Hell, yeah. It was either that or go insane. "And your heartbeat just got erratic." The cat smiled, pleased. Ashaya Aleine wasn't as immune to him as she liked to pretend. "What would happen if I tasted you? If I took a bite out of you?"
Another spike in her heartbeat, music to the leopard's ears. But when she spoke, it was to say, "Nothing."
He gave her a sleepy-eyed look that he knew screamed challenge. "Then come here."
"You're disturbing me."
"Good." He smiled, playful and wicked, realizing he had the advantage - Ms. Aleine wasn't used to playing with cats. "I don't like being ignored."
"Get used to it," she said, surprising him, delighting him. "I'm working."
"Oh?" He was genuinely interested. "I though M-Psy saw inside the body and diagnosed illnesses." His family had consulted several when his inability to shift had become apparent. All had been brilliant, but not one had understood what it meant to a changeling to be denied half of who he was.
Ashaya's gaze skimmed down his body. "Isn't that an uncomfortable position?"
He'd listened to her body, knew she was aware of him on a level she'd never admit. It soothed the cat, even as it ratcheted up his need. "I'm fine, sugar," he said, fighting the urge to sink his teeth into the delicate curve of her neck. He tended to like his sex slow and intense, but right now, with this woman, his body wanted hard, furious, a little rough. Reining in the leopard's territorial instincts made sweat bead along his spine. "M-Psy?"
She became very still, as if she'd sensed his tenuous control. But she didn't retreat. If she had...
"Like all Psy designations," she said, "medical, or M, is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of specializations. It includes those unusual few who can actually heal - "
"Anything?" He'd never heard of a Psy with that power.
She shook her head. "No, their scope is limited. Some can reset bones, while others can seal wounds - the types of things that might be needed in the field. The healing abilities apparently appeared in children born during the Territorial Wars, though there's no proof of that. As far as I know, no M-Psy can psychically cure diseases or reverse hereditary conditions. May I continue?" A scientist's cool question.
He wanted to bite her. "Go on."
"The scanning you mentioned is the most well-known and prevalent manifestation of the M designation. My ability is a subset of that - I can't see broken bones or diseased organs, but it's because my mind sees too deep."
"How deep?"
"To the DNA level."
His cat's attention was momentarily diverted from the seduction of her skin. "No one can do that. It would make you a walking DNA scanner."
"Yes," she said, not seeming to realize she'd maintained constant eye contact. "Only a very small percentage of the M designation possesses the ability. Even fewer master it to the level where we become more accurate than the machines." Her eyes traced his lips and his entire body grew taut with the caress - she might not call it that, but that's what it was. She was stroking him. Purring inwardly, he didn't move, didn't break the spell.
"Because of available equipment," she continued, "it's a fairly redundant ability in itself. You have to pair it with study - it was my knack for working with nanotech and implants that made me of interest to the Council. My ability gives me an edge with technology at that level of miniaturization."
He wondered what she'd do if he gave in to temptation and flicked his tongue along her full lower lip. "How does your gift work?" he asked, curling his hand into a tight fist. "You see me and know my genetic blueprint?"
She shook her head. "Not quite. Depending on what I'm searching for, it can take hours, days, weeks, sometimes months, to tease apart the DNA."
"Why tell me all this?" He was a leopard sentinel. Even half-insane with this unwanted craving, his brain cells were working just fine. And he knew there had to be a reason for her unusual openness. "What do you want?"
She bit her lower lip.
His blood rushed to his cock. The roaring in his ears was so loud, he almost missed her next words.
"I want your DNA."
Chapter 20
A kiss is a melding of mouths. I've considered every aspect of this form of affection since the last perplexing dream, but I still don't see the point of it.
- From the encrypted personal files of Ashaya Aleine
Surprise hit Dorian hard. "You obviously weren't this blunt with the Council."