Jess smiled as he saw and felt her climax on top of him. Her body clutched his, heightening his own pleasure. He lifted his hips, driving himself in even deeper while taking care not to bump her head against the low-hanging roof.
She cried out in ecstasy.
And he quickly joined her there. His head reeled as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through him. Yeah, he needed this a lot more than he'd thought. For the first time in weeks, his head was clear and his body calm.
Right now, he was the happiest man on the planet. That's right, all you badass punks. Bring it.
'Cause right now, he felt like he could take on anything or anyone. And he was more than ready to.
Abigail lay flat against Jess's bare chest, listening to his heart pounding under her ear. A fine sheet of sweat covered them both as she slowly came to her senses.
I'm sitting naked in a car wash surrounded by angry wasps trying to kill us ... with a man I've only known about forty hours.
Yeah, this was one for the books. And she definitely deserved the I-Have-No-Shame and What-the-Hell-Was-I-Thinking Award.
I can't believe I just did this.
But then, she'd have it no other way. She really didn't regret it. And at least I don't have to worry about getting pregnant or diseased. The one good thing about a Dark-Hunter was that they couldn't have children or carry any kind of STD or other illness.
Still, it was embarrassing. Anyone could walk in on them. Any minute. I would die if anyone did.
Jess kissed the top of her head. "We're all right, Abs. I have the doors sealed, and no one's coming."
That went over her like an ice water plunge. Her entire body locked up in horror.
"You heard that?"
"Um, yeah," he answered without reservation.
She shot up to stare at him as a new terror went through her. No ... she better be wrong.
Surely ...
"You can hear my thoughts?"
Now his gaze turned panicked. He glanced around as if trying to access some cosmic database in his head that would funnel a correct answer to him and get him out of this. "Uh..."
Good answer ...
Not. His inner computer must be on the fritz, and her fury was mounting by the heartbeat. She could absolutely kill him! This was awful. Horrible!
Why didn't he tell me?
Abigail curled her lip. Yeah, okay, she vaguely remembered seeing that ability in one of those weird psychotic flashbacks of his past, but it hadn't sunk in and stayed with her.
Now it did.
"Oh my God, you can hear my thoughts!" She was thoroughly humiliated. Anger whipped through her as she returned to her seat and snatched for her underwear. Oh, don't even get me started on the indignity of this.... She wanted to crawl under the seat and die. I should throw myself outside and let the wasps have me.
Oh wait, he can hear me. He's probably listening in right now like some psychic pervert, getting his jollies off my embarrassment.
You suck, Sundown. You. Suck.
That she hoped he could hear.
She glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me you could do that?"
He held his hands up in surrender. "It's all right, Abby." His tone was soothing, but his eyes still showed panic.
And she wasn't ready to listen to any form of reason. She was too humiliated. Gah, if he'd heard everything she'd thought ...
She couldn't stand it. "It's not all right. How dare you not tell me about this. What kind of sicko are you? I can't believe you'd do that. It's so intrusive and ... and..." She couldn't think of a word bad enough to convey how very bad it was, and she was too angry to have full access to her vocabulary, anyway. "Have you been spying on me the whole time?"
Jess silently cursed as she continued to rant at him and snatch her clothes on. Damn, the woman was hotheaded. Not that he fully blamed her for it. He'd be pissed, too, if someone was traipsing in his mind.
Still ...
"Abby, listen to me. I can hear thoughts-"
"Little late now, bucko." The last word was said with such snapping venom, it oddly reminded him of a chicken clucking. She snatched her head up to pierce him with a look that really should have splintered him into pieces. Damn, someone should bottle that. It'd make entire armies drop arms. "I noticed. Thanks for volunteering that. Let me give you a Hero Award for your first confession. Big flippin' hairy doo dah..." Then she added an extremely sarcastic, "Woo. Hoo."
"But," he continued in what he hoped was a calming tone while he ignored her outburst and go-to-hell-and-roast-your-nuts glare. Now, that was what he deserved a Hero Award for. Took guts to face a woman this angry. "I don't. Not normally. Just every now and again, something comes through and pops into my head like your question. I don't know how it got past my defenses. Maybe 'cause I was in my zone and not thinking of anything other than how good you felt."
She covered herself with her jeans. "Like I believe that. How stupid do you think I am?"
"I don't think you're stupid at all." He was the rank idiot who'd opened his mouth when he should have kept it closed. His mama had always said 90% of intelligence was knowing when to shut up.
Other 10% was knowing when to nut up-which he was trying to do, but it wasn't easy.
She finally paused and locked gazes with him. That look paralyzed him because he knew if he so much as blinked wrong, it would set her off again, and that was the last thing he wanted.
Don't smile. Don't sweat. Don't do nothing.
Don't even breathe.
It was like watching a salivating bear you knew would either lumber past and go on its way ...
Or rip your arm off and beat you with it.
"How do I know you're not in my head right now?"
He ran various answers through his mind. 'Cause I said so. Nah, that'd get him bitch-slapped for sure. I wouldn't dare. Made him sound like a coward.
Think, Jess, think.
Finally he opted for the simple truth. "It's rude, and I wouldn't want anyone to do it to me, so I try hard not to do it to others. Honestly, it ain't my favorite power. You have no idea how sick people are, and I really don't want to know most days. The world can have their thoughts. I got enough of my own to deal with."
Abigail hesitated as she considered his words. For reasons that made no sense whatsoever, she believed him. Not to mention, what he said made a lot of sense. She wouldn't want to look into other people's minds and find out their psychoses and insecurities either.
And he hadn't said or done anything previously that led her to believe he had that ability. Her only clue had been that one snippet with him and the lawyer.
He'd been stressed then, too.