Drake Sisters 06 - Turbulent Sea

life. He was dominating, and there would be no denying that; she'd touched his mind. He would want to rule every aspect of her life, and Joley guarded her independence fiercely.
    'You have to trust me with you, Joley. You don't trust anyone, you never have.'
    'That's not true. I trust my family.'
    He shook his head. 'You don't trust them to see inside you and love you anyway. You guard yourself from them because you don't think they would understand your needs or what drives you.'
    Horror blossomed, and she pressed her hand to her suddenly churning stomach. He had been in her mind. She hadn't kept him out the way she thought she had, and Ilya was a ruthless man. He would be relentless in his pursuit of her, and now, having been in her mind, discovering her darkest secrets, he would use them against her. He had psychic gifts, and she could never forget, not for one moment, that he could use them against her.
    She nearly groaned aloud. She could see his melody. She could see his aura. Could he see hers? The darkness in her?
    Not just shadows, but actual darkness?
    'Joley.' He said her name in a low caress. 'There's no reason to be so afraid of me. I really did come here to help you get some sleep.'

    'How?' Because she couldn't imagine closing her eyes when he was in her bus. It was intimate - and it would make her far too vulnerable.
    'There's always hypnotism.'
    She knew that utter distaste showed on her face. He laughed, and immediately her complete attention was riveted on him. The sound was husky, sexy, so low and brief it was more of an impression than reality, but all the more captivating because of that. He turned her inside out, and if he kept it up, she would melt into a puddle at his feet.
    'Somehow I was fairly certain you wouldn't like that idea. We'll go back to the very simple way. You're going to lie down and close your eyes and I'm going to guard you, watch over you so you can rest.'
    'I'm afraid of you. And I don't trust anyone enough to sleep in front of them.'
    'I'm giving you my word nothing will happen, and my word is gold all over the world.'
    Joley took a breath. She was tired, but she couldn't imagine really falling asleep with Ilya in the close confines of her bus. 'I don't know…'
    He tapped the table beside him. 'Just try for me, Joley. I'm not asking you to give yourself to me.'
    'In a way you are. You're asking me to trust you.'
    'Just to keep you safe. It is my job after all.'
    Chapter Five
    Ilya stood up, his gaze dropping to the small end table as he pushed himself up. He picked up the photograph. 'Who is this?'
    Joley braced herself against the sway of the bus as she stood up to view the photograph. Lights from oncoming cars flashed through the interior and illuminated Ilya's profile. His face could have been carved in stone. She tried not to fixate on his all too mesmerizing mouth by examining his eyes. He had long lashes. She'd never noticed that before, when she thought she'd noticed everything about him. She took the photo from his hand and studied the young face as if that could give her a clue to the girl's whereabouts.
    'She's missing. She went missing at the New York conceit. Not the concert, but the party - Nikitin's party. I saw her there.'
    Ilya shifted, drawing her immediate attention. It wasn't a movement so much as the rippling of his muscles, the sudden focus of a predatory animal watching her with cunning intelligence. His expression didn't change, he looked exactly the same, but he was entirely different. Joley had wanted color in his aura, but not like this. Never like this.
    Blood-red poured into the edges of the black, mixed and swirled, darkening the shadows and turning the color to violent death.
    The musical notes representing him clashed and burned with passion and darkness, feeding on violence and swirling with the need to destroy. She wanted to press her fingertips to her eyes, to keep the images from her mind, but there was no escaping the sound and sight.
    Breath strangled in her throat, and her heart slammed hard in her chest. Knots formed in her churning stomach. She was looking at the grim reaper. She'd had a brush or two with the death collector, but at that moment, watching the way the colors around him changed, she recognized with a sinking heart what she was seeing.
    Ilya could smell her fear. Hell, he could see it on her face. She took two steps away from him, never taking her eyes off of him. Foolish Joley, thinking those meager steps would make