SHI Guy

Superhero, Inc.

SHI Guy A superhero with a kink. Kade, a superhero, has loved Lana for years. When she is kidnapped by his archenemy, it is up to him to save her and take care of the pain inflicted by a powerful aphrodisiac, which can only be relieved by orgasm. He uses his unique power of selfreplication to give him the ability to make love to her as two men, her ultimate fantasy. That one night was his dream come true, but he knows he will never be able to let her go again and is determined to spend the rest of his life with her. Lana has only ever played with toys and is thrilled by Kade’s ability to replicate himself so that she can finally feel what it’s like to make love with two men. But can she accept him into her bed and into her life? Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Science Fiction Length: 27,061 words

SHI GUY Superhero, Inc.

Lynn Tyler

MENAGE AMOUR

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer. WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK IMPRINT: Ménage Amour

SHI GUY Copyright © 2012 by Lynn Tyler E-book ISBN: 1-61926-253-3 First E-book Publication: February 2012 Cover design by Jinger Heaston All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers Dear Readers, If you have purchased this copy of SHI Guy by Lynn Tyler from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book. The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment. This is Lynn Tyler’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Tyler’s right to earn a living from her work. Amanda Hilton, Publisher www.SirenPublishing.com www.BookStrand.com

DEDICATION To my husband, my own personal superhero.

SHI GUY Superhero, Inc. LYNN TYLER Copyright © 2012

Chapter 1 Cigar smoke stained the air blue as Kaden leaned back in his chair, hands folded behind his head, surveying the table with a smirk. He had a beautiful hand and was pretty sure that he was going to win, yet again. His friends and fellow superheroes would hate him for sure. Too damn bad for them that they couldn’t play poker to save their lives. It was a good thing that the psychic down the street didn’t want to play poker with them or Kade wouldn’t win quite as much. He took another pull on his beer and held the bottle up to the light, measuring the amount of liquid gold still inside. Three quarters gone. Damn. He was going to have to slow down if he wanted the two drinks Superhero Inc., or SHI for short, allowed them during their offhours to last. All the men gathered here worked for SHI, an international company that employed superheroes to save the world from criminal masterminds. SHI had been in business for nearly twenty years now and they were still going strong. It was amazing how many criminals actually stayed out of the slammer on technicalities. It was their job to monitor these scumbags and keep them on the up and up. Or take them down, if the need arose.

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“So, Russ, how many chicks did you land when you saved that kid from getting smacked by that speeding train?” Kade teased, poking the other guy in the shoulder. Russ flipped him the bird and threw in another couple of chips. “Fuck you, Kane. I happened to be in the right place at the right time. Besides, it’s not like you wouldn’t have saved that baby if you had a chance.” Laughing, Kade threw in a few of his own poker chips and grabbed a handful of salt-and-vinegar potato chips, tossing him in his mouth. “You know I would have. But damn, boy, it is just so stereotypical for a superhero to save a child from a speeding train. Speed’s not my thing though.” “Dude, what is your thing again? No supers peed, no super strength, can’t fly…how’d Superhero Inc. think you were a superhero?” Russ sneered at him good-naturedly. “You wanna talk about stereotypes? At least my name is Russell O’Neil. It’s so not a superhero name. Come on…Kaden Kane? Did your parents know about your freaky-deaky superpower when you were born or what? And I landed a threesome, fuck you very much.” “Language, gentlemen,” Chris, his best friend’s romantic partner, said, laying his cards down, face up. “Show your hands, lads.” The men threw down their cards, and Kade pumped his hand in the air triumphantly when he saw that he had indeed won another round. “Ante up, boys. Looks like I’m getting a new BlackBerry tomorrow. Suckers.” A chorus of groans rose up from the table as Kade gathered all the chips and began stacking them in neat little piles. “A new CrackBerry? What the hell’d you do with the last one?” Kade’s best friend, Jesse, took a long drink from his own bottle before adding in his own two cents. “One of his clones probably took off with it.” He punched Kade in the shoulder when Kade flipped him off. “Come to think of it, that’s probably how he got so good at poker. He probably sits around at night and practices with himself.”

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“You’re supposed to be on my side, fucker.” Kade rolled his eyes and gathered up the empties. “You all know damn well that any replicas I create have no individual thought, that I have to control everything they do, and they disappear when I stop concentrating on them. Pretty hard to practice with my replicas if I am aware of their hands and I have to decide on their next play.” “Still doesn’t explain how good you are at poker though,” Russ said, taking another puff on his Cuban. “Poker is a skill, boy. And I’m just that good.” Kade tipped back his chair, balancing it on its back two legs, and gloated shamelessly. God, he loved these guys. He’d never had friends he could sit back and shoot the shit with before he’d met Jesse back in their army days. And even then, his and Jesse’s fellow soldiers avoided them like the plague. Nothing like a “freaky-deaky superpower,” as Russ put it, to clear a room, or barracks, as the case may be. “Yeah, well, I’ll take the threesome over being the poker prince any day,” Russ drawled, shooting Kade a grin. “Dude, when are you ever going to get laid?” Chris rolled his eyes and dealt another hand. “Goodness, lad. Do you ever think of anything other than sex?” Russ gave him an innocent look and picked up his cards. “At least once a day, Chris.” The room echoed with laughter and dirty jokes, each of the men poking fun at the other. When talk turned to work again, they began talking about their latest medical exams. SHI required all their heroes to have a medical exam every six months just to make sure there wasn’t any unsavory physical reaction to anything they might be exposed to during the course of their duties. Russ was telling them a story about a particularly good-looking doctor who gave a great prostate exam, to which Chris told him to shut up, when the topic of the SHI geneticist came up. “Speaking of hot,” Russ said, discarding his cards and leaning back in his chair, “I just gave another sample to Lana. I tried to convince her it would be

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better to get the DNA she needs from a semen sample, but she just laughed at me. Man, what I wouldn’t give to get in her in bed.” Kade shifted in his chair restlessly. He would give anything to get the geneticist in bed, too. She was a looker, all right. Long, wavy mahogany hair, curvy hips, and stacked. She was tiny, probably only reaching his midchest and had the biggest, most expressive green eyes he had ever seen. And she wouldn’t give him the time of day. His prick didn’t care though. All he had to do was think about her and he got hard enough to hammer nails. He got up from the green table and palmed the empty bottles in his big hands, carrying two in each. He set them on the counter and headed back to refill the chip bowl. He was just walking back in when Russ started running his mouth again. “Yo, Kaden! You should get off your lazy ass and ask Lana out. I think the two of you would look great together. Plus, then you can give me the deets on what she’s like in bed.” Kade barely resisted the urge to chuck the bowl at his friend’s head and sighed. Russ had absolutely no filter between his brain and his mouth, and he always said the first thing that came to mind. Good thing the guy had a heart of gold and would give you the shirt off his back. Surprisingly, Chris piped up with an agreement. “While I don’t need the details, I do agree with Russ’s idea of you asking Lana out. You’d be perfect together.” Plunking the bowl down on the table, Kade rubbed his hands over his short, black hair. Fucking romantics. They couldn’t keep their damned opinions to themselves. Kade was just fine living the way he was. God had blessed him with a right hand for a reason, and he hadn’t gone blind from it since he had discovered that reason at the age of fifteen. “What the hell? When did you all turn into a bunch of fucking girls?” he muttered. “Anyone want another beer?” Without waiting for any response, he headed into the kitchen and popped open the fridge door. Kade scowled when he felt Jesse’s

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presence behind him. God, he was in for it now. “What do you want, Jess?” Jesse blinked at him innocently, though the mischievous sparkle in his eyes gave him away. “I was just coming to help you with the beers, sugar.” Jesse rooted around in the fridge and came up with a hunk of cheese, a heel of bread, and half a sausage. He shoved a bit of each in his mouth and washed it down with a swig of Bud. “God, Jesse, that’s disgusting.” Kade rummaged in the pantry, extracting a box of Twinkies that the four men all had a secret addiction to. He shook his head when Jesse grabbed one and ripped the plastic off. “How in the world does Chris put up with you?” “What? It’s almost a sandwich,” Jesse drawled in his heavy Southern accent when he finally swallowed the mouthful of food. “And Chris puts up with me because he loves me. That and because I rock his world in bed. He claims that it’s not just my accent that can melt sugar.” He crammed the Twinkie in his mouth and grabbed another one. “Chris! Heads up, darlin’!” Jesse tossed the snack cake through the kitchen door, right at his lover’s head. Christ caught it in midair, nodding his head in thanks and flashing his dimples with a grin. Kade smiled to himself as he watched the exchange between his best friend and Jesse’s lover. He was genuinely happy for his friend. Jesse had hidden not only his superpower but his sexual orientation for years in the army. Even when their powers had been revealed and they had been recruited by SHI, Jesse had hidden his deepest secret. Kade was the only one who had known that Jesse was gay until Chris, with his proper manners and English accent, had strolled in one morning and Jesse had instantly fallen head over heels for the other man. “So,” Jesse said, pushing another Twinkie into his mouth, “about Lana…” Kade groaned inwardly and prepared himself for the lecture he knew was coming. The only problem with Jesse and Chris being so

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happy together was their penchant for matchmaking. They firmly believed that coupledom was everyone’s key to happiness. “I really think you ought to ask Lana out on a date. You’ve been in love with her for years, dude.” Kade rolled his shoulders, trying to dispel the sudden tension that had developed across his shoulders. “Dude? When did you start channeling Russell the Super Slut?” A warm hand settled right between his shoulder blades and rubbed comfortingly. Jesse had always been the touchy-feely sort, and he and Kade had been though too damn much together for Kade to shrug off his offer of support. Besides, Kade could and had gone months without affectionate physical contact, other than an occasional handshake or high five, and the human touch felt good, even if it was his best friend rubbing his back and not the woman he was so desperately in love with. “Kaden, I know you. You’ve not dated anyone, even casually, since you met her. And I know it might make you uncomfortable when I tell you this, but, sugar, you always get the biggest boner when you even get close to her,” Jesse finished with a bright, teasing grin. Kade pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to quell the angry words that threatened to leap out of his mouth. Jesse didn’t deserve his venom. “Shit on a shingle, Jess. Leave it to you to notice my prick. Lana doesn’t even like me. I mean, she won’t talk to me any more than she has to. She doesn’t even look me in the eye.” Jesse squeezed his shoulder and chewed some more bread thoughtfully. At least he’d stopped shoveling the shit into his mouth. “Are you sure she doesn’t? Like you, I mean? Maybe it’s more that she can’t. Maybe she’s just nervous. Look, she’s such a sweetheart, even with Russell the Super Slut. I have a hard time believing that she would like him more than you.” “I heard that!” Russ shouted from the living room. “You probably insulted her somehow. Your social skills suck, dude. And your hard-

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on is so obvious after you’ve been around her that everyone in the building notices, shithead!” Why the hell did they hang out with Russ? Oh yeah, the whole “good guy underneath” thing. Way underneath. Kade just hoped nobody noticed the fact that he always disappeared into the bathroom after he spoke with Lana. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that he was so hot for her he needed to jack off immediately after any interaction with her. “Well, doesn’t matter anyway. Why would I put my neck out for someone who can’t stand me? She’s so damn frigid it would be like having sex with a block of ice. I’d rather use the fist God gave me than be with a cold fish who thinks I’m a freak.” The men gaped at him, not used to Kade being so callous. But damn it, he’d been jacking off to the image of Lana’s pretty lips wrapped around his prick for years now, and he was getting fucking sick of it. Even Russ, the one who always seemed to have a ready comeback for anything, was momentarily stunned into silence. It was that fact, more than anything, which had Kade regretting his words. His face burned with shame, but he hid it behind his beer bottle. Finally Chris stood up and slapped Kade on the back bracingly, inspiring a wince. Super strength hurt. “I strongly doubt that Dr. Lewis believes you to be a freak. She deals with all kinds of strange powers each and every day.” Kade stared at his best friend’s partner, grateful for his words. He was even more grateful when Jesse nodded his head once in agreement and Russ nudged his ankle gently with his booted foot under the table. They all knew how hard it was to be different, how much it hurt to be rejected because of something they had no control over. That was probably why they got along so well. Russ finally opened his mouth to speak. “Dude, maybe she’s just nervous around you. I mean, I’m straight, and even I know you’re a looker.”

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Snorting through his nose, Kade grinned at Russ and fluttered his eyelashes at him. “I’m flattered, Russ.” Russ blushed but grinned back, reminding Kade exactly why he hung out with him. “Seriously, though,” Kade continued, dropping his eyes to the poker table and picking up his cards. “I do want her. But quite frankly, I’m scared she’d say no. I wish there was a way I could ask her out without all the anxiety. And if that makes me a fucking pansy then so be it.” Jesse sat up straighter, his expression brightening. “Hey, that gives me a thought!” Kade dropped his head to the table and groaned. Jesse’s ideas never failed to get them in trouble. He thought back to the time that Jesse convinced him to try and trick their CO. They’d gotten into so much shit for that. “Listen…why don’t I change into you and ask her for you? That way, if she says no, I can change back to me and tell her I was just joking. If she says yes, I can set up the date and give you the details. All you have to do is show up.” “Holy hell, Jess, that’s convoluted,” Russ said. Jesse kicked at Russ’s chair, almost succeeding in tipping the other man over. “No, you’re just slow. Chris and Kade understand me just fine.” Chris stroked Jesse’s arm soothingly. “Actually, darling, even I am a bit confused with your plan.” Kade just shook his head. Oh, he knew exactly what Jesse had been going for. It smacked of the middle-school way of sending the “do you like me, check yes or no” notes to your twelve-year-old crush. It was also a similar scam that had gotten them in so much shit when they were in the army. “Thanks, Jess, but no thanks. I’ll just keep on keeping on. Now, who’s ready to hand over some more of their hard-earned paycheck?” Kade tipped his chair back as he watched Chris shuffle the cards and begin to deal them out. It felt good to be able to kick back with people who were just like him. He had been wary when he and Jesse

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had been recruited right out of the military. The president of SHI seemed to have more power than any other single individual on Earth. Upon hearing he and Jesse still had a significant amount of time before they could be honorably discharged, he had made one phone call, and poof, their discharge papers had come within minutes. Kade knew Russ had been recruited from the CIA and he suspected that Chris had been recruited from MI5. It didn’t matter how many people or countries the heroes of SHI saved, the public generally considered SHI to be a necessary evil. Humans, as a whole, tended to demonize everyone who was different from the norm. Still, Kade and the others did what they did simply because it was the right thing to do. Somewhere along the way, the heroes and staff of SHI had become Kade’s de facto family. He was in the process of relieving his friends of more of their money when his pager beeped. Kade grabbed it just as the others’ pagers began beeping. Shit. This couldn’t be good. They usually only got paged when they were needed. It was almost unheard of that more than a couple of them got paged at once. The letters flashed on the screen, and the four men hauled ass to the door before the legs of the chairs could hit the ground. Their worst nightmare had just happened. Fuck. Code Yellow. They hit the pavement running, joined by several other heroes along the way. “Anyone know who’s missing?” Russ yelled out as more people joined them. It was a useless question since they wouldn’t know who had been taken until they got into SHI Headquarters. But damn it, they all had friends on staff. In fact, given the nature of SHI, the entire company was close, from the president down to the janitors. Luckily, the houses provided for the superheroes were within the SHI compound, so the run was only minutes. The conference room was already packed by the time Kade and the others crowded in. He tried to identify who was missing, but it was nearly impossible with the chaos reigning. He couldn’t see Lana,

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but she was so petite she could very well be blocked from his view by larger bodies. Besides, she usually worked the nine-until-five shift and, as a geneticist, wouldn’t be called in for a Code Yellow. It didn’t matter though. Kade would still breathe a secret sigh of relief when he found out the missing staff member wasn’t her. Kade was still scanning the crowd of people for Lana when the president began shouting for quiet. It wasn’t until Jesse grabbed his arm with a curse that he looked up at the screen on the wall, where Lana’s picture was smiling down at them.

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Chapter 2 Brightly colored little dots swam before Kade’s eyes as the world tilted on its axis. “Breathe, sugar. Breathe,” Jesse hissed in his ear. Two more hands joined Jesse’s, one gripping his shoulder and one pressing squarely into the middle of his back. Since Jesse didn’t have three hands, he guessed Chris and Russ had joined in the effort to keep him on his feet. He certainly would have crumpled to the floor if it hadn’t have been for them propping him up. The president was talking, but all he could hear was the roar of blood rushing through his ears and Jesse still frantically ordering him to breathe. His heart was about to beat right out of his chest, his lungs screamed for oxygen, and he was pretty sure the pizza, beer, and salt ’n’ vinegars were going to make a repeat performance. Damn it all to hell, he needed to pull his shit together and start concentrating on what he needed to do to get Lana out of whatever situation she was in, alive. He sucked in a breath and spoke up. “I’m sorry, sir, but could you start from the beginning again? I want to make sure we have all the details straight.” Kade braced himself for a blistering reprove from his boss but was totally thrown by the sympathetic nod. Apparently the man knew about his feelings for Lana. And judging from the rest of the crowd gazing compassionately at him, so did the rest of Superhero Inc. Any other time, that would have bugged him. Right now he didn’t give a crap who knew that he had long carried an unrequited love for the scientist. All he needed to know was how to get her back alive and unharmed.

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Steady on his feet now, Kade technically didn’t need the other three men to hold him up, but his friends remained where they were, silently offering their support. He was grateful for said support when another picture flashed up on the screen. His assigned villain, Helter Skelter, what a stereotype, leered at them from the screen. “Are you sure it’s Helter?” Kade asked, clearing his throat when his voice sounded as if he had swallowed a piece of sand paper. A video clip began playing on the screen. One of Helter Skelter’s known underlings had been caught on a security camera posted at an ATM. It showed him bundling a woozy Lana into a car and driving off. No one had paid the slightest attention to the faintly odd scene, probably because Lana had gone so willingly. “I would bet my balls that she was drugged somehow.” Russ growled menacingly, his hand still pressing solidly into Kade’s midback. It was a mark of how dire the situation really was when no one commented on the state of Russ’s nuts. This time the president did shoot a dark glance their way and continued on as if Russ had never spoken. “As you all know, about a month ago all staff and heroes were chipped with a GPS tracker. They’ve not discovered the chip yet, and we’ve tracked her to a vacant lot where we suspect Helter Skelter has constructed an underground stronghold.” Kade’s stomach was still churning, but he fought the bile rising up in his throat. He stared at the barren field, trying to locate the point of entry from the sketchy satellite pictures currently displayed on the screen. It was imperative they get her out of there as quickly as possible. The president echoed his own train of thought when he carried on. “It is crucial that Dr. Lewis be extracted from the situation immediately. I don’t have to tell any of you about the sensitive nature of the information she has had access to. It could spell disaster should she be forced to divulge any valuable genetic, or even security, information.”

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Fuck that. It would take a whole load of bad shit before Lana gave up any information, that was for sure. She was loyal to a fault, which was one of the reasons he’d fallen so damn hard for her, and she cared deeply about everyone at SHI. She would rather pull out her own nails than give the enemy information, valuable or not. No, Kade wasn’t worried about the possibility of Lana giving up information. He was more worried about the way Helter would try to get the information out of her. An image of Lana’s fair skin bruised and bloody floated through his mind and took root. His stomach clenched and cramped painfully, forcing him to gag as his supper tried to make a quick exit through his throat. “Shit,” he muttered on another retch. “Darling,” Chris whispered to Jesse. “You might want to step out of the way a little. I think our friend here is about to vomit.” “Dude, I hate puke.” Russ was a master of stating the obvious. There was no one on the face of the earth who actually liked puke. But instead of stepping away, Russ slid his hand up Kade’s neck and pressed on a spot behind his ear. Instantly the urge to throw up vanished. “Better?” Kade nodded his thanks, rolling his head from side to side in a desperate attempt to collect himself, and continued to listen with half an ear as a rescue plan was formed. The conversation flowed around him as he squinted at the satellite image again, trying to picture what kind of set up Helter might have underground. He had destroyed Helter’s last-known stronghold-lab only a few weeks ago. Burnt the fucker to the ground. Helter would have had time to construct only the basics of a new hideout. Unless this one had been here all along as a backup. “Kade and Jesse will go. You must assume it is a fully functional, fully secured facility. The two of you will have exactly thirty minutes to work out the specifics of the search-and-rescue plan before you leave. Make them count, gentlemen.”

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The two men beat it into a smaller conference room and sat in front of the computer screen, where they were able to sync the images they had been looking at before. “A stealth operation would be the best bet,” Kade said, rubbing his temples. “But we don’t have time for that. Our best option is to go in as a couple of their own.” Jesse nodded his head and ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah. I think our old camo is floating around here somewhere. We could use that. It looks pretty much the same as the camo that Helter makes his boys wear.” For someone so intelligent, Helter wasn’t very smart. He insisted on clothing his recruits in what was probably the easiest uniform to duplicate. At least it would make infiltration a little bit easier. Now he had to worry about disguising his face. Jesse could do that at will, of course, but Kade would have to rely on mirrored sunglasses and shaving his perpetual stubble. They walked together into the locker room, where Jesse began rooting around for their old fatigues, while he lathered up and started scraping the whiskers off his puss. By the time he finished shaving, Jesse had laid out Kade’s clothes and had already dropped trou. He turned toward Kade, clad only in his tighty-whities. “You gonna be okay to do this? Because if you’re not, you need to tell me now. Her life may depend on you being able to keep it together.” Kade stripped off his shirt and dropped his own pants, replacing them with his old uniform. Jesse was right. He had to be totally focused out there. One little mistake could mean the difference between Lana’s life and her death. The feel of the worn material and the familiar texture of the laces of his old combat boots galvanized him. He would get her out of there, if it was the last thing he ever did. “Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for propping me up out there.” Jesse shrugged his shoulders, lacing up his own boots. “You would do it for me. Besides, I know how I would feel if it was Chris who was missing. You ready?”

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Kade nodded briefly and strode out. He had to get his woman.

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Chapter 3 Kade waited by the Hummer as Jesse said good-bye to Chris. He watched as Chris threaded his fingers in Jesse’s hair and kissed him possessively. As anxious as he was to get to Lana, he would never presume to intrude upon his best friend’s farewell with his partner. God only knew that every assignment could be their last. As Jesse pulled Chris back for one last passionate kiss, Kade could feel his hazel eyes practically turn green with envy. He wanted that. He wanted someone to kiss him good-bye before he went on an assignment. He wanted someone to be waiting for him when he got home. He wanted someone who loved him deeply enough to give a shit whether he lived or died. They drove in relative silence for half an hour, stashing their Hummer in a strip of dense forest along road. To the average person, it would look like the owners of the vehicle had pulled off the road to take a leak in the trees. They peered around carefully, searching for signs of cameras or guards. They found nothing, which in itself was suspicious. Jesse tapped the radio on the shoulder of his shirt and spoke quietly. “No sign of security. Either Helter hasn’t had time to set up his usual host of cameras and motion detectors, or we’re in the wrong place.” A disjointed reply came back, telling them that a medical team was standing ready ten minutes away. Jesse slipped the Hummer’s key into a hidden pocket, and he hefted his rifle. “Ready?” The two of them stepped out of the trees and began trudging toward the centre of the vacant lot, keeping a sharp eye out for signs of a hidden entrance. “I would be so much happier if you would carry

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a gun,” Jesse muttered, fingering his rifle as if it were a lover. “I worry about your ass, you know.” Still scanning the ground just ahead of him, Kade grunted an acknowledgement. “I know you do, bud. But I can’t replicate weapons, so short of carrying extra rifles and passing them out, there’s no way for my replicas to be armed. If I’m the only Kaden Kane armed, they’ll know I’m the real one. It would put a huge target on my back.” Instead of answering, Jesse patted Kade on the forearm and pointed. A man had appeared from nowhere and was making his way over to them. “Hey, are you two the new recruits Dr. Skelter picked up a few weeks ago? The ones who are the AV experts? We’ve not met yet. You can call me Marshall. Where did you park?” Kade kept his face averted, letting Jesse take the lead, thanking God above that Helter had apparently taken on some new recruits, allowing them to slip in that much easier. “Yeah,” Jesse was saying, “we weren’t told where to park, so we left the car in the trees back there.” Marshall frowned but beckoned them forward. “That’s weird. You should have been told where to park. Anyway, I see you brought your own weapon.” Jesse nodded, stroking his rifle again. “I was told that’s okay.” “Yeah, it’s fine. We can only accrue so many weapons at a time. Those bastards over at Superhero Inc. keep too tight an eye on us, so we tend to encourage our recruits to outfit themselves.” Marshall led them across the field and stopped at a seemingly bare stretch of land. Kade’s heart began beating faster. There had to be a reason they were stopping here. He stared hard at the ground, just able to make out faint seams in the dirt. “It’s hidden pretty well, isn’t it?” Marshall boasted. “A special kind of adhesive holds the dirt and rocks in place. The soil is able to support plant life, which is why the grass is real. It blends in almost perfectly.” Marshall flipped over a hollow rock,

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revealing a keypad, and began typing in a series of numbers. “Let’s get you guys the equipment you need and get you on the job ASAP.” Kade barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes when the trapdoor swung open to a staircase. Really, how stupid could this guy get? Could getting into the compound really be this easy? But if it got them to Lana faster, he wouldn’t shake a stick at it, that was for sure. They followed him down the stairs, eventually coming to a stop at a long hall. A light shined from under the door on the right. “That’s the lab,” Marshall said as he led them down the fall. “You’ll find everything you need in here.” He pointed them to a room on the left. A small beeper sounded from the guy’s waist, and he snatched it up, frowning at it as he read the text. “I’ve got to check something out. Why don’t you familiarize yourselves with the equipment. It’ll take you, what? An hour?” Jesse shook his head quickly, always fast on his feet. “No, sir. More like two and a half to three hours. We’ll want to double check every wire to make sure they are strong enough to last in the elements. Wouldn’t want a malfunction at an inopportune time.” Clearly anxious to run off to whatever he had to check on, Marshall shrugged his shoulders. “You’re the AV guys, not me. But Mr. Skelter wants you to start wiring the inside of the building first.” God, Kade couldn’t believe their luck. Now they actually had an excuse to wander around the compound. Keeping his face turned away, Kade spoke up, forcing his deep voice into a higher register. “We’ll need access the ceiling panels and possibly the air ducts.” Marshall nodded, already edging his way to the door. “Whatever you need. Just do it fast.” “Roger that.” Jesse began sorting through the pile of equipment, separating it expertly. After one last suspicious look, Marshall took off, his boots echoing on the tile as he hurried down the hall. Immediately abandoning the pile of electronic paraphernalia, Jesse and Kade began to retrieve their own gear, which had been stowed in the pockets of their uniforms. “I almost feel sorry for that

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poor sucker. Helter will kill him when he finds out he just left us here without even checking for ID I guess being stupid really can kill you.” Kade nodded absently, uncoiling a length of wire from around his waist and under his shirt. Something on the table had caught his eye. “Jesus, Jess, look at this.” It was a set of blueprints detailing, down to the last stud, the compound they were currently in. Jesse shook his head and glanced at the ceiling. Grabbing the stepladder from the corner, he removed a panel from the ceiling and inspected the air duct he had uncovered. “I think this is too narrow for either of us. It’s going to have to be a full-on assault, my friend.” A feral grin stretched over Kade’s face. “My favorite kind.” They headed toward the door and were just about to open the door when Jesse froze and placed his finger on his mouth in the universal shut-the-fuck-up gesture. Kade held still and could just make out the faint voice coming from behind the door. “If you have the two AV guys, then who the hell did I escort into the compound?” Kade’s heart picked up, pounding with a surge of adrenaline. “Looks like our luck just ran out.” Kade lifted his fingers and counted to three silently. They eased the door open a crack and slowly stuck their heads out. Marshall was standing with his back to the door, talking on a cell phone. Signaling with two fingers, Kade directed Jesse out. Jesse crept silently over to Marshall, raised his rifle and brought it down over the man’s head. Kade caught him as he fell and lowered him to the ground while Jesse scrambled for the phone. A second later Jesse spoke into the cell, his voice totally transformed. “No, no. No problem,” he was saying as Kade patted down the real Marshall before securing his hands and feet tightly. “I just dropped the phone. Look, I checked their identifications. You’d better investigate your guys. Yeah, I’m sure. Roger.” Kade strong-armed Marshall into the AV room and looked around critically. There wasn’t really anywhere they could stash him.

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Actually, maybe there was one place that would work. “Yo, Jess. Help me get him into the air duct.” It never failed to amaze Kade at just how adept Jesse was at manipulating his appearance. If he hadn’t had the real Marshall dangling unconscious from his arms, he would have believed the guy had barged in on him when Jesse entered the room again. The two of them made quick work of stuffing and wedging the slighter man in the air duct, replacing the ceiling panels to make it look untouched. No one would find the man until he woke up and began banging around. Kade just hoped Marshall would stay under until their backup arrived. Kade seized the radio from Jesse’s shoulder and spoke quickly. “Cover’s been compromised. Send backup. Access by hatch hidden in ground in approximately the middle of the field. Access panel under largest rock. Type in 8263. We’re going in. Maintain radio silence.” They crept down the hall toward the lab with Jesse in the lead in case they were stopped. They eased into the lab, their cover stories apparently holding up for the time being, and quickly took stock of the situation. Helter was standing with his back to the door, staring at a computer screen intently. Two men stood guard at the door, and they nodded at Jesse-Marshall. An additional two men stood by the bank of computers along the far wall, and another was stationed at the hall window. Finally there was one more man in the room, who was standing next to a metal slab on which Kade could see a naked female form. God, he’d recognize that delicate daisy-chain tattoo around that ankle anywhere. Lana. “Shut the hell up,” Jesse muttered from the side of his mouth. It was only then that Kade realized he’d begun growling. But that was his woman on that table, damn it, and another man was touching her. He had to get through six men plus Helter before he could get to Lana. A walkie beeped, and one of the guards answered it promptly. “Unable to establish contact with Marshall,” came the tinny reply.

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“He’s right here,” the guard said, smirking at them as he replied. Kade tensed. He had a bad feeling that things were going to get nasty really soon. “The two AV guys he let in are not legit,” the radio squawked. “Compound has been infiltrated. Repeat, compound has been infiltrated.” Jesse shrugged at the guard and clocked him in the head with his rifle. “At least the infiltration part was easy.” Kade would have shaken his head at Jesse’s antics had the remaining five men not rushed them. He instantly replicated himself, sending out three copies to fight the three men that he and Jesse didn’t have hands to deal with. Thanking God for his intensive martial arts training, he fought his way toward Helter Skelter while his replicas did the same. Checking briefly on Jesse, Kade barely managed to suppress a flinch as one of his replicates got pummeled in the head. Aside from the obvious inconvenience of needing to at least minimally control the actions of his replicas, a major drawback of his power was that he could feel everything that happened to his copies. If one of them caught an uppercut to the chin, Kade felt it. If one of them got kicked in the balls, Kade felt it. Shit, if one of them got a blow job, Kade would feel it, not that it would ever happen. He’d had to learn to school his features to make sure no one figured out who was the real Kaden Kane. Kade waded into the fray, slugging one of the guards in the face and feeling his nose break under his knuckles, a vicious sense of justice flooding through him. They had taken his Lana and he didn’t give a shit about SHI’s rule of bringing the bad guys in alive. If they died in his battle to get to Lana, then so be it. He grappled with another one of the guards and felt the butt of a gun glance off his temple. His ears rang from the impact and his concentration wavered. The replicas faded from sight and he suddenly had the two remaining guards on him.

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Luckily for him, Jesse, and Jesse’s rifle were unoccupied and came to Kade’s rescue. The lab was too closed in for Jesse to actually fire his rifle safely, so he used it as a bat instead, taking out as many as Kade was able to. Helter managed to escape in the scuffle, running off down the hall toward the stairs where he no doubt had some form of transportation waiting for him. Once, the man had called a helicopter to retrieve him from a confrontation. Kade probably should have chased after him. He was close enough that he could have caught him. That didn’t matter though. He didn’t care how much hell he would catch from the SHI president. He was going to get his woman off that table.

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Chapter 4 God, she ached. Every nerve in her body was on fire. Lana frowned and turned her head to the side, confused when her arms wouldn’t move. Lord above, she felt just like she always did after she had any interaction with Kaden Kane. She was normally all hot and bothered, with an urgent need to slip her fingers between her legs and soothe the pounding ache centered in her pussy. This was more intense though. It was almost as if she had denied herself her nightly routine of masturbating to the image of Kade and had had erotic dreams about him all night. Not that that never happened. She got herself off every night, imagining that it was his fingers and his mouth and his cock relieving her arousal. And those erotic dreams gave proof that women could have wet dreams, too. Lana contemplated dragging herself out of bed and into the shower, but the need to come was too bad. She tugged on her arms, bemused to find that they still wouldn’t move. What was going on? And come to think of it, why was her brain so fuzzy? She normally was wide awake as soon as her eyes opened. Mind you, her eyes weren’t open yet. Forcing her eyes open, she gazed around the room as the horror settled in, causing her chest to feel as if there were a car parked on it. She was strapped, naked, to a raised metal slab, her arms and legs secured so that she was spread eagle and completely vulnerable. The slab was situated in the middle of a square room, roughly ten feet by ten feet. A bank of computers and various pieces of other equipment lined the perimeter of the room. Roughly half a dozen men

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were stationed between the two doors. A man she vaguely recognized stood in profile, concentrating on some kind of document clutched in his hand. Given her current situation, she had clearly been kidnapped and was probably about to be tortured for whatever information she had on her place of employment. Her specialty was genetics. She was researching if there was a specific gene that carried all superpowers versus each superpower being carried on an individual gene. While the purpose of her research and her employment with SHI was to understand their heroes’ strengths and weaknesses in order to help them, the information she knew could very well lead to genetic manipulation in an attempt to breed certain powers. She was in a whole lot of trouble. Yet curiously, the danger to both herself and society at large seemed inconsequential at the moment. The only thing she could concentrate on at the moment was the burning need whipping through her body. What the hell? Seriously, she had never felt this hot. Ever. “Ah, you are finally awake.” A balding man stood over her, leering at her. Oh shit. Helter Skelter. She should have realized who had snatched her. He had been trying to build his own army of superheroes for years. So far he had been unsuccessful, so it made sense that he would want to genetically manipulate those “soldiers” he could recruit. What didn’t make sense was the fact that the longer she was awake, the more acutely she felt the arousal. “Ah,” Helter crooned, stroking her cheek and making her shudder with revulsion. “Wondering what is happening to your luscious little body, are you?” He beckoned over to one of his henchmen, for lack of a better term, and indicated for the man to start stroking her body. “It’s just a little creation I worked up. Your need for orgasm will just get stronger and stronger until you can’t focus on anything else.” Gloved fingers pinched one of her nipples, and she jerked as a bolt of sensation shot from her breast straight to her pussy. “Prolonged stimulation while denying you your climax will just increase the need

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until you tell me exactly what I want to know in order to get some type of relief.” No! God, no. The ache was already so bad. And the whispers of contact between the man’s gloved hands and her body were only compounding the problem. Her face burned with shame and fury. How dare they do this to her? “Would you like to do things the easy way, my sweet? Tell me the specific genetic code to Kaden Kane’s superpower and my handsome assistant here will bring you release, several times over.” Kaden Kane? Lana dropped her head back onto the table with a bang, relief swamping over her. Even if she did break down and tell them what she knew about Kade’s genetics, everything would be all right. She had actually been concentrating on Jesse Scott’s power of body and facial manipulation and knew nothing about Kade’s power other than what gene seemed to be slightly mutated. She knew absolutely nothing that would be of any help to Helter Skelter. Of course, being so ignorant of what Helter wanted was also sure to result in her death. The only thing left was for her to just be silent and hold off on admitting her lack of information as long as possible. At least until someone from SHI located her. The henchman’s hands ran up her inner thighs, massaging roughly as he progressed. Lana squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that those hands didn’t find the tiny GPS chip that had been inserted just under the skin of her thigh only a few weeks ago. That GPS was her lifeline, and without it, she doubted someone would find her in time before she broke down. “Why Kane’s power?” she asked hoarsely, desperate to buy herself some time. Those invasive hands reached her hips and began stroking slowly, forcing a response from her drugged body. Apparently her attempt at stalling didn’t work. It didn’t stop Helter from replying though. “People with super strength or super speed can be overwhelmed simply by the sheer number of others defying them. What is more

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useful than a legion of soldiers who can create their own legion with a mere thought?” Lana tried to wrap her mind around Helter’s logic even as her body went up in flames. How in the hell was she going to stand this? She had long since surpassed desire and was heading straight into outright pain. A soft, feather light touch centered on her clit, and all thoughts of holding out for rescue fled her mind. She would damn herself to hell before she begged for an orgasm from some soulless soldier fighting for the enemy. Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the first image that came to mind. Kaden Kane smiled down at her, and his mouth, framed by his perpetual five-o’clock shadow, hovered just scant inches away from her own. Damn, damn, double damn! Why the hell would she do this to herself? The thought of Kade only served to drive her wild at the best of times. Picturing his mouthwatering abs, which she had seen displayed numerous times while passing the glassed-in gym at work, would just push her further into the need that seemed to be closing over her head. Except somehow picturing Kade made the whole experience less humiliating, at least while she was able to forget who was touching her so intimately. Suddenly the hands left her body. The absence of the insistent, probing fingers should have been a relief, but the lack of stimulation made the frantic need for climax spiral higher. She could concentrate on nothing other than the waves of desperate desire pounding through her. God, what the hell was she going to do? “Lana? Come on, baby, talk to me.” She opened her eyes and gazed up into the very eyes she had been imagining. “Oh, Kade. Tell me you’re really here,” she groaned, shaking her head frantically. Her body betrayed her even more. The tingling in her pussy increased as she stared at the face of the man she’d wanted for

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years. She was creaming steadily, and her clit plumped up, begging for his attention. Someone began undoing her restraints, freeing her ankles first. “Yeah, baby. I’m really here. You’re safe now.” His gravelly voice slithered down her spine and pooled between her legs. “Kade,” she begged, twisting her lower body restlessly. “Kade, please help me.” Her body began to shiver violently, and the trails of moisture streaking down her face told her she was crying. The hands now worked on the restraints on her wrists. “Anything, Lana. Tell me how to help you, and I’ll do it.” Totally freed from the metal table, Lana sat up and clutched her arms around her ribs, trying desperately to hold herself together. “I need you,” she whispered. A voice in the background sounded, but she was so focused on the man standing in front of her she paid it no heed. “What do you need, baby? Just tell me, and I’ll get it for you.” Kade cupped her chin and forced her to look up at him. “You. I need you.”

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Chapter 5 Lana’s words hit him straight in the groin, his cock filling and hardening instantly. Surely he hadn’t heard her right. Kade ripped his shirt off and draped it over her shoulders, helping her get her arms in and buttoning it up the front. She was so small the shirt puddled around her waist and would hit her mid-thigh when she stood. He cupped her chin and forced her to look him in his eyes. “Lana. Baby, look at me. What do you need?” She pulled the sleeves tight down her arms and bunched the cuffs in her fists. “They gave me something, Kade. I don’t know what it was, but it makes me hot.” A shudder raced through her small frame, and she arched her back so that her beautiful breasts pressed against the fabric, clearly outlining her rock-hard nipples. Kade knew he must look like an idiot. A scumbag idiot. Despite the fact that Lana was obviously in some kind of heightened state, Kade couldn’t tear his gaze from her chest. When he finally did manage to look up, his eyes locked on her lips, and he could practically feel them moving against his own. His cock was pounding against his zipper, demanding to be freed from its camo prison. “Kade? Kade!” He jerked around when Jesse smacked him on the back of the head. A sheaf of paper was shoved in front of his face. “I found this on the desk over there. I think this is the details of whatever the hell they gave Lana. It looks like some kind of jacked-up aphrodisiac. If I understand this right, the level of her arousal will get higher until it becomes unbearable. Orgasm is the only way to find any type of relief.”

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Kade turned back to Lana, concerned by the glassy look in her eyes. “Hold tight, baby. A med team is on the way.” Frantically shaking her head, Lana gripped him by the shoulders and pulled him closer. “No. Call them off. You heard what Jesse said. The only thing that will help is to have an orgasm. I don’t want some random man putting his hands on me.” Acting on instinct alone, the need to soothe and comfort overwhelming, Kade stepped closer and gathered her against his chest so that her cheek rested on the bare skin directly over his heart. “Who do you want to help you through this then, Lana?” he asked roughly. She snuggled closer so that his hips were cradled by her thighs. A subtle roll of her pelvis brought her hot pussy completely in line with his aching cock. “You. I need you to help me.” Fuck, he was about to come in his pants. The feeling of her scalding pussy against his cock had him ready to spill in seconds. He hadn’t been this out of control since he was a teenager. And he’d never, never, been so hot for anyone. Shit. All he had to do was unzip his pants, pull the leg band of his briefs aside and slide into heaven. Kade tipped his head back, closed his eyes, and struggled for control. There was no damn way he was going to take Lana in Helter’s compound. Kade was determined to forge some kind of emotional bond with her, and he would be damned if their first time was in a place that held such terror for her. Lana, however, took his actions for rejection, and her body began to shake with silent sobs. “Please, Kaden. Please. I need you. I need your help.” “Shh…Lana, I’ll help you. I won’t let anyone else touch you, I swear.” Kade knew the vow was something he would keep for the rest of his life. No one would ever touch her again while he lived. She sagged against him in relief and continued to shift restlessly against him. He held her motionless, still searching for some semblance of control, until the med team and backup teams arrived. Without waiting for consent from anyone, he scooped Lana up in his

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arms and hurried off down the hall, shaking off anyone who tried to stop him. They passed a number of SHI employees along the way, including Russ who gave Kade his car keys. “I’ll catch a ride back with Jess.” Kade nodded his thanks and carried his precious armful of woman up the stairs and into the sun. Russ’s Hummer was parked haphazardly a few yards away, and Kade placed Lana gently in the passenger seat. “Hold tight, baby. Let me get you home, and then I’ll help you.” She nodded but continued to cling to his shoulders. “I don’t think I can wait that long,” she whispered against his throat. Swallowing tightly, Kade rested his chin on the top of her head. His dick, which had deflated a little in the face of the backup teams, surged back to life against his pants. He wouldn’t be surprised if his balls were actually blue. “Baby, you’re killing me here. I’m not making love to you in Jared’s car. You deserve a bed, and that’s where we’re going.” A small puff of warm air skittered across his throat. “All right,” Lana agreed quietly. By the time Kade had her buckled in and was sliding into the driver’s seat, Lana was moaning softly. “Hang on, baby. The SHI compound is only twenty minutes from here if I push it.” Lana panted and moaned again, writhing in the seat and rubbing her thighs together. “I can’t wait, Kade. I need to come.” It was Kade’s turn to moan, which he did. Loudly. “Then touch yourself, baby. Take the edge off until I can get you home and into bed.” Lana’s cheeks flushed even further, though he wasn’t sure if it was because his request embarrassed her or aroused her. He decided on arousal at her next words. “Would you like that?” His cock pounded against his zipper. He’d probably have a permanent imprint of the zipper on his Johnson by the time he got

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them home. He couldn’t wait to get her in his bed where she belonged. “You have no idea how hot that gets me.” **** Lana could hardly believe her ears. She made Kaden Kane hot. Well, damn, but that was good news. If there was a silver lining to this whole situation, it was the fact that her most private, erotic fantasies were about to come to life. She was usually far too tongue-tied around Kade to even string a full sentence together. Usually all she could manage were commands, like ordering him to open his mouth for a swab or to extend his arm for a blood test. But the drug running through her system overwhelmed her reservations, and she was determined to make Kade as desperate for her as she was for him. Suddenly feeling confident in her sexual prowess, she wet her lips and shot him a look from under her lashes. She stuck one finger in her mouth, wetting it thoroughly, and dipped her hand under the shirt and into the wet folds of her pussy. She touched her clit, which jumped and flexed at the stimulation. “Does this make you hot, too?” she asked on a sigh. Kade glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his jaw dropping open when he saw her hand hidden beneath the hem of his shirt. He pumped his foot on the gas, pushing the Hummer even harder. She almost laughed at his reaction. She would have laughed if not for the look of extreme arousal on his face. He wanted her as badly as she wanted him, and the knowledge of that was empowering. Lana let her finger circle the straining nubbin, dropping her head back on a moan and pushing her hips into her own finger. “Oh, Kade. I can’t wait until it’s you touching me. Will you use your hands on me?”

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A long, loud groan ripped through the SUV, and Kade’s knuckles turned white as he cranked down on the steering wheel. “Baby, my hands will be all over you.” A quick glance at his lap revealed a huge erection, clearly outlined by the camo pants he wore. Her mouth watered, literally watered, at the sight. She bet he would taste divine and would feel even better. She snaked her left hand out and let it settle on his thigh right next to his cock, smiling when the hard muscles of his leg jumped and bunched under her palm. She made no move to grasp him through his pants, merely touching his leg lightly while she continued to pleasure herself. Her own legs trembled as an orgasm hovered just over the horizon, but she wanted to tease him just a little more. “Will you use your mouth on me, too?” The car swerved, and Kade swore as he steered the car back into the proper lane. “Jesus, Lana. Don’t say things like that while I’m driving.” The thought of Kade’s dark head between her thighs, the idea of him sucking her clit between his lips, was almost too much. But she needed to hear it from him. “But you will, right? Use your mouth on me?” They seemed to be flying down the street, and Kade had actually put the police light on. Any other time she would have chided him on the dangers of speeding, but right now it seemed to be imperative that they reach Kade’s place as soon as possible. Preferably five minutes ago. “Sweetheart, the first thing I do will be to use my mouth on you. And my tongue. And my teeth. In fact, by the time I’m done with my mouth, you’ll be coming all over my face.” Kade’s words pushed her over the edge, and she came, her clit pulsing wildly against her finger. Her entire focus narrowed to that throbbing, fluttering place between her legs. Screaming softly, Lana thrashed her head from side to side. She dimly heard Kade cursing under his breath. “Kade! Oh, Kade, it feels so good.”

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Lana panted as the ache intensified. She bore down on her finger and spread her legs wider. “Not enough, Kade. God, I need to come again.” The shirt she wore rode up until it was bunched around her waist. “Lana, sweetheart, we’re almost there. Five minutes, baby. Only five more minutes.” Kade’s voice sounded strained, and the muscles under her palm were taut. God, she was wet. So wet she was probably leaving a mark on Russ’s seat. Thank goodness SHI had sprung for the custom leather seats. No seams meant easy cleanup. Of course, SHI had assumed that the heroes would be wiping up blood or muck or something like that, not the cream currently flowing from her pussy. Rimming her fingers along the ultrasensitive opening of her pussy, Lana licked her lips again. “I need you in me, but since you’re driving, I’m going to put my fingers in my pussy now, Kade.” She turned her head to look at him and found his eyes trained on the road, a muscle jumping in his jaw. She let her hand drift over his cock, cupping him lightly. The firm length twitched in her fingers as she petted him through his pants even as she fucked herself on her fingers. “I’m going to come again. Yes!” Even while her womb was contracting with her second climax, Lana knew it still wasn’t enough. Her pussy felt empty and ready to be filled by something larger. Fingers, tongue or cock, she didn’t care what he filled her with, as long as it was Kade doing the filling. The orgasm was impossibly long, and she nearly blacked out from lack of oxygen. Kade’s voice finally broke through the haze of her climax. “Baby, pull the shirt back down. We’re pulling up to the gate.” Kade got through gate at the entrance of the SHI compound quickly, with only a minimum of snickering from the guards, and drove quickly past Headquarters and toward the Hero Accommodations. The car finally stopped in front of one of the smaller bungalows, and he was out his door, around the front of the

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car and lifting her into his arms before she even realized he’d turned the car off. He rushed her through the house and into a spacious bedroom, where he placed her on a huge bed. Kneeling at her feet, he grabbed her hands and pressed them to his lips. “What do you need me to do?” Lana blushed when she realized what he was asking her. God, where to start? She had been dreaming of this for years. She ran her hands through his short hair and carefully considered her answer. This might be the only chance she had at getting Kade in her bed. Or in his bed, as the case may be. She was going to get everything she could out of this, drugged with an aphrodisiac or not. She was going to memorize every sound, every sensation. “Kiss me, Kaden.” “Gladly,” he answered and promptly sealed his mouth to hers. Oh, it was heavenly. His lips were soft and moist and oh-so skilled. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she savored the feel and taste of Kaden Kane. It was better than she had ever imagined. She let herself get lost in him. The urgency that had been riding her mellowed just enough to allow her to go slowly, and she ran her hands over his wide shoulders. “Kade. Make love to me.”

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Chapter 6 Kade was about ready to crawl out of his own skin. The drive from Helter’s stronghold back to his house on the SHI compound had been both heaven and hell. He would never forget the sounds of Lana’s orgasms. Her soft screams and low moans of climax were permanently etched into his memory, something he was sure he would relive every time he masturbated for the rest of his life. His cock was so hard it hurt, and his balls were so tight he was pretty sure they were about to explode, but he was going to make good on the promises he’d made in the SUV. Pushing on her shoulders lightly, he urged her to lie back on the mattress, letting her legs dangle over the side of the bed. He wedged his way farther between her legs, using his shoulders to keep her knees apart, and gazed at the sensual feast spread before him. Her curls were neatly trimmed, revealing a dark-pink pussy. The small pearl of her clitoris was swollen, standing proudly, and it flexed in a rapid series of contractions when he blew a warm breath across it. He kissed the soft skin on the inside of her thigh gently, sucking the skin between his lips. “God, Lana, you’re beautiful here. I can’t wait to see you come, baby.” A soft moan rippled through the air, causing him to smile. Kissing his way up her thigh, he nuzzled his nose in her curls. He placed a small, almost chaste kiss to her clit and tightened his hands on her hips when she made to buck her hips against his mouth. “I’ll make it good for you, I swear.”

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Lana cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples through her shirt. “I wish you could be touching my breasts at the same time,” she moaned. That, he could do. Kade smiled wickedly and raised his head to look at her. “Your wish is my command.” He’d been producing replicas of himself for so long that it hardly took any effort at all to summon one. A duplicate appeared next to him, and Kade directed him to sit behind Lana on the bed. “Sit up, baby.” He rearranged her legs so that they draped over his shoulders as she sat up, and his duplicate scooted in behind her so that his chest was supporting her. For the first time in his life, he thanked his freaky genes that he could feel everything his copies did because, even though he was gripping her knees gently, he felt her soft breasts fill his palms. Kade looked up, and what he saw took his breath away. The only thing that would make it better would be if Lana was completely naked. A simple mental command, and the replica was stripping off her shirt. “This okay, love?” Nodding, Lana met his eye boldly. “I’m surrounded by you. It’s wonderful, Kade.” “Good.” He set the copy to tweaking and rolling her nipples gently, feeling the hard points between his own fingers. Satisfied that she wasn’t too weirded out by having both Kade and a replicate making love to her, he turned his focus back to the situation at hand and tongued her pussy in a long lick from the bottom of her dripping slit to the top, stopping just under her little clit which was standing proudly, demanding his attention. He swirled his tongue around her clit and kissed it once more before drawing it between his lips and suckling. “Oh, Kade. Kade,” she cried. He kept his mouth busy as he looked up the length of her body and saw her arching her neck, trying to kiss his duplicate. Another command, and he suddenly felt her lips on his as if they were actually kissing.

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Her hands dropped to his head, and she threaded her fingers in his hair, pulling him closer even as she arched her back to kiss the other Kade passionately. Kade wished that it was his mouth she was feeding her moans and whimpers into and then felt pretty stupid. Because that would mean he was jealous of himself, and that would be so fucked up. Kade turned his attention back to the situation at hand and increased the suction on her straining bud, reveling in the little moans muffled by his replica’s mouth. The muscles in her thighs jumped, and she tightened her legs around his head as she arched her hips into his mouth. He dove in deeper so that his nose was pressed firmly to her curls, and her legs stiffened so much she was nearly strangling him. It was worth it when he felt the tight bundle of her clit begin to jump wildly against his lips and tongue. A short scream vibrated down her entire body as she came, her sweet, feminine cream flooding his chin. He lapped up as much of her cream as he could, wallowing in her taste and scent. He could feel her teeth as she bit down on the replica’s bottom lip. Laying his head on the inside of her thigh, he concentrated on holding in his need to thrust himself deep into her and pound away. But, Lord, he wanted her. Kade’s dick was slapping against his lower abs with every breath he heaved in, leaving a wet trail in its wake. Cool fingers sifted through his hair, drawing his gaze up to Lana’s. “Kade?” “Yeah, babe?” He knew his voice was deeper, rougher than usual, but he was fighting the urge to tumble her onto her back and ease into the slick, wet heat that was staring him right in the face. Her mouth was damp and swollen and the sexiest mouth he had ever seen. An image of those pretty lips wrapping around his cock swamped him and just about dragged him under. Fuck. He’d never been so close to coming from no other stimulation but cool air on the

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hottest part of his anatomy. That beautiful mouth parted and began to speak. “Will you come up here? I need you in me.” Sweeter words had never been spoken. Kissing his way up her body, he settled his lips in the crook of her neck. His copy still perched behind her, fondling her breasts and tweaking her nipples. “How do you want me, Lana?” She bit her lip and looked him in the eye, a becoming flush starting at her chest and making its way up her throat to her cheeks. God, she was sweet. He had to make things easier for her. Leaning close, he brought his chest up close to hers and nuzzled the spot directly behind her ear. “Tell me, baby. What is your most secret, most erotic fantasy? Let me make it come true.” A shudder ran through her, and Kade mouthed his way down the graceful column of her throat. “I want to be filled. Everywhere.” Kade had never heard anything so sexy before, and God knew he probably never would again. He could do that for her on his own, but he really should make sure he understood her request fully. “You want me to fill you here?” He rubbed his finger along her slit, sliding just the tip of his finger inside. She jerked her hips forward, his finger sliding in a little more. “Yesss,” she hissed through clenched teeth. Smiling against her throat, Kade took it one step further. He gathered some of the moisture easing from her pussy and drew it down, teasing the tight rosebud there. “And here, too?” This time Lana froze. He had a sneaking suspicion that this was the first time she had ever been touched here. What he wouldn’t do to fill her there. To bury his cock in her rear end and feel her tense around him until it felt like she was holding him tighter than a fist. Knowing that he would be her first for this particular act was even more thrilling. A sudden feeling of wrath filled him as he pictured that man from Helter Skelter’s compound touching her. Kade should have killed him. He briefly thought about marching right over to Headquarters,

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dragging the guy out of his cell, and pummeling him to death. No one touched his woman and lived. “Please, Kade. Yes.” Lana’s words broke into Kade’s murder fantasy and dragged him back to the present. Kade’s arousal spiked to another level, and he rooted around in his drawer for his bottle of lube, thanking God that he liked his solo hand jobs good and wet. He lubed up his fingers liberally and kissed her open mouth. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll take care of you.” Lana whimpered into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He let his finger circle her anus and pushed just the tip inside. She bore down on his finger, forcing him deeper. “More,” she demanded against his mouth, pushing down on him again. Well, that was surprising. “Lana, baby, have you done this before?” A wave a jealousy washed over him, and he briefly entered the murder-fantasy zone again. She ripped her mouth from his and buried her face in his shoulder before mumbling something unintelligible. He cupped her chin with his free hand, leaving his finger buried halfway in her ass, and arched his brows questioningly. “Only with my toys. Never with a man.” Shit, that was about the hottest thing he had ever heard. Lana with a plug in her ass was the stuff his wet dreams were made of. He slid his finger in to the hilt and groaned when her muscles clamped around his digit as if trying to suck him in. He added a second finger, sliding it in without difficulty. God, she was something else. She was already ready to take him. Kade gently removed his fingers, stretched out on the bed, sheathed and lubed his cock, and helped her to straddle his hips. A simple mental command had his copy lubricating his own prick, and the two of them helped Lana glide down onto Kade’s stiff length until he was fully engulfed. He had been right back at Helter’s compound. Sliding into Lana was like sliding into a piece of heaven. He wished it would never end.

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Lana leaned over, her hands on either side of his head, and kissed him. Kade held her steady as his copy slid slowly, inch by inch, into her ass. God, what a feeling. The sensation was almost too much for Kade to bear, and he held his breath as he fought wildly to hold back his orgasm. Lana sighed into his mouth, feeding him tiny moans of excitement. He pulled out slightly, making room for the replica to slip in farther. He grit his teeth and set a slow rhythm, one he hoped he could sustain long enough to satisfy the woman currently panting in his ear. It would be a close thing though. The feeling of her muscles, both ass and pussy, clamping down on him was driving him closer and closer to the edge. He reached down between them and pinched her clit softly, pulling it slightly away from her body, and was rewarded by an allover body shudder and the fluttering of two sets of muscles around his prick. She came hard, moaning and chanting his name. His own muscles cramped painfully as he fought to hold back the flood of his own climax. It was a futile effort though, and he followed her over the cliff, emptying his balls and shouting his pleasure to the ceiling. The beginning of the most intense climax of his life shattered his concentration, and the replica snuggled in Lana’s anus disappeared. He came so hard and for so long, he didn’t realize that Lana had collapsed against him, her cheek resting over his heart as she gasped for air. “Kade?” Talking? She wanted him to form words after she had just caused his brain to explode through the back of his head? “Yeah?” She slipped off and snuggled close to his side, tucking her head under his chin as she rested it on his chest. “That was awesome.” She yawned and closed her eyes, promptly falling asleep. A warm glow traveled through him as fatigue hit him like ton of bricks. Yeah, the sex had been pretty good. Spectacular, really. But

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this was the truly awesome part. He could get used to having her cuddled to his side, warm and sleepy, every night. As he closed his eyes, he vowed that he would never again spend another night without Lana in his arms. Now he only had to convince her.

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Chapter 7 Sunlight hit her square in the face. Squinting her eyes, Lana rolled over and buried her head in the pillow. Why hadn’t she pulled the curtain before she had gone to bed last night? She hated mornings. Until she had a vat of coffee, she could not function. And what the heck was up with her body? Every muscle ached as if she had just finished running a marathon. She may hate mornings, but she absolutely detested exercise, which was probably why she carried around an extra ten pounds, mostly on her breasts and hips. A snuffling sound drew her attention, and she excavated her face from the pillow, flopping over to face the strange sound. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she came face-to-face with Kaden Kane. The memories of the previous night came rushing back, and her cheeks heated. Kade had loved her thoroughly, all night long. He had started off by going down on her until she had come against his mouth. Then he’d used his superpower to fill her completely, which explained the slight burn in her bottom. She had thought that would be all she needed to exhaust the effects of the aphrodisiac Helter Skelter had forced on her, but she had woken up scarcely an hour later, wild with need. He’d made love to her four more times before she’d finally fallen into a deep sleep, slumped against him. Lana used the opportunity to study the man next to her. Lord, he was handsome. He was sprawled on his back, one arm flung over his head, the other lying on his stomach, and his head cranked toward her. His black hair was growing out just a little and was starting to curl at

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the ends. She itched to rub her palm over it, to tunnel her fingers through it and hold him close. The dark stubble he had shaved off yesterday was back, lending a rakish appearance to his square jaw. His lips were full and soft and slightly parted in sleep. What a treat to wake up in bed with him. She had never dared to think that she would ever have this chance. But she was going to make the most of it, darn it. Snuggling up to him, she closed her eyes and grinned when he sighed out her name. He turned to his side and curled around her almost protectively. He had tucked her so close to his body that her nose was pressed in to the hollow of his throat. With every breath, she took in more and more of his scent until all she could smell was sex and warm, sleepy man. Smiling at his drowsy grumble, Lana pulled away and rested her head on the pillow next to his. Even though Kade’s eyes didn’t open, his face scrunched up with displeasure until he caught her hips and dragged her toward him. It seemed he couldn’t get her close enough and continued pulling at her until she was forced to lift one leg and drape it over his hip. Her naked pussy pressed directly against his bare cock, and she couldn’t help rocking against him just a little so that her labia spread out over him. She kept pushing her hips forward, humping his cock and whimpering every time the tip of him bumped up against the bottom of her clitoris. God, he felt so good, and she was already wet and ready for him. Just a little lower. Yes! The plump, flushed head of his cock popped into her pussy. Another little wiggle and he was halfway seated. Lana hadn’t noticed last night, as she had been rather distracted by having two Kade’s all over her, but Kade’s cock curved just a little at the end, and it caused the head to rub directly against her G-spot. Her eyes closed, and she couldn’t help the whimper of pleasure that escaped as she continued to writhe on the thick length inside her.

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A soft, full mouth covered hers suddenly, tongue stroking and teeth nipping. “Well, this is a nice way to wake up,” Kade mumbled against her lips. “Care to take a ride?” Feeling utterly feminine and completely confident in her sexuality, Lana leaned forward and sucked hard at his neck and watched with fascination as the strawberry bloomed on his skin. “Ride what?” she asked coyly. Delighted laughter echoed through the room as Kade rolled over and pulled her on top of him. “Me, love. Sit up and ride your man like you mean it.” If only she really was his love. If only she had the right to refer to him as her man. Her pause must have alerted him to the melancholy direction of her thoughts. He caught her chin and turned her face toward him. “Hey,” he whispered, his hazel eyes intense and burning with passion, “only good thoughts here.” He was right. And the sight of him stretched out underneath her was incredible. She eased down onto his cock, moisture rushing to greet the thick plug of flesh sliding up into her. Bracing her hands on his chest, Lana rode him for all she was worth, working her hips up and down with Kade’s help. She wasn’t strong enough to keep up the pace she wanted, needed, and groaned with frustration. It looked like she was going to have to spend some time working on her quads in the gym so she could ride him properly should the opportunity arise again. Kade’s face was bathed in sweat, and his cock pulsed within her. “Need some help, baby?” “Can’t go fast enough,” she replied between pants. Damn. It looked like she also had to work on her endurance. Quick as lightning, Kade rolled them over so that she was under him. Without ever leaving her body, he managed to shove a pillow under her hips and shifted up onto his knees. He grasped her hips firmly, holding her to him, and began a series of short, shallow thrusts.

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The position put Lana’s hips at just the right angle, and Kade’s thrusting pattern caused the head of his cock to brush over her sweet spot with every pass. God, it was heaven. She’d had her G-spot stimulated with her toys before, and even a finger or two, but never during sex. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she wondered if it was actually possible to die from an overload of pleasure. A curse from Kade had her opening her eyes, searching for him. He was staring down at where they were joined, his eyes wide and wild. “Shit, Lana. Look at your little clit. All swollen and hard for me. Only for me. God…no one else will ever touch you again, Lana, I promise.” He swiveled his hips, grinding against her G-spot. “Baby, I need you to come. I need to feel you tighten around me.” His words, that husky-voiced demand of her body, drove her higher, and she sought for that peak. It was frustratingly just out of reach, and she gripped his shoulders fretfully. Lana felt a wet pop under her fingers and vaguely realized she had drawn blood with her nails. Rather than flinch from the pain her nails must have caused, Kade threw his head back and howled at the ceiling. He reached down the length of her body and caught her erect clitoris between a finger and thumb, jacking and tugging on her clit almost as if he were masturbating a miniature penis. That was all she needed. The explosions started at the small of her back and traveled up her spine, a new one detonating with every pulse of her clit. God, she’d never come so hard in her life. She even had to remind herself to breath, although it did come out in quick, strangled gasps. Lana shuddered her way through the powerful waves of pleasure and floated on the bliss before suddenly noticing that Kade had frozen in place, his cock twitching wildly in her. He was still rock hard, and his head was hanging down, sweat dripping off his forehead to land on her belly. He clearly hadn’t come with her and, even more clearly, he was close. Why had he stopped?

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She looked up at him, the question clear in her eyes. He couldn’t read her expression, however, since he had his head thrown back, and his eyes were closed. Not just closed but slammed down. His face was a mask of pleasured agony. He was holding back on his need to come, and she wanted to know why. “Kade? Why did you stop? What’s the matter?” “No condom,” he grunted, his eyes still closed and his cock still throbbing away. Lana almost laughed ruefully at the problem, but then the eroticism of having Kade in her bare as the day he was born hit her, and she clamped down on him. “So put one on,” she demanded, wiggling her hips insistently. “I want to feel you come in me.” Kade groaned and shoved against her before freezing again. “We used them all last night. I haven’t had sex with anyone in years, so I don’t keep a lot of condoms around.” He made a low, mournful sound as he began to withdraw from her slowly. Lana worked with the physicians at SHI closely so she knew Kade was healthy. She was clean, too. She almost told Kade to go ahead, to pound into her until he came, but she wasn’t on the Pill, and this was the exact time of the month she was most likely to conceive, of course. The thought of Kade’s child growing inside of her, of nurturing a part of him right under her heart, both thrilled her and melted her. Kaden Kane was a real man, a good man, and he would insist on marrying her and raising their child together, which wouldn’t be a problem for her. But she didn’t want Kade to feel trapped into marriage. She allowed him to pull out fully and stared at him with wide eyes. His cock glistened with her moisture and his own pre-ejaculate steadily dripping from his tip. It twitched as he gripped the root and began to jack himself off urgently. The head was a deep red and playing hide-and-seek behind his foreskin as he masturbated. Her

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mouth literally watered at the sight. She was going to have him come in her one way or the other. Needing to make him come as hard as he’d made her, she slapped his hand away. She lay on her stomach between his legs, caught the base of his bobbing cock in one hand, and sucked the tip of him into her mouth. She tasted herself on him and something darker, spicier, something inherently male and so Kaden. His hands landed on her head, not guiding her but just resting. “Lana, baby. Unh,” he grunted when she dipped her head lower and ran the flat of her tongue along his cock, “honey, I won’t last very long.” Releasing him with a pop, Lana nuzzled her nose against his balls, breathing in the scent of him. “That’s all right,” she reassured him. “I want to taste you when you come.” She wriggled around, trying to find a more comfortable position. The pillow that Kade had wedged under her butt was now under her lower belly, placing her at a weird angle and causing her to crank her neck up uncomfortably. She spread her thighs and crawled closer to him, and suddenly she was straddling the soft pillow. Even though she had just had the orgasm of her life, pleasure sparked through her, and she swiveled her hips to hump the pillow as she went down on him again. She traced her tongue up the heavy vein on the underside of his dick, flicked her tongue on the sensitive, nerve-rich spot just under the head, and ran the very tip of her tongue around the edge of his cherryred tip. She estimated his cock at about eight inches or so, far too big for her to deep throat in this position, so she concentrated on sucking the first two inches into her mouth. She gripped him firmly at the root, moving her hand in time with her mouth, and used her free hand to cup his balls, rolling them lightly in her palm. He was grunting, groaning, and panting steadily. He murmured dirty words, telling her how good she was making him feel and how

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exciting it was to be in her mouth. The cock in her mouth was throbbing again, spilling small, salty drops of pre-cum on her tongue. “Close,” he rumbled, his voice impossibly deep in his pleasure. “So close, baby.” As happy as she was that he was about to get off, she didn’t want this to end. When else would she ever get the chance to give Kade a blow job again? She gripped him tightly, cutting off his orgasm. Bobbing her head frantically, she waited until Kade could no longer speak before releasing the pressure of her hand as she scraped her teeth oh-so-lightly across the flared ridge of his head. He barked a curse and spurted hotly, flooding her mouth so fast that some of his cum dribbled down her chin. She continued to suckle him, milking every last drop of his semen she could from him before he whimpered and pushed her off. Kade hunched his shoulders, hands on his thighs, and panted. Ten seconds later, he flopped on to the mattress, tugging her and rearranging her so that she was plastered against his sweaty side. He drew her leg up so that she was half draped across him. Her pussy pressed against the hard bone of his hip, just like this morning, and she pushed against him insistently. “Kade?” she moaned softly. “God, baby. You’re going to kill me,” he said, his eyes still glazed over. “Come on, we need a shower.” He pulled away from her, and she almost cried at the loss of stimulation. Plucking her off the bed, he carried her into the bathroom. “Shh,” he whispered against her lips. “I’ll help you, I promise.” After he’d placed her on her feet, he turned to the shower stall. He adjusted the temperature and drew her into the rush of water. “You’re amazing,” he said, kissing her deeply. His hand crept between her thighs, petting the damp curls at the top of her pussy before seeking out her clit. He concentrated on the little ridge of flesh, circling and

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pressing until it pulsed against his fingers and she was screaming her pleasure. Thank goodness they weren’t in her little apartment. The neighbors would be calling the police to report a murder in progress. That or to file a noise complaint. By the time she had recovered from her climax, he was soaping her up gently. After tenderly washing her hair, he eased her on to a molded seat set into the corner of the stall and washed himself quickly. “Hey,” he whispered. “Falling asleep in the shower is never a good idea.” She slowly peeled her eyelids up, surprised to realize that she was nearly asleep. “Can’t help it,” she mumbled, her eyes drifting closed again. “You wore me out.” He laughed huskily as he led her out of the shower, an expression of pure-male pride crossing his handsome features. She stood passively as he rubbed the moisture from her skin with a soft towel and leaned gratefully into him when he carried her back to the bedroom. He lowered her to the bed and kissed her forehead. “Why don’t you sleep for a while? I’ll go out and get us something to eat.” He was going to feed her, too? Who knew that Kaden Kane was a natural nurturer? “’Kay.” She burrowed under the covers and wrapped herself around a pillow that smelled like him. A relaxed, satiated lethargy was dragging at her, and fighting it was a losing battle. As she gave in to the tug of sleep, she felt a hand stroke over her wet hair, smoothing it back from her face. He was whispering into her ear, and she could have sworn he’d told her he loved her. It was probably a dream though, because the idea of Kade loving her as she loved him was too good to be true. Just this once she would pretend that he did love her, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

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She hadn’t been asleep for very long when a heavy pounding on the door woke her. She sat up and looked around, disoriented. Had Kade forgotten his key and was knocking to get in? Sliding off the mattress, Lana wrapped the comforter around her breasts and winced when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her half-dried hair was kinked at odd angles and tangled around her face. Whoever said that bedhead was sexy should be shot. The faint-pink hickey on her neck was sexy as hell, though. Lana had just started out the bedroom door when Kade’s landline began ringing. She grabbed the cordless phone from his dresser and headed out into the hallway. Should she answer it? She hesitated for a moment, indecision making her pause. Maybe he didn’t want anyone to know that she had spent the night. Screw it. By now, everyone at SHI would know what had been administered to her and exactly how Kade had helped her. No one would blink an eye if she answered his phone this morning. “Hello?” “Hey, beautiful,” Kade’s rich, deep voice said. “Sorry to wake you. I just wanted to know if you had a craving for anything in particular or if I should surprise you?” “Mmm…surprise me. Did you forget your keys?” she asked. “No, baby, they’re right in my hand. Why?” His voice had changed, becoming more alert and wary. She stopped in the kitchen, clutching the comforter around her more firmly. “Someone was banging on the door,” she whispered. His breath caught audibly. “No one should be around right now, damn it. Jesse called to tell me there is a debriefing at Headquarters right now. Lana, baby, back away from the door for me. I have a panic room just off the bedroom, through the closet. I want you to go in there and wait until I come back for you. The panic-room door locks automatically. Go now, baby. Go!” Just as she turned to flee for the bedroom, another pound on the door sounded. Suddenly the solid-wood panel crashed open, slamming into the wall. A familiar, snarling figure stood in the

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doorway. “You bitch,” Helter Skelter growled, advancing on her menacingly. Lana screamed as he lunged at her. She was well versed in selfdefense, but her current state of dress wasn’t particularly helpful. She kicked out at him, her feet getting tangled in the comforter. She was still holding the phone in her right hand and could hear Kade shouting. Helter snatched the phone away and threw it across the room. It landed upright on the couch, still connected with Kane’s cell. “Shut up,” Helter roared. “Kaden Kane is always getting in my way, ruining my life. Now I’m going to ruin his life by taking the woman he loves away from him.” He lunged again, grabbing her around the waist and hoisting her over his shoulder. His grip, while firm and completely unbreakable, didn’t hurt, and he’d kept the comforter wrapped around her snuggly. “Let’s go. We’ll hide out in one of my old labs until my transportation arrives. I’m sure you’ll love the charred look. I think it’s rather charming. Besides, Kane will never think to look there, and I need every advantage I can get. I had to scatter my men, so I’m acting alone at this particular moment.” Fear and anger warred in Lana for dominance. She hated being helpless, and she wasn’t about to let this madman take her without a fight. She clawed and bit at his back frantically, a rush of victory flooding through her when she managed to get a bit of flesh between her teeth, and he yelped. Her eyes filled with tears as Helter carried her out of Kade’s home. She was thirty years old, and she hadn’t even lived yet. Now she probably never would. She hadn’t even fallen in love yet. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She had loved Kade from almost the moment she’d set eyes on him. She had just never found the courage to act on it.

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The lack of courage to stand up and fight for the man she loved was her biggest regret, one she’d never live to see rectified since she would die before she let another man put his hands on her again. Helter shoved her into the back seat of a Hummer and made quick work of restraining her wrists and ankles. Surprisingly, he didn’t gag her, so she railed at him for almost half an hour before she fell silent. Something he had said earlier finally came clear. He’d told her that Kade loved her. What was going on here? Why would Helter think that Kade loved her? Lana stared harder at the back of Helter’s head. Now that she had time to scrutinize him, she realized that something about his outfit was off. He was wearing camouflage. Helter made his soldiers wear camo, but she had never seen him wear it himself. In every image she had seen him in, he was always dressed in surgical scrubs and a lab coat. Lana frowned harder, trying to capture another subtle difference in this Helter Skelter that she just couldn’t put her finger on. All the footage of the mad scientist she had seen showed a man with crazed, almost spastic body language. He was all sharp, fast moves. And he never did his own dirty work like kidnapping his hostages. Yet here he was, calm and cool, almost like… “Jesse Scott!” Lana didn’t know whether she should be royally pissed or confused, so she settled for both. “What in blazes are you thinking?” Helter’s face and body shape morphed, and suddenly Jesse was looking at her. “Hi, Lana!” he said brightly. Too brightly. He obviously knew he was in major shit, and it was clear he hoped to use his Southern charm to weasel his way out of any of the more unpleasant consequences. “Are you feeling better this morning?” That Southern accent poured out, sweet as spun sugar, but it wouldn’t work on her no matter how thick he laid it on. Besides, she much preferred Kade’s clipped, Boston accent. “Don’t you even try it,

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Jesse. What were you thinking? Do you even know how much trouble you’re in?” The car drew to a stop in front of a burnt-out structure. Helter’s old lab. The one Kade had boasted about. “Burnt the fucker to the ground,” he had said proudly. Jesse came around the car, opened her door, and bent at the waist to pick her up. She hit him on the head with her bound fists instead. “Untie me, you idiot!” He did, then helped her to her feet and escorted her gently but firmly into the fire-damaged building. “What are we doing here?” Jesse smirked, and Lana suddenly realized that he had cleverly relayed all the information about the location, the supposed perpetrator, and the circumstances one might face to Kade during his “kidnapping” speech. “Kade doesn’t know anything about this, does he?” she said incredulously. He steered her into a room and pointed to a chair. “Have a seat. I’d offer to help you sit, but I’m afraid of your finger nails. And your teeth. Gosh, sugar, does Kade know you’re such a little wildcat?” Could this get any more ridiculous? Lana couldn’t wrap her brain around what was happening. Jesse wasn’t going to hurt her. But what was he doing, parading around like Helter Skelter and kidnapping innocent women? It confused her, and as smart as she was, being confused infuriated her. “Answer the question, Mr. Scott. Does Kade know anything about this little stunt of yours?” She used her PhD voice, the one that never failed to make people nervous. At least Jesse had the good grace to flush and back up a few steps, even though those dimples flashed briefly. “Nope, Dr. Lewis, Kade has no idea.” Just as she thought, thank goodness. Glaring accusingly at him, Lana thought back to her supposed kidnapping. “You broke Kade’s door down.”

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He flashed her another sweet smile. That man was pouring it on thicker than molasses. “I didn’t break down the door. Chris did. He and Russ are fixing it as we speak.” Shaking her head in wonderment, Lana gaped at Kade’s best friend. “Chris and Russ are in on this, too? Ooohhh, Kaden is going to kill you guys.” Jesse grinned sheepishly and blew his bangs out of his eyes. He actually had the audacity to look pleased with himself. “Everyone at SHI is in on it. I’m hoping that the outcome will justify the means and that Kade’ll be grateful for my interference instead of wanting to kill me. Cause he’s my best friend, and I don’t want to have to scrape him off the floor if Chris finds out he hurt me.” Secretly, part of her really wanted Kade to beat him up for scaring her, although she didn’t want Kade hurt. And Chris probably would kill anyone who even looked at Jesse the wrong way. Or maim them at the very least. “That makes absolutely zero sense, Jess. Why would Kade be grateful?” she asked, forcing her thoughts back on track. Jesse grinned again, his big brown eyes sparkling with joy. “Because I’m going to force him to show you how much he loves you.”

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Chapter 8 Goddamnit! Kade raced to his car, desperate to get to Lana, confused and more than a little angry. Forget bringing Helter Skelter in alive. He was going to tear the crazy SOB apart with his bare hands. And if said SOB dared to lay even one finger on the woman Kade loved, Kade would make sure the fucker rued the day his mother birthed him. Kade wasn’t normally a vicious or vindictive person. Far from it, actually. More than once he’d been wounded on the job because he’d tried to apprehend his assignments as humanely as possible. But the more he thought about killing Helter slowly, the more he liked the idea. Yeah. There would be no quick death for the bastard. When Kade was finished with him, he would regret messing with Kade’s woman. He speed-dialed Headquarters for what seemed like the tenth time, and again no one picked up. Where the fuck was everybody? Kade knew that everyone was in a debriefing session but come on. Not even the receptionist seemed to be around to answer the frigging phone, and that was her effing job. Jamming his Hummer into drive, Kade ran through his options. The way he saw it, he had two alternatives. He could drive to Headquarters, crash the debriefing, and rally the troops, or he could go after the crazy fucker and save his woman on his own. Kade decided on the latter. He didn’t want to waste time explaining the situation and then have to wait around while a plan of action was decided on. Plus there was the little fact that the president

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would want Helter Skelter to be brought in alive. And Kade wasn’t about to let Helter live through this incident, that was for sure. He pulled over to the side of the road and forced himself to calm down and to quit hyperventilating. Think, he yelled at himself mentally. Helter had verbally vomited a bunch of information while he’d been listening to the scuffle on the phone. All he had to do was concentrate and pull the information out of his brain. Pieces of Helter’s rant circled in his mind. An old lab. Well, there had been a lot of old labs. The question was which abandoned lab would he use? What was it that Helter had said about the lab? I’m sure you’ll love the charred look. There was only one lab that Kade had set on fire. He’d done it in a fit of temper because Helter had evaded him once again. That had to be the one Helter meant. The lab was about forty-five minutes away, and Kade drove quickly, cursing himself the whole way. Why had he left her alone? Sure, the only food he had in the house amounted to the pizza from poker night congealing on the kitchen counter, a few half-finished bottles of warm beer, a bowl of stale potato chips, a box of Twinkies, and something that might be considered a new life-form in the back of the fridge. He could have ordered in but thought to indulge her sweet tooth with the world’s best chocolate-chip pancakes and coffee from the diner she liked to frequent. Yes, he knew where she liked to eat. That was either pathetic or slightly stalkerish. He hadn’t yet decided which. He’d been standing at the counter, the hot foam box clutched in both hands, when Jesse had called to inquire about Lana. Jesse had convinced him to call Lana to ask her what she wanted to eat, in case pancakes weren’t what she was craving, and thank God Kade had followed his advice. If he hadn’t called, he would have missed Helter’s fanatical outburst, and he’d have no clue how to find Lana. He parked a block away from the burnt-out building and popped his trunk. Keying in the combination for the gun safe hidden in the

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floor of his trunk, he pulled out his pistol and checked the chamber. Fully loaded, as always. Creeping as quickly as he could toward Helter’s old hidey-hole, Kade did his best to stick to whatever shadows he could find, given that it was nearly noon and full daylight. So far, he hadn’t seen any sign of Helter’s men, though if he remembered correctly, Helter had said that he’d scattered his men. Though why he would do that was beyond him. Helter had never scattered them before. Whatever. The main thing was to get in, get Lana, and get out. If he had the opportunity to kill the bastard, then so be it. That man would not touch Lana again. Ever. Kade made his way into the shell of the building without incident. It was eerie, really. If there was one thing that could be said about Helter Skelter, it was that he learned from his mistakes. The Helter he knew would never let himself be caught without proper security again. Maybe the man had finally snapped and let rage get the better of him. Which meant he needed to get Lana out of there as soon as possible. A voice echoed from down one of the old halls. “Ooohhh, Kaden is going to kill you.” Kade’s heart leapt. Lana! He raced silently toward her voice. She was alive! And apparently taunting her captor. When he got her out of here he would spank her sweet little ass for goading her kidnapper, except she would probably like having her butt spanked, which wouldn’t do anything to dissuade her from trying something so stupid in the future. Spanking her might lead to other more important things though, so he decided he’d tan her ass anyway. If she was into that kind of thing, that is. He would never be able to do anything she didn’t want. The idea of hurting Lana was enough to make the hardest of erections wilt faster than a cold shower. He slowed to a stop and gripped the gun in both hands. Kade didn’t care how strong someone was, the pistol’s recoil was always a

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bitch. Very few people could shoot accurately with one hand, and Kade wanted to make sure his accuracy was dead-on. Gathering his scattered concentration, Kade willed a replicate into existence and sent it farther into the hall, creeping closer to the door. He made the copy poke its head around the doorframe and scan the room. An image of the room appeared in his mind, one that didn’t make any sense to him. According to his replicate, Lana was sitting on a chair, completely unrestrained, while she pointed furiously at Jesse? That couldn’t be right. Panic bombarded him, dampening his palms and knotting his belly. Something was wrong with his replicate’s eyes. Shit. Of course something had to go wrong when the most precious thing in his life was being threatened. Kade took a deep breath and was preparing to peek around the door himself when he heard a familiar voice. “Kade’ll be grateful for my interference instead of wanting to kill me. Cause he’s my best friend, and I don’t want to have to scrape him off the floor if Chris finds out he hurt me.” Jesse. It really was Jesse. What the hell was going on? The pieces of this bizarre puzzle began to fall into place. Jesse had decided to play matchmaker. And he’d probably had everyone in on it, too. That was why no one had raised the alarm when Helter Skelter, a known mark, apparently strolled down the street, right through the Hero Accommodations. It was probably why no one was around to answer the phone at SHI Headquarters, too. Jesse, the interfering bugger, had probably been standing right outside his house when he called to be sure Kade phoned home to ask what Lana wanted to eat at just the right moment. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to risk getting creamed by Chris because it was all he could do to not storm in and kick the motherfucker’s ass. Kade was so angry he missed the rest of the conversation. Jesse knew how afraid Kade would have been for Lana. Hell, Jesse had

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been the one to order Kade to breathe the first time she had gone missing. He wanted to hit his head against the ruined wall when he heard his best friend’s next words. “I’m going to force him to show you how much he loves you.” Well, the cat was out of the bag now, so to speak. Damn Jesse and his need to see everyone in a happy, committed relationship. He waited with baited breath to hear what Lana would say to that. Would she laugh hysterically? Would she be horrified? Would she confess a secret love for him? “Kade…loves me?” The tremulous quality to Lana’s voice gave him cause for hope. A laugh rang out, and he could just picture Jesse holding his ribs from his laughter. “God bless your little heart, sugar. That man has been in love with you for going on five years now.” A gasp and then a sigh followed Jesse’s words. “No, he can’t love me. He never talks to me, and whenever he looks at me, he gets this funny look on his face and rushes away.” “Darlin,’ you are so precious,” Jesse said on another laugh. “Honey, he gets all tongue-tied around you. And I’ll let him tell you why he rushes away whenever he looks at you.” Okay, it was time to break this party up before Jesse said something else embarrassing. He stormed in, stepped between the two, and bared his teeth at Jesse. “What the fuck, man? Did you lose your mind?” His hands clenched into fists, struggling to find a reason not to beat his best friend to a pulp, Chris notwithstanding. “Now, Kade, just listen to me,” Jesse said as he rose, holding his hands out in front of him in a plea for a chance to explain. Kade shook his head. “Don’t even try it, Jess. I’m trying very hard not to murder you right now.” A small, warm hand landed on his back, massaging the tight muscles low on his spine through his cotton T-shirt. “Kade,” Lana

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said in an uncharacteristically shy tone, “I’m fine. Really, Jesse just scared me for a few minutes.” The idea of Lana scared didn’t help calm Kade at all. It made him even more furious. Jesse chose that moment to open his mouth again. “Scared? Darlin’, you weren’t scared, you were fuming. I’m going to have a hard time explaining to Chris the bite mark you left on my back. Kade, sugar, she’s got some claws on her. And teeth.” A flood of pride washed through him. Of course Lana didn’t go quietly. She would have fought tooth and nail and used every weapon at her disposal to defend herself. Kade turned around to praise her, and he suddenly noticed what she was wearing. His mouth fell open, and he glared at Jesse. “You couldn’t even let her get something to wear other than my comforter? I thought you prided yourself on being a gentleman.” Jesse ran his hands through his hair and shot him an apologetic look. “I had to make it look authentic, didn’t I? Helter Skelter wouldn’t have let her get something else to wear. In fact, he probably would have ripped that sorry bedspread off her. Really, sugar, haven’t you bought anything new since you started at SHI? I shudder to think about what’s on that ratty old thing.” God, that was embarrassing. He knew exactly what Jesse was talking about. Kaden had a tendency to shoot with about the same force as a fire hose in the morning, something he had drunkenly admitted to his best friend back in their army days. It could get a little messy sometimes. He hadn’t slept with anyone since he’d met Lana though. He just couldn’t get it up for anyone else. But of course, Lana didn’t know that. “Baby, you have to know something. I haven’t slept with anyone in years. This dipshit doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Lana merely smiled up at him, all sweet with just a hint of sassy. “Why don’t you just take me home? I’d appreciate something to eat, a cup of coffee, and something to wear.”

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He smiled back at her and gathered her close to his side. “This is not over,” he threatened, glaring at Jesse and pointing at him threateningly. “You and Chris better watch your wardrobe. You know that black duster jacket you like Chris in so much? The one you say makes him look like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix? It’s toast.” Jesse flinched and grabbed his chest. “Ouch. Hit me where it hurts the most, why don’t you?” He ignored his friend’s antics and led Lana out of the room at a brisk pace. She would not spend another moment in this place. Lana deserved so much better than this, and he was the man who going to give her everything she deserved. “Umm, Kade?” Lana tugged at his arm to bring him to a halt. “Can you slow down just a little? I don’t have any shoes, and there’s some crap on the floor I really don’t want to step on.” Kade froze and started muttering under his breath as he swept her up into his arms. “What was Jesse thinking? He couldn’t even stop to get you some shoes. Chris and Jesse’s wardrobe is in more danger than he thinks.” Striding through the shell of Helter’s old lab, he relished the sweet curves pressed so close to him. He even cherished the small puffs of air as her warm breath fluttered across his throat. But he was still thrumming with irritation at Jesse. “C’mon, dipshit! You can open the doors for us at the very least.” When they had her settled in the Hummer, Kade turned on his friend, crossing his arms over his chest and resting his butt on the SUV. “Jesse. What the fuck?” Jesse leaned back against the Hummer next to him and rubbed his back before squeezing his shoulder. “Do yourself a favor, sugar, and tell the girl you’re in love with her.” For the first time since they’d met all those years ago, Kade shrugged off his friend’s comforting hand and yanked open the Hummer’s driver’s-side door. He was met by a sight that had every drop of the blood in his body gather right in his cock.

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Lana’s comforter-covered ass was nearly right in his face as she leaned over the front seat for the carton he had tossed carelessly over his shoulder when he’d raced to get to her. “Oh my goodness,” she breathed reverently. “Is that what I think it is?” He heard Jesse laughing behind him and calling a cheery farewell to Lana before he slammed the door in his friend’s face. Squealing out of the parking spot, Kade drove toward the SHI compound, smiling indulgently when she cracked the takeout box and let out a moan of longing that had his blood thickening. “Chocolatechip pancakes from Rocco’s. My favorite.” “I know.” Kade pulled into his driveway half an hour later, noting with wry amusement that Chris was hightailing it around the corner. “He and Russ were fixing your door. Evidently Russ used his super speed to get away, the rat.” She closed the box and licked a spot of chocolate from her finger. “Whatever. I’ll do anything you ask if you get me a fork so I can eat these. And a glass of milk. And some sweetened whipped cream, if you have it? It’s the only thing that goes with these pancakes.” “Anything? You would do anything?” he echoed, trailing behind her as she led the way to the door, looking as if she traipsed around in a bedspread every day. He fetched a knife and fork, a bottle of syrup, a tub of Cool Whip, and a glass of milk for her and set them on the table in front of her. She had changed in his bedroom, having rooted through his closet and unearthing the only button-down shirt he owned. His mouth watered as he watched her devour those pancakes while they sat at his scrubbed-wood table. It wasn’t watering for the pancakes, though. He itched to throw her over his shoulder, carry her to the bedroom, and keep her there for the next few weeks or so. “What? Do I have something on my face?” She touched her lip and looked up at him from under her lashes in a clear invitation.

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Kade leaned forward. He might not have as many degrees as Lana, but he wasn’t stupid. “You have some chocolate right here,” he fibbed. He kissed the corner of her mouth, letting his tongue swipe across her bottom lip lightly. Oh, sweet Mary, mother of God, she tasted so good. Chocolate, maple, sweetened cream, and her own unique taste mingled in his mouth until he thought he could get drunk off her. Heart pounding and groin tightening, he cupped her jaw in both hands and feathered a kiss across her temple. A sense of rightness flowed through him. She felt right in his arms. The future he was considering felt right. “Did you mean it?” Small hands with delicate fingers reached up and gripped his wrists. Then she angled her body so that her forehead rested on his. “Mean what?” His gut clenched with nerves. Was he really going to ask? “That you would do anything I asked if I got you a fork?” A grin spread across her face, her green eyes sparkling with mischief. “And a glass of milk, remember? But that depends. Why don’t you ask and find out?” Lana unfastened a button of the shirt she had confiscated. He could get used to seeing her in his clothes. She continued undoing those little buttons, one by one. It was clear Lana thought he was going to ask for sex. Of course, he planned on doing just that. After he asked her for what he really wanted. He was so dizzy from anxiety, he wondered if he was about to pass out. Being in love shouldn’t be this damn scary, should it? Oh well, it was now or never. Besides, the idea of living out the rest of his life without Lana by his side was even more frightening. A few heartbeats later, he plunged right in. “Marry me?”

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Chapter 9 Kade’s words echoed in her mind. “Marry me.” Those two words were the very ones that Lana had fantasized about Kade saying to her thousands of times over. A thrill shot through her only to be quickly squelched. Why would he ask something like that? They had only spent one night together. It had been a great night, granted, but it wasn’t as if they knew each other all that well. They hadn’t even spoken more than two sentences at a time to each other. A long, slow breath fanned across her face, and she blinked her eyes to bring them back into focus. Kade’s eyes reflected a myriad of emotions. Pain, sadness, disappointment, regret, and resignation all passed over his handsome face. Oh lord, he’d really meant it. “Kade?” He pulled away, rubbing his hands over his face and turning so that he was in profile. “Yeah. Okay.” What the hell kind of response was that? Wasn’t she entitled to a bit of surprise? It wasn’t as if she got proposed to every day. “Kade,” she protested, “don’t get all moody.” “Don’t get all moody?” His voice echoed incredulously around the room. “Lana, I just proposed to you, and you laughed in my face. What do you expect me to do?” Who knew that Kaden Kane was such a drama queen? There were so many things about Kade that she didn’t know. And she wanted to discover all of them. After they had hashed out their current situation. “Be reasonable. We have never been on a date before. Hell, we’ve never even had a conversation before.”

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He rounded on her, his face a mask of amazement. “Is that what you want? Dates? Conversations? Christ, Lana, I just told you that I love you. Don’t you think I want to give you all of that?” Oh, no. She wasn’t about to let him get away with this rant. She could point out that he had never told her he loved her. Sure, Jesse swore up and down that Kade did love her, but the man himself had yet to actually say those three little words. Perhaps it was time to bite the bullet and admit that she had fallen in love with him sometime over the past few years. Maybe, just maybe, she should seize what she wanted most in the world and agree to marry him. Before she could make up her mind to do anything, Kade’s pager went off. He whirled around and grabbed for his kitchen phone, punching in the string of numbers violently. “This had better be goddamn real. I’m in the middle of something,” he snarled viciously. Leave it to Kade to be so blunt. Lana listened to his end of the conversation but couldn’t really glean much from it. His answers consisted of one word phrases and grunts. “Fine,” he said tersely. “Tell Chris to come by in a few minutes.” Kade stomped out of the kitchen, muttering under his breath. He gathered some gear from the front closet, shrugging into a bulletproof vest. The sight of the Kevlar caused Lana’s heart to skip a beat. He was going out on an assignment. “Is it Helter Skelter?” She swore that crazy bastard was out to ruin her life. Without looking her in the face, he shook his head. “No. Chris and I are raiding a terrorist cell. He’ll need the extra man power that I can provide with the replicas.” Lana closed her eyes and fought the bile crawling up her throat. Terrorists meant guns, and zealots who were not afraid to use them.

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Unlike Helter, who protected his research files as fiercely as a mother bear protected her cubs, terrorists had nothing to lose. And that meant that Kade was going into a situation that he might not come out of alive. She fretted over Kade’s assignments every time he went out, but being here with him, while he was preparing to leave on one, was different. It hit closer to home. Her entire body began to shake violently at the prospect of never seeing him again. “Stay here as long as you need,” he said, still not looking at her. “And help yourself to the shower and whatever you want from my closet.” She wanted to say something. To tell him she loved him and that, yes, she would marry him. That she would be waiting for him when he got home. But her vocal cords refused to cooperate. She couldn’t seem to make any noise other than a small, high-pitched squeak. That strangled sound seemed to tip him off that something was wrong, and he finally turned his head to look at her. “Hey,” he whispered. He wrapped his arms around her shaking body and held her close. “Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay, baby. You’re safe now,” he said, clearly misinterpreting the reason for her distress. Kade couldn’t seem to understand that it wasn’t her safety that worried her. It was his. Still unable to stop the shuddering, Lana simply clung to him. His big body enveloped hers, and the thought of Kade never holding her again was completely unacceptable. “Kade,” she forced past her numb lips. A knock sounded at the door before she could finish what she was going to say. “Come on in, Chris,” Kade hollered at the door. The other man opened the door and stepped inside. “Kade, we must be off.” Kade sighed so deeply that Lana’s head actually lifted off his chest. “Yeah, I know. But Lana’s scared to be alone right now.”

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“Perhaps we should have Jesse come and sit with her while you’re gone?” Chris suggested, already pulling his cell phone out and dialing his partner. Kade disengaged himself from her and bent to put his boots on. “We’ve got to get going, Lana, but Jesse will be here soon. Don’t let the dipshit scare you.” She couldn’t let him leave without at least giving him some reason to come back to her. Stepping close to him, she cupped his jaw and kissed him deeply, tracing her fingers over his strong jaw and crooked nose. He stood still for a moment, as if frozen, before threading his hands in her hair and tilting her head for a better angle. Lana kissed him until they were both breathless, and it wasn’t until they came up for air that Lana remembered Chris. The Brit stood quietly near the door, discreetly averting his eyes from them, studying the new door as if it were some fascinating painting or a great work of art. Lana had witnessed similar scenes herself. One hero waiting patiently while the other said good-bye to a significant other. The heroes never interrupted a good-bye between couples. It was an unspoken understanding. Lana didn’t realize she was crying until Kade tenderly wiped her cheeks with his thumbs. “We’ll talk later.” He kissed her forehead before stepping out. Chris walked to her and bent so that he could whisper in her ear. “I’ll bring him safely home to you, I promise.” Lana swallowed the rest of her tears and nodded. It didn’t surprise her in the least that Chris knew the real reason she was upset. That man was too perceptive for his own good sometimes. She watched the two men drive off, passing Jesse as he made his way up the driveway. He lifted his hand in a farewell and watched the SUV until it disappeared around the corner.

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He turned toward the house, and any residual anger that Lana still held for him melted away at the look on his face. Jesse looked as wretched as she felt. She opened the door wider and held her arms out to him. Jesse smiled wanly and stepped into her embrace. “Does it get any easier? Watching them drive away?” Her voice was higher than normal, tightened from the effort to fight back her tears. He buried his face in her hair and shook his head. “Never. It helps me if I sit with someone. Russ is coming over, if that’s okay. He usually hangs out with me when Chris is on assignment and Kade’s not available.” Before she could even nod, Russ appeared, walking briskly up the drive. He was carrying a handful of bulging plastic bags, reminding Lana how small and close the SHI compound really was, and not just in size. These heroes, these brave men and women, worked, lived and played together. The danger they faced everyday drew them together, and the trust they had in each other showed. More than once, Lana had gone to work only to hear about a spontaneous barbeque the night before, or an unplanned karaoke evening, or even an impulsive multifamily picnic that had happened. They were a family, and they stood by each other. Russ clapped Jesse’s shoulder and smiled warmly at her. “I brought provisions.” Knowing Russ, the provisions were probably of the liquid kind. “It’s not even three in the afternoon,” she said without heat. She had a feeling she would need Russ’s special provisions before the day was over. A brief grin flashed across Russ’s face. “Not those kinds of provisions, Dr. Lewis,” he said with mock disapproval. “We’re only allowed two drinks, which is definitely not enough to get you through this kind of waiting. Nope, I come bearing ice cream, among other things.”

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Ice cream? Seriously? Jesse scooted around her and rooted in one of the bags until he found a pint of butter pecan. “Thanks, Russ.” “It’s nothing, dude. You know that.” Russ pulled another container free and handed it to her. “A pint of mint chocolate chip for the good doctor, and rocky road for me. I’ll put the rest away.” The three of them flopped down on the couch and flicked on the television. “It’ll be okay,” Russ said quietly, squeezing Lana’s hand. “We’ll stay until Kade and Chris get back.” She stared at her tub of ice cream as if held all the answers. “What if you guys get called to go out?” Russ shrugged and draped his arm across her shoulders. “Jesse won’t get called out while Chris in on assignment. It’s policy that if two heroes are in a relationship, only one goes on an assignment at a time. And if I get called to go out, someone else will come and sit with you guys. We don’t let anyone go through this alone.” Lana thought about going through this situation, waiting for Kade to come back to her alive and unharmed, by herself in her lonely little apartment. These two men were determined to share her anxiety, and for that she was extremely grateful. She dug a spoonful of ice cream out and ate it. Surprisingly, it seemed to help. At least the cold soothed her tight throat a little. “Thanks, guys.” Jesse squeezed her knee and popped a spoonful of butter pecan in her mouth, effectively silencing her. “Anytime, Doc. Anytime.”

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Chapter 10 God, he was tired. Bone-achingly, slack-jawed, drool-on-yourpillow, deep-down exhausted. Not only had he just completed two assignments in two days, a rarity at SHI, but the intelligence report on the terrorist cell he and Chris had raided had been woefully ill prepared. There had been double the men Kade had expected, and weapons had been involved. Luckily, it had been his copies that had taken the bullets and even a few stab wounds. Didn’t stop them from hurting like a bitch, but at least he hadn’t bled out on that damned concrete floor. “Do you suppose my Jesse is still at your place with Lana?” Chris’s voice startled him awake, and he blinked at the other man sleepily. The Englishman didn’t have a hair out of place, damn him. Next to him, Kade must look like he’d been dragged through the street behind a horse. Kade couldn’t work up any irritation toward the man though. He had, after all, saved Kade’s life with his super strength more than once today. “Don’t know,” Kade replied, rolling his head on his neck to get rid of the kinks. “Come on in and check.” The two men dragged their asses to the door, where Kade fumbled with the key until he finally managed to unlock the sucker. They stumbled into the foyer, and both smiled at the scene that awaited them. Russ sat between the Lana and Jesse, clicking the buttons on the television remote. Lana was slumped against him, her head resting on his shoulder as she slept.

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Jesse was stretched out on the other end of the sofa, his head pillowed on the leather arm and his feet in Russ’s lap, fast asleep. The table in front of them was littered with empty ice cream containers, open bags of chips, various cans of soda, and several chocolate-bar wrappers. Apparently, Russ was the only one who hadn’t eaten himself into a sugar-induced coma. He nodded a greeting and smiled back at them. Chris grinned and walked up to his lover, touching Jesse softly on his shoulder. “Come on, darling,” he said when the other man roused. “Let’s go home to bed.” Russ carefully lowered Lana to the sofa and covered her with a blanket before stretching and following them to the door. “She’s wrecked, dude,” he whispered as he slipped on his shoes. He gripped Kade’s proffered hand, shaking it firmly. “You take good care of her, Kaden Kane. She’s the best thing that has ever happened to you. And you know what? You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to her, too.” Russ accepted the thanks from Chris graciously and declined the offer for a drive home, claiming he needed to stretch his legs. He left after one last knuckle pound, his hands shoved in his pockets, whistling a cheery tune. Jesse stood quietly at the entrance, with an arm wrapped around his partner’s waist, smiling at Kade sleepily. Jesse usually reserved that drowsy, intimate smile for Chris, and having it aimed at him made Kade slightly uncomfortable. Especially since he knew that Jesse was about to let Chris top the shit out of him. He loved Jesse but not that much and certainly not that way. Chris chuckled softly and stroked Jesse’s arm. “Come on, darling, let’s go home. That sweet, sexy little smile of yours is starting to creep Kade out.” Jesse looked up at the taller man, with hooded eyes, that “sweet, sexy little smile” becoming all-out seductive. “I’ll let you take me home and have your wicked way with me in just a minute, sugar.”

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He turned his gaze to Kade’s even as he rested his head on Chris’s shoulder. “Don’t let her go, my friend. She’s perfect for you, but she’s scared. She doesn’t feel she knows enough about you to accept your proposal. And Lana doesn’t want you to feel tied to a woman you’ve proposed to in the heat of the moment.” Kade thought about that as he shut the door behind the three men and turned to look at his woman. She was stretched out on the sofa, with one hand curled under her chin and the other under her cheek. Her eyes were swollen from tears, her hair was a tangled mess around her face, and she was beginning to drool on the leather couch. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He lifted her in his arms, and his heart turned over when she turned her face into his neck and groggily sighed his name. “Shh,” he soothed as he carried her to his bed. “It’s all right, I’ve got you. Just go back to sleep.” “Mmm, Kade…” She nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck and kissed him lightly right over his pulse. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?” And just like that, his heart fell right into the palm of her hand. This was what he had always wanted. Someone waiting for him to get home. He had always wanted that someone to be Lana, and he was determined to keep her. He thought back to the events of this afternoon. What the hell had he been thinking, proposing to her out of the blue before even asking her out on a date? Of course she would say no. She would have been a fool not to say no. Lana was still blinking up at him, apparently waiting for his response. He took a careful inventory of his body. He ached from head to toe and was pretty sure his ribs would sport a rainbow of bruises in a few hours. But the woman he loved was in his arms, and that was all that mattered. “I’ve never been better.”

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Kade laid her in his bed and tucked the sheet in around her before heading into the bathroom to scrub the grime from the day off his body. There was no way he was going to lie down next to Lana dirty. As he scrubbed down with a bar of Ivory soap, he resolved that he would never crawl into a bed without Lana again. She wanted to get to know him? He would tell her anything she wanted to know after he got some sleep. **** The first thing Lana noticed upon waking was the soft snoring in her ear. Kade was lounging on his back, one arm flung over his head, the other holding her securely to his side. His perpetual stubble looked even thicker than normal, but it only served to emphasize those luscious, pink lips she dreamed about nightly. She snuggled closer, resting her head right over his heart so she could hear it beating steadily under her ear. She traced her finger around one flat nipple, smiling a little as it hardened into a tight nub from her attention, and thought about the events of the past couple of days. He claimed to love her. Hell, he claimed he wanted to marry her. Her life was an open book, really. She never made it a secret that she had been adopted by the best parents in the world. Everybody at SHI knew she loved books, cheesy chick flicks, animals, children, and Kade. But she didn’t know anything about him, and she couldn’t, in good conscience, agree to marry him without at least knowing what made him tick. So she would find out this morning, and then she would agree to marry him. Russ and Jesse had talked about Kade long into the night, about how getting him to open up about his life was like pulling teeth. Then Russ had pulled out a box, telling her it was from both him and Jesse. It was slightly larger than a shoe box, and he assured her it

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was a gift guaranteed to help her convince Kade to give her the answers she wanted. She still blushed when she thought about how she’d opened it in front of the men and looked up to see Russ grinning wickedly at her. The box contained an assortment of sexual toys that she intended on putting to good use right away. Kade might not like talking about his life normally, but by the time she was done with him, questions about his personal life would get him hard and hot and so horny, he would answer anything just to be allowed to come. Lana quickly took inventory of the contents of her perverted treasure chest and removed the two pairs of fur-lined handcuffs, the large tube of lubricant, the downy feather, the cock ring, and the vibrating jelly butt plug aptly named The Prostate Milker. Apparently Kade had quite a few kinks and was talkative when he was drunk. And apparently he and Jesse had spent quite a few of their days off in the army drunk. Hmm. What to do first? Lana wanted him completely at her mercy, and considering how dominant Kade seemed to be, she’d better restrain him first. She grabbed his right wrist first and made quick work of securing it to the wrought iron headboard. The poor man was so tired, he slept right through it. She secured his other wrist and sat back to admire her handiwork. Her mouth watered as she gazed along Kade’s long, muscular body all stretched out and ready for her pleasure. His morning erection rested heavily on his stomach, its length tempting her. Lana kissed the root of his cock, delighted when she felt it jump. “Lana?” Oh, she loved his low, rough voice. It made her legs wobble and her pussy weep. She swore she could come from listening to him talk alone. “Good morning,” she answered as she nuzzled her face alongside his cock. The curly hairs at the base of his cock tickled her nose a

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little, but it was worth it when she saw how his shaft bobbed every time her warm breath bathed the tip. Lana cupped his balls in her palm and tested their weight. He was so male, all hard and hot and totally, completely hers. His testicles drew up and away from her attention, hardening as he groaned and squirmed. “Lana, sweetheart. Oh, God…baby, I’m really sensitive in the morning.” He began panting in an effort to hold back his impending orgasm. “Baby, seriously. I come really easily the first time.” How sexy was that? She was wet just thinking about watching him jet all over the blanket she had found to cover the bed last night before drifting off to sleep in the living room. According to Jesse, once Kade had his first orgasm of the day, he had amazing stamina, although how Jesse knew that, she didn’t want to know. But if she was going to use orgasm denial in order to get the information she wanted out of him, she needed to make this last. Abruptly, everything in her stilled, and she pulled her hand away from him, feeling suddenly sick to her stomach. How could she even think to do this? Bondage and denial was exactly what Helter Skelter had done to her, and it was probably the most horrifying moment of her life, despite the aphrodisiac. “Hey, now don’t stop.” Kade’s voice was low with understanding and concern, having accurately assumed the reason for her hesitation. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not the same thing. I love you, baby, I trust you, and I want you to do this. That’s what makes it different.” A wave of resolve washed over her, and she nodded her head sharply. She was going to drive him out of his mind with lust if it was the last thing she ever did. Moving up his body, Lana straddled his waist and leaned over to kiss him. He let her take control, opening right up for her tongue and letting her teeth nip his lower lip.

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She took her time, kissing him deeply until she finally let her mouth wander along his jaw and down his neck. Every part of his body was sensitive and responsive to her touch, and she gloried in the power her big man was letting her have. Finally mouthing her way down his chest, she settled at his nipples, kissing, licking and manipulating them with her fingers until they were ruddy and stiff. “Oh, harder, baby. Use your teeth if you want.” He groaned when she took his suggestion and nipped sharply at the nipple in her mouth while she scraped her finger nails over the other. His body bowed in an attempt to get closer, and she ran one hand down his belly soothingly. Her palm encountered a rather large puddle of slippery pre-cum. His cock was bobbing low over his stomach, the combination of the weight of its fat head dragging it down and its slight curve creating a beautiful arc. It leaked steadily, fluid dripping from the purpled head, and throbbed visibly with every beat of his pulse. She had never seen anything more arousing in her life. Grabbing the cock ring, she slid it down his length to sit snuggly at the base. “Ah, baby. Now that’s just mean.” The cheeky grin on his face belied his words. Using just two fingers scissored just under the flared head, she stroked him gently, just barely touching him. “You need to answer some questions before I let you come.” The grin Kade had worn melted off his face and was replaced by a look of agony. “I’ll answer anything you want, baby. Just stroke me a little harder.” Instead of giving in to his plea, Lana backed right off and removed her hand completely. She ignored his protesting moan and greased up the butt plug. “Is it true that you like these?” she asked, holding up the small plug for him to see. His cheeks flushed. “Jesse has a big mouth.”

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Taking that for a yes and ridiculously touched by Kade’s show of embarrassment, she teased the slender, tapered end of the plug against his puckered anus. The first quarter slid in easily while Kade writhed around on the bed wildly. “Don’t stop,” he pleaded when she met resistance around the middle of the plug. Lana was reluctant to cause him any pain and flicked the vibrating switch on in hopes of distracting him. She knew she succeeded when his hips jerked and he bore down, forcing the full length of the plug into his anus. The Milker, as she liked to think of it, was certainly doing its job, if the dripping from his cock becoming a steady stream was any indication. She retrieved the feather and swirled it around one of his nipples, ready to start the inquisition. “Tell me about your family.” Kade forced his words out from between gritted teeth. “Mom and Dad divorced when I was small, after my powers began emerging.” Hmm. A good start, she supposed. The one psychology course she had taken way back in her undergraduate days had stressed the importance of rewarding good behavior. “Very good,” she whispered, swiping the feather across the skin if his balls. His testicles were so swollen and hard, the skin of his scrotum was stretched taut, and the feather skimmed over it easily, eliciting a whine. Teasing the feather across his inner thighs, she tapped lightly on the base of the plug as she considered her next question. “Do you have any siblings?” He let out a sob of pleasure and jerked his hips again, although she wasn’t sure if he was trying to force her to touch him more firmly or trying to move away from her touch. “One sister. Younger. Nicole. She’s married and has two kids. I visit them a couple of times a year.” “Very good,” she praised. She stroked the feather up his pulsing cock, pausing to flick it against the nerve-rich spot just under the swollen head. His shifted his legs restlessly, clearly desperate to come. “Oh, fuuuuuck,” he groaned.

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She gripped the base of the plug again and jiggled it slightly, watching with fascination as his cock spit a stream of pre-ejaculate with every slight push. She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold him off forever. He was getting to the point that he either had to come soon or he wouldn’t be able to come at all. She had time for maybe one more question before she had to get Kade off. Kade began whimpering fretfully, tossing his head and clenching his jaw. She continued to flutter the feather up and down his cock, which by now was bigger than ever and pulsing constantly. Time for that last question. “Why do you want to marry me?” The big man froze on the bed, his stare locking with hers. Even through the lust-glazed eyes, she could easily read his sincerity. “I love you, Lana. I have for years. It was love at first sight. And every day I know you, I fall more in love. I can’t imagine a life without you in it, and after the past couple of nights, I can’t imagine not going to bed with you every single night.” That was easily the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her, hands down. And the truth shone in his eyes. He meant every single word. How could she say no to a marriage proposal now? She laid the feather aside and tapped the anal plug again as she softly ran her hand up his cock. Lowering her mouth, she let her lips brush directly against the flared head. “I love you, too. Ask me again.” Kade made a sound somewhere between a whine and a grunt. “Will you marry me?” He managed to push the words out from between his flattened lips. “Yes. I will marry you, Kade. Today, if you want.” Lana pressed the throbbing tip against her lips and let him slide in slowly. She suckled just the head of him, running the point of her tongue around the mushroomed head of him carefully, mindful that he would be exquisitely sensitive and anything more forceful had the potential to cause pain rather than pleasure.

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It was incredibly arousing to have Kade, the man she loved, mindless with the pleasure that she was giving him. “Let go.” As if her permission was all that he had been waiting for, his body shuddered and finally released. His voice sounded in a harsh bark, and his semen jetted into her mouth, coating her tongue with his salty essence. It went on and on until he collapsed, his arms hanging limply from the cuffs. She crawled up his body and kissed him hard on the mouth, completely taken off guard when he dipped his tongue past her lips to taste himself. It was unbelievably arousing. As if he could sense her excitement, Kade pulled away from the kiss and spoke. “Come up here, baby, and ride my face. I want to feel you come on my mouth so bad.” Well, who was she to deny him anything he wanted? She clambered up his chest and straddled his lower face, gripping the headboard with both hands and tilting her head so she could watch his progress. He swiped his tongue through her pussy, carefully avoiding the straining nubbin of her excited clitoris. “You’re so wet and ready, baby. Did making me come get you all hot and bothered?” “Yes,” she managed on a strangled gasp. Holy Mary, mother of God, she’d never been more turned on in her life. Her blood was pounding through her so hard and fast that she briefly wondered if she would have a heart attack before this was over. But then, one small caress of his tongue on just the right spot would send her hurtling over the edge anyway, so this probably wouldn’t last too long as it was. A pair of rough, calloused palms covered her breasts at the same second that Kade lifted his chin and began feasting on her aching pussy. A massive cock nudged into her from behind, and she looked over her shoulder to see one of Kade’s replicas. This superpower of his was going to kill her, but at least she’d die with a smile on her face.

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It was a surreal feeling, her pussy being pounded into by the same man who was sucking on her clit. Exactly like having a threesome, but not. His teeth caught the base of her swollen, rigid clit and held it firmly while he flicked over it with the stiffened tip of his tongue. Her entire body stiffened as the world around her froze for an instant. She could feel the orgasm rushing toward her like a freight train, but the sheer force of it took her off guard. She jerked helplessly as she was buffeted by wave after wave of intense pleasure. Lana dimly heard a creaking sound and another set of hands wrapped around her waist, holding her steady as she continued to ride out her climax. The erection in her pussy disappeared, and Kade groaned against her clit, sending one last, long blast of pleasure through her. When she finally came back to reality, Lana found herself sprawled across the mattress, her head resting on Kade’s heaving chest. He was damp with sweat and something else. Long ropes of cum painted his abdomen. She got a perverse thrill out of knowing she had made him come again, just minutes after his first climax. She felt warm, cherished, and safe in his arms when it hit her that his arms were wrapped around her possessively. The same arms that she had restrained before this whole thing had started. “You broke the handcuffs?” she asked, awed at his strength. She hadn’t known that super strength was one of his powers. “Baby, they’re just prop cuffs. I could have gotten out of them at any time.” Chewing her lower lip, she pondered what that meant. He could have taken control of their lovemaking from the start, but he’d let her have the advantage over him. It should have embarrassed her, but instead it made her love him even more. She nuzzled into his chest and sighed. “I don’t ever want to leave this bed.” Kade’s rich laugh floated over her. “But then I’d never get you hitched, darlin’. About that…”

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Lana looked up at him. Previously, his hesitancy would have shaken her confidence, made her think that he was reconsidering his offer. But after what he’d just let her do, she trusted him with her heart. “Yes?” “I would totally marry you today. But Jesse would be mad if he didn’t get to be the best man. And Chris will want to plan the wedding. What do you say to six weeks from today?” Moving over so that she sprawled across his chest, she rested her chin on her folded hands and looked at him happily. “That’s fine. It gives me time to go back to the apartment and get everything ready. Sleep a few more weeks in my own bed,” she added cheekily, knowing full well he would never agree to that. Kade rolled her over, trapping her under him with his hips. “Hell, no. Baby, we are never sleeping apart again. I don’t care if we’re living in sin or not, you are going to spend every single night in my arms. And since I have to live on the SHI compound, so do you. We’ll pack up what you need today and move the rest of the stuff later. You hear me, Mrs. Kane?” She rubbed her nose against his and kissed his scowling mouth. “I love you, Kaden Kane. And I can’t wait to be your wife.” Kade huffed out a breath but laid his forehead against hers. “Good thing, because I’m never letting you go.”

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Epilogue “Please, baby. Please? Just come to the locker room with me for a few minutes.” Kade wasn’t above pleading for his wife’s attention, and he knew exactly how to snag her attention. He whispered to her, making sure to direct his warm breath right into her ear as he brushed his lips along her sensitive lobe. “I’ll make it worth your while. I promise to eat you out until you’re coming so hard, you’re shaking. I’ll lock the door this time, I swear.” Lana giggled but remained in her seat. “Kaden, I have work to do.” He stared at the string of words and equations on the screen in front of her, smiling at the two tiny photographs wedged into the upper corners of her computer screen. He touched the one in the left corner. The image never failed to take his breath away. The photo was one from their wedding. It was a candid shot and had been taken in profile. The close-up pose showed Lana tilting her head up to look at him. The joy and love on her face was easy to read. His face in the photo reflected his own happiness and the bemused astonishment that Lana had chosen to wed him. He wondered if he would ever get over that astonishment. He still woke up every morning amazed that he held Lana Kane, née Lewis, in his arms. Kade had been so blessed. He finally had that someone who meant everything to him. She was that someone who kissed him good-bye like he was the beating heart in her chest, that someone who cried tears of joy every time he returned from an assignment safe. Lana was that someone knew his heart was in her hands, and she did everything she could to cherish and protect it.

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And he was determined to get into that same someone’s pants. Leaning over her, he nuzzled the back of her neck, scraping his teeth along the nape of her neck. “Baby, please? It’s our first anniversary. Consider it an anniversary gift.” Lana laughed outright and tossed him a sultry look over her shoulder. “You’re getting your gift after we go out for dinner tonight. And if you keep that up, I’m going to jump your bones as soon as we get home, and we’ll be late for said dinner.” He trailed a string of kisses along the side of her neck, stopping to nibble delicately at the spot directly behind her ear. He considered reaching around and cupping her breasts but thought that might be considered overkill, even though he could clearly see her nipples pebbling against her silk blouse. Shit, she had beautiful nipples. And recently, she had become so sensitive that she could come from a little erotic nipple play alone. A memory of the night before played like a film through his mind, and he nearly groaned out loud. He had played with those sensitive, ultra-responsive nipples until she’d screamed out his name. He’d happened to look down between her spread thighs just in time and had caught sight of her little clitoris jumping and flexing in orgasm. And her clit. God, her clit! It was hard and swollen for him all the time now. She had confessed last week that the simple act of crossing her legs could make her wet now. All he had to do was stroke it just right for a few seconds, and she’d go off like a rocket. He’d found that tiny little area on the left side of her clit just days after she’d moved in, and he made sure to exploit it regularly. To hell with the fact that they were in her office. Her door was closed, and no one was apt to barge in without knocking. He palmed her breasts and very carefully caught both her nipples between his thumbs and fingers, tugging gently. “Come on, baby. I bet that pretty little clit of yours is just aching to come. Let me take the edge off for you.”

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She swatted at him even as her breath shuddered, and he reluctantly moved away, glancing again at the screen in front of her. He swallowed around the lump in his throat at the second blurry photo wedged in the screen. God, the sight of that picture never failed to make his belly knot with nerves. He must have sighed or something when he touched the black and white image, because Lana looked up and her face softened. “What are you working on?” he asked, trying to deflect the subject that hadn’t even come up yet. She smiled gently and reached up to cup one side of his face, as if she knew what he was trying to avoid. Who was he kidding? She knew exactly what he was trying to avoid. “Your genetics,” she answered, clearly willing to let him set the tone of their conversation. “I want to understand everything about you.” He glanced at the photo again and plucked it from the screen. “Are we ready for this?” And with that, he had just brought up the subject he had been trying his best to avoid. Lana pushed her chair away from the desk and swiveled in her seat. Her eight-month-pregnant belly rippled as their daughter made herself known. “Yes, we are. Kade, you are going to be a great father.” He stroked her belly lightly, and the feel of his daughter kicking at his palm broke through his nerves and had him grinning with delight. “I love you,” he said. “And I love you, too, peanut.” He bent to press a tender kiss to Lana’s belly. “I love you, too,” she said, drawing him up for a kiss. “I love every single part of you. Especially the part that’s growing right under my heart.” She kissed him deeply, letting him suck her tongue into his mouth. “You just wanted to marry a superhero, didn’t you?” he teased when he came up for air. “That’s why you came to work here. You wanted to get into the pants of a Superhero Inc. employee. Shocking!”

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She swatted him on the arm playfully. “Well, it worked, didn’t it? I got me my very own SHI guy.” Kade smiled, pulled her against his chest, and stroked her hair. Yes, she did have him. Her very own SHI guy.

THE END HTTP://LYNNTYLERBOOKS.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lynn Tyler was born and raised in Southern Ontario and still calls it home today. She married her first and only boyfriend, and now they have two beautiful, very active children. When not writing, Lynn can be found engrossed in her e-reader and is seriously considering starting a campaign to make chocolate its own food group.

Also by Lynn Tyler Ménage Amour: Be with Us

Available at BOOKSTRAND.COM

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com