Pandora's Daughter

nap.' He hung up.

'Where is she?' Megan asked as she came out of her bedroom.

'On the outskirts of the city. Harley arranged for us to be near her. Okay?'

She nodded. 'I'll go get my suitcases.' She frowned as she stopped at the door. 'This Michael Travis keeps track of all kinds of psychics, right?'

He nodded.

'Does he know any healers?'

'What do you mean?'

'What do you think I mean?' She said curtly. 'Phillip. I'm willing to try anything.'

He shook his head. 'I've never run across a genuine healer. I don't believe Michael has either. He told me that he thought he'd found one in Brasilia about a decade ago, but it turned out the man was a fake. Evidently it's a very rare gift.'

'Shit.' Her lips tightened. 'It's the one talent that would be worthwhile in this mess. I'm a doctor. I'd give my eyeteeth to have that kind of ability to help people, to help Phillip. Do I have any chance of becoming one? You said my mother had other talents besides being a Listener. She was a Finder. Couldn't I have-' He was shaking his head. 'Why not, dammit?'

'The odds are against it. Finders are fairly common. Sarah was just an extremely good one. Healers are almost nonexistent. The chances are slim to none that you could develop into a healer.'

'I am a healer. I'm a doctor and a good one. I just want an edge to help be a better one.' She shrugged. 'Maybe you're wrong. It's such a waste to have all this medical training and only be able to Listen to the woes of the world.'

'I hope I'm wrong. I don't like disappointing you. If it was in my hands, I'd give you anything you wanted, do anything you asked.' He met her eyes and added softly, 'Anything, any way, Megan.'

She stiffened. 'My God, Grady.'

'Just thought I'd reestablish the playing field.' He smiled. 'Since you've read the Tribunal Reports, you know everything I know. That means all this honorable restraint can go down the drain. Thank God. It was completely out of character for me. Let the games begin.'

She didn't answer for a moment but heat flushed her cheeks. 'You sound like the opening ceremony of the Olympics.'

'It could turn out that way. But maybe I used the wrong word. Let the resolution begin. We've both been wanting this to happen for a long, long time. We won't get any peace until it does, until we taste it, until we know each other.' He could see the pulse beating in the hollow of her throat. 'Good. Feel it. Come toward me. Feel me. I'm not going to touch you. You have to be the one to take the first step.'

For a minute he thought she was going to take that step.

Then she turned and closed the door behind her.

Dammit. He took a half step toward the door before his could stop himself.

No, it had been close. Don't ruin it because he was so hot he was about to explode. Be patient.

Patient? No way.

MEGAN LEANED AGAINST THE DOOR, fighting to keep herself from opening it again and going to him.

There it was again, sexuality, raw, hot, tingling, taking her breath away. An emotional and physical response that had completely blown her away.

Stop shaking. Get over it. Get your suitcases and leave the hotel and go find Renata.

Not yet. Give it time.

If she saw him in the next few minutes, she wasn't sure they would leave the bedroom, much less the hotel.

THE COTTAGE WAS SMALL WITH a thatched roof and flowers in the window boxes.

'Talk about Sound of Music ambiance,' Grady murmured as he held the car door open for her. 'You expect to see Julie Andrews running back to the abbey.'

She shook her head. 'No mountains. Just forest. And I'd rather see Renata running toward us.' She avoided his hand and got out of the car. 'Is Harley supposed to meet us here?'

'Yes. The key is under the rock beside the door. I'll call him when we get inside.' He moved toward the cottage. 'He said he needed a nap. He's been watching her cottage since she arrived last night. I'll see you settled and then take over watching Renata for him.'

'That's fine with me.'

'I'm sure it is,' he said dryly. 'The more distance between us the more you'll like it. You're treating me as if I have a contagious disease.'

It was true. On the trip here she had been very careful not to touch him even casually. Yet sitting beside him had still been too provocative. She had been able to feel the heat of his body, smell the faint scent of him. 'Really?' She didn't look at him. 'And you're cut to the quick?'

'No, I kind of like it. It encourages me to know that I'm having an impact. The worst response would be no response with a woman with your emotional makeup.' He stopped at the door. 'Coming?'

She hesitated and then came toward him. 'You think you know so much about me. I'm not a Pandora and even if I was, I wouldn't accept being put into a niche. I'm me and that means my character, my attitudes, my soul. Screw you, Grady.'

He grinned. 'That's exactly what I'm aiming toward.' He reached down and retrieved the key from beneath the rock. 'And I hope you don't turn out to be a Pandora. I wouldn't wish that headache on anyone.' He unlocked the door and turned to face her. 'It would hurt you. I won't allow anything to hurt you, Megan. Not even me.'

Dammit, she couldn't breathe. She was dizzy, melting.

'Oh, shit,' he said unevenly, 'You remember when I told you that you had to take the first step?'

She nodded.

'I'm willing to renegotiate. Just say the word. Any word. As long as it's not no.'

It should be no. She wasn't able to think clearly and logic should rule in a situation this volatile. She should be prudent and control this physical response that was making her weak. Yet all she could think about was the Neal Grady who had been her playmate and mentor that summer on the beach. Playmate and mentor… and the object of a young girl's first passion. He had said he had wanted her for years. How long had she wanted him? Had desire been smothered with memory or had it merely been kept burning low? It seemed impossible that it could ever have been any less than the need she was feeling now.

To hell with it. Reach out and take it. Take him. 'Inside,' she said shakily. 'Now.'

'That'll do.' He grasped her arm and opened the door. 'Oh, will that do. Come on, let's find a bed.'

Her arm was tingling, hot, beneath his touch. 'Hurry. I don't care about the bed.'

'Good.' He turned on the light and pushed her back against the front door. His body rubbed slowly against her as he tilted her head back. His lips pressed against the hollow of her throat. 'I don't think I could wait anyway.' He was unbuttoning her shirt as his tongue licked delicately at her neck. 'Hell, my hands are shaking so badly I'm not sure I can get these clothes off you.'

'I'll do it.' She backed away from him and stripped quickly. 'I don't trust you. If you have time to consider, you might come up with some stupid reason why you won't-' She stopped and inhaled sharply as his hand went between her legs. 'Or maybe not.'

'Good call.' He was pulling her down to the floor. 'I can't reason at all right now.' He took off his shirt and threw it aside. He was astride her and she felt the roughness of the denim of his jeans against her inner thighs. The sensation was vaguely erotic, she thought dazedly. Everything about him was erotic, his scent, his hands between her thighs, his flushed face above her.

'How do you want it?' he asked hoarsely. 'Tell me. Anything you want, Megan.'

His hands were driving her crazy. She arched upward as she jerked him down to her. 'Just do it, dammit. I don't care…'

'I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD FIND THE bedroom.' Grady's hands cupped her breasts from behind. 'Or a shower.' He pulled gently on her nipples. 'Or a kitchen.'