David watched as Alinna guzzled her second beer like an old pro. The drinks were a Canadian brew he’d discovered last year that packed a lot of alcohol with a sharp bite. Alinna wasn’t about to tell him everything he needed to know, at least not voluntarily, but from the glazed look in her eyes, the alcohol might give him an advantage. He wasn’t leaving the room until he had some answers.

“This is really good.” Alinna spoke slowly, clearly enunciating her words. Whether it was because of the drink or because she was stalling for time, David wasn’t certain.

“I think so. What shields, Alinna?”

She stood abruptly, her drink still grasped in her hand. She avoided his eyes. “Shields? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She took another gulp of the brew. “Of course I don’t know anything about mind shields.” Alinna set the second empty bottle on the table next to her half-finished sandwich.

“Of course not.” David eyed her slightly unsteady gait as she moved nervously across the room. “Would you like another drink?” One more ought to do it. The lady isn’t used to drinking. And finding out about mind shields sounds like a good place to start.

“Sure. You bet. Another drink sounds like a great idea.” Alinna stood beside him as he cracked the seal on the last bottle on the tray. Since he was off duty, four drinks were allowed, so he’d ordered his full allotment. She reached for it eagerly.

Alinna continued to be a puzzle. She wasn’t familiar with the most common things—the security passes, the food, beer—and her looks were beautiful and unusual. But her apparent amateur clandestine behavior, that was the most intriguing mystery. He watched her long neck as she took a deep swallow. A curl of her tattoo peeked through her light brown hair. He took back his musings. The most fascinating puzzle might be if her tattoos really extended all the way to one very hot pussy. His mouth grew dry as he watched her bend over to reach the bottle cap that had rolled to the floor.

When Alinna straightened she caught him studying her. A slow smile broke out over her face. “You’re watching me.”

“Yes.” David drew in a husky breath. This wasn’t quite what he’d thought about when he encouraged her to drink that third brew, but he couldn’t help responding when her smile grew sly.

She slowly licked her lips.

Damn. He stood, wanting to look her in the eyes.

She stepped closer to him. “I’ve been watching you, too.” A small giggle escaped her lips, and she brought her hand to her mouth, surprised at her reaction.

David caught her fingers in his. She stilled. For a moment neither moved. Fuck it. I’m doing this. David leaned in and caught her lips with his. He kissed her, gently tasted her. The spicy flavor of pita chips and the yeast of the beer didn’t completely hide the purely female taste of her lips. When he was about to withdraw, she moaned into his mouth. Desire quickened within him. His cock throbbed into a thick pulsing erection. He drew her to him until they clasped in an embrace. He deepened the kiss, devouring her as he’d wanted to since the moment he’d seen those emerald eyes of hers.

Alinna pulled away from his lips, but only enough to whisper his name. He could feel the heat radiating from her skin, could swear he could smell her desire even in their fully clothed state. But the scent of alcohol laced her breath.

“I want you, Alinna,” he groaned and let go of her. I can’t do this. She’s half-drunk, not just tipsy. “But I don’t think you’re in the right state of mind to make any conscious—”

“I want you, Ya’lenali. Don’t tell me what I can decide. Don’t push me away. I need this.” Alinna pulled her uniform shirt up over her head, exposing her toned body.

Holy fuck. The tats curve right over her breasts, just like in my dream. David swallowed hard. He wanted to touch her, to trace those fascinating lines over every sweet curve of her body. He jammed his fingers into his hair in frustration. “Sweetness, I can’t do this. Tomorrow, you’d be sorry and I’d feel—”

“You’d feel damn good. Just like I want to feel right now.” She stroked her fingers over her tattoos, seductively following the very pathway he wanted to trace, until she reached behind her back and unsnapped the simple bra from her body. When her taut nipples sprang into view, David groaned aloud. “See,” she murmured, “they do go everywhere.”

“Oh God.”

“The gods don’t mind. It can be just like the other times only so much better. Want to see where else they go?” She fingered the lines on her stomach, slipped a finger into her waistband.

David growled in his throat. She was toying with him, and damn if he didn’t like it. He stepped toward her, and she took a step backward, leading him toward her private bedroom. He couldn’t stop himself, couldn’t take his eyes off her roaming fingers or hard nipples. He took another step, and another, toward her.

“David, love me like you did last night, Ya’lenali.”

David stopped. The thought hit him like a dash of cold water. Last night? Last night was a dream. Not even a dream—a fantasy.

Alinna stopped too and reached for him, drawing him into an embrace and a kiss even as his mind raced. She ran her fingers down his back to cup his ass and squeezed. “A fantasy that we could make real, right now,” she breathed into his ear.

David caught her hands and looked into her eyes. Something’s really, really wrong here.

“No it isn’t, Ya’lenali. For the first time since I got here, something is right.”

David shook his head, clenching his teeth in frustration. Alinna’s eyes weren’t quite focused. She was too drunk to know what the hell she was doing or saying. It was his own fault—that had been the plan after all. But what the hell was she saying? “You can hear what I’m thinking? What I want?”

“Oh, yes, David. I can hear you wanting me, feel it, feel the desire. I want you too.”

“Who are you?” He let go of her.

“Just Alinna, a woman who needs you. Please, David.” Her eyes filled with tears, and she licked her swollen lips. “Please fuck me.”

It was the ragged tone of her breath, and the way her chest hitched on a sobbing breath. David’s will was undone. She wanted him, and he wanted her, no matter who she was, what she was. He slid his fingers into the waistband of her pants and slipped them down past her hips, dragging her thin underwear with them. He groaned aloud, dropped to his knees in front of her. Those damn tattoos do go everywhere.

He pressed his lips to her naked mons and rubbed his skin against hers. Her citrus and musk scent, so familiar, tightened his erection. He ignored the conundrum of her familiarity when he had never really touched her, pretended he hadn’t noticed her using an endearment that he’d heard only in his dreams. Instead he concentrated on the incredible sounds she made as she held tight to him. Her body quivered, strained to open her legs, but they were constrained by the pants that had only dropped as far as her knees. Her shudders focused David’s attention on her reaction to the binding. Quickly he flipped her onto her bed and pulled the pants the rest of the way down her legs. Alinna gasped, and he checked her expression. A rejection now would drive him insane. But the glint in her eyes revealed her excitement as clearly as her hard nipples and wet pussy.

He pictured her bound to the bed, a vision that left his mouth dry. Better yet, he imagined her long legs splayed open and held up by bindings suspended from the ceiling. It was a fantasy he’d had before but never indulged. With access like that, he could lick her until she begged for mercy.

“Please, David,” she begged, echoing his dream. She writhed on the bed before him, her need almost desperate. He knelt on the floor beside the edge of the bed. She lifted her hips to him in a show of unabashed lust. The action brought a grin to his face. He’d satisfy her, but he’d get some answers out of her, as well. He traced his fingers over the curling tattoo on her left thigh. The color of henna, but definitely permanent, the edge of the artwork was clean and sharp as if she’d just had the ink placed on her recently. His attentions brought a moan to her lips. “Please, you can…tie me…if you want.”

He stilled. “You can see what I’m imagining. How’s that possible?”

“Don’t stop. I can feel your emotions, your desire, and when we touch, I can hear what you are projecting.”

He stroked the curve of her tattoo again, this time a little closer to her inner thigh. She had his complete attention, both sexually and intellectually. He ran his fingers over both of her legs and inhaled her aroused scent. She wriggled, tried to lift her hips in response, but he held her down. Control. Keep it in control.

“Why do you have to be in control?” she gasped as he traced the lines pointing directly to her clit.

“Because you need so badly to give it up. You need to trust me. Tell me the truth.”

“I am telling you the truth.”

“How did you learn to read minds?”

“I don’t.” She reached down to touch herself, and he caught her by the wrist. Pushing her arms upward, he rose from his knees to climb up onto the bed to press against her until her arms were above her head and he was centered against her hips. Her skin radiated a heat and a citrus scent that had him panting with the desire to lick her again. With a free hand, he stroked the marks on one breast until he reached her nipple. He rolled it between the pad of his thumb and his finger, tweaking it until she cried out.

“You don’t read my mind?”

“No,” she panted, “I read your emotions. Sometimes your thoughts just shout out at me, but you do that, not me. I feel what you feel until you make the connection. Then I can hear your thoughts.” Her words slurred slightly and she fought to pronounce each one with exaggerated care.

“And how’d you learn to do that?”

“I was born with it.”

David rocked his hips against hers. He could feel the heat of her right through his military-issue pants. This was as much torture for him as it appeared to be for her. He wanted her so badly, he could taste it. He tried a different tack.

“Where’d you get these tattoos?”

“I was born with them, too. David, please!” She hooked her legs over his back, struggled to rock harder against him.

He ground against her wet heat. Fuck, I can’t take this much longer. He’d never had such a responsive woman. She reacted to every touch, every caress. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Then it dawned on him what she had said.

“Born with them? Born with these tattoos?”

“They aren’t tattoos.” Her eyes were glazed as she groaned out the words. His hips continued to rock a rhythm against her that he couldn’t seem to control. “They’re L’inar. Sensory nerve lines. The more you touch them the more I want you, need you.” She kissed his neck, licking and nibbling as she went. It was getting harder and harder for him to think, to ask the questions he needed to ask. More than anything, he wished he could simply make his uniform melt away, as he had in his fantasy, so he could drive his throbbing cock home into her hot pussy. She was so wet, she was drenching his pants. Or was that his wetness seeping out? He shook his head.

“What the hell are you talking abou—”

Alinna cut off his words by stealing his breath, pressing her lips to his and drawing his tongue into the hot well of her mouth. She tasted like sin, so hot and so good. His body screamed at him, “to hell with asking anything else.” He wanted her too much to give a damn about what she was saying, although her readiness to accept his fantasy of domination still had him reeling. Control it, man! He pulled back and stifled a groan at the action. She clung to him, moaning as she licked at the sensitive skin on his neck.

Abruptly he stood, ignoring her protests as he let go of her and moved away from her heat. He ripped his uniform shirt off and threw it to the floor, then yanked his undershirt off, as well. Fingering the soft material, he took a deep breath. Control. Moving quickly, he rolled the cotton undershirt into a cord and began to tie it over Alinna’s eyes.

“What…stop!” She struggled, turning her head away and raising her hands to push against his chest.

“Trust me.”

She hesitated. Her eyes were already covered, but David could see the tension in her body as she debated his request. Finally, after a moment, she lowered her hands.

Hot triumph flashed through his veins. She was his, would do as he asked. She didn’t trust him yet, not fully, but by giving him the power here in bed, the rest would follow. He finished tying the makeshift blindfold over her eyes, the bright white cotton looking starkly primitive against the golden hue of her skin and the soft brown of her hair.

She shivered in his hands. His cock throbbed in response, insisting upon being released from the tight confines of his pants. Quickly he stood and yanked off his shoes and the last of his uniform. His cock jutted in front of him, and he stroked it standing over her. Gritting his teeth, he resisted the insistent urge to bury himself to the hilt in her sweet pussy. Her lips parted as she waited, probably wondering what the hell he was doing.

Without thinking about what he was doing, David grabbed her discarded uniform and tied first one of her legs and then the other to the bed frame. He ignored her tiny mews of shock and snatched up her shirt to tie her hands together above her head to the headboard. He stood back to admire his handiwork. Splayed on the bed sheets, she had to be the most luscious woman he’d ever seen. He grit his teeth. Control might be more difficult than he’d thought as he stared at the curving marks covering her from elbows to knees.

“David…” She whispered his name as though she was afraid of what he was going to do next, but her hips rocked on the bed, slowly, her uncontrolled motions causing whispers of sound as her binds rubbed against the sheets. His heart pounded at the sound—he had no idea what he was going to do either, but with his mission at stake, there was no way he was leaving this bed without answers, no matter how hard he might have to push her.