Drake Sisters 06 - Turbulent Sea

looked up at him with a mixture of terror and awe.
    'What did you do?'
    He kissed her forehead. 'Lie down and go to sleep now.' She looked so confused, beautiful and a little desperate that he gathered her closer. 'My gifts are a little different from yours and your siblings.'
    She drew in her breath and tried to gather her scattered wits about her. If he could make her body explode just by kissing her palm, what the hell was going to happen to her if he ever decided he was going to make love to her? 'Ilya, don't you think that's a little scary?'
    'Only if you decide to retaliate.'
    'Could I?' She opened her fingers and looked at her palm.
    He caught her hand. 'Don't even think about it, because I swear, if you try anything, I'll strip you down to bare skin and you'll be under me all night. I came here to get you to sleep. Now go to sleep.'
    There was steel in his voice, but she caught the uneasiness in his eyes. He wasn't as nearly in control of the situation as he wanted her to believe and that gave her some satisfaction. She let her breath out and lay down again. 'Soothe me.
    You said you could. And right now, I'm not feeling soothed.' On fire maybe, her body still rippling with aftershocks, and the sexual tension slowly draining away, but she wasn't soothed by a long shot.
    He stroked caresses over her hair. 'Go to sleep, Joley. Just let yourself relax. You should learn meditation.'
    She scowled at him. 'I know how to meditate. I've got things on my mind.'
    Things like a man giving her the orgasm to end all orgasms by teasing her palm. That just wasn't right. And could she really do the same thing back? She'd like to give it a try, but knew there was no handling the consequences. She wasn't sure of him yet - not yet.
    Things like young girls disappearing with members of her band - well, not the band, but her crew. And the poor mother who had been dragged away from the van when was only trying to get answers. She must have been desperate.
    'You're sighing. I'm considering stronger measures than I've already taken.'
    She didn't want to think what those measures might be. In any case his hand continued to brush back her hair, and the feel of it was almost mesmerizing. His voice had dropped another octave and came out a husky whisper, the sound sliding into and through her body like the sound of a beautiful musical instrument. And this time, her body responded by relaxing. She didn't question it, she was too tired.
    'I don't want you to worry about anything right now except going to sleep,' he said.
    'I can't help thinking about that poor woman and how upset she must be, not knowing where her daughter is,' Joley admitted, turning on her side and curling up. She was exhausted, and for the first time in a long while, in spite of his presence - or because of it - tension began to drain from her body. T need to talk to Dean, and then both of us should go to the police and at least tell them what we know. We may have been the last people to see her.'
    'Let me handle this, Joley. I'll question your crew and make a report to the police.'
    'I'm firing him if he dared invite that child to a party. Her poor mother.'
    His hand moved over the back of her head, stroking silky strands. 'I'll find her. You stay out of it. It could be a very dangerous situation. Tell me about the man who was with her. Dean. What's his last name?'
    'Walters. Dean Walters. And he had another member of the crew with him. Funny,' she mused, T used to know them all by name. I even knew their families. The same crew always stayed with us in the early days, but a couple of years ago some just up and quit. Now nothing is the same. Jerry had to tell me his last name was Walters.'
    There was a small silence broken by the sound of cars on the highway. 'What happened a couple of years ago to break up your crew?'
    'I don't know.' She turned slightly to look over her shoulder. 'I don't know. That's a good question. Everyone seemed happy enough, but then there were all the parties and Tish got fed up with Logan and walked out on us. Maybe she was the glue that held us all together. One by one, the old crew, the soundmen and the roadies who always traveled with us just up and quit. They didn't show up for work.' She snuggled back into the coolness of her pillow. 'Since then I don't bother so much with learning who they all are because we have a big turnover.'
    'Is that common?'
    'It wasn't, but it seems to be now. Traveling is always hard on families. I didn't