Free RetroCog (a Power Up! story) by Marie Harte

blew out a long breath, hoping she didn’t look too excited at his words. They’d only just met, after all, and she didn’t want to come across as a total slut. No, just a freak who has secret fantasies of being ordered around . Ghostly laughter filled her mind. “Um, I don’t know about the ass thing.”
     
    His sly smile had her heart racing. “Oh, Lara, I can guaran-damn-tee we’ll see to that. But I only have one more condom. Now, let’s talk about you. You’re tight. I’m betting it’s been awhile for you.”
     
    She flushed. Had she been so obvious? “Yeah.”
     
    “So you probably aren’t on any birth control.” He sighed.
     
    She’d never had such an upfront conversation about sex before, but Noah didn’t seem to see it as anything but a formality before they did it again. That he wanted her, had decided they would be together again, soothed her worries that he was a one-shot wonder.
     
    “Actually, I am on birth control. And I’m clean.”
     
    He froze and just looked at her. “So you’re telling me I could come inside you, and we’d be safe?” At her nod, he took a step closer to her. “You okay with that? Because you need to be up front about it. Once I get inside you, you’re mine, Lara.”
     
    “Arrogant much?” They’d spend some fun time together before he left for Oregon in a few days. Thoughts of his leaving depressed her, though she couldn’t understand why. She didn’t really know him, and it wasn’t as if there was a shortage of men around here. Bill, Mike—if she grew too desperate—and a few others had expressed interest. But none of them held a candle to Noah.
     
    He grinned, and the joyful expression floored her. In the short time since she’d known him, Noah had seemed anything but happy. Now he glowed with satisfaction.
     
    “Oh baby. You have no idea what I plan to do with you. So what’s it going to be? You in, or am I sleeping on the couch?”
     
    She glanced at the settee against the far wall. “You’re a bit big for my little sofa.” He took a step closer. All that huge, imposing muscle intimidated and aroused in the extreme. But what made her say yes was the look in his eyes. Possessive, hungry, yet somehow tender as well. He confused her, and she wanted to know the real Noah. “I’m in.”
     
    “Be sure. I’ll be in control. Of all of it. No safe words, no playing around. You’ll be mine. All of you, Lara. Can you handle that?”
     
    The implications of what he said took her aback…and made her wet. She bit her lip, nervous, but couldn’t stop herself from rising to her feet to meet him halfway when his gaze locked in on her mouth.
     
    “I’d have to trust you not to hurt me.” She considered him, her instincts, and the strange, ghostly voice that moaned with approval at the idea. She’d be a fool to accept the word of a man she’d just met. And to give him control of everything? But these circumstances—and she herself—were anything but normal.
     
    “You have to trust me, or none of this is worth anything.” Noah waited. Not demanding, not coercing her, but leaving the decision in her hands.
     
    “I do. Trust you, that is.” To her surprise, she did.
     
    “I’ll never hurt you,” Noah promised. “I’m going to make you come so hard and so much, you’ll be begging me to never leave.”
     
    That was what she was afraid of.
     
    * * *
     
     
    He didn’t like the fact that Noah First’s room remained empty. Or that he and Lara had played detective at the morgue. The idiots in law enforcement around here had no idea who their murderer was, nor would they unless he announced it. Dropping the girl where she could be found had been a calculated risk. The tradeoff would result in an investigation turning the town into a mass of chaos and confusion—confusion that would do him a world of good.
     
    While everyone turned their attention to the deceased, he’d continue on the next stage in his plan. His first girlfriend