Free Leopard Dreaming by A.A. Bell Page A

either, and General Garland may be able to commandeer any satellite in the sky, but her team will have to sift through all the archived footage before they can confirm if Kitching and Maddy even came this way together.’ He turned Mira around and splayed his fingers against hers. That still makes you the fastest investigator. ‘Just take your time, and quit trying to push yourself.’ If you won’t take even a mild drug, what about endorphins?
    Mira shook her head, wondering what he was talking about. If my brain knew how to release hormones as an opiate, it should be doing it already.
    Maybe it is, but if you’ve grown used to pain, you’ll need a trigger for a bigger dose. He hesitated, as if he didn’t enjoy suggesting it.
    Like the fright that just knocked me out? She grimaced. Great solution.
    Not quite. He locked fingers with her and drew her nearer, making her fear where he was headed anyway; his chest approaching hers as he shifted and began to slide a strong arm behind her.
    Heat flared up through her body again and she shoved away, flustered.
    Lockman caught her, grabbed her chin and kissed her, his lips brushing hers like sparking electricity. She flinched and resisted, struggling to get away. It wasn’t the first time he’d ever kissed her, but she feared the feelings he stirred. Ben was her dearest friend. It was Ben she wanted, Ben she owed, but as Lockman’s lips pursued and claimed hers, she sensed a deeper need. Her heart pounded harder against Ben’s hand-scrawled note of goodbye, reminding her of his sacrifices and making her feel weaker and less worthy. And yet Lockman reminded her so much of him, it hurt torecall how sweet her dreams for a future with Ben had once been. She closed her eyes, better able to remember his face that way as Lockman’s arms engulfed her. Invisible. He felt so strong and warm and safe, like Ben and yet she needed so much more to fill the ache.
    Flickers inside her turned to flames, licking deeper, and she ached for more — ached for Ben — and before she knew it she responded, returning Lockman’s kiss; gingerly at first, as she always was with Ben. But with her eyes closed, they become one and the same man. Something stirred even deeper inside her, alert as ever, and chased off the usual fears and timidity she’d always felt with Ben. She didn’t care what Lockman thought of her, didn’t care if her kiss wasn’t perfect for him, and she let herself go, giving in to her desires while keeping Ben’s face uppermost in her mind.
    Something inside her sparked to life, swiftly growing, learning and yearning for more. Mira clung to him; exploring him more with her hands. His back, his chest, his neck where she found his chain, but melting, blending together through the mists of time — history repeating itself, the same but different, until she felt a surge of strength and raw passion from within him that made the blaze within her go wild.
    He broke away, leaving her gasping.
    She shook herself, found his face with her hand, and slapped him. ‘What the hell was that for?’
    ‘Painkiller.’ He stroked her cheek with his thumb. ‘Endorphins work faster than aspirin. Your colour is returning.’
    ‘Stop that!’ She slapped his hand away. ‘You’re deliberately baiting me!’ And now she knew he still wore his dog tags; rubberised around the edges to keep them quiet during covert missions.
    ‘Better angry at me than sick with pain. It worked, didn’t it?’ He stepped back and the air turned cold between them.
    Mira spun away fuming, but soon noticed he was right. Damn him. The pain was gone, almost totally. ‘Don’t you dare be so smug. You just startled me.’
    ‘Whatever works, sweetheart, but you can’t deny it’s a real phenomenon. I noticed it overseas, the first time someone took shots at me. Doesn’t matter how much you hurt, if you get scared enough or angry enough fast enough, the adrenaline and other survival hormones kick in to help get you