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  “But…” Nina shook her head. “But almost right after you put it on we had our first encounter with the Feeling People. You were having…all kinds of extreme emotions. To the point where I had to knock you out!”

  “Which made the collar think it could expect a constant stream of heightened emotion from me,” he said grimly. “It was satiated for a good long time by that first burst of fear and anger and pain I felt before you knocked me out, but now it’s hungry again. The fight we had tonight was like a Goddess damned appetizer to it—got it going. So now it’s telling me to feed it or it’ll feed its own damn self.”

  “Feed it how?” Nina asked, feeling sick.

  Reddix took a deep breath, his broad, bare shoulders rolling in the flickering firelight. The thin fur blanket wrapped around his waist was still his only clothing, and in the dim room, he looked huge.

  “You’re going to have to shock me again,” he said. “At least once more.”

  “What? No!” She took a step back, wrapping her arms protectively around herself. “I’ve already shocked you a lot more than I ever wanted to.”

  “You only did it twice. Once to save me from having my brain overload and once to keep me from…” He cleared his throat. “From hurting you.”

  “Exactly. And that last time was earlier tonight. Shouldn’t that made the stupid collar happy?”

  “Apparently not.” Reddix picked up the controller and tried to press it into her hand. “Probably because it didn’t last long enough. Here—do it.”

  “No!” Nina backed away again. “No, I won’t do it.”

  “You have to—the one holding the collar is rendered unable to control it,” he insisted. “Besides, I’d rather be able to brace myself and know what was coming than have the damn thing just shock me at random intervals.”

  “But…I don’t want to hurt you,” Nina whispered. “Maybe we should try to take it off again.”

  “And let it shock you too, like it did when you tried to take it off while I was unconscious? No.” He frowned. “Look, when we get in contract with them, I’ll ask my Kindred brothers to bring a universal key with them when they come to collect us. Until then, it’s either pick my time to get shocked or let this damn collar shock me whenever the hell it feels like it.”

  “Maybe it’s had enough now,” she said stubbornly. “It might leave you alone for the rest of the night.”

  “Or it might fucking not,” he growled. He lowered his voice to a more gentle tone. “Come on, Nina…don’t make me beg. I could be seriously injured if it surprises me again. I nearly bit my tongue in two that last time.”

  She shook her head again. “But—wait a minute.” An idea was beginning to take root. “You said it feeds on extreme emotions, right?”

  He nodded. “That’s right.”

  “But not necessarily negative emotions,” Nina clarified.

  “I suppose not.” He shrugged. “Though I’m pretty sure most of the poor bastards wearing a Hurkon collar aren’t feeding it with ‘happy thoughts.’ Why?”

  “Because. I think I know another way to feed it—a way to satisfy its appetite.” Nina took a step toward him, looking up into his shadowed face. The flickering firelight didn’t reach his features. All she could see of him were his hooded silver eyes.

  “What are you talking about, Nina?” he growled hoarsely. “How else am I supposed to feed the damn thing?”

  “Like this.” And standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Reddix’s heart was pounding, and his shaft was suddenly thick and aching under the thin fur blanket. He wanted to kiss Nina back—wanted to grab her and do much more than kiss her. But this time he was able to restrain himself.

  “What the fuck…” he growled, moving deliberately away from her. “Do you think you’re doing?”

  “Feeding the collar.” Her eyes were large and luminous in the gold and blue light of the dying fire’s flames, and her long dark hair was tumbled around her shoulders. Gods, she was so beautiful it made him ache to look at her!

  “I appreciate the thought, but I don’t think that’s going to work,” Reddix growled, forcing himself to keep his distance.

  “You’re wrong,” she said softly. “The lights on the collar went crazy when I kissed you just now. The same way they did when you were…uh, kissing me earlier.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. “You mean when I had you pinned to the bed and you had to shock me to get free?”

  Nina bit her lip. “They were flashing before that. In fact, they flashed a lot faster when you were…during the kissing than they did when I shocked you.”

  He frowned. “If that’s true there might be something to the idea of feeding it with positive emotions. But why?”

  * * * * *

  “Maybe because it lasts longer,” Nina said reasonably. “The jolts of pain it gives you only last a split second. Whereas if you were doing something else…something pleasurable…” She felt her cheeks getting hot. “Well, you could kind of draw that out. You could make it last longer. A lot longer.”

  “And what exactly do you recommend to feed the collar and to make it last?” His deep voice was a hoarse growl, and Nina felt he was holding himself back by force of will.

  “I could touch you…kiss you,” she said, holding her ground though it wasn’t easy. Suddenly, he looked so big and so extremely half-naked looming up in front of her.

  “Oh?” Reddix took a step toward her.

  “You’d have to swear not to…to do anything I didn’t want you to,” Nina said in a rush, fighting the urge to back up. “I need to know I can trust you before I do anything like this. And…I think we need to have limits.”

  “Limits.” He nodded, a thoughtful look in his silver eyes. “Yes. Limits are good.”

  “Then…” Nina’s mouth was so dry she could barely talk, but she forced the words out anyway. “Then I’ll…help you. As long as you lie down on the bed and let me set the limits.”

  He appeared to consider for a moment, and finally, he nodded.

  “All right. I accept your terms.” He went and laid down on the bed, face up with his arms over his head. “Do you want to use the restraints like you did in the ship?”

  Nina thought about it but shook her head.

  “No, I think I can trust you.”

  “But can I trust myself?” he muttered. “You have no idea what your soft little hands on my body do to me.”

  “It’s what they do for the collar—that’s all I’m interested in,” Nina said, trying to sound professional, like she was simply going to give him a massage. But inside she knew she’d been wanting to do this for a very long time—maybe even from the first time she’d dreamed of him.

  Shouldn’t be doing this…she told herself. But the mouthwatering sight of his muscular, half-naked body drew her like a magnet. The thin fur blanket was barely draped over his hips, and she could already see a distinct tent under it—clearly the idea of letting her touch him all over was turning Reddix on like crazy.

  Almost as much as it was turning her on.

  Still…she really shouldn’t get herself into such an intimate situation with the man who had kidnapped her. Then set some limits—just like you said, whispered a little voice. Lay down some rules before you get started.

  Yes, that was the thing to do—lay down the rules.

  “Okay,” she said, climbing onto the bed beside him. “Here’s how it’s going to be: I’ll touch you—you are not going to touch me in any way in return. Got it?”

  “Agreed,” he rumbled, nodding.

  “Second,” Nina continued, “You have to lie perfectly still with your hands above your head, just like they are now.”

  He nodded again. “Is there a third stipulation?”

  “Well, yes.” Nina took a deep breath. “I want it understood that I’m just doing this to help you with the collar. It’s not…not personal.” Not that she didn’t want it to be personal, but she couldn’t