Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

to open her mind. She knew if she did, pain would crash into her brain and she’d lose the tentative control she had going for her.
    As if sensing her withdrawal from him, Stavros bit down on her so that she arched her body, a smal cry of pain escaping.
    You know I’ll never stop until I find you. Stay strong, baby. For me. For your sisters. For Jonas and Ilya and the entire damn village. Stay alive, Elle.
    She gasped. Jackson. It was Jackson. He was coming for her. She could hold out as long as it took, take whatever punishment Stavros wanted to deliver. Feebly she tried to move away from Stavros. He clamped his hand across her hips, deliberately pressing into the raw wounds, al the while his tongue and teeth ravaging her. Her body spil ed out a helpless response, already trained to obey even when her mind screamed a denial.
    â€œStavros, no. I hurt.†Maybe she could buy a reprieve with pleading.
    â€œYou live only to serve me,†he hissed. “Have I not taught you that?â€
    He bit the inside of her thigh, leaving behind teeth marks and adding bruises to her already striped flesh and El e arched away from him, screaming.
    â€œYour pain pleases me, Sheena. Now I have your ful attention, don’t I?â€
    Elle. Damn it. Where are you? Answer me. Jackson’s voice was pure command, al iron wil —a wil honed and shaped by violence—in the demand. Answer me now.
    El e couldn’t have stopped herself from answering him if she’d wanted to. Jackson was everything to her now. He was hope. She was weak and he was a great distance away and with the energy field, she wasn’t certain she could get through to him. She drew on every ounce of discipline and strength she’d learned over the years and opened her mind to the man who had let her walk away. Jackson.
    Instantly pain crashed through her head, her body convulsed and she screamed out loud. She tasted blood in her mouth. Her brain rejected the abuse, and her body squirmed away from the pain, so that consciousness receded and the world turned hazy.
    I’m here. I’m with you. Tell me where you are, Elle.
    She braced herself, al too aware of what would happen, but determined to reach him anyway. I don’t know. I can’t think straight. My head . . .
    She trailed off, and the connection between them wavered as pain crashed through both of them. She needed to tel him about the energy field, but her head felt as if a thousand needles pierced her skul .
    Don’t! Jackson’s voice was sharp. Stay with me, baby. I need you to look around you. What do you see? Who’s with you?
    Stavros jerked upright, for the first time his face darkened into a mask of fury. “Why are you so stubborn?†He slapped her breast hard and then the other one, rocking her body.
    El e sobbed brokenly, clutching at her head, unable to bear the pain crushing her skul . Stavros sighed, his fake smile ugly. “You have to learn, and I don’t mind these little lessons if you insist on needing them.â€
    She rol ed away from him, staring out the window at the gathering storm. Her heart jumped and, for a moment, the pain in her body receded and time slowed down. Storm clouds roiled above the house and darkened the skies. Thunder rol ed. Lightning flashed, turning the sky into a canvas of turbulence.
    Wind slashed and howled at the glass, spraying seawater over the windows.
    â€œJackson,†she said, not realizing she whispered his name out loud. He was gone again, the bridge between them gone, and being alone was worse than before. She’d never felt so naked and vulnerable, stripped of everything she was—stripped of her courage.
    The wind pul ed back. Silence fil ed the space left behind. El e became aware of a murderous rage pouring into the room. She held her breath as she turned her head slowly toward Stavros. His face had gone dark, brows together, his white teeth bared.
    â€œ Jackson? You dare to cal another man’s name in our bedroom? You filthy slut! After al the care I’ve given you, you dare to betray me like that?â€
    His hand blurred he moved so fast, his fist settling around her long hair. He yanked her off the bed backward and dragged her across the floor to the center of the room.
    â€œStavros, no,†El e pleaded. She couldn’t take another punishment. And he was truly angry, his face a mask of brutality. She knew