This time, he took time, stroking deep as he licked and nipped and kissed. The pressure began to build low in my stomach, fanning through the rest of me in waves that built gradually but steadily, until they were a molten force that flowed across my skin, making me tremble, twitch, groan.

As that pressure threatened to blow me apart, his breathing became harsh, his tempo more urgent. His fierceness pushed into me into a place where only sensation existed, and then he pushed me beyond it.

He came with me, his lips capturing mine, kissing me urgently as his warmth spilled into me and his body went rigid against mine.

For several minutes we didn't move, just allowed the cool night air to wash the heat from our skin. Then he stirred, releasing my arms, and giving me a sweet, gentle kiss.

"If that wasn't what you had in mind, give me a few minutes and I'm willing to try again."

I chuckled softly, and touched a hand to his sweaty cheek. "That was brilliant."

He raised an eyebrow, velvet brown eyes amused. "Does that mean there's no second round?"

"Did I say—"

I cut the rest of the sentence off as the squeak of a door opening cut across the stable's restless silence. Kade stepped back, the shifting haze scooting across his body until he was horse once more. He walked to the stable door and peered out. I kept in the shadow of his form, knowing that anyone but a vampire would have trouble sorting out the beat of Kade's heart from mine, the heat of his body from mine.

For several minutes, there was no sound, no movement, from the person who'd opened the door.

Then footsteps echoed, a whisper-soft tattoo of sound that had purpose, threat.

And they were bypassing all the stalls, coming directly toward us.

Chapter Nine

I stepped back from the door and looked around for a weapon. A stupid reaction, really, when all the training I'd had over the last few months had made me as much of a weapon as anything made of steel or wood.

And there wasn't anything more dangerous than a water bucket in the stall, anyway.

I flexed my fingers, trying to ease the tension curling through my limbs as the footsteps drew closer. Kade flattened his ears and bared his teeth, yet his actions seemed to stem more from dislike than any attempt to attack.

The tingle of awareness suddenly caressing my senses told me why.

It wasn't a stranger, wasn't one of Starr's guards, who approached.

It was Quinn.

He stopped several paces short of the stall door. The anger I'd felt at his actions earlier crashed through me again, and for several heartbeats it was all I could do not to burst through the door and attack him. Not that physically attacking him would do me any good, because he was stronger and faster, but I'd always been inclined to use my fists more than my psychic talents.

Besides, I was pretty sure the latter wouldn't be effective, no matter how much stronger they might have gotten. I'd caught him by surprise last time. There wouldn't be a second time. I was sure of that.

So I settled for stepping forward, keeping the door a barrier between us, and growling, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

He had his "vampires don't do emotion" face on and his smile was cold. I wasn't picking anything up from him along the sensory lines, which meant he had shields on high and his feelings locked down as tightly as his expression. "Did you think I would give up on my revenge so easily?"

I snorted. "I've experienced the lengths you'll go to for your revenge, so no. What I meant was, how did you get here?"

"On the bus."

"With Rhoan? Somehow I doubt he'd have allowed that."

"I said I was on the bus. I didn't say I was in the bus. One of the benefits of being an old vampire is the ability to slip past perception when I wish."

"Rhoan is a psi dead-zone. You couldn't have touched his mind and stopped him from sensing you."

"I didn't have to. I simply ceased to exist in any term the human mind recognizes."

I raised my eyebrows. "What the hell does that mean?"

"That there are more talents in this world than you and Jack and others know of. And it's also a reminder that when I crossed the lines between life and death, I not only inherited the talents of my maker, but I brought with me those talents I had in life."

"Humans don't have the sort of talent you just spoke about, and you told me you were human."

"I considered myself so."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that I was raised human, but technically was only partially so."

"So the other half was… what?"

"Something that no longer exists."

I snorted softly. "And you wonder why no one is trusting you or being open with you at the moment? I mean, it's really hard to open up and give a direct answer, isn't it?"

Anger sparked deep in the dark depths of his eyes. "A fine statement considering the secrets you and Jack have kept. If you had confided in me more, I would not have been forced to such extremes."

Energy ran across my skin, and I knew without looking that Kade had once again shifted form and become human. The heat of him moved up behind me, a solid, comforting presence I was suddenly thankful for. Not because I was afraid of what Quinn would do, but rather, what I might do. I usually kept a fairly good leash on my temper, but right now, with everything that had happened and everything that was still left unsaid between us, those restraints were being tested to the limit.

Quinn might have betrayed my trust, but I didn't actually want to hurt him. And no matter how certain I was that I wouldn't be able to breach his defenses a second time, the mere fact that my psi-powers seemed to be developing at the rate of knots meant that if I did lash out again, it might be with more than I intended. Might do more damage than I intended. Not just to Quinn, but to Katie.

"Jack hasn't confided in you fully because of your single-minded determination to get revenge. There is more to bring down than just one man, you know."

"I realize that—"

"Do your" I cut in. "So why tell me earlier that you will have your revenge, no matter the cost?"

"Jack would not have let me in on this section of the mission, no matter how big a team player I was, and we both know it." His gaze moved beyond me. "Though why the horse-shifter is considered more worthy is anyone's guess."

It was the sudden flash of vehemence in his eyes more than the slight edge in his voice that suggested he wasn't exactly talking about the mission, and a fresh wave of annoyance ran through me. This man was always judging me, always questioning my choices. Expecting me to rise to his standards, when his standards were totally alien to a werewolf's beliefs.

"Kade is here because he plays by the rules. In the field, and in the bedroom." At least he was willing to accept what I was, the way I was—and what I was willing to give. Probably because a stallion played along similar sexual lines as a werewolf. Quinn just wanted to play it his way, and given he was a vamp and I was a wolf intent on finding my soul mate, that wasn't ever going to happen.

Kade's big hands pressed warmth on either side of my hips. Before I realized what he was doing, he'd claimed me in the most basic way possible, slipping so very deep inside.

"Playing by the rules has its benefits," he said, his deep voice somehow managing to be both mocking and amused. "You should try it sometime. It feels extraordinarily good."

Annoyance ran through me at Kade's actions, yet part of me also wanted to stick it to Quinn, to play along with Kade and make Quinn even angrier.

But then, common sense isn't exactly my strong point when I'm pissed off at someone.

So instead of stepping away from Kade, as sanity suggested, I pressed back against him, thrusting him deeper still. Quinn's eyes narrowed dangerously. Though he wasn't close enough to the stable door to actually see what we were doing, he was a vampire and an empath. He not only would have heard the sudden leap of my pulse, but would have felt the heated rush of pleasure and annoyance.