Free Parallel Heat by Deidre Knight Page A

forever.’’ His voice was alien then, strangled, containing a mixture of rough awe and genuine fear.
    ‘‘Just once,’’ she agreed thickly, feeling his swollen shaft already pressing against her opening. ‘‘Just one more time.’’
     
Kelsey flexed and bucked beneath him, digging her fingernails into his shoulders, scrabbling at his throat. Jared’s core heat had begun to blaze like ten angry suns. Must slow down, he cautioned himself, fully aware that he might Change any moment if he weren’t careful. And his human wife would never survive that. It was one thing to reveal his true nature to her, to allow her to gaze upon him as she’d done once before, but not this. Not his Change, not in the middle of this kind of intimacy.
    Gasping, he stilled inside of her, wrestling to master his whirlwind of sensations. He buried his head against her shoulder, sucking in burning, furious gulps of air, and she stilled beneath him, sensing his momentary confusion. The truth was his two halves were locked in a brutal battle for dominance. His Refarian side was solid and corporeal—but his D’Aravnian nature was far more mystical and prone to dominance. That man was one of fire, a being of heat and blazing fury and intensity. And that was the man who begged to make love to his mate right now. Impossible! he cautioned himself, but still the heat kept on expanding within his abdomen and chest, filtering down his back and shooting straight into his loins like an aggressive, scorching arrow. Unstoppable! Utterly unstoppable!
    He pulled apart from her with an unsteady exhalation. ‘‘Kelsey! W-we must cease!’’
    ‘‘Not now, no, Jared.’’ She blinked up at him as if in a daze. ‘‘Not now, please . . . not now.’’
    He rolled off of her, shaking his head. Damn it all, but his whole body was quaking: his hands, his legs, his fingers. Burying his face in both hands, he was about to explain the Refarian facts of life, how dangerous his natural self was to her human body, but was interrupted when, across their bedroom, his comm began to beep. He’d discarded his uniform hours ago, but had never bothered removing the communication unit from his sleeve.
    ‘‘In All’s name!’’ he muttered, sliding over her and marching toward where he’d left the thing. Nobody ever bothered him this early in the morning, no matter how early he might wake.
    ‘‘Bennett,’’ he barked into the piece, ready to dress down whoever among his soldiers had interrupted such a crucial moment with his bondmate.
    ‘‘Commander,’’ came Scott Dillon’s urgent voice, ‘‘we need to meet with you as soon as possible, sir. There’s been an incident.’’

Chapter Five
    Upon entering the meeting room, Jared was surprised to discover the cause for Lieutenant Dillon’s urgent transmission: two strangers who were seated at the large meeting table. Flanked by Scott and Thea, the two men were under heavy military guard. Jared immediately assessed the scenario: This room was where he and his elite officers strategized, planned, and masterminded their attacks. It was not, however, a place where they ever—under any circumstances—brought outsiders.
    Scott and Thea each gave him a crisp salute, which he returned, and they then assumed a parade rest stance. But he hadn’t served by either soldier’s side for so many years without being able to recognize the tension visibly apparent in their demeanors.
    ‘‘Tell me of our visitors,’’ Jared commanded coolly, striding to the center of the room. ‘‘Who comes to see us at this late hour?’’ His gaze never left the two strangers seated at the table.
    Thea took a step in his direction. ‘‘They’re Madjin, sir,’’ she answered, then quickly added, ‘‘That’s what they claim.’’
    Jared folded both of his arms across his chest. ‘‘I see.’’ He leveled the dark one with his hardest gaze, instinctively sensing that he was the leader of the two. ‘‘And what do you