THE SOUND OF RAISED VOICES woke me as the sun was coming up. It took a minute to remember where I was—lying on the floor where I had finally passed out the night before. Sean was still asleep. I watched his chest rise and fall.
Thank you, God.
Was it my imagination or did his skin look better? The wound was smaller now and less raw. How is that possible? I was about to reach out to touch him when a rude voice startled me.
“What do you think you’re doing? Don’t touch him! Are you crazy?” Killian was livid, and looming in the doorway. Dec was hovering behind him with hands spread in apology.
I launched myself in front of him. “Shh! Don’t come in here yelling at me! I’m not going to hurt him, you idiot!”
Feeling especially defensive, I shoved my palm against his chest and got shocked off balance. Shaking the pins and needles from my hand, I glared at the smirk twisting his mouth. Him too? Seriously? I need rubber shoes.
The rude beast narrowed his eyes to slits before slipping into the most condescending tone possible. “You still don’t get it, do you? He doesn’t need you to nurse him back to health. He’ll be fine in a day or two.”
Clearly, he was insane. “Are you kidding me? He’s hurt! Surely even you can see that? He should be in a hospital—not in this house. My God, I think he’s in a coma. He hasn’t moved in twelve hours. He must be in agony.”
He actually barked a short laugh. “You don’t know anything about him, babe. He’s not dying. He’s just healing. It takes time to recover from a wound like that. He’s not moving because he’s conserving all of his energy to focus it on the places he’s injured.”
“He’s not dying?” I looked wildly at Dec.
I promised Sean I’d find you and bring you to him. He’s been . . . shot.
He never said he was dying. I jumped to that conclusion on my own. I also spent the night crying and begging God to save him. I felt stupid. I hate feeling stupid.
Killian stood with his arms folded looking so smug that I wanted to punch him in his arrogant face. Instead, I whirled around to confront Dec who promptly threw up his hands in surrender with a devastating flash of dimples. I heaved a loud sigh and stalked to the window. Damn him for being so adorable. I wanted to be pissed at someone. Dec loped over and wrapped me in a full body hug. The familiar strange energy flowed into me, slowing my racing heart, scattering my angry thoughts.
I stomped on his foot. “Stop that!”
He dropped me like a hot potato. “Ouch! That’s just mean. I’m trying to help.”
“Really? News flash—knocking me out isn’t helpful. You could help by explaining what happened to Sean, and what kind of bio-engineering miracles you guys are.”
Killian frowned. “Bio-what? What are you talking about?” His brows were knit with genuine confusion.
“Your parents haven’t been messing with your DNA or teaching you to use previously-untapped portions of your brains? Maybe you’ve learned to use undiscovered psychic abilities, aura control, telekinesis; something like that? Come on, it makes sense.”
“Parents?” He pinned Dec with a hard stare. “Dec? What the hell is she yapping about?”
Flushing pink, Dec replied with an edge to his voice, “Yeah, it’s okay—she knows about our parents—and their work in Switzerland.”
“Oh? Which one of you told her? You know it was supposed to be a secret! Dad’s going to kill us.”
“It’s okay, Killian. I won’t tell anyone about your cover. Believe it or not, I don’t want to see any of you get hurt—not even you.”
He looked strangely amused by that. “Well, that’s a relief. Thanks.”
A movement caught his eye, and he glanced over at the bed. One corner of his mouth twisted into a relieved smile. “And he lives. Nice to see you breathing, bro.”
To me, Killian said, “See? It’s a friggin’ miracle.”
I’ve never been so glad to see anything as I was to see Sean’s blue eyes, open and shining. He was alive and looked almost healthy. I was so relieved that I started crying again. It was just too much emotion and too little sleep. I lost it. I just sat there with my head lowered, tears running down my face. Shushing me quietly, Dec picked me up and laid me next to Sean. I curled up against Sean’s side and cried some more. Dec and Killian left us alone.
The touch of fingers caressing my cheek brought me out of a deep sleep. The fingers were light and warm against my flushed skin, and I tingled everywhere they traveled. The pain of my crying jag gradually vanished as if someone wiped it away. It felt so good that I didn’t want to open my eyes and ruin the moment, so I pretended to sleep some more. What would he do? In response to my unasked question, he traced the shape of my face, trailing his fingers down my neck to my exposed collarbone. The warmth spread everywhere he touched me, and my next thoughts were something like, how would that heat feel buried inside of me . . .
Whew! I blushed hotly and opened my eyes to find his face only inches away, his eyes sparkling with suppressed laughter. I blushed even more, and he burst out laughing.
“Don’t laugh! You’ll hurt yourself!”
“I’m okay, darlin’. It’ll take more than that to take me out. I’m feeling a lot better now. Look.” He pointed at his stomach. The scorch marks were gone, and the area was simply reddened. It looked a lot better. The skin around it was healthy looking with the beautiful golden tan he always had. Glancing further down, it seemed like his whole body was that color. But how did he heal so fast? Another minor miracle? What was up with these guys? If not bio-engineering, then where did they get these abilities?
He shifted his position, forcing my mind back to the bed. He was completely naked under that sheet. I had been draped over him during my embarrassing crying jag and didn’t even realize what I was doing. I snuck a peek at him now and was a little disappointed that he was covered up. My whole body blushed, and I was sure I would set us both on fire with it. Sean responded by pulling me next to him so he could curl up around my back with his arms wrapped around me.
“Mica, I’m so sorry you’ve had to see me like this. You’ve got a heart like a warrior, and I am so proud of you. You’ve dealt with so much pain of your own this year, and you’ve found your strength. But when I was . . . asleep, I sensed your fear for me. I don’t want to ever be the cause of your pain.” He ran his hand down my arm and entwined our fingers. “I know you have a million questions, but for now, I want to share something with you. Will you let me give you peace? It won’t hurt, I promise. Trust me?”
“With my life.”
I was admiring his hands when I noticed the tips of his fingers beginning to glow very softly. My breath hitched, and he hushed me.
“Just be still. You’ll like this.”
As I gazed in amazement, the faint light radiated from his fingers to envelope my hand like a glove. I was speechless as it flowed up and across every inch of our bodies, until we were completely cocooned within the soothing heat. I surrendered to the pulsing energy, feeling my muscles relax and go liquid around my bones. They felt hollow and light as if I could float away. My skin was warm and tingling; my senses heightened until I felt my blood surging through my veins and arteries. A sense of power and strength infused me; I felt like I could fly or run for miles. It was intoxicating.
That’s it. Just relax and let it take you. Sean’s voice seemed to purr inside my mind.
I was floating away . . .
Let yourself go. I’ve got you anchored. It’s okay.
I want to fly . . . No, not fly . . . I want to sink deeper into you . . . I want to be surrounded by you inside and out. I want to feel you inside of me.
Oh baby, you’re killing me . . .
And with that thought, Sean leaped off the bed to stand horrified in the middle of the room. The abruptness of our separation left me blinking like an owl.
“No! It’s not possible! No way!” Pacing and shoving his fingers through his hair, he muttered, “This is crazy.”
“
What on earth is the matter with you?” My skin was tingling like when the blood runs back into your foot after it falls asleep. Ouch. I shook out my arms and legs while watching him out of one eye. Clearly there was something wrong. His horrified expression was almost funny.
As though he suddenly remembered I was there, he whipped around, demanding, “Did you hear? Did you feel it? The connection? I didn’t know that could happen. This is not good!”
“All I felt was very turned on. I think we should do that again. Things were just getting interesting.” I gave my best sexy smile and patted the bed.
His expression went from concentration to horror again. “Absolutely not! I don’t know what I was thinking.”
I thrust my lip into a pout, trying to look seductive to distract him, and he fell for it. Sort of. He stopped frowning at me. Of course, that may also have been the moment he realized he wasn’t wearing the sheet . . .
Chapter 11: The Truth is Out There