Silencing Eve

her shoes and sat down on the bed. “You’re sure this is going to work?”
    “It worked before, didn’t it?” He was walking toward her. “I didn’t lie then, I won’t lie now. It’s all a question of the blood flow to the wound. I’m no healer, but I can control the process that heals and masks symptoms very well indeed. As I told you, there are medical laser experiments going on right now to determine the effectiveness of blood flow.”
    She smiled crookedly. “But you’re an expert.”
    “And it scares you.”
    “I don’t like feeling…” She inhaled sharply as he began to unbutton her blouse. His knuckles were brushing against the flesh of her breasts, and she could feel the blood leap, sing, as he touched her. “You’re not objective.”
    He chuckled. “Hell, no. Pure lust. But that helps the process, too. The blood zings, and so do I.” He slipped her blouse and bra off her shoulders. “And so do you.” He rubbed his cheek against her breast. “I can feel your heart pounding.” He pushed her down on the bed. “Remember how it goes … Close your eyes and just let the blood take you away.”
    She closed her eyes.
    Heat.
    Tingling.
    Every nerve was alive, every muscle tense.
    Blood pounding in her wrists, in the hollow of her throat, rushing to the tips of her nipples.
    The muscles of her stomach convulsed.
    “That’s right,” Caleb murmured as he slipped onto the bed beside her. “Just a little more, and you’ll be on your way.” He rubbed against her, and she could feel the soft wiriness of his chest hair against her breasts. His hand was cupping the wound on her shoulder. “Feel that tingle? It’s healing, Jane.” His tongue was licking at the edge of the wound. “I’ll take all the poison away.” He was over her, rubbing against her.
    She slowly opened her eyes. “You’re … naked. It wasn’t like that before.”
    “No.” He smiled recklessly down at her. “We were in a hospital room, and I was being careful of your sensibilities. I don’t feel like being careful tonight. If Trevor is out there pulling the strings, I like the idea of indulging myself a little.” He was straddling her, his hands on her body. Everywhere he touched, the flesh warmed, tingled. She was panting, gasping.
    The room was whirling around her.
    The blood … pounding, peaking, pounding again.
    It went on forever.
    His hands on her, his mouth moving, his teeth!
    She arched up from the bed with a low cry.
    “I can keep it going. I can make it fantastic for you.” His dark eyes were gleaming down at her. “Let me come in, and I’ll make you scream so loud that Trevor will be out there grinding his teeth.”
    Trevor.
    And Caleb above her, fierce, sensual, wicked.
    Trevor …
    “No,” she whispered. She closed her eyes, shutting him out. “No, Caleb.”
    He froze above her. Then he muttered a curse. “I shouldn’t have mentioned him. Okay, I’ll have to pay for that mistake.” He started to move again. “But you may have to pay a little, too. Suppose I give you something to remember before you go back to him.” His tongue traced the curve of her lip. “You need at least another few hours before the healing is complete. Let’s just lie here and let the blood do its work.” He lay down and drew her into his arms. “I’ll just hold you, no physical seduction … Why, I’m almost as noble as Trevor. Just relax…”
    How was she supposed to relax in this feverish state to which he’d brought her? Not likely.
    Yet in a few minutes she found, incredibly, that she was relaxing, growing sleepier by the minute …
    *   *   *
    NO, SHE WAS WIDE-AWAKE.
    She was naked, lying on the grass in a garden. She could smell the roses and the scent of spices on the warm breeze. The sun was on her skin. Her breasts were taut, heavy.
    And she was aching, tingling, throbbing.
    But Caleb was here, Caleb would make it stop.
    “Of course, I will,” he whispered. “I wouldn’t leave you like this.”
    And then he was over her, in her, going deep, deeper.
    She arched, her nails digging into his shoulders.
    Deep. Deeper.
    She was on fire. With his every move, the throbbing increased, the ache became insatiable.
    “Like it?” he murmured. “Want it?”
    “Yes,” she gasped. “Give me—”
    “Oh, I will. Hold on.”
    A moment later, she felt her throat tighten as she smothered a scream.
    “Again?” He was moving again. “You’re not ready to stop. You still want it.”
    It seemed