Free Impulse (Isola dei Sogni) by Raven McAllan

neck. The little shiver she gave was as welcome as a win on the lottery. "I'm game."
    "Shit, I must stop saying my thoughts out loud." Mia sighed. She leaned into him and rested her head on his chest.
    "No, don't. I like it." He didn't bother to say that if he chose to he could read them anyway.
    It was time for explanations. Dylan lifted her into his arms, pleased when she clung around his neck.
    Her thigh brushed his cock and she giggled. "Someone's pleased to see me." She dropped one hand and stroked him through his jeans.
    "Shit, woman, do you want me to drop you? That is one stroke too close for comfort. I'm about to break out as it is." Dylan tightened his grip.
    Mia winked. "That'll make it easier for me to have my wicked way with you once you've groveled enough."
    If groveling was needed, Dylan decided he'd grin and bear it—and grovel.
    "Mia, I'm sorry. I was an asshole. But I have a lot to think about, to decide on. And . . ." he shrugged. "I fell like a ton of bricks for you. And that is weird. Not because you're not fall-worthy or—" He stopped mid-sentence as Mia rolled her eyes.
      "Dylan, I'm well over forty, overweight and no oil painting. Okay, my teeth are my own, and I don't use a hair dye, but come on. I'm not the sort of woman a younger fit guy falls for. That's in novels, not in life." 'But how I wish it were. I'd be a happy bunny then, and I could jump his bones and know he'd let me.'
    Dylan considered her. "You think so? Well, lots of things are in life and we don't realize it. And you, my love, can jump my bones whenever you like. Before you ask, you didn't say that out loud. You actually don't talk out loud as often as you think."
      She looked at him as if he'd sprouted horns. He guessed it was a lot to swallow. Tigers, thought readers, and heaven help them if he revealed everything about his family.
    "Er, so, what exactly are you trying to say? You read my mind?"
    He was pleased that she looked more intrigued than horrified. He nodded. "It's one of my gifts."
      'Along with making love so superbly I'm still tingling?'
    Dylan laughed. "If you say so."
    "Bollocks. I need to watch my mind. Okay, so if I believe that, what is this place?"
    Dylan led her to a settee set against one wall, and pulled her down to sit next to him. "Somewhere to set aside your ingrained ideas and open your mind to all possibilities." He hesitated. "Hell, Mia, it's so complicated to explain. And I'm shit scared I'll frighten you away before we discover what we might become."
      "Oh, for heaven's sake, Dylan." Mia struggled to sit up. "I'm in my forties, not my teens. Try me and see. I've suspended belief so much this last day or so, I'll go with the flow. I do believe you can read minds, because if I didn't, I'd be on my way to the funny farm. The tiger is a bit harder to swallow, but I got here somehow, and it doesn't sit well to say it was a robot or something."
      "No, that was Marloth, and before you go off on whatever else he might be, he's a shifter. He's new, young, and sometimes over-eager, but his heart is true." He wondered what Mia's reaction to that would be.
    She stiffened but nodded. "Of whom we will discuss later. Go on."
    Well, at least she had an open mind—sort of.
    "Er, well, Faran, our head of security, is also a shifter." Dylan wondered when she'd hold her hand up and say enough already. "Marloth has been his protégé for a while. He was in a bad mindset when he arrived here. He's changed out of all recognition since he arrived."
    "Hmm, I bet. Pity he didn't help other people before he bolted here. A shifter. After what's happened tonight, I guess I can go with it. So you're not?"
      "Nope, not one of my talents. I'm a witch. So are Papa and Blaine." Was this it? Mia had stiffened.  
    "Hmm, a gang of three?"
      "Not at all." He knew he sounded stilted. "We are individuals with different skills. Until this week, I had never become involved with anything other than the legal side. I came to help