Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

with satisfaction like he always did.†Both hands fluttered at her throat. Her voice sounded distant, thin, very scared.
    â€œIt was a dream. Just a bad dream, El e. You’re going to have plenty of them.â€
    She moistened her lips. “I don’t think so, Jackson. He knows how to find me. He said he’d kil you in front of me, and that it would take a long time for you to die.â€
    He wrapped both arms around her trembling body. “It was a dream. He thinks you’re Sheena MacKenzie. There’s no way for him to trace you, honey. And I don’t die so easy, remember. Even if he did come after us, he wouldn’t expect me. He has no way of knowing what kind of man I am, but you do.†He nuzzled the top of her head with his chin. “You know what a bastard I am.â€
    A single sob escaped and he felt the shudder that ran through her body. Jackson buried his face against her neck. “You’re safe, El e.
    You’re here with me and you’re safe. Just lie back down and try to sleep.â€
    She shook her head adamantly. “I’m afraid to close my eyes. When I do, he’s there.†Her voice was the sound of despair. “I swear, Jackson, I’m having panic attacks like Hannah has. I’ve never had one in my life, but I can’t breathe and my heart is beating too fast because you went to sleep and I couldn’t feel you in my head anymore.†She wrapped her arm around his waist and pressed her body tightly against his, uncaring of her injuries.
    He tipped her face up, brushing at her tears with his lips, tasting them. He fol owed the trail to the corner of her mouth and stopped when he felt her recoil. “What is it?â€
    â€œI’m embarrassed to tel you.â€
    A ghost of a smile softened the line of his mouth. “I don’t think we have much more to hide from one another. You know more about me than anyone and I think I know more about you.â€
    â€œIt’s stil embarrassing.†El e found some of the tension leaving her body. Something about Jackson made her feel strong when she knew she wasn’t.
    â€œBe brave.â€
    â€œThe minute you went to sleep and left my mind, al these images poured in. Of him. His mouth on mine.†She touched her fingers to her lips. “I didn’t want to remember, to taste him, or feel him on me, so I looked at you, at your face. Your mouth.†Faint color stole into her cheeks. “I imagined what it would be like to kiss you. What you would taste like. What your lips would feel like against mine.†She blinked back tears and rested her forehead against his. “Just like earlier, I couldn’t breathe, Jackson. I felt his hands on my throat squeezing the life out of me and I could hear him whispering that he would kil you in front of me. His voice was so real.†She lifted her head and stared into his eyes, wanting—wil ing—him to believe her.
    Jackson looked down at her for a long time without speaking, his eyes fathomless. His hand came up to the nape of her neck, curled and rested there with a hint of possession. El e’s heart began to pound. He dipped his head down toward hers. Slowly. Giving her time to move. She didn’t, but he felt her body tighten. Tasted fear in her mouth. I can’t.
    â€œThis isn’t about sex, baby,†he whispered, his lips against the corner of her mouth. “This is about you and me. How I feel. How I taste. So you don’t have to imagine—you know. And any time you need to erase his memory, you have another one to put in its place.â€
    His scent was pure masculine. His aura surrounded her, merged with hers. The colors were darker than most people’s, but he didn’t try to hide that from her. His lips, featherlight, touched her skin, brushed against the corner of her eye, feathered down her cheek to her mouth. Each stroke of his lips was light, breath on skin, soft yet firm. She could feel herself, held so tight inside, muscles locked and corded, terror ruling her, melting with each individual kiss. So light as to almost be nonexistent, unhurried, leisurely even, as if they had al the time in the world—as if there were only the two of them and no one else in existence. With each touch of his mouth on her skin, the tension slipped away, kept melting until she felt almost boneless, until she lifted her