Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

his groin, now ful and heavy and pulsing with need. He cleared his throat. “What is it, baby?†He tried to sound normal, but his voice came out gravel y.
    â€œI heard his voice, Jackson. I need you to believe me. Yes, I panicked when you pul ed out of my head so fast and I could feel you being swept out to sea. My throat closed and I could feel his fingers tightening around my neck, closing off my windpipe, but I know it wasn’t just a panic attack. Maybe he programmed me, I honestly can’t tel you, but I heard his voice, very distinctly. He told me he would keep kil ing everyone I loved until I came back to him.†She looked up at him, her green gaze begging him to believe her. “I’m not crazy.â€
    His large hands framed her face and he looked straight into her eyes. “I don’t think for one moment that you are, El e.†His tone was one of absolute decisiveness. “He can’t have you.†It was a decree—a promise—his word. His head lowered toward hers.
    Again he took his time giving her every chance to pul away, but she didn’t, watching him come closer and closer until she could see his long lashes, the straight nose and wickedly sexy lips, parting just enough to catch a glimpse of strong teeth. She took a breath and closed her eyes just as his lips touched hers, brushed back and forth in a soft, coaxing manner. She went stil inside. A thousand butterflies took flight in her stomach. Her toes curled. The sensation of his lips against hers set off an electrical current that started with a smal sizzle and built like a firebal rushing through her veins.
    His hands held her face and she pressed her body close, skin to skin, melting into him, crawling inside his head, closer than two people could ever be.
    His mouth moved and hers answered. Deep inside, where her soul resided, she felt him there, holding her, sheltering her. She lifted her head. “He knows I love you.†She touched his face, her fingers trembling. “He knows, Jackson. He can’t get in when I’m fil ed with you and it’s making him angrier. He’s never denied himself anything and he believes he owns me.â€
    â€œWel he’s wrong, El e. No one owns you.â€
    Jackson bent his head and his mouth touched a long slash that curled over her breast. Her breath slammed out of her lungs and she went utterly stil .
    She felt the gentle brush of his lips, featherlight across the torn flesh. He fol owed the line of whip marks with his kisses, so soft they were barely there, yet each set off a seismic reaction inside of her. Her body, so numb inside, nearly dead, no longer feminine or hot or needy, felt each of those kisses in her deepest core.
    She closed her eyes tightly and held on to him as he kissed every wound, even dropping to his knees to plant kisses along the stripes inside her thighs and over her abdomen, deeper even where two or three times the whip had slashed through her most private, most sensitive spot. Again, she didn’t feel as if his actions were in any way sexual, yet he was waking her body with love.
    The intensity of his feelings shook her. How could she not have known how he felt about her? She kept her hands on his shoulders to steady her, fingers digging tightly into his muscle for an anchor. She hadn’t expected the pooling of heat, or the wild beating of her heart. She hadn’t expected the sizzle and burn of joy rushing through her veins, heating her body and making her breasts ache and her groin weep. She didn’t even know if she wanted to be alive.
    Jackson stood up and brought both of her hands to his mouth, kissing her knuckles before reaching for a towel and wrapping her in it. He took his time with her hair, tow eling the moisture from the long strands.
    â€œGet dressed, El e. Something that wil cover most of the lash marks so you’l be more comfortable. I’l dress and find a good brush to start on your hair while you visit with your sisters. And don’t worry, I think we’re growing together in strength and no one wil be able to penetrate the shields in your mind.â€
    She stood there a moment, just looking at him. Jackson Deveau. The badass from the bayou everyone was so afraid of. Her Jackson. The man who was slowly, careful y, bringing her back to life.
    Jackson smiled at her and caught her chin, kissing her again, making her stomach do a funny