The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance

twisted itself inside, then out, and she saw —felt - once again the scene of her and her partner being attacked. This time the image changed. They weren’t ambushed unknowingly, and coated in the yellowish powder by surprise; this time, she watched herself fling up a protective bubble, then lash out telekinetically, capturing the two attackers as they tried to flee.
    She saw Steelhand stripping off his gloves, saw him touching the face of one of the masked, struggling captives. But then the vision switched off without warning. That was the frustrating thing about her gift; she only ever saw in glimpses and snatches, incomplete pieces. It was like trying to grasp the image printed on a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle with only a dozen pieces to go on. Sighing, she closed her eyes and shook her head.
    “All I can see is the attack happening again. But I put up a shield bubble and we catch them. Nothing else.”
    “Well, what about the ‘potentially embarrassing’ stuff?” Steelhand asked. “If we aren’t touched by the powder, thanks to your telekinesis, does the other stuff still happen?”
    Paling a little at the thought of the two of them not . . . she quickly unfocused her eyes and returned her attention to the future.
    “I see ... us letting the minions go ... We change clothes anyway? We’re in street clothes . . . travelling . . . Oh! Oh God . . .”
    Her power had hopped ahead, like a stone skipping across the surface of a lake. Now it plopped beneath the waters, dragging her down into the depths of her vision. Gone was the bathroom, gone was Steelhand’s silver-and-blue masked face. All she could see was his real face, lips slack from panting, eyes shut, neck arched and muscles straining as he ...
    ... as he invaded her vision? Sensations doubled, trebled abruptly, spiking desire sharply through all six of her senses. Bodies and minds collided, muscles flexed, pleasure seared. The image shifted without her conscious control; he shifted it, grabbing and lifting her thigh, tilting her hips just that little bit more for the perfect stroke, exactly what she craved most in her foresight-swamped thoughts . . .
    Carrie gasped, jerking back from his touch. The back of her head thumped painfully into the wall, breaking up most of the lust clouding her senses. Blinking rapidly, panting for air, she found him staring at her with eyes so wide she could see the whites ringing the chocolate brown of his irises.
    “What the . . . ?” he mumbled, still visibly stunned.
    “What the hell do you think you were doing?” she hissed, barely remembering to keep her voice down. The last thing they needed was for any civilians to overhear the two of them arguing through the restroom door. “That was an invasion of my privacy. You are not supposed to scan your partners without their prior consent.”
    Her embarrassed anger snapped him out of his daze. Frowning, he focused on her. “I thought I had probable cause. At the last place I worked, my partner turned Rescindant. I thought he was acting strangely beforehand, secretive and not quite right, but I didn’t exercise my right to scan him under probable cause. He nearly blew up half the team as he tried to make off with millions of dollars in bearer bonds. I thought it was happening with you. When you refused to say what you had foreseen, after acting like you didn’t want me as your partner any more, I got a little suspicious.”
    Hands shifting to her hips, she gave him an annoyed look. “I am not turning Rescindant, Steelhand. And I didn’t tell the others what I’d seen because it was none of their damned business!”
    “Well, you could have told me !”he demanded, then winced, catching himself and lowering his voice as it started to echo off the hard cement blocks around them. “Dammit! This is not the best place for an argument.”
    “Well, we’re not going to avoid it this time,” she muttered. Somehow, she knew they would get through this misunderstanding; her vision had been too strong to suggest otherwise. She took a deep breath.
    “I wasn’t sure if that powder was an aphrodisiac. But if I keep it away with a shield bubble, and we still make love . . .” She stopped and trained her eyes on him. “Why the hell won’t you flirt with me? Let’s start with that, shall we? Why won’t you flirt with me?”
    He gave her a duh look. “Because you’re my partner? League studies have proven that if two League members in the same city start dating