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  "God, I love the sounds you make like this," he whispered.

  She hadn't even been aware of making those tiny cries. She tugged her hands free and slipped them down inside his jeans to curve over his muscled buttocks. And dug in her claws.

  He roared and bounced off the bed. In a smooth motion, he stripped the jeans off and kicked them to the side. His boxers joined them right after. She kneeled on the bed, watching him. He stood before her, tall and proud and ready. She reached out with both hands.

  "Oh not. Not yet." He nodded at her clothing. "Your turn."

  With a big bold smile, she crossed her arms and pulled her cami up and off. She tossed it beside his clothes. In a smooth muscled movement, she bounced to her feet, and with a snap, she dropped her panties to the bed where she kicked them in the direction of her bra.

  She dropped onto the bed where he waited for her.

  He reached out to stroke her smooth, silky skin from hips to ribs then down again, looking, learning, memorizing. A gentle gasp escaped as his touch sparked a trail of embers in its wake. In a surprise move, he pulled her into a loving hug and held her close.

  She snuggled deeper, cuddling his erection.

  He nudged her chin up to where he could see her face and took a long look. The heat in his gaze brought heat to her cheeks. He whispered, "You are seriously beautiful, you know that?"

  "Thank you." She stretched up to clasp his face on both sides and kiss him, gently at first then with more enthusiasm. His heated hands slid around to her back and down to cup her cheeks before he pulled her tight against him. Rolling over, he settled between her legs. She lifted one foot and stroked the back of his calf, smiling up at him.

  Dark hair, devilish blue eyes, a wicked smile...and he thought she was beautiful. What more could she ask for?

  Then he dropped his head and kissed her. Oh right, he was also a dynamite kisser. He deepened the kiss and she was lost. When he lifted his head, she whimpered, raising her head to find him again. He dropped light caressing kisses on her cheeks, her eyes, her throat. She twisted restlessly beneath him. Sliding her hands over his back and shoulders, she tugged him down for another deep kiss. A gentle kiss. A loving kiss. A kiss full of promise. And found she wanted so much more.

  She burned. Everywhere. Her hands had a life of their own, sparking a matching response from him. Skin slid against skin, embers flared to life as every inch of his smooth skin was stroked, squeezed and caressed.

  And kissed.

  Oh God, his kisses...nectar to a starving woman. She hadn't realized how much she needed this. This touching. This closeness. This connection to him.

  He slid to one side, his fingers doing crazy things to her hormones as they stroked down between her legs. She gasped then moaned, her legs shifting restlessly under his clever touch. He leaned over and slipped his tongue between her lips, smoothing across her tongue. His fingers stroked her in tandem to his devilish tongue. She shivered.

  She tried to touch him, pull him closer, but he shifted out of reach. "I can't let you," he whispered. "I'm too close to the edge."

  Widening her legs, she hooked one leg around his and toppled him where she wanted him.

  And he landed perfectly. The tip of his erection sat just inside her but no further.

  It was too much and so not enough. She groaned in frustration.

  He laughed, raised up on his hands and plunged all the way to her center.

  Arching, she cried out with pleasure. "Yes."

  And then he pulled back and paused.

  She groaned. Tugging his mouth back to hers, she murmured against his lips, "Tease."

  "Witch," he countered before his mouth closed over hers.

  Then neither could talk as his hips drove him into her over and over again, setting up a tempo she matched with every beat. Tension twisted inside, turning tighter, taking her higher. Until she couldn't take any more.

  "I can't..." she cried.

  "You can. Take it. Take me. More..."

  He shifted slightly, hooking an arm under her thigh and plunging deep, grinding against her center – and that move sent her flying. She cried out, her head arching back into the pillow, her body still braced to take him as he thrust harder and harder.

  He arched his back and shuddered, pulsing deep inside her.

  A long groan escaped as he collapsed beside her.

  She giggled, wrapped her arms around him then snuggled close.

  He opened one eye. "You should not have enough energy to laugh after that."

  "Except I feel great!" She curled into a ball, her legs layered between his and her arms around his waist. Nose to nose, she smiled deeply at his satiated glow and then she closed her eyes.

  And fell asleep.

  ***

  She came awake a second time, her heart pounding as she gasped for breath. This time was worse. She could hardly breathe. Her chest constricted in panic.

  What was going on?

  She bolted from the bed and stood beside her bathroom door, only realizing at the last minute that Ronin had been sleeping soundly beside her. Ronin came awake like the big cats he said he had trouble with. Instantly. He searched the room, his gaze zipping back to her. "Tabitha?"

  How could she explain? She wrung her hands as she paced.

  "Something is out there." She didn't know how else to explain it. "It's hunting me."

  He reached her in seconds. His strong arms wrapped around her, tucking her in close. And in that moment she knew she was no longer alone.

  Thank heavens. This was damn spooky stuff.

  She glanced around. The bedroom door was open. And there was no sign of Tripod. She walked to the open mesh and saw Tango stretched out on one of the many cushions, completely relaxed.

  Tripod...? Surely he'd have sounded an alarm if there was danger. Yet he hadn't.

  She'd met too many people with weird psychic abilities. Did someone have the ability to affect her animals? She hoped not. She desperately needed them exactly as they were – for herself.

  Ronin peered over her shoulder to search the enclosure. Then he walked to her bedroom window and pulled her curtain back to search the yard out front. "How bad was it?"

  "It wasn't outside. And neither is it likely to be visible to the human eye." She stood with her arms wrapped around her chest and answered his original question. "Bad, but not incapacitating."

  In shock, Ronin spun around. "Has it ever been as bad as this last time?"

  She gave a dry laugh. "How easily you forget. You found me in the shower unconscious the last time, remember? My instinct is to run and hide in the ethers, but I'm trying not to leave my body open to an attacker. I can protect it under most circumstances, but we don't know just what someone might be able to do in this field. And Stefan is afraid that my body might be exactly what this person is after."

  "Your body?" He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as he searched her face. "Really?"

  With the sensation fading, she could afford to smile. A little one. "Yes. Some people are dead. Their souls don't want to cross over. Their souls are, in fact, trapped here and are looking for a way to live again. They only need a physical body. And some are trying to stay here forever."

  Ronin's breath rushed out. He shook his head as if trying to deny her words. "And they can just slide back into a life, into another body again?"

  "If they can take control of the body, then they can take over and live again." She nodded. "Yes. It's odd and shocking and crazy but it's...true. Ask Stefan. He's seen cases like this. Hard to forget."

  Ronin shook his head. "Wow. Every time I get close to these freaky 'woo woo' cases, I have to wonder how any of this could happen while the rest of the world is completely oblivious."

  "They are mostly oblivious," she corrected, "but at the same time, there are more and more people waking up to the psychic potential within themselves."

  "And therefore to the potential for these horrific attacks," Ronin said.

  "Of
course, but also the potential for skills and healing beyond anything most people can imagine."

  "Dr. Maddy, for instance." He smiled. "Now she is something."

  Tabitha laughed. "Isn't she though? And she's not alone in what she can do." She walked toward him. "There are people who can see through solids, hear a pitch lower and higher than most animals. Some people can appear as one thing while being something different altogether." She shook her head and studied the emotions sliding across his face...shock, disbelief, curiosity. He'd been exposed to some of this mess through the other friends in their circle, but this was a bit much for anyone. "It's a whole different world once you see below the surface."

  She walked closer and almost reached his side when she felt it again.

  The hunter. Searching for his prey.

  "Shit," she whispered. "He's back."

  "Who?" Ronin immediately stepped to her side. "And where?" He turned around in circle, his eyes searching for the predator.

  She shuddered as her spine froze. Inside, she felt as if a spotlight shone down on her. "He's found me."

  "Hide," Ronin ordered, his gun once again in his hand as he stepped protectively in front of her. He searched the area. "Where is he?"

  "Everywhere," she whispered. "He's everywhere."

  Ronin spared her a single look. "And so how do I find him?"

  "I don't know." She spun around. "He's not showing an energy signature." Knowing Ronin wouldn't understand but not having time to explain, she studied the air in the room. But there were no strange energies.

  Then another wave reached for her, over her. This time it was so strong. Even as she stood in place, the emotions hit her.

  Fear.

  Panic.

  Hatred.

  She cried out as she dropped to her knees.

  Ronin dropped beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "What is it? What can I do to help?"

  "It's him." She screamed and slapped her hands to the sides of her head as the same claw-like sensation dropped inside her skull.

  She struggled to set a bolt of energy, her ground, deep through her house, deep into the earth beneath her – as strong and as deep as she could manage. And just like last time, it was almost impossible to hold on. She struggled against the fear, knowing that fear was the most debilitating. Her fear. Ronin's fear. Her attacker's fear.

  The combined energies were enough to kill them both. Maybe all three of them. Oh God, had she put Ronin in danger too?

  "Tabitha?"

  "I'm trying..."

  She bent over, trying to shut out the roaring buzz that was increasing by the second, she whispered over and over again, "Stay centered. Stay grounded. Stay balanced."

  She had to survive this.

  Don't fight.

  She didn't know where that thought came from, but she realized she was going about this the wrong way. She was trying to fight off the attack. When she should be giving in to it, then detaching from it.

  Observing it.

  She straightened slowly, hearing Ronin cry out in the background. "Tabitha? What are you doing?"

  "I'm going to try something," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Don't touch me while I'm doing it."

  And she sank within herself, emotionally, physically and psychically. She slipped into her own energy, feeling her way through the heat of her body to the heat of her soul and grounding herself inside.

  Another wave of emotion whipped at her, closing in on her soul. It grabbed on and gave her energy a good shake.

  She lost her center of balance, scrambled to get it back, then lost it again. Panic swept through her, crying out to her, calling, pleading, begging, for something...someone...to help.

  She gasped.

  They wanted help.

  A scream of anger blasted through her mind. And the pain in her side near her belly region made her want to cry out at the top of her lungs. Something else pricked her side. She barely felt it with everything else that hurt. After a moment, the pain eased.

  Only to be replaced by a rage that wouldn't quit.

  She felt it at the DNA level.

  Then it got worse. That same hand reached deeper into her psyche, deeper into her soul, latched on...and yanked.

  Just like last time, she was pulled up through the top of her head.

  She screamed as her body collapsed to the floor while from her waist up, she was lifted up and free of her body.

  No! She was desperate to stay.

  Ground. Ground. Struggling against her own panic, she poured energy deep inside her body and through it to the ground below. She could do this.

  As if enraged at being thwarted, she was given a second hard yank... and she was pulled higher up.

  There was so much rage behind the energy assault, she could hardly deal with it. Emotions swamped her as she was bombarded by colors and emotions. The pain was so extreme that she was buffeted on all sides even as she shuddered deep inside. She couldn't get a coherent thought to stay long enough to understand it.

  And then it was buried under the pain of the next wave.

  There was so much fear, it crippled her. She had no time to adapt. To accept. To detach. She couldn't adjust. She wasn't used to this level of panic or this pain. And she definitely wasn't used to the overwhelming sensation of captivity. Imprisonment. Death.

  Another heavy yank and she was pulled higher until her knees were now at her waist. She screamed her own scream, a sound of horror and inevitableness. He was too strong.

  Too desperate.

  And he grabbed hold harder and ripped one more time.

  And pulled her loose.

  The last thing she saw was her body folded in half on the floor, with Ronin hovering helplessly at her side, his arms wrapped protectively around her. He was trying to save her – but he was trying to save the wrong part of her.

  Then she knew no more.

  ***

  Helpless, Ronin could only watch as Tabitha slumped to the floor. She'd been in the same position for a few minutes already, but this last change was shocking. As if she'd been suspended by some kind of string that had been cut, and her lifeless body collapsed to the floor.

  He checked for a pulse.

  And couldn't find one.

  His heart ripped open. Dear God. What was going on?

  How could this be?

  It was not possible.

  Instantly Tango started roaring, the sound loud enough and haunting enough to raise the hairs on the nape of Ronin's neck. Tripod appeared at Tabitha's side and sat on his haunches. He tilted his head back and howled, the sound slicing through the atmosphere with shocking clarity.

  Tabitha was in trouble.

  Big trouble.

  This was so bad. Tabitha wasn't just out cold... She appeared to have moved out permanently. That couldn't be.

  She'd be dead if that was the case. And maybe she wasn't dead yet, but she was most definitely dying.

  "Stefan? Where the hell are you?" he yelled to the empty room. He pulled out his cell phone to dial when a tired cranky voice answered him – in his head.

  Does no one sleep anymore?

  "It's Tabitha," Ronin said starkly. "She's gone. This time it looks really bad."

  Stefan never said a word. The air around Ronin warmed, moved. Like, what the hell? Ronin hovered protectively over Tabitha as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

  "Jesus. What is that?"

  What? Stefan asked.

  "Movement. I swear I can see something moving off to one side but it's not there when I turn my head. As if it's not really there."

  It's me. Close your eyes, realize I'm here in spirit form, then open your eyes again.

  Ronin followed the instructions even as his mind said he was crazy. When he reopened his eyes he saw a deep blue cloud at Tabitha's side. "Jesus." His mind balked and as it did – the cloud disappeared. "Hey, where did it go?" He spun around. "Where did you go?"

  I didn't go anywhere. Your belief syst
em kicked in and changed your perception. Work on it later. We have to help Tabitha now.

  "And how do I do that?"

  She needs to go back to the hospital. Get Dr. Marsden. Have him meet us there.