Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

to him right there at the bottom of the steps of her home. She was a spirit element. The truth was there all along—he’d even suspected it, and right now they were in terrible trouble because her spirit enflamed his beyond all measure. Her desire and his together burned hot and wild, a firestorm out of control. Her element amplified every psychic gift he had and added to the heat and need rushing through him like a fireball.
    He forced himself to pull back, not wanting to blow his chance with her—if he hadn’t already. If he had this woman—and what the hell was he thinking—it would be forever. Everything with her was a first. That first kiss, first touch, first attempt at finding a discipline that wasn’t ingrained or trained into him.
    He rested his forehead against hers, drawing in a lungful of air. “I could spend a lifetime doing that with you.” He rubbed the nape of her neck with strong fingers. “Are you okay?”
    Her gaze clung to his—filled with desire, filled with sorrow. She touched her lips, swollen from his kisses, with trembling fingers. “I didn’t know I could feel like that.”
    “Neither did I,” he answered honestly. He drew another deep breath. “You’re a spirit element, aren’t you?”
    Her gaze searched his. “You know about spirit elements?”
    He nodded slowly, throwing caution to the wind. Maybe Thomas would know, maybe he wouldn’t, but today was Stefan’s day and Thomas could, quite frankly, go to hell.
    “Then you see why this can never happen.”
    Everything he was, every merciless cell in his body rejected her assessment. There was no going back, both of them had crossed the line starting with that first brush of his mouth over hers. She had to know it, she just wasn’t accepting it. His life was changed forever. He was a marked man, would be hunted the rest of his life, yet he would not turn his back on this. He didn’t know how he would manage to keep them both alive on the run, but he wasn’t going to leave her behind. Not now. Not after having a taste of humanity, of civilization, of finally realizing just how powerful human touch was.
    He knew terror when he saw it. Over so many years in his job he’d come to know fear intimately. He could smell fear. See it. Almost taste it. He’d seen that look in the eyes of his prey, and he detested seeing such stark fear in her.
    “I don’t see at all, Judith.”
    He bent his head to the temptation of her trembling lips, needing to stop her fear any way that he could. She didn’t resist or step back. If anything, she stepped closer, opening her mouth to his, her arms sliding around his neck, holding him close. There was nothing gentle about his kiss. He demanded her response, needed to know she was feeling the same heat, the same terrible hunger that refused to be sated by one or two or even a thousand kisses.
    The way her hair fell over his arm, her body moving restlessly against his, the feel of her lips, and the hot, sweet taste of her made him a believer. She felt perfect just where she was. She might deny there could be a future, and if he had a brain in his head, he’d believe her, but she’d changed everything and she’d have to face the consequences, just as he did.
    Again, it was Stefan who lifted his head and breathed deeply to get control back. And that told him something else about Judith. Her spirit had already woven itself through his, and once let loose, it soared with the freedom, unwilling to be kept locked down so tight, under complete restricted control.
    Intense training had ingrained in Stefan to use any tool to accomplish his mission. His mission had just become keeping this woman for himself and to make certain both of them stayed alive. If he was being truthful with himself, it was all about taking that look out of her eyes and replacing the fear and sadness with happiness—with him. The dawning knowledge that everything had shifted had him quickly reformulating plans. The emotions of a spirit element could be complex and difficult to control.
    Stefan held her close against him, knowing she was confused by her own behavior. Her spirit element drove her, just as his gifts reached so quickly and confidently for her. He was at complete ease with every psychic talent he possessed, but Judith still fought hers, kept it under such tight control, that she was making herself sick. He was going to change all that. He just wasn’t certain how he was going to do it yet.
    His mouth brushed