Gift of Gold

lab tech five years ago, I actually thought I was some character named Giovanni and I thought the tech was a Renaissance era assassin. But tonight I knew who I was and I knew who Kincaid was. It was an incredible feeling, using that ribbon without losing my sense of self-awareness. I wonder if..”
    “Don’t even think about conducting any more tests such as that one,” Verity said with a shudder. “Jonas, we don’t know what we’re playing with. Your talent is extremely dangerous. I know something awful would have happened if you’d used that blade to kill Kincaid tonight. I was certain the violence of Kincaid’s death would have allowed everything that I was trying to control in that psychic corridor to break free and flood you. We don’t know what would have happened then.”
    Jonas contemplated that for a time and then nodded soberly. “You’re right. As usual.” He stretched out his unbandaged arm and pulled her down onto his chest. His lashes lifted and he looked deeply into her eyes. For a moment the gold in his gaze was so hot it could have melted steel. Then Jonas grinned slowly and wickedly. “You saved my ass, sweetheart. I wouldn’t have made it without you. I owe you.”
    “You don’t owe me. Your ass needed saving because you were busy saving mine at the time.”
    His grin broadened and he gave her derriere a proprietary pat. “Having saved two such valuable portions of our respective anatomies, we should probably celebrate in an appropriate fashion.”
    “Your arm...”
    “It was not my arm I was proposing to employ in the endeavor.”
    She felt his manhood stirring against her thigh. “Not yet, Jonas. We have some more talking to do.”
    “About what?” He ran a finger along the upper curve of her breast.
    “About what might have happened if the forces in that corridor had overwhelmed you, for one thing!”
    “They didn’t, so let’s not talk about it.”
    “We can’t ignore that kind of power, Jonas,” she said fretfully.
    “I’ve been living with the threat a long time. I’ve survived so far. And now I’ve got you. I’m in better shape than ever.”
    “Do you think you’re the only person on the face of the earth who’s faced with dealing with whatever comes through that corridor?”
    “I don’t know. There were other people being tested at Vincent College. Maybe one of them had some talent. Right now I don’t know and I don’t particularly care. All I want to do at this moment is make love to you.”
    “Does this mean you’ve decided not to beat me after all for leaving the party to follow Kincaid?”
    Jonas squeezed her bare buttock. “Let’s just say I’m feeling indulgent and will probably let you go unscathed this time. Also, with one arm in bandages, it would be hard to administer the kind of spanking you need. Too much like work. Maybe later.”
    “Don’t hold your breath.” Reluctantly Verity let herself be drawn into his sexy, teasing mood. There were still a lot of questions she wanted to ask, but she sensed that he would only stonewall her if she tried to get answers now. Jonas was making it clear that he did not want to discuss his frightening talent or the future. And this morning she was too glad to have him alive to want to push him.
    “I’m not planning on holding my breath. I much prefer holding you. But in view of my somewhat incapacitated position, you’re going to have to do all the work,” Jonas told her.
    Verity smiled with a feeling of sudden triumph. “I get to do the work? You’ve finally decided I’m not such an innocent after all?”
    “Lady,” he announced in grave tones, “this is your chance to prove to me that you have the makings of a siren, a scarlet woman, and a seducer of men. Show me what a heartless temptress you can be.”
    “You’re on,” she agreed and yanked the sheet down past his hips. For an instant she stared at the aroused, aggressive fullness she found there. “No, I take that back. You’re up.”
    “You could say that.”
    She reached out to touch him intimately, loving the contrast between the rock-hardness of his shaft and the velvety skin that covered it. Some of the teasing light left Jonas’s eyes and was replaced by a familiar male hunger.
    “Oh, yes, sweetheart,” he breathed, “that’s it. Your hands always feel so good. So damn good.”
    Verity slipped her fingers down to cup the swelling mounds at the base of his shaft. She leaned forward and dropped a tiny kiss on one male