Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

seemed too vulnerable, too fragile, and El e would hate that. He looked at them, his eyes burning, fierce, but he couldn’t help it. He knew he looked intimidating, but this was El e— his El e—and he wanted only to protect her.
    Sarah hung her head. “I’m sorry, Jackson. I should have known you were helping her. She wanted you, trusted you, not us.â€
    Her voice was so sad, his heart ached. El e remained in a fetal bal , curled into him, stil weeping, but silent now, trying to come to terms with that fact that Gratsos had managed to attack her from across an ocean.
    â€œYou’re wrong, Sarah,†Jackson said. “El e trusts you with her life, with her soul. She was protecting you from him. She’s been protecting you al along.â€
    â€œHe can’t hurt us.†Sarah bit her lip, stopping the rest of her sentence. Jackson was glaring at her, knowing she’d been about to blurt out that they were too strong for Gratsos, yet El e had been the strongest among them and she’d been captured and tortured repeatedly.
    It was El e who answered, lifting her head, her chin up, eyes a bit defiant. “He can, Sarah. He can hurt al of you. You can’t conceive of his kind of money or power. No one ever tel s him no. He wants something and he gets it. The police are his, the politicians are his, and now we know he has psychic abilities. He isn’t afraid to hurt anyone and he’s going to keep coming after me. It’s bad enough that I’m risking Jackson, I’m not about to risk any of you.â€
    â€œHe got in our home,†Jackson said. “If we were at your house, would you be protected?â€
    El e shrugged. “I can’t go there until my brain heals.â€
    Sarah frowned. “Why, El e? I don’t understand. The house can protect you much better than this place. You know that. And why won’t you let Libby—â€
    â€œNot Libby,†Jackson interrupted. “Libby can heal brain injuries and she can heal the body, but Kate heals the psychic burnout, don’t you, Kate?â€
    â€œDon’t answer that, Kate,†El e defended fiercely. “It’s a moot point anyway as no one is going near my mind. It’s too dangerous and you al just witnessed why.â€

    11
    KATE looked down at her hands when al eyes turned to her. To Jackson, Kate Drake had a certain regal quality. She was the quietest of the Drake sisters, a little shy and rarely brought attention to herself. She loved her books and curling up in her home on a stormy day with her family the most. That and Matt Granite, the rough, tough ex-Army Ranger who just happened to be her fiancé.
    â€œYou and Jackson are strong enough to shield me from anything you’re afraid of, El e,†she said, her voice soothing and confident. She walked to the window and looked out over the sea. Far away she could see tendrils of dark heavy fog receding. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do, but, honey, it’s very obvious to me that when Jackson lets go of your mind, this man, this enemy, has found a way in.â€
    El e frowned and rubbed at her bruised throat. “But how? I don’t understand how he can take me over like that.†Like he was possessing her somehow, crawling inside her mind and raping her al over again. She could feel the touch of his hands, the way he chose to hurt her, the way he taunted that he could bring her pleasure. She hadn’t wanted Jackson to hear that, to know or feel it, yet he had.
    She looked at Jackson with despair in her eyes, feeling it with terrible dread in her heart. “I’m so sorry,†she murmured.
    â€œDo you real y fucking think I would ever blame you for the things he did to you?†Jackson spat out, shaking with rage before he could contain it.
    He made a visible effort to gain control, letting out his breath and burying his face in her neck for a long moment. “Stavros Gratsos has nothing to do with what is between you and me and he never wil have. He doesn’t know what love is, or pleasure or giving and sharing one’s body. He wants to possess you and control you, force you to be whatever he chooses for you.†He might have forced your body to react to him, Elle, but he never had you. He’ll never have the real you. “You’re my heart and my soul, baby, and whatever