mise to never do it again." She batted her lashes for effect.
She was slipping into a mood she was certain would get her into trouble. It never failed to make Diana crazy when Rachel set out to irritate her.
Of course, if her sister would find that sense of fun she used to have, then Rachel wouldn't have to irritate her so often.
"I can smell a lie too, remember?" He was so obviously controlling himself that for a second Rachel wondered what it would be like if he lost all that cool, calculated reason that was the backbone of his being.
This mood was all his fault, she decided. If he had just left her alone, if he hadn't somehow managed to draw her and Amber into one of the complicated games he was forever playing, then he wouldn't have had to worry about that troublemaking streak she fought to keep subverted.
Jonas watched her, eyes narrowed, his senses fine-tuned as he opened the primal part of his genetics and allowed it partial freedom.
His hearing, acute anyway, became more so. His sense of smell became deeper, nuances easier to detect. The pores of his flesh seemed to open as the claws beneath the human nails threatened to flex free.
She was good. She had a control over her responses that normally only Breeds possessed. She was able to convince her body to follow the commands of her mind, but only to a certain point.
The arousal she was fighting was on the edge of slipping free, and he could sense the fiery, spicy-sweet taste of it against his tongue as he drew in the scent of her.
She hid it well; he had to give her that. There were no external signs of arousal. Her nipples weren't hard, she wasn't flushed, her breathing wasn't in the least labored. The arousal was shielded, pushed back, but definitely there and waiting to break free.
As he kept his senses focused on her, she slid the electronic planner she used free of her leather briefcase and flipped it on with a smooth motion of her slender fingers.
The screen lit up as she pulled the stylus out of its holder and began to work on whatever she had brought with her.
"Senator Racert has sent you several emails," she murmured as she glanced up at him, her green eyes barely hiding the mischievous glimmer that he could sense pushing at her control. She was dying to test his limits, he could feel it.
He'd had no idea the playful little thing she could be.
"Racert is always sending emails." He shrugged. "It's one of his failings."
A quick little frown pulled at her brow. "Did you know this afternoon's meeting is going to involve several other senators who aren't part of the Breed Appropriations Committee?"
"That's normal." Jonas shrugged again at the question. "Racert likes to show us lowly Breeds how undeserving we are and make his attempt to convince us to turn over portions of the Breed funds to their little pork barrel projects."
They sickened him. Racert was one of the worst. He was convinced Breed intelligence was so far beneath humans' that taking the funds awarded to the Breeds would be simple. Ten years, and still the man was certain he could convince the Breed portion of the committee that they were receiving funds they didn't deserve.
Money they used to build Sanctuary and the Wolf base, Haven. Funds used to defend and protect the communities they were building to ensure the safety of their own species.
Most of the countries of the world paid into those funds. Predetermined amounts were set aside and deposited on a yearly basis into a multinational fund in Switzerland, which the Breeds had access to.
There were limits to the money, though. One was the appropriations committee, which had been created to oversee the larger amounts that were paid out. The committee had been created as a protective measure to ensure that future Breeds never used those funds to build arms against the countries that paid into it.
"The senators meeting with you today are there to attempt to convince you to use the funds for something other than Breed-designated projects, then?"
"Of course." His brows lifted at her surprise. "Surely you didn't think we haven't had to fight to keep that money, Rachel. You know your government better than that."
"True." She inclined her head in acknowledgment before turning her attention back to the electronic planner.
"Which toy did you use?" Jonas allowed the question to slip free, his curiosity getting the better of him.
She froze. He sensed her forcing her emotions as well as her response to him deeper inside that shielded parted of her psyche. She had no intentions of giving in to him any more than she had to.
"Excuse me?" She lifted her gaze back to him.
"Which toy did you use to achieve release?" His body was tight, his control was shaky. Jonas could feel the need to touch her tearing through his system now.
Evidently, she sensed the danger inherent in answering him. He watched as her tongue swiped over her lips nervously. She inhaled slowly, deeply, fighting back the need to tease him, perhaps? He wished she would tease him. For a moment, he would have given anything if she would have pushed at the fragile thread of control that held back the beast determined to mark her.
"Jonas, this is not a conversation I want to have."