"I need you emotionally far more than I need you physically." He cupped a hand around the back of her neck and drew her lips close to his. "And I rest far easier at night knowing you are safe."
"I'm not safe. Not really." Her breath tingled across his mouth, her gaze holding his. "It's just an illusion you draw for yourself. Your work is your life. Either I'm a part of that life, with all its inherent dangers, or I'm out. Standing halfway between the two, like I currently am, is the most dangerous place of all."
"You're wrong." He brushed a tender kiss across her full lips. "And what we're doing now is the true danger. Distractions can kill."
"We are lovers, Michael. Occasionally it's nice to act like it." A teasing smile touched her lips. "But if you're really worried, just tell me to stop."
He slid his hand down to her waist and held her in place. "The Man of Steel wouldn't have the strength to tell you to stop right at this moment."
"Then stop worrying and just start loving."
"You are an extremely bossy woman, you know that?"
"And you are the most talkative male I have ever met." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "How about we concentrate on the business at hand before daylight comes and we really do get arrested."
As you wish.
He kissed her hard and began concentrating.
The harsh rap of knuckles against wood jerked Nikki awake. She kept her eyes closed, listening as her heart galloped in her chest. There was no sensation of danger, no hint of evil. The knock at the door echoed again.
The bed bounced as Michael rose, and she opened her eyes. The sunshine filtering past the hotel's curtains was warm and bright, so dawn had come and gone. She glanced at the clock. It was just after eight. They'd been asleep for a little more than three hours.
She sat up and looked around. The warm light played almost lovingly across Michael's well-toned back and shoulders as he pulled on his pants.
"What's wrong?"
"Jake's at the door." He leaned across the bed and quickly kissed her. "And from the feel of it, he's not happy. You'd better get dressed."
She tossed off the blankets and rose. "Something's happened."
"Obviously." He pulled on his sweater and walked quickly from the room. A heartbeat later she heard Jake's angry tones.
She hurriedly pulled on some clothes and walked out. "What's wrong?"
Jake threw the newspaper he was carrying onto the coffee table between them. "That's what's wrong."
The headlines screamed at her. Another woman had gone missing overnight.
Chapter Eight
She looked quickly at Michael. "It must have happened after that couple tried to kill us."
"Not us. You." He picked up the newspaper and studied the front page.
"Hang on," Jake said. "What am I missing here?"
She waved toward the window. "Someone took a potshot at us through the window last night. Turns out the fiend behind these kidnappings was psychically controlling a couple with a gun."
Jake's glance shifted to Michael and back again. "So why is he trying to kill you and not Michael?"
"Because he sees Nikki as the threat, not me."
"Why?"
"He's clairvoyant."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning," she answered with a smile, "he can see things other people can't. Sometimes this can include the future."
"That obviously means you're going to catch the fiend."
"Not necessarily. The future is not set in stone, you know. And knowing it means you can do something to change it."
"Well, that's just great." Jake dropped down onto the sofa and glanced at Michael. "You'd better turn to page three while you're reading that thing."
He did, and though his expression didn't change, a wave of annoyance singed her senses.
"What?" she said.
He folded the paper and showed her the headline. Psychic recovers kidnap victim, it all but screamed.
Complete with a picture of her that had been taken during the inquest into Matthew Kincaid's death.
"Oh, that's just great." Just the sort of headline she needed while trying to stop a killer.
"It mentions the agency in the article," Jake said. "And about an hour after that edition hit the streets, I got a call from Jeff Harris, the husband of the woman who's just been kidnapped. He wants you to try to find his wife."
And why wouldn't he, given what had happened to the other victims? She bit her lip and met Michael's gaze.
You don't have to, he said gently.
Yes I do. I couldn't live with myself if I stood back and did nothing, only…
Only this time it might very well be a trap, he finished for her.
She sighed. Yes .
He studied her for a moment, then threw the paper back onto the coffee table. "You remember what we did when Jasper kidnapped Jake, and we had to find him?"
She nodded. "Merged minds."
"It might be worth trying something like that again. I'll direct your abilities and hold them in check."
"But what if this Farmer fellow senses you?"
"I doubt he has the psychic strength."
"Can I ask who Farmer is?" A hint of exasperation tinged Jake's voice.
"The fellow behind the shooting last night," Michael said. "I have a meeting with him tonight."
"Is he the killer?"
She shrugged. "We're not sure. Probably."
Jake glanced at Michael, his expression hard. "He's a dead man?"
"If I can discover for a certainty he's behind the killings, yes."
"Good." Jake's gaze returned to her. "Are you up to helping Jeff Harris?"
"I have very little choice, really. You've arranged a meeting?"
He nodded. "Much to the annoyance of the police and Feds, I think." He glanced at his watch. "Mary wants us to have breakfast together, then we'll head on over. I said we'd be there by nine-thirty."
"That's not leaving much time for breakfast. Mary won't be amused."
"She never is." He pushed up from the sofa. "I'll see you in the dining room in ten minutes."
He strode from the room and slammed the door closed. "A marriage in trouble," Michael said softly.
"Yeah, and you'd better take note, buddy boy, because that's us a few years down the road if you don't start listening to me."
His dark gaze met hers, as unreadable as ever. "You and I are far different."
"Bull. Mary's taking no more notice of Jake's desires than you are of mine."
He raised an eyebrow. "And is Jake taking any notice of Mary's desires?"
"He's here, isn't he?"
"Only to recover. You and I know he has no intention of taking the security position permanently."
She crossed her arms and all but glared at him. "Mary knew what Jake did for a living when she married him. She has no right trying to change him this late in the game."
"Yet you have the right to try to change me?" A slight smile touched his lips. "I have never made any secret of my opposition to you joining me in my work."
"I'm not asking you to stop like Mary's asking Jake. All I'm asking is to be included in that section of your life."
"And in the meantime, deliberately ignoring every opposing argument I give. A marriage works two ways, Nikki. It's give and take."
She raised an eyebrow. "We're not married."
He hesitated. "No. But the principle is the same."
"So you're saying I take and don't give?"
His frustration flitted through the link between them. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all."
"Then what are you saying?"