwear aside, fingers slipping easily between her folds. She was so wet. Her pumping slowed as she leaned into him, but her tongue drew frantic circles around his swollen member.
He slid a finger inside her and she gasped, pushing against him. He spread her wide enough to fit another finger inside her tight hole. Her fingers brushed his and he realized she was playing with her clit while she rocked against his hand.
Her ministrations on his dick resumed with fury, moans vibrating his skin as she stroked him. He lost track of anything but the growing sound of her cries and her tongue and hand working him over.
She cried out, pussy clenching around his fingers, and her rocking slowed, but she continued to stroke him.
He had to warn her, as much as he didn’t want her to stop. “I’m gonna cum.”
She didn’t move away, instead she slid his cock in her mouth, pumping and sucking.
His muscles clenched and he grunted, thrusting against her as he came.
Her attentions slowed. Shudders wracked his frame when she finally pulled away, licking his overly sensitive flesh clean.
His fingers slid out of her and she moved to lie next to him. She rested her head on his shoulder. Her warm breath brushed his chest. “Wow.”
He titled his head up enough to brush his lips over her forehead. “Ditto.”
#
Snippets of the night before drifted back to Taylor as consciousness set in. He couldn’t believe he had finally told her how he felt. And the after…parts of him still tingled. He frowned when he realized he was the only person in the bed. Had she moved back into her own?
He forced his eyes open and rolled his head toward the second queen mattress. Unslept in. He couldn’t hear the shower running either. He sat up with a jolt. Where was she? Sunshine fell into his eyes from the crack in the curtains, and he winced.
A strange noise hummed through the room. What the hell? He looked around, gaze falling on his phone. It was vibrating against the nightstand. He needed to calm down. She had probably just gone out for food or something. He grabbed the phone, a flicker of a smile crossing his lips when he saw it was her. “Hey, you.”
“Hello?” an unfamiliar voice greeted him.
His brow furrowed. “Who is this?”
“I’m sorry, sir. I’m a nurse at Alpine memorial. Do you know a Maxine Robbins? You were the only number in her phone.”
Shit. His stomach dropped into his feet. “Yes.”
“We need you to come down here and help us fill out some paperwork.”
“Wait, what?” He slid on his shoes and grabbed his car keys, already heading toward the door. “Is she all right?”
“She’ll be fine, sir. But there was an assault. Do you know where we’re located?”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Taylor dropped his phone into his pocket before she could say anything else.
The drive to the hospital took forever. He usually used the other drivers’ emotions to move more easily through traffic, but he couldn’t focus that day. Horns blared each time he cut someone off, and his nerves were shot by the time he pulled up to the hospital.
He tried to feel relieved when a nurse knew exactly why he was there and led him toward the back rooms. But all he could think about was Max. He was shown to an exam room near the back of the hall
Max looked up when the door swung open. A bandage covered the right side of her forehead, and a large bruise was visible beneath her shirt sleeve. But at least she was she was sitting, her legs swinging over the edge of the bed.
Taylor let out a tiny laugh and stepped forward.
Her eyes grew wide and she scooted back, shaking her head. “Don’t.”
He stopped halfway across the room, searching her face for information. Nothing was there but fear. “Max?”
She stood and backed away.
“Miss, you need to stay in bed until the doctor says otherwise,” the nurse warned.
“Go away,” Max growled, eyes never leaving Taylor.
“But-” What had he done?
“They found me.” The three words crossed her lips, and suddenly it all made sense. “Run.”
“Miss.” A nurse stepped up next to her IV, syringe filling the line with something new.
No. Taylor didn’t want to process it. For her as an unlicensed null, him as an empath, being found meant prison. Or worse. He couldn’t leave her though. “I can’t.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Go.”
She had said they found her. That meant they didn’t know about him yet. He wouldn’t be able to carry her and still run. But if he could evade them long enough to come back for her…
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
She slid down the wall, eyes dropping shut.
“Sir, you’ll need to let the patient rest.” A hand rested on his arm, something cold pressing against his skin. External fear and deception flooded him. He spun on the nurse and she backed away, eyes wide and syringe striking toward him again.
He pushed her aside and ran, ignoring the nurse’s deceptive request to please stay and fill out insurance paperwork.
Feet behind him pounded against linoleum, but he couldn’t feel any emotion from the people chasing him. There should have been something laced with adrenaline – fear, hate, anger, arrogance. But there was nothing. That meant they could probably read him.
He pushed through a door marked ‘exit’, determined to find a crowded room. He had experience hiding his thoughts and emotions, if he could just sit long enough to blank out his mind, maybe he could hide in a group.
His breath came in short gasps, chest burning as he ran. His footsteps were loud in the stairwell, echoing and blending with those behind him. He pushed through another door, into the main lobby, and two men looked in his direction instantly.
Again he got nothing from them. He struggled to push aside the image of Max collapsing to the ground as he turned away from the new threat. He wasn’t going to have time to calm down and find he center in order to blank his thoughts and emotions. But the images of Max were too much to repress in his current state.
He wove around nurses and patients and doctors and carts, trying to figure out where he could hide. He couldn’t catch his breath. He took a corner and then another quickly, and realized the hallway was empty. An exit door stood on the left and one marked ‘stairs’ was on the right. He shoved the exit door open with a loud clang, keeping an image of himself bolting through it in his mind.
Heading through the stairway door instead, he continued to force other thoughts into his head. He kept his footsteps as light as possible on the stairway as he sprinted to the basement. He pushed through the doors into another empty hallway, but didn’t allow himself to feel relief.
There were no emotions nearby. He wondered if he’d found the morgue. It didn’t matter, he just needed someplace to hide. To catch his breath. To figure out how to get Max back and get out of there.
He pushed into an empty room, latching the door softly behind him, and slid to the floor, gasping to catch his breath. He pulled his phone from his pocket. He’d need an exit route once they got out, and Max wouldn’t be able to navigate this time.
His eyes grew wide when he saw the text message icon on the top of his phone. In his rush to get to the hospital, he hadn’t seen it come in. He clicked through, spurred by her picture.
The door slammed open and two men rushed in. Before he could react, one had pinned him to the wall and the other jammed a long needle into his arm. As consciousness drifted away, his phone clattered to the ground.
Her message reflected off the tile before the screen blinked off.
I loved you.