Electric Storm (12 page)

She cautiously stepped away from the kitchen, placing her feet with care. No sound. No trail. The door opened before she’d taken two steps. She froze, hunching her shoulders as if she’d become invisible if she were small enough. Instead of the confrontation she expected, Taggert slipped into the room.

When she would’ve spoken, he held his finger to his lips. She smiled in relief, the knots in her stomach relaxing. Taggert she could manage. Alone without Jackson to interrupt them, he’d give her answers to a few pesky riddles that continued to nag her about shifters.

Taggert trusted her. Knowing that weakened her resolve to use him to get answers. Strangely enough, she wanted to prove his trust was well placed. He’d treated her as one of them since they’d first met. She wanted that so badly, she refused to consider that he’d be in the perfect position to betray her.

The instant she straightened, his eyes widened. He rushed forward, his arms spread wide in an attempt to herd her. Then she heard it.

Footsteps.

She would know that tread anywhere. Not needing any prompting, she sprinted to the nearest escape with the knowledge they’d never make it in time.

The closet.

She barely snagged the door open when Taggert shoved her from behind. A flash of light was the last thing she saw when the door snicked shut, plunging them into darkness. The lack of light gave her a false sense of anonymity, but any pretense of being a naughty child caught up in a game quickly disappeared in the tight space.

Junk crammed along the walls from the previous owner, jabbing her every time she twitched to put space between them. Plastered against him closer than fur on a cat, every inclination that said Taggert needed protection vanished. All her body understood was the warm male so close and so damn willing.

 She swallowed hard, acutely aware of every inch of him pressed up against her, her breasts against the hard wall of his chest, his legs tangling with hers. Taggert didn’t struggle, realizing the futility of it long before her.

“My scent. Can you cover my scent like yours?”

The whispered caress of his words against her ear sent a shiver of delight through her gut. His cheek brushed lightly against hers, almost nuzzling her. 

Panic skittered down her spin. He didn’t know what he was asking. To mask him, she’d have to take him into her shields. Open herself up to him. It’d leave her vulnerable. It would also make it impossible for her to pretend their attraction didn’t exist.

“Raven?”

“Right.” She was an adult. She could control her baser instincts. She had to swallow twice before she found her courage. “You might get shocked a bit.”

Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms securely around her. She jumped at the contact, resisting the automatic response to jerk away. The full press of his body set her on fire, amplifying the burning need to touch him back. To arch into him and take what he offered and damn the consequences.

“Hurry.”

When she took a deep breath, his scent infused her, setting off another wave of craving. A delicious heat sank deep in her gut, and she shook her head to clear her mind, desperately trying to remember her purpose.

She grabbed that ephemeral thought and shoved all those delicious sensations away. She refused to examine them, refused to admit to any attraction. She couldn’t allow herself to care for anyone. Not like that. Not again. “You’ll feel something like a curtain of static surround your body.”

“Do it.” His whispered words sent a shiver of doubt tearing down her spine about the sanity of their plan. Then she took a leap of faith and did it.

She opened herself, allowing just a fraction of energy to wrap around him. That was her intent anyway. An electrical storm swept through her, leaving her with one thought. To make him hers. It would be so easy. He was so willing. Her knees shook as she resisted the command.

A rough, animalistic growl vibrated from his chest. The tone hit her body hard. She instantly responded to it with a wave of desire that obliterated any thought but to plunder. The side of his face brushed her cheek, then her neck as if he couldn’t stand not touching every inch of her. A puff of breath on her pulse was all it took to break her damaged resolve.

The muscles of her legs weakened, and she sagged against him, delighted in the way he hardened under her touch, the ease in which he supported her weight. He didn’t feel like the boy she mistook him for on their first meeting. He was at least five inches taller than her, broad in the shoulders, lean in the waist and definitely old enough to know what he wanted if his body was any indication.

He dipped his head, lightly brushed his lips against hers, and she couldn’t find any air left in the closet to protest. A second passed. Two. Then breathing stopped being important when his mouth claimed hers again in a sweet kiss that left her insides a pile of mush. Trembling, she leaned back, embarrassed by her need.

What the hell did they think they were doing? But all that fled when he brushed his body against hers in just the right way to hit all her nerve endings at once. Imagining them both naked, him inside of her while he did that again nearly had her growling at him to not stop.

He rested his forehead against hers, his body shuddering with restraint. When he gently and inextricably drew her closer, she didn’t resist, wrapping her arms around him in turn.

His lips brushed her parted ones, lingering, tasting, testing, oh so temptingly within reach. He pulled the binding holding her hair until the strands spilled around her face. He inhaled deeply. In a rush of need, his hands slid over her ass then lower. She thought he was going to kneel when he straightened abruptly. With his hands behind her thighs, she found herself straddling his waist. Her back slammed against the wall of boxes, and the little rumble of hunger from him came so close to her neck that hot desire pooled between her legs.

Sharp teeth raked lightly down her throat, and her body hummed at such a simple but erotic gesture. She could barely open her eyes, but when she did, she instantly spotted the yellow bleeding the brown out of his gaze.

Not good. Not good at all. Reason reinserted itself. “I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

She pushed at his shoulders, and he immediately released her. Her feet touched the floor, and she trembled in an embarrassing weak-knee way that threatened to topple her on her ass. His chest heaved, each breath brushed his body against her.

Lightly.

Teasingly.

Ratcheting her need higher, making her wonder why she thought halting was a good idea.

A few kisses couldn’t be bad. Not when they tasted so good.

He pressed his palms on either side of her head and ducked so they were eye to eye. “Please.”

The door flew wide, wood groaned, splintering. An animalistic roar rang in her ears. Light seared her eyes and when she could see next, Taggert had vanished. Raven slid a few inches down the wall of boxes, fighting for composure and against the whimper working its way up her throat, waiting for her head to stop spinning.

The slam of flesh on flesh jerked her upright. She shot out of the closet in time to see Jackson slam his fist into Taggert’s stomach. The man didn’t go down, but came up swinging, clocking Jackson on the jaw. They went back and forth, exchanging blows, the bruises and cuts healing nearly as fast as the punches landed when she finally got her wits together.

“Stop.” She pushed between them and received snarls from them both that raised the hair on the back of her neck. Yellow eyes gleamed, watching as if waiting for her to choose.

“Stay still.” Dominic’s voice was low and unthreatening as he approached. “You move and they’ll pounce.”

“What the hell is happening?” The energy from the two men swamped the room. She’d never felt anything like it. All she wanted to do was soak it up and roll around in it.

Dominic latched onto her arm, his grip unbreakable, jerking her away. Both men kept their gazes cemented to hers. But when Taggert took a step to follow, Jackson leapt. They skidded across the floor, fists pummeling with a force that had her wincing.

“Let me go. They’re going to kill each other.” She struggled against Dominic’s grip. He wrapped his arm so tightly across her chest she could barely hold the panic at bay. The autumn scent she normally found so soothing now felt suffocating.

“This is pack.” He shook her hard, forcing her to watch each blow. “This is how they settle disputes. We’re brutal. We’re vicious. And we’re unbending when someone tries to take what’s ours.”

“What?” The words took the starch out of her, calmed some of the panic licking through her at being confined. The uncontrollable craving to suck in the energy waned the greater the distance she put between her and the wolves. She looked at Dominic, saw his yellow-green gaze, and swallowed hard.

Her mind cleared slowly from the lust-induced euphoria that had invaded her, the one that told her to do what she wanted without care for the consequences.

She had to get away from them. She was going to crash and crash hard. “Let me go.” She spat the words. When nothing happened, renewed panic wrestled her for control.

A zap of static crackled through the room. Energy hummed in the walls, getting louder as her agitation grew. All other noise faded. All her senses lay in resisting the urge to sink her fingers into the juice, and just let go.

“Raven. Snap out of it.” Dominic’s words lashed at her, and she came to herself with a start.

Dominic stood three feet from her, his arms held out at his sides, trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. His head was bowed to the side in submission, his throat bared. It shook her to see him like that with her, a tough, proud fighter bowing to her in submission.

Shamed gutted her. The lack of recrimination as he cautiously peered at her only made it worse. He just accepted it.

“Your hands.” Taggert stepped closer, no fear in him.

“Stay back.” She felt fear enough for both of them. A light glow surrounded her skin. She saw it. Now Taggert saw it. Could her gift be infecting him like it did the house? The others didn’t notice anything, and she was pitifully grateful for that small mercy.

She retreated a step. Jackson circled, countering the move, boxing her in until her back hit the wall. At the contact, energy from the house poured into her.

“Ground yourself.”

Dominic’s yell sounded small in her ears, her senses overloading with the charge. To ground herself, she needed to connect to something solid. She needed bare earth beneath her feet, but she didn’t think any of the men would allow her to leave, and she couldn’t guarantee their safety if they followed.

Pain swelled in her head, eating along her bones the longer she held herself in check. Her body craved more, building off her panic. She clenched her eyes shut, her fists balled tight at the thought of them seeing her helpless. She reached down into her center, burrowed deep for the last of her strength. The core had welled with power. Beg to be used.

The temptation to linger and play with it nearly distracted her. Only the fear of them witnessing everything brought back her sanity. She had to get rid of it. She forced the twisting blue and white strands of energy whipping through her insides down her body, past her legs and finally through the soles of her feet.

It pulsed along her skin in protest, wrapping along her shins, tugging at her like a child begging to stay.

With one last mental shove, the energy cracked into the floor. The voltage left her so abruptly that she staggered and slumped against the wall. Her insides felt stripped of flesh, crying out for her to call back the energy. She adamantly refused, but it did no good. The power swirled around her, more eager than ever to find a way back.

When she opened her eyes, the floor where she’d stood filled her vision. Electrical burns crisscrossed the wood, wrapping around one another in a five-foot radius from her feet. A harsh reminder that everything she touched became tainted. How much longer before she couldn’t control it at all?

“It’s growing.” Dominic’s soft voice confirmed her fear.

Her stomach churned violently. She lifted her head, ready to face judgment. Only to be confronted by compassion.

“How long has it been this way?”

Raven looked away, wishing she could crawl in a hole and hide. If only they’d stayed away. When she didn’t say anything, he drew closer.

“Weeks? Months?”

“Months. Maybe longer.” She faced Dominic and flinched to see him within touching distance. He gazed at her like she was one of his wild animals to trap and lock away if he thought it necessary to keep them safe.

“Why didn’t you call me? I could’ve–”

“What?” Raven shook her head, meeting his gaze squarely, resisting the instinct to bolt if he took another step. “There’s nothing you could’ve done. You deal with the rest of the team. You have enough on your plate.”

He shook his head, lines bracketing his mouth. “I could stand beside you for support.”

Raven swallowed painfully at his words. What she wouldn’t give for the opportunity to pour out her fears to someone. But she couldn’t burden him that way, not when there was nothing either of them could do. She had plans in place for when she finally lost control. “I’m working on a way to ground myself.”

“It’s not helping?”

“No.”

Jackson crouched and rubbed a hand along the floor. “The wax is burned clear away. The wood isn’t just stained, it’s seared into the maple.”

Thunder rumbled in the distance, strong enough to rock the house. His eyebrows shot up. Heat filled her cheeks as she fumbled through an explanation. “Wood can only hold so much before the charge seeps back through the air. The extra charge will wreak havoc on the brewing storm.”

Everyone around her acted so fricken normal. She was a freak, but they treated what she could do like a fascinating discovery.

A wave of dizziness smashed through her at holding so much current and releasing it all in one big rush. In seconds, Taggert was at her side. She recoiled from his touch, afraid everything that happened in the closet would come rushing back.