Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

completely to me, El e. He can’t hurt me. I’m stronger than he is. Together we’re far stronger. Give me your heart and mind and give me your body.â€
    Now the room around him was so silent he could hear breathing, was able to distinguish each sister, the dog, Ilya, especial y El e’s terrified rhythm.
    He forced his own air to be slow and steady, his heart and hers, his lungs and hers. One and the same. “Come with me, baby. Give yourself to me.â€
    He bent down toward her face with infinite patience, infinite slowness. Time seemed to stand stil . His vision tunneled. His hearing faded to center only on El e. For him, there was no one else in the room. It was only the two of them. El e and Jackson. “Your body, El e, trust me. Give yourself to me, baby.â€

She took a breath, let it out, and visibly made the effort to relax beneath him. She stopped her frantic struggling, her gaze locked with his. He could see fear, but there was trust. Her muscles relaxed. Whatever Stavros was doing to her, she simply accepted it. She al owed her heart to beat slower, to match the steady rhythm. She forced her lungs to fol ow the pattern of his. Her gaze never wavered from his and her body became his—melting into his strong frame, soft and pliant while he stretched out over the top of her, his weight settling, his heavier muscles blanketing her.
    â€œThat’s my girl. Now your mind. One mind, baby, that’s what we are, what we need to be. Open up your mind and let me in.â€
    The room around him was absolutely quiet, stil , as if everyone held his or her breath and waited. Jackson didn’t look away from El e. It was only them. The two of them and no one else in the world. He waited for her to let go of her fear and turn herself over to him. It was a huge step for her. Fighting, she at least felt as if she had a semblance of control. She swal owed hard, blinked several times and then her barriers came tumbling down, as if she removed them fast so she wouldn’t lose her nerve.
    He flowed into her mind, fil ing every space, wrapping himself in her tightly, claiming her, pouring strength and resolve and building her resistance to Gratsos. Jackson caught her head in his palms, framing the little heart-shaped pixie face with his large hands and he lowered her head to his.
    Her breath caught in her throat. Her lips parted. She watched him come to her. Jackson. Her other half. Her strength. Her one and only love. He fil ed her mind, fil ed her heart and soul. Flooded her body with need and heat. There was no room for anything or anyone else in her mind or heart. In her body or soul. There was only Jackson. He came to her with exquisite gentleness, with disarming tenderness.
    His lips touched her, firm and cool, velvet soft, heating fast. His tongue stroked along the seam of her lips, teased and seduced, drove out every depraved brutal act Stavros had committed and replaced it with something altogether different. She burned inside. In her mind. In her heart, deep in her body where she craved only Jackson. She opened her mouth and drew him in.
    Jackson, for the first time, felt the other man. Oily. Evil. A thick ooze of a human being rotted from the inside out. The handsome shel covered a poor excuse of humanity, with a sense of entitlement Jackson had never encountered before.
    Try me, you son of a bitch.
    He issued the chal enge, knowing Gratsos was already retreating, fleeing El e’s mind, leaving her shaking, nearly convulsing on the floor, sobbing with relief and clinging to Jackson. She slid her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his throat, weeping uncontrol ably, unrestrained, something none of her sisters had ever seen her do before.
    â€œIt’s al right, baby,†he said gently. “He’s gone now. He ran like the coward he is.†He slid from her body and onto the floor at her side, although she continued to cling to him. He put his arm under her knees and lifted her, carrying her to the high-backed recliner on the far side of the room. “You’re stronger than he is, El e, you’re just burned out right now. Once you’re at ful strength, I’m tel ing you, he won’t be able to get inside you.â€
    She held him tighter, her fingers digging into his muscles, trying to burrow under his skin and lose herself there. Jackson hated that they had an audience, even if it was her family. She