"I can't let this happen. Don't you see? I want to be with you, to stay here, to believe it's all going to come out right, so the moment I let you hold me, I'll let you convince me even though I know it's impossible." Tears glittered on lashes. "And it is, Jess. It's impossible."

Jess found himself holding his breath. Saber couldn't possibly know what she looked like. Wild, beautiful, large violet-blue eyes luminous with unshed tears, blue-black curls spilling like a halo around her delicate face. She was clad only in his shirt, the tails dipping nearly to her knees, the sides riding higher, revealing an enticing glimpse of bare thigh. Her small bare feet only seemed to increase the feeling of intimacy between them. Beneath his terry cloth robe, his naked body stirred hungrily.

"You have to be willing to listen," he said gently. "I believe this can be resolved."

"Do you?" Her chin lifted, eyes flashing. "Do you really? Or are you just lying to yourself?"

Something dark and dangerous flickered in the depths of his eyes. His mouth hardened perceptibly. "I don't lie to myself."

"Really? What about your 'friend' Eric? Or the fact that you allowed them to talk you into the bionics program, or that they're using Zenith on you? Did you think I wouldn't recognize the signs of that drug? That was in Whitney's file, the one in plain English, not math code. It was his suggestion Zenith be used in small dosages, did you know that? You sold me out to them, whether you intended to do it or not."

"Bullshit, Saber. You're picking a fucking fight with me so you can leave." He knocked the ashes from his pipe into the ashtray beside him and tossed the pipe aside. "I would never sell you out, not for any reason. I had you investigated, like I was supposed to. It would have been criminal of me not to, and you can't condemn me for that. I have no idea how Eric found out about you, but it wasn't through me and it wasn't through Lily."

"How would you know? Because she told you that? Of course she told you and you believed her. But you didn't believe me when I told you he knew." She backed away when he glided closer.

"Damn it, Saber, we have no chance of straightening anything out between us if you're going to insist on behaving unreasonably."

"Unreasonably?" Saber echoed it, her voice swinging out of control. "You think I'm unreasonable because I don't like it that my past is known by all your little friends? That your friends think I'm a freak and a monster? God! What the hell do you want from me?" Tears sparkled on her lashes. "You want unreasonable? I'm out of here, Jesse!"

Saber whirled around and ran through the house, heedless of the dark, of the furniture. Ignoring Jess's hoarse yell, she swung the kitchen door open and rushed outside onto the grounds. She had no idea what she was doing but she had to get out of the house. Her lungs burned for air and she felt like the walls were closing in on her. Outside, the grass was squishy and wet beneath her bare feet. She ran into the middle of the backyard and paused to look wildly around her, not really comprehending what she was doing, where she thought she was going. The world around her was crashing down and everything she dreamt of was lost.

The night was as turbulent as she felt. Trees swayed in the wind. She turned up her face to the dark ominous clouds, allowing the rain to mingle with the tears on her face. The shirt molded itself to her soft curves and became nearly transparent.

Jess followed her into the tumultuous night, something wild and savage rising up in him to match the elements. "Saber!" His voice carried across the distance separating them, harsh, hoarse, commanding.

She spun around to face him, frightened, untamed, beautiful in the unrelenting storm. "I can't stand it, Jesse." It was a cry torn from her heart, her soul. She was so lost and there was no way out, no way back.

Above her, the sky ripped open, a jagged white streak cracking across the dark rolling clouds, for a moment throwing the grounds into sharp relief. Jess caught a glimpse of her, the shirt nearly nonexistent, plastered to her body and emphasizing her breasts, the darkened, erect nipples, the narrow rib cage and flat line of her stomach and the dark V at the junction of her legs. She looked like a pagan sacrifice, her slender arms outstretched to him, her pale face strained and vulnerable.

His body hardened. Not a subtle, enjoyable change but a savage, painful jolt, the need so intense, so ferocious, it was like nothing he'd ever experienced. "Come here." His voice was rough with lust.

Saber looked across the yard at him, at the raw hunger etched deep into the lines of his face. Desire glittered in his eyes, dark and rough. His body was starkly aroused, the bulge thick and impressive, tenting his robe. The breath stilled in her chest and every stomach muscle tightened and bunched. Spasms went off in her womb, little bursts like sparkling rockets. He was a dark obsession that drew her beyond control.

She came to him, he to her, meeting on the edge of the lawn. He caught the back of her legs in his hands, slid his palms up her unexpectedly hot skin to her firm buttocks. His grip was strong, possessive, as he kneaded flesh.

Saber moaned as his exploring hands urged her closer. Not bothering to remove the thin, transparent material covering her flesh, Jess bent his dark head to her nipple. His mouth was hot on her aching breast, the shirt abrasive. It was wildly erotic, sending waves of such urgency through her body she could barely stand. Cradling his head to her breast, she lifted her face to the wild sky, allowing the rain to wash away the tears.

His hand skimmed up her inner thigh, moved higher to caress hot, moist velvet. Saber moaned again, needing, wanting, a sudden frenzy of hunger she couldn't control. Jess lifted his head, dark eyes burning black. He caught the front of her shirt and as another bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, he jerked brutally, parting the material so that the light exposed her creamy rain-wet skin. The shirt fell unnoticed, a rag in a pool of water at her feet.

Jess caught the nape of her neck, dragged her to him, fusing their mouths together, dominating, barbaric, taking, demanding her compliance, her submission. His body was burning, a painful unrelenting arousal. Saber's soft little throaty cries, her wandering hands, and the sweet taste of her did nothing to appease the pain-it only fueled the fire already burning out of control in him.

She tore her mouth from his, her hands pushing aside his robe, exposing the magnificence of his hard, masculine body. She knelt, wrapping her arms around his waist, her lips on his skin, tasting rain, moving sensuously over every defined muscle, exploring, taunting, deliberately feeding the desperate urgency she could sense in him.

Jess cried out hoarsely, caught two fistfuls of her silky hair, bunching the mass in his large hands, his body trembling, fighting for control. He jerked her head back. In the bright streak of lightning they stared into each other's souls.

"I'll never let you go," he warned softly, implacably. "Be certain, Saber, if you come to me like this, you're mine. If you do this, you're mine." Because she was going to destroy him. Utterly destroy him with her mouth and body. She was already taking him to a place he couldn't come back from.

"I have to have you, Jesse." The admission was stark and raw, and she dropped to her knees in the wet grass as he scooted his hips forward, bringing some relief to his aching body.

Her entire body was going wild with need, her control nearly gone. She wanted it gone. She wanted this-Jess-his body needing hers, burning for hers. She craved the dark possessive lust building in his eyes and the way his body responded with such heat, growing thick and long and hard with his need. She didn't care about his friends, or what they thought, only Jess and the way he looked at her.

She was hungry for the taste of him. She needed to feel the hard length of him filling her mouth, watch his eyes go opaque and glaze over, hear his breath go ragged and see his chest rise and fall, hear his voice turn hoarse with pleasure. She cupped his tight sac in her hands, ran her fingers in a caress over his hard shaft. Watching his face, she leaned forward and ran her tongue over the mushroom head, tasting sex and lust and love mingled together.

His cock jerked. "Damn it, Saber. We could both be in trouble."

She wanted to be in trouble. She wanted him wild and rough. Still keeping her gaze locked with his, she leaned into him with a long slow lick, curling her tongue under the base of the flared head.

His eyes went hot and his fingers bunched in her hair, forcing her mouth toward him. A muscle ticked in his jaw as she blew warm air over him. She opened her mouth to accept the demands of his body, her tongue moistening her lips in anticipation. He made a sound somewhere between a growl and a groan and dragged her head to him.

Saber took him in, inch by slow inch, deliberately prolonging his agony, her gaze locked with his as she drew his thick shaft into the silken heat of her mouth. He tasted of sizzling passion, rich and male, and she needed more. She watched him as he drew in harsh breaths, as he jerked at the robe, shoving it down until it bunched behind him. All the while his hips thrust in an almost helpless rhythm.

She could feel him pulsing against her tongue, filling her mouth, stretching her lips. The power was incredible-that she could do this to him, this sexy, virile man, that he could trust her and want her so that he couldn't take his eyes from the sight of her, so that groans rumbled in his chest and his body shuddered with pleasure.

She licked at the underside of the broad head, and then sucked hard. His thrusts became more urgent, deeper, the hands in her hair controlling. She drove out his control, so that his hands were rough in her hair, tugging at her scalp, sending delicious little currents of electricity down her breasts to her groin. Her womb clenched every time he thrust deeper, each time a groan escaped. She learned to keep rubbing her tongue on the sensitive spot on the underside at the head of his shaft. The more she did, the more she swallowed him and sucked, the more the reward. His breath hitched in his lungs and his cock jerked and throbbed in anticipation.

"You've got to stop, baby." He used her own hair to pull her away from him. "If you don't, we're going to have a major problem."

She took one last satisfying swipe with her tongue. She loved the look on his face, the raw pleasure, the stark desire. He tugged her to her feet, his hands gripping her hips, urging her to climb on him.

All around them the storm raged out of control. The rain beat down. Thunder crashed and occasional flashes of lightning lit up the sky. The series of storms was just getting started, bringing in winter with a vengeance, but it did nothing to cool the raging heat between them.

Her body slid enticingly over his, soft skin against the hard muscles of his thighs as she wedged her knees on either side of his hips. Deliberately, her gaze locked with his, she lifted her body above his. "I really do love you, Jesse. So much I don't know what to do with it," she whispered.

He loved her with everything in him. Everything that he was. "Don't cry, baby, you're still crying."

He cupped her bottom, thumbs caressing, his body straining, aching, demanding. She was a white-hot, tight sheath urging his possession. He urged her over him, driving up through her feminine channel, wanting to shout as pleasure burst around and through him. Jess forgot everything he had ever learned about control. He matched the fury of the storm, unrestrained, turbulent, fiercely wild. The cool rain, her hot body, the lightning flashes, the crack of thunder, it all became mixed with their union. The storm merged with the wild pounding rhythm of their bodies.

He didn't ever want to see that look on her face again. So torn. So sad. So afraid. "I'm going to love you forever, Saber." He gripped her harder, gave her a little shake even as he surged deep inside her, locking them together. She was fiery hot, gripping him tightly, the slick silken walls rippling, clamping down and milking him. He leaned forward, pressed his mouth against her ear even as his body coiled tightly. "If you never trust anything else, trust in how I love you."

He exploded, the hot release jetting deep inside her while her muscles convulsed around his. She cried out, threw her head back, and wept with the night. He called her name, but his voice was lost in the whipping wind.

When the tremors had subsided, Saber lay against his chest, exhausted, spent, unable to stand, unable to move long enough to separate their bodies. In spite of the cold, the heat rising between them caused little beads of perspiration to mingle with the drops of rain on his skin. Jess's heart pounded with alarming force, and he had to fight to control his breathing.

Still locked deep in Saber's body, Jess spun around and glided out of the storm with sure powerful thrusts on the wheels of his chair. The kitchen door was standing open, evidence of their fast departure. He closed it gently, sliding the bolt in place, the sound very final. Saber hadn't moved, clinging to him, her eyes closed.

As he glided through the house toward the master bath he could feel his body rippling with the aftershocks of her pleasure. He smiled, rubbed his chin on the top of her head, and just held her, thankful to have her. They might have all kinds of things to settle, but she'd committed to him and he couldn't ask for more than that.

Jess rolled the chair right into the wide, specially built shower stall, adjusted the water, and turned on the spray. The warm water felt wonderful, dispelling the cold of the night rain.

Saber slowly, reluctantly untangled her body from his. Jess's hand cupped the side of her face, pushed wet strands of raven hair from her cheek. She couldn't look at him, couldn't believe she had behaved so wantonly, couldn't understand how her body could have felt so much pleasure in such a savage act. She stared down at her bare toes. She was totally nude, no robe, no clothes, in the shower with Jess. His wheelchair was dripping wet, a faint smear of mud being washed away from where her feet had touched the back. His terry cloth robe was soaked and scrunched around his bare thighs and back.

Saber blushed, not quite believing the evidence of their wild, abandoned behavior. Jess caught her chin firmly, his smile infinitely gentle.

"Loving," he whispered, his thumbs caressing her fragile jaw, openly reading her thoughts. He kissed her forehead, skimmed his mouth over hers. "I was loving you."

CHAPTER 16.

Jess stared down at Saber's face. She lay curled up, sound asleep, exhausted, one hand flung out toward his pillow-and him, he hoped. The small lamp beside the bed spilled light across her face. Her skin was soft and luminous, her lashes long, lying like fans against her skin. He held her close, his body around hers, his hand under her breast, his cock pressed tight against her buttocks. And God help him, he was as hard as a rock.

He laughed softly, the tightness in his chest finally easing. Patsy was in a hospital being taken care of and Saber was in his bed where she belonged. He bent his head to brush a kiss in her hair before shifting to slide from the bed to his wheelchair. Saber needed the sleep and he needed to get busy and finish the investigation.

He and Logan had tried to recover the data on the recorder and hadn't been successful, but Neil should have been able to do something with it. There were a few GhostWalkers who were very good with sound and Neil should have managed the recovery. Hopefully there was a message waiting from him.

More importantly, for the first time, he had a positive direction in which to take his investigation. The men who had come after him were definitely army. Ryland Miller and his team would want to know. They were conducting the investigation into their handler, General Rainer. Once they all had the same direction, Jess was positive, they'd make progress.

And he had to do something about the bionics. If he couldn't get his legs moving, he would have to consider the idea of wearing the external pack. Even if he could walk part of the time, he couldn't ever rely on his legs, so they were useless to him in their current state.

"Jesse." Saber turned over, her lashes lifting, her gaze meeting his.

"I'm here, baby. Go back to sleep, I'm going to work for a little while. You're exhausted." And the bruise on her face stood out starkly against her pale skin. He had discovered a few others on her body as well, one particularly bad one on her hip from where she'd been kicked. Every time he thought about the jeopardy he'd inadvertently placed his sister and Saber in, he felt sick inside.

She pulled the sheet closer around her shoulders and smiled at him. "I love the way you look, Jesse."

Her voice was so drowsy and sexy, he felt it vibrate through his body, heating his blood, stirring his senses.

"Go to sleep. I'll come wake you in a few hours."

"You'd better. I have to go to work tonight." She yawned and then smiled at him, her lashes already drifting down. "Or my boss might fire me."

Her boss was already thinking about firing her. He was altogether certain he could not survive her going to work, not after what had been done to Patsy. "A couple of the guys will be over, so don't come walking out in my shirt and nothing else."

"Good tip." Amusement tinged her voice, a slight smile curved her mouth, but she didn't open her eyes.

Jess left her to sleep, showering and dressing, using his racing chair rather than the heavier electric one to take him into the office. It took twenty minutes for Logan and Neil to show up, and he could tell by their faces Neil had managed to extract something from the recorder.

"You're going to hate this," Neil greeted.

Logan glanced around. "Where is she?"

"She?" Jess frowned at him. "You mean Saber? Do you really want to piss me off, Max? Because I just spent a couple of hours looking at the bruises on her face and body. I saw her lying in the fetal position on the ground, from the psychic backlash after firing a gun and killing a man-for me, for Patsy. I wasn't close enough to draw the energy away and you and I both know without an anchor, even a shield won't help. She knew it too, but she still did it."

Logan poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot on the desk. "I'm going to look out for you whether you like it or not."

"Then let's get this over. Tell me how she's different. Eric Lambert has the same objection to her, but he isn't a GhostWalker. You can kill. I can. All of us do kill. Does it really make a difference how we do it? You have no problems with Mari or Briony."

Logan sighed. "Mari is a soldier and Briony doesn't have a mean bone in her body."

Neil cleared his throat. "What about the other women? Flame and Dahlia?"

Logan swept a hand through his hair. "I know Dahlia. That's different. To be honest, I didn't trust her at first. And Flame-she can kill with sound. So yeah, she makes me a little nervous too."

"I can kill with sound," Neil pointed out.

"It isn't the same thing."

"Why?"

"Because women don't belong in combat. They shouldn't be running around killing people. They're supposed to be the gentle sex. We take care of them. They should be having babies and cooking dinner not killing people. What the hell is going on in the world when we think it's okay for women to have guns?"

"Flame, Dahlia, and Saber don't need nor want guns, bro," Neil pointed out.

"Well that's just a fucking great relief to me," Logan snapped.

There was a stunned silence and then both Neil and Jess burst out laughing.

"I suppose they shouldn't be allowed to vote either," Neil said.

"Would you like her better if I told you she can cook?" Jess asked.

Logan glared at them. "Go ahead and laugh. It isn't right."

"Good God, Max. You're a fuckin' male chauvinist," Jess said.

"So what if I am? What about you? Don't pretend it doesn't freak you out just a little that that woman can kill with one touch. What if she's on her period? You ever see a woman with full-blown PMS? My mom used to lose her mind. I'd go to a friend's house for a week until she'd call and say it was safe to come home."

"Okay, I've gotta go with Max on that one," Neil agreed. "Think about it, Jess. The ability to kill with a touch and a woman with PMS. You gotta have some big balls to live with a threat like that."

Jess let out his breath. "I have to admit, I never thought about it."

"It could be ugly," Logan said. "Really ugly."

"I'll just have to keep her pregnant."

"Yeah. That'll work," Logan rolled his eyes. "Don't you watch movies? Ever see a woman in labor? Or having a baby? One hard contraction, my man, and you are toast. The husband's life is already at risk without the woman knowing how to kill. Seriously, Jess, you've got to think about this long and hard, and think with your brain, not with other portions of your anatomy."

"You're just trying to scare me," Jess said, glaring at them.

Logan and Neil burst out laughing.

"Go to hell, both of you." Jess poured a cup of coffee. "You're a couple of boneheads. Are we working here or what?"

"I brought this for you." Neil pulled a disk from his pocket, the smile fading from his face. "I'm going to let you listen. It took a while to clean it up and get the conversation. There's still some background noise, but I think you'll recognize a couple of voices." He pushed the disk into the computer. "I'm saving the original and you'll see why."

There was a moment of silence and then the sound of footsteps. "We can't afford to let any of them live, Senator, not one. I don't care if they're out of it or not. You've got to shut that program down. The biggest danger to us right now is that megalomaniac, Whitney, and the abominations he creates." The voice was muffled, and a little distorted, but Neil had managed to amplify the sound enough to catch the words.

"I'm trying."

"Try harder. Whitney knows about us. He's going to find a way to bring us down and you'll go down with the rest of us, Senator. We'll all be charged with treason and my guess is, some of us will be taken out and shot before we ever go to trial. Do you think the president is going to want anyone to know that we've been selling secrets to terrorists and funding them for years on his watch? No one is going to want that information made public. They'll kill us all, and Whitney's supersoldiers will be the ones pulling the triggers. The man's mad as a hatter but they won't terminate him. We've got a few people in key places who feed us information, but it isn't enough. You have to find a way to take him down."

"I'm doing my best." The voice was clearer, as if perhaps he was the one with the voice-activated recorder nearest him.