Just the thought of it made him hard and ready, but it was an impulse he couldn’t act on. Not only was she in a vulnerable state, but she was actually the source of the power that was active in her house. There was no telling what effect that might have on his own paranormal aspects, or what might happen if their two presences joined or clashed. It could trigger anything from his transition to the complete destruction of the room.
In fact, he wasn’t so sure that her paranormal possession wasn’t the reason that he was so kinetically drawn to her in the first place, which meant that the chemistry between them wasn’t real.
It felt so real. But he couldn’t be sure.
Even still, it was difficult to feel her chest rising and falling against his and not imagine slipping his hand around to cup her full breast in his hand, stroking his fingertips over the sensitive curve. She wouldn’t pull away from him. He was sure of that much. He could see the lust in her eyes when she looked at him and feel the way her breath caught whenever they touched.
Real or a product of their shared paranormal connection, they had a spark that promised to burn hot.
Dhara eased back from him, and Kean cleared his throat, shifting on the bed so that she wouldn’t have to witness his instinctive reaction to her. They definitely didn’t need to add that to the mix, especially with the vulnerable, haunted look on her face.
“How much time do I have?” she whispered, licking her lips again.
Immediately, Kean felt terrible for where his thoughts had gone when clearly she was scared out of her mind. He took her hand again, holding it tightly between his. “Hey, don’t look like that. I don’t know how much time you have before the Jinn finds you again, but I promise you that I’m going to be here and that nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
“You know how to get rid of a Jinn?”
“No,” he said truthfully, wincing slightly. “Not yet. But I will know.” Squeezing her hand again, he made her look at him. “There’s something else.”
She blanched again, and even Kean was afraid of what he was about to tell her. He had wrestled with it for the past two days.
“It’s possible,” he said slowly, “that you will start to develop powers taken from the Jinn. Like the ability to predict the future. To be very strong.” He cleared his throat. “To …read thoughts.”
Her eyes widened. “Me? I will?”
“It’s possible. It doesn’t always happen.” He studied her carefully, her answer incredibly important for his own personal comfort. “Have you gotten any peeks at anyone’s thoughts? Maybe you didn’t realize it at the time?”
She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No …I don’t think so. Not that I remember.”
That was a small relief, but if Kean didn’t help her quickly, there was no telling what powers she might develop, and what those powers would mean about the exposure of his own secret.
“Good. I need you to let me know the moment that you think something like that happens,” he told her. “It’s very important, Dhara.”
She nodded, swallowing hard. “Okay, I promise. But please don’t leave me alone.”
It was a complicated request. Kean understood why she made it. She was possessed by a spirit or power that neither of them understood, and she less than he. He had basically told her that at any moment the Jinn could leave the safe confines of the area it occupied and repossess her, subjecting her to all of the same torments she had endured in her house. It was hardly a prospect that would make her comfortable lying down to sleep by herself.
But there were problems too. At night, he flew with his clan. Sometimes, they played. Sometimes, they patrolled. Sometimes, they had paranormal forces to deal with under the cover of darkness. Regardless, it was important that he transitioned and had the opportunity to fly through the air in his true form. Without that opportunity, he began to get stiff and was eagerly triggered. It would be even harder for him to face down the paranormal presence in Dhara’s house if he wasn’t transitioning regularly.
And if she did gain powers that included mindreading, any accidental glimpse she got of his dreams would be a game changer. His dreams always took place in his dragon form.
“Kean?”
Her voice was so soft, her tone so pleading. Kean stared into her deep-brown eyes, her beautiful face open and vulnerable to him.
“I won’t,” he promised. “I’ll stay right here.”
Chapter Twelve
Dhara
She didn’t want to sleep alone. Not with everything she had just learned.
When Kean agreed to stay with her, the air in the room changed, both of them wondering what happened now that they had decided to spend the night in the same bed. Dhara got up and put the food in the fridge, and Kean stacked the books onto the floor. They took turns in the bathroom, Dhara staring at herself in the mirror as she changed back into her pajamas. Luckily she had packed the silky set that was more appropriate for company, rather than the more tattered cotton set she kept for warmer weather.
She slipped between the sheets first, Kean still in the bathroom, washing up. Dhara turned on her side, facing away from where Kean would step out of the bathroom, her hand pillowed beneath her head as she stared at the opposite wall, holding her breath. The seconds passed infinitely slowly, and a hundred scenarios played through her mind as she waited.
Then she heard the door open, his footsteps padding toward the bed. The mattress shifted as he sat down on it, then the covers moved as he, too, slipped beneath them, tucking himself in.
For a moment, they both lay there, each holding their breath. Then he shifted toward her, his arm sliding around her, and she moved toward him, pressing her back against his chest. It was innocent enough, two people in a difficult situation offering each other comfort as they slept. His face was pressed against her hair, her body tucked against his, and his arm was draped around her, holding her close.
It didn’t have to be anything, but then his hand moved to rest against her waist, his fingers stroking against the flat span of her belly. Fire burned low in her gut, the heat spreading through the rest of her body. Instinctively, she pressed back against him, and his hand moved to her hip, cupping the soft curve, and then, without even realizing it, she was turning toward him.
Their lips met, hers parting beneath his as his palm pressed against her stomach. The intensity that had been between them since the moment they met exploded with the first touch of their lips, and their kisses became passionate, her hand reaching up to tangle in his long, thick hair, and his fingers tracing the hemline of her silken pajama bottoms.
She moaned into his mouth, and his hand slipped below the hemline, stroking over the place where she most wanted his touch. It was fast; it was hot; and it was exactly what she needed. His fingers hit that perfect sweet spot and her body came alive, arching against his as she gripped his hair and pressed him closer to her, kissing him deeper.
Her hips moved against his hand, and he was panting between kisses, his fingers working her eagerly. It was driving her to a high she didn’t know existed, and so fast that she could barely keep up. His mouth found her neck, suckling there, and she reached for his T-shirt, wanting to yank it off to expose the muscled expanse of his chest.
He distracted her though, slipping his fingers inside of her and filling her so completely that she shuddered directly into a climax, her whole body shaking as she moaned again and again.
The pleasure was so incredible that she just closed her eyes, riding wave after wave of the orgasm, shuddering through each one. The high lasted for a long time, and after it had dissipated, it left such a calm over her that for a moment she forgot to open her eyes to see the man who had just taken her to new heights.
When she finally did open her eyes, she realized that he was no longer touching her and that he was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, his face ashen.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered, immediately worried. “What happened?”
He shook his head, and for several seconds, he didn’t speak. When he did, it was with a tight throat and a clipped voice. “Nothing. I’m sorry. You didn’t do anything. It’s my fault.”
“What’s your fault?” she asked, suddenly feeling exposed and afraid, rather than warm and blissful. What she’d just experienced had been amazing—hadn’t it?
The look on Kean’s face as he got out of bed was one of sheer regret, though what he was regretful of, she didn’t know.
“I’m sorry,” he told her, not looking directly in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Dhara. I have to go.”
And then, before she could respond, Kean ran out the door, letting it slam shut behind him, and she was left cold, confused, and very alone in her hotel bed, not sure what hauntings awaited her. Would it be the paranormal kind or just the haunting memory of the look on Kean’s face as he rejected her?
Chapter Thirteen
Kean
The sky was black and the wind was bitingly cold as Kean ran as fast as he could through the streets of downtown Boston. Even in his human form, he was faster than any human could hope to be, easily running a mile in less than two minutes. His speed and the dark cover of night was all that saved him. He just managed to get out of the busiest part of the city, into a parking lot behind a large warehouse, and jumped into the sky as the transition he had been using all of his might to hold back took over, his wings unfurling from his arms and allowing him to propel himself higher and higher, away from questioning eyes.
It was still a dangerous transition, and one that he would have to confess to Ronan and the others. There was no guarantee that no one had seen him, but he hadn’t been able to hold back any longer. The intensity of the moment between Dhara and him had been so overwhelming that, as she had lain in his arms, shuddering, he had felt the tingles along his skin that told him the transition was going to come as intensely and inevitably as she had.
He’d had no choice but to run out of the room, but now, as his wings cut through the night air and his large body soared over the city as though it was weightless, the impact of what had just taken place swept over him. She would hate him, and she had every right to. He had all but made love to the woman who he had promised himself he wouldn’t touch, and it had proven to be too much for him. He had risked everything for a kiss that had spiraled out of his control so quickly that it had taken his breath away.
Now, there was no going back. It would never be the same between them, and the best-case scenario was that she might still agree to let him work her case. The worst-case scenario was that she would suspect the truth—that there was something about him that wasn’t entirely natural.
What if, in their heated intimacy, she had somehow gotten a look into his mind? What if it had triggered a paranormal response in her that tapped into the powers that her Jinn possession gave her?
All for a kiss. A touch. A moment.
The thing that worried Kean most was that, despite everything, he could hardly regret it. The connection between them, for those few moments, had been more than anything he had ever experienced in his life, and he knew that if she was in front of him now and willing, he would be hardpressed not to pull her back into his arms and pick up right where they had left off.
A sweeping motion to his left interrupted his dark, confusing thoughts, and Kean turned his head, catching a glimpse of a golden dragon by his side, her scales so bright that she seemed to have a light of her own. Siobhan.
Kean turned away from her, indicating that he wanted to be alone, but she flew in front of him again, her liquid-brown eyes blinking at him. He glared back at her, his mood foul, but she flicked her tail at him, sending him tumbling through the air so that he had to struggle to stay upright.
He whirled on her again, frustration flowing through his body. She was playing with him, and he wasn’t in the mood. He wanted to sulk so far above the clouds that no one could ever find him. It was impossible, given that his Dragon Clan was tapped into each other, built-in honing devices allowing them to find each other easily. Usually, that was a great benefit, but right now he wished he could turn that built-in device off and just disappear, even from his own thoughts.
Siobhan knocked into him again, taunting him as she darted ahead and then flipped around, trying to get him to chase her. She had endless energy, and she loved stretching her wings at night, spending most of the hours she was supposed to be sleeping darting in and out of starlight and dancing with the birds.
She beckoned to him with one wing, looking over her shoulder at him, and Kean sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to leave him alone. Because of their innate connection, she would be able to read his mood, and that would make her that much more determined to get him to join in with her, thinking she could shake him out of his funk.
She wouldn’t succeed, but Kean could at least have the satisfaction of wearing her out.
Opening his mouth, he let out a rumbling sound from his throat, a clear challenge to his fellow clan member. She responded in kind, and then they both took off into the night, their wings beating with incredible power as they tried to outmatch each other. Neither of them knew their destination. They were simply trying to outpace each other, taking turns stretching a nose ahead, then falling behind again. Kean and Siobhan were close in age and therefore similarly matched in power, making them the perfect competitors for each other. He knew he could push with all of his might and she would be able to keep up with him—he just had to make sure he didn’t accidentally let her outpace him.
Below them, the ocean stretched out, a vast black expanse of water that had brought both death and achievement to many over the course of time. As they put more mileage between them and the mainland, the ocean grew more dangerous, even for them. Though under most circumstances, a dragon could combat the force of the undertow and currents, the deeper and colder the water got, the more it was a match for their incredible power.
It was that fact that compelled Kean to do what he did. Clipping his wing against Siobhan’s to get her attention, he pulled out of his full-steam-ahead pace and dove, nose-first, down toward the Atlantic waters. He wanted to feel the rush of cold wash over him and to feel a power that matched his own surrounding him. Once he broke the surface, he propelled himself deeper and deeper, passing through schools of fish, passing whales, ignoring sharks, and diving lower and lower until he was past most lifeforms, immersed in the deepest, coldest, least explored part of the entire world.
Only once he hung there, suspended in the coldest darkness that he had ever experienced, did he feel his body begin to calm, the angst, frustration, regret, and anger somehow seeping from him. His pulse rate began to slow, his mind began to clear, and he was left with only one thing that he knew above all else—he had to find some way to convince Dhara to forgive him, even if it meant breaking every rule in the book and telling her about who he really was.
It was a shocking realization, one that hit him harder than any blow ever had. For a moment, he couldn’t believe the thought had even occurred to him, and he wondered if the immense pressure of the underwater world was somehow affecting his ability to reason. But as he let himself begin to slowly drift upward, his wings gently lifting him closer to the surface, the thought didn’t dissipate.
He wanted to share who he was with Dhara, an impulse that he had never had before. There was something about her that touched him deep inside where nothing had ever before penetrated. He barely knew her at all, and their conversations had largely centered around the spirits that had overtaken her life. He didn’t know her favorite book or her worst fear or her fondest childhood memory or any of the other things that he might think he’d like to know about someone before considering bringing them into his sacred, private world.
But he didn’t necessarily need to know those things. Not with the impact that she had on him.
The thought of telling Dhara buoyed him up like nothing else, and he pushed his way to the surface, lifting himself back into the air and open
ing his mouth to release a cloud of fire. It was a burst of triumph as much as a way to let Siobhan find him again, and the latter worked faster than he thought.
He felt the clap of a strong wing against the back of his head, and he whirled around, at first certain that he was under attack. But it was only Siobhan there, hovering behind him, her eyes flashing with anger that he didn’t understand. She couldn’t actually read his thoughts, even if she could determine his mood, so she couldn’t possibly know that he was entertaining the idea of wrecking their entire existence because of a woman he couldn’t get out of his head.
Kean questioned her with his eyes, but hers only narrowed. She jerked her head at him, back in the general direction of the mainland, and then began to fly away. He followed her, their pace far more reasonable this time, and though he tried to get her attention, she refused to look over at him or even acknowledge his presence.
He had made two women angry with him that night, and one he understood. The other completely mystified him.
Chapter Fourteen
Dhara
It was hardly unusual for Dhara and her research team to be in the office all day on a Saturday, and this week was no exception, despite all that was going on in Dhara’s life. Shewasn’t sure how she had gotten through her workday,given what had happened the night before, but somehow it was the end of the day and none of her colleagues were looking at her like she was crazy. Perhaps in addition to believing in paranormal activity, she now had to believe in miracles too.
“Have a good night,” Bellamina said, walking past Dhara’s office on her way out, offering a slight smile.
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