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through anticipation.
    He just hadn’t anticipated how difficult this would be in
reality, even with all his preparations. And now there was no turning back.

Chapter Four
     
    Power.
    At last Grace could give a name to the feeling that had
surged through her when she’d swallowed that pill last week. Power added extra
length and purpose to her stride and sparked the slow burn that threatened to
consume her. Power gave rise to something primitive and wild inside her—the
need to mate. She chose Tal not just for his availability and for his
willingness, but because he was, on a purely biological level, perfectly suited
for her needs.
    They’d fucked like animals. And she’d enjoyed it even more
than she thought she would, after she’d gotten used to the dizzying loss of
control that went with it.
    Did she get used to it? Or had she just stopped worrying
about it when Tal and Impulse joined forces in her service?
    Standing in her bathrobe before her closet, Grace tried to
concentrate on what to wear for her first Friday night with Tal. He’d long ago
discouraged her from putting a lot of effort into dressing up for their
encounters—his thoughts of her, he’d explained, did not usually involve
clothes—and she’d lapsed into the habit of wearing something comfortable on top
of her just-for-sex underwear. She could do that again tonight. She had a
feeling Impulse would make the evening memorable all by itself. But her
attention kept returning to a little black slip dress. She rarely wore the
short, lightweight garment this time of year, but her coat would keep her warm
until Tal and Impulse could take over.
    After getting dressed, Grace popped a pill into her mouth
and swallowed it with a handful of water from her bathroom sink. She expected
the familiar chill to set in immediately; it had started working so quickly
last time. This time, she got all the way to her car and all the way to Tal’s
neighborhood with no sign that the Impulse had taken hold.
    She navigated the tangle of one-way streets near her
destination, looking for somewhere to park. The city streets were clogged with
a confluence of late rush-hour traffic and people heading downtown to start
enjoying their weekends. She bit her lip. Of all the possible consequences of
meeting on a Friday night, why hadn’t she thought of parking? Still, even after
spending an eternity looking for a place to park and then walking from there to
Tal’s place, she hadn’t gotten her chill, the heat that followed, or any other
indication that the pill was working.
    Her fingers were just a whisper away from Tal’s doorbell
when the metal door slid open to reveal the man himself. The sleeves of his
crisp white dress shirt were rolled up, almost to the elbow, and sharply
creased black trousers enticed her to admire the length of his legs. He looked
like a glossy magazine ad come to life. When he stepped back to let her in,
Grace’s sex grew heavy and warm with anticipation and hunger, just as it
usually did when she was near him.
    The rush she craved still eluded her, and worry weighed down
her rising desire. What if it wasn’t working? John had reminded her of that
possibility in the parking lot after their interview a week ago. What if she
only got one experience like the last one and then nothing more?
    Well, that would account for all those people quitting.
    Tal closed and locked the door behind him and then walked
slowly toward her, his ocean-blue gaze locked to hers.
    “You’re all dressed up,” Grace said. She unbuttoned her
coat, slid it from her shoulders and draped it over a bar situated over a
weight bench next to her.
    Tal boldly looked her over, appraising her from head to toe.
“One of my clients had a gallery show tonight.” His golden brows drew together.
“You okay?”
    Grace nodded. Damn. After just one try, Impulse had spoiled
her. Here she was on a Friday night, with a man who made her toes curl just by
looking at her. So what if the stuff