Retrieval (24 page)

Her gaze moved to him, and she watched as he did the mundane things that went into building a blaze. She focused on Sebastian. The strength of his thighs, the breadth of his shoulders, the way his black as night hair touched his collar now all made her palms itch. She shivered when his hands broke apart kindling. The dichotomy between their strength, and yet how gently they moved over her skin made her yearn for things unknown. She watched his face as concentration set a blank mask over his features. He looked over his shoulder at her, caught her staring, and his eyes flamed as bright as the fire he now had going.

Unable to contain her enjoyment, she very blatantly moved her gaze along his form. She licked her lips when her eyes made their way to the bulge at the front of his faded denim jeans.

“You are so dangerous, Skylar,” he ground out between clenched teeth.

“Nope, not me. I wasn’t like this until you stepped onto the scene,” she mused before she lifted her eyes to meet his. Her breath caught.

She’d barely known the man two weeks and most of that she’d been in la-la land, but everything within her called out to him even as it set her at ease about the rightness of their connection. She had no idea what went on between lovers, but she knew beyond a doubt that what went on between them was as close to perfect as she could have hoped for. She wanted him so badly and yet knew that her time with him was limited.

She locked down those thoughts. It wouldn’t do for Sebastian to eavesdrop on her plans. She came up on her knees and decided that before they went any farther she was going to learn something about him. Anything she could find out from the man, instead of being a peeping tom through his past. This was her first relationship, and she was mature enough to know that sharing created trust. Pulling his thoughts from him was a violation that would only break a relationship down. While she hadn’t been above it when she first met him, things between them had changed, and she wasn’t going to mess up what time they had by betraying him.

“Come here, Sebastian. I want you to hold me in front of the fire.”

*

She voiced her desire so prettily that it made it damn near impossible for Sebastian to rein in his lust, so he could touch her without pouncing. His lady looked like she had talking on her mind, and as long as he could hold her while they talked maybe he would make it through the conversation.

“Hold on; let me get something for us to sit on,” he said and moved to pile pillow after pillow on the floor in front of the fireplace.

When he was satisfied, he scooped Sky up and settled down with her on his lap with his back against the footboard of the bed. The fire played havoc with her hair, lighting it up in all its various shades. The flames in the fireplace had nothing on the color of her hair, and the light thrown by the fire cast her skin in a golden glow. She’d regained a lot of her color back, and her eyes had a twinkle that he lov—
er
, liked a whole lot.

He was going to have to temper his thoughts because it wouldn’t do for her to guess at his feelings before he was ready to give voice to them himself. Sure the scare at the hospital had made it clear to him the path he was on with this woman, but he wasn’t willing to give over quite that much just yet.

She turned her face toward him and with a mischievous smile asked, “So what’s on your mind?”

“Smart ass,” he said with a wink. He gripped her tighter and held her close.

“No really. There are certain things I’m unwilling to do in times of peace, like now, and one of those is intrude on your thoughts. Believe me, there will be times when you won’t want to know what I’m thinking, and there are rules to our little mind-link, Sebastian.

“First, no peeking when I ask you not to, and vice versa. I have a sneaky suspicion that with you and I, mind talking will be easier sometimes than voicing our words, but let it come naturally. I need you to trust that I won’t intrude where I’m not wanted, and I expect the same respect from you. I can prevent you from being in here,” she said pointing to her head, “and I can sever our bond, but it would cause you pain. So I’m asking nicely, please don’t make me hurt you.”

She looked up at him intently. His heart thudded, flipped over, and ached.

“When you talk to me I can feel your words before you speak them. I’m not intruding, it’s almost like you’re projecting them at me. When I first realized that we had this bond, I was a little freaked out. I could hear you, feel your thoughts, hell, I knew your pain all without you even being awake. Raina told me what it was, and I can’t lie to you, Sky, there are some things you may not have wanted me to see, but I backed out when I realized what was happening. I think I can prevent you from being in my head just like you can prevent me. Do you know how that is?”

“My sisters and I have been able to speak to one another this way since before we could talk. As we got older, we each independently built barriers that would prevent the others from seeing things that were private. I think that everyone has that ability. It’s like compartmentalizing. You lock away the things that you don’t want anyone to see. It’s only been at times of great duress that the locks on those compartments slip open and when that happens, the floodgates open. If we are all connected, we all feel it. Whether its pain, joy, love, lust, anger, or even hate, the emotions will tumble through everyone in the link if the locks aren’t tight.

“I try not to invade, ever. The only time I’ve done so is when one of my sisters was hurt. When you donated energy to me directly I assumed some of your essence, if you will, and that established our link. When we first met in my house in Chicago I touched your mind, but the link wasn’t established. When Raina has channeled in the past I didn’t absorb energy directly from anyone I didn’t already have a link with. You were touching me, holding me, when you guys brought me back the other day, so I have to think that’s when it happened. As for your ability to block me? I guess you’re just a fast learner.”

She stared pensively into the fire, and his heart clenched as he watched her profile. She was exquisitely made. He’d seen a picture, courtesy of Bleak, of Sasha Bennoit, and there was no doubt that she was damn near identical to Skylar. The only apparent difference was their hair color. Sky’s was deep with multihued tones while Sasha’s was a lighter honey brown.

“You said you could sever the bond?” His voice was tight and clearly expressed his thoughts about that possibility.

“I can. Don’t ask me how. It’s more instinct than anything, a protective mechanism of sorts. You have to remember, we were engineered Bastian. It was way more than just sperm meets egg, sperm gets happy with egg, egg splits, and quintuplets are created. Each of our individual cell clusters was manipulated. I have several theories about what was spliced into our DNA, but no hard evidence. The things we can do are amazing, but they’re all based and rooted somewhere in nature. Every human is a creature of energy, but it would seem that my sisters and I take it to a level that is supernatural. We were all bred with distinct characteristics, but I have them all in one body. I have abilities that even my sisters don’t know about.”

After a few brooding moments, she turned to him with a small smile.

“So yeah, I can sever it with ease on my part and some pain on yours, but the question is: Do you want me to?”

“You do, and I promise I will paddle that ass. If we get separated physically, I want a way to get to you. It could come in very handy in combat situations, and I think its best we leave it the way it is for now.”

“Oh, one more thing Bastian: your barriers? Yeah, well, they’re good but not quite that good. It would be nothing for me to insert myself into your mind and destroy them. You’d never know I’d been there. You need to understand, there are no natural barriers against me, and what I can do inside your mind. Bastian? Do you hear me?”

She’d placed her hands on his cheeks, and he allowed her the illusion that she was holding him place. He knew that ultimately he had physical control of this situation. Granted he didn’t want to force her into anything, but if she felt better thinking she was in control, so be it.

“Oh, Bastian, you have no bleed over control, do you?” she asked with a grimace.

“Bleed over control?”

“You thoughts are bleeding over your barriers. Did you hear what I said?” she urged him.

“Yes, Skylar, I heard you, baby.” His tone was gentle and placating, his thoughts somewhere else.

With little to no effort Skylar completely reversed their positions, slamming Sebastian on his back and locking herself on top. The position effectively lined up their pelvises perfectly, and he had a second’s remorse that this wasn’t playtime.

“What the fuck, Sky?” Sebastian said as he immediately lifted his arms and tried to grasp her around the shoulders to keep her still.

“You outweigh me by what Bastian? A hundred? A hundred fifty pounds? I weigh one-oh-five soaking wet, and I just tossed your ass like an old newspaper. Now are you listening to me?” Her tone was hard, as hard as the growing bulge between them.

“You cannot censor your thoughts so carelessly. I am doing my best not to read you, but this connection between us is strong. You’re bleeding over. Now I’ve told you I won’t break down any barriers you create against me, but you need to build them, or I will know everything you’re thinking, and I don’t even have to be in the room for that to happen. Yes, that’s right … this is a bitch.” She reiterated his thought that had popped out less than a second previous.

“Why isn’t it as easy for me to read you?” he asked her, back teeth grinding so hard he wondered if his jaw was about to break.

“I’m much better at shielding than you are, and I’ve had years to perfect it. When I was out it was much more difficult for me to keep the barrier between us up. Normally it’s instinctive, but you’re the weak link in my chain apparently. Now that I’m awake and cognizant I have a much greater capacity for self-preservation. Remember to lock your compartments, Bastian. You’ll have to practice. I don’t know what else to tell you. Are you sure you don’t want me to sever the bond?” she asked him, a wince in her eyes and tone.

“No,” he nearly yelled.

“Okay then, it’s your thoughts, buddy. Don’t bitch at me later when I inadvertently answer a question you haven’t even asked yet,” she snarled as she made to move off him.

He locked his hands on her hips and prevented her from leaving. Turning around slightly he lifted his upper body up and rested it back against the footboard. They were now chest to chest and man, oh man, he getting hotter by the second.

“I don’t care what happens. Do not sever this bond, Sky. Do you understand me? I know a lot has happened since we first met, but I have reprioritized and protecting you and your sisters from Smythe-Ward is my only objective. No. Don’t ask me why right now. I don’t think I’m ready to answer that yet. Suffice it to say he came after my men and me, and that’s after lying to us. Bleak could’ve been killed, and this shit is so deep I don’t know when we’ll hit bottom. It isn’t safe for you or your sisters out there right now by yourselves so you’re stuck with us. Understand?” He ground out the last words through clenched teeth. The thought of Skylar hurt again brought out the menace in him.

“You came for the McKannon sisters as a job. You have no reason to stay around for this. This is some serious, death dealing shit we’re in, and none of you are prepared for what’s going to happen. I’m telling you the truth. Listen to me! We are weapons. Created by a monster and honed by life to survive at any cost. My goal in this life has been to keep my sisters safe, but somehow you’ve weaseled your way into that little bubble I always keep around myself. If he hurts you to get at me Bastian,” she shuddered. “I don’t know if
I
could survive that.”

“I’ve been doing this a long time, Sky. I’m a trained veteran of more battles than you could count on all your fingers and toes. Nothing is going to happen to me. But I do feel a certain responsibility because he wouldn’t have found you if my team hadn’t located you. By him following us, we led him straight to you. No. You’re one of us now. All of you are, and we won’t stand by and watch him do whatever the fuck he wants to do to you.”

*

Earlier he wished he’d never met her, and now she was a responsibility.
It was getting better and better.
Then it was her turn to be surprised when he mimicked her action from a few minutes ago and had her on her back with him over her.

“You are way more than a responsibility Skylar. Don’t ever think I do this for any and everybody. The thought of that son of a bitch getting his hands on you damn near drives me insane with rage. So stop it already. And maybe you should work on the ‘bleed over’ hmm?”

He was in her face. His breath warm, and his pelvis firmly ensconced in the notch of her thighs. He was fast she’d give him that, but was he fast enough?

She wrapped both legs around his flanks and instinctively aligned her pelvis with his, wriggling to get as close as possible. Her legs were short and though his hips were slim, he was a big dude. She almost couldn’t lock her ankles together in this position.

His eyes flared that beautiful crystal blue, and he slammed his mouth down on hers, taking her breath and pressing into her in one move.

It was like sinking into a vat of the finest chocolate. His scent was a balm to her frayed senses, and she recalled the first time she’d seen him in that cafeteria at Northwestern. She’d bemoaned her instinctual reaction to him, but now she reveled in it. More alive than she’d ever felt, she arched into him as his hands brought electricity to her breasts, and his hard, jean-covered shaft brought lightning to her core.

“Yes, don’t ask, give me you Bastian. Everything you’ve got,” she said around a moan as he lifted her nightshirt and fastened his liquid silk tongue against a turgid nipple.

“Skylar!” a loud voice called from somewhere that seemed far away.

She couldn’t pull herself from the insane sensations that Sebastian caused in her body. She was pure lust, and dare she say it, love, and there was no summons to draw her away from the ecstasy his body promised her.