Thunder Rolling

by Ripley Proserpina

  I could almost see her face in front of mine. Her wide, earnest eyes and freckled cheeks. I’m going to find them. And I’m going to fix this. Stay alive, guys.

  A sound came out of me. Something between a moan and a gasp. I was dead, so why did this hurt so much?

  Stay alive.

  Even though she couldn’t hear me, I answered her as though she had. I’ll try, Whit.

  Her voice was a whisper on the wind, disappearing instantaneously only to be replaced with her brother’s. But he wasn’t talking to me. Somehow, I was picking up on his thoughts. They were directed toward… Brandon?

  44

  Brandon

  Dexter and I, when we were alive, had more in common than most people realized. We both loved Whitney, and we both hated his father.

  More than that though, we were both striving to be better than we were.

  And then he’d died, and I had died, and that was it.

  I didn’t know why, maybe it was because of where we’d come from and the time we’d spent together, even if it had been so many years ago, but he and I had a connection. And now I received more than his commands. I heard everything he thought. I was his personal receiver.

  His armchair psychologist.

  That gave me too much credit, too much action.

  I was a bucket that caught all of Dexter’s runoff. That was a better analogy. He filled me up with all his hate and self-doubt. Everything from—why am I stuck with the old man? To—why can’t I get a hard-on?

  Every last detail trickled down to me. I tried to keep my mind blank. He was already controlling me, I didn’t want him to hear my thoughts and know how much I missed Whitney.

  Had it been days since we together? Weeks?

  I’d walked through nights and days, and not once had I seen one of my friends.

  …Something special. Something special for you, Brandon.

  45

  Whitney

  The cabin was cold, and not because the flame Brandon had set up for the boiler had gone out. It was the absence of my guys that made it freezing inside. I turned to Carson. He still held out. Would that change? If he closed his eyes to sleep would they open and see nothing.

  I had to do something to protect him. Oh, how I loved him. I wouldn’t lose Carson.

  “Carson?” I called his attention, and he stopped on his way to the basement. He must have been going to light that burner.

  “Whit?” He answered me. “You okay? Stupid question. You getting by?”

  I put out my hand. “I want us to reconnect. You and me. The circuit of two. For now. So that Dex can’t take you”

  He linked our fingers. “Do you think you can do that without harming yourself?”

  “Right now the only harm that can come to me would be losing you. The rest of it? I’ll be fine. Nothing is taking me down anymore. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.”

  And I would save them all.

  He closed his eyes. “We did this asleep last time, and we don’t have lightning. We can’t do this without Isaiah. But I’m not going anywhere. I don’t need the circuit to link me to you, Whit. I don’t need anything but this right here.”

  He was such a sweet man. Tears flooded my eyes. “Carson, if you go to sleep and wake up one of Dex’s, I’m coming for you. Do you understand? I’ll come for you. I promise.”

  He kissed me hard. It wasn’t an easy, gentle kiss. It was an oath. He wasn’t going anywhere. I wished I could hold him to it, but I wouldn’t ask someone to make promises that couldn’t be kept.

  I only wanted what he could give me. Right then, I was taking it all.

  I let the tears I held back flow down my face. We would have no lies between us, no pretense of being fine when both of us were not fine.

  “Whit?” His question really couldn’t be answered.

  “I need you.” I kissed him, lightly. He could pull away. “I’m a mess, and I need you.”

  He smoothed my bangs off my forehead. “You’re mine. And you’re perfect.”

  I was so far from that, but hell if I was going to argue with him about that right now.

  He picked me up. “I’m going to make you warm, Whit. And then I’m going to put the burner back on.”

  I smiled. He’d made a pretty good joke. This was Carson, it wasn’t his usual thing to do. He was trying for me. “You make me believe.”

  “You’re how I hold onto my faith.” He set me down and took my hand, giving me a slight tug toward the other end of the house.

  We went upstairs. The place needed a good cleaning, but right then it was as wonderful and perfect as anywhere I’d been. This was our home. I would bring the guys back to it.

  I kissed him again, and he moaned.

  He held me, his arms strong around my back as he led us to the bed. I let myself revel in him. I didn’t know how long I’d have him, but I knew he was fighting to stay with me, so I would just… be.

  Carson suddenly lifted me, spinning us so he sat on the bed and I sat on his lap. I loved how strong he was, but how he hid it. I knew, though. I knew he was as strong physically as he was emotionally. Mentally.

  I had in my arms one tough man.

  His tongue swirled against mine, dipping and circling before tracing my lips. Out of breath, I pulled away and cupped his face with my hands.

  His cheeks were flushed and his eyes a little wild. Beneath me, he was hard, and I rocked against him a little.

  “Whit…”

  I pushed my hand between us, past the waist of his jeans and boxers to grip him. He was hot and hard.

  Carson shut his eyes, leaning his forehead against mine and dragging in rapid breaths as I stroked him. “Whit.”

  I kissed him, matching the strokes of my hand with that of my tongue. His hips followed my hand, chasing me as I stroked him from root to tip.

  I needed to taste him, I wanted him on my tongue, between my lips, and so I slid to my knees.

  Glancing up at Carson as I yanked at his jeans, I met his hectic gaze. His eyes glittered, and his cheeks were stained pink. Shoulders heaving, he looked like he’d run a race. “Whit. You don’t have to.”

  I didn’t. But I wanted to. As soon as I released him from the confines of his boxers, I took him in my mouth. And made up what I didn’t have in skill with enthusiasm.

  I sucked him noisily, pushing him back as far as I could into my throat and then licking the heavy vein on the underside of his dick.

  Hollowing out my cheeks, I sucked as I moved up to his tip and then swirled my tongue around his smooth mushroomed head. God, he tasted delicious. Carson shifted, sliding to the floor while holding my head in place. Then he slid his hand between my legs.

  He played with my folds, dipping inside me before circling his fingers around my clit. Soon, I was chasing his fingers the same way his hips had chased my lips earlier.

  Liquid heat pooled between my legs and ran down my thighs and Carson groaned. “Whit. I’m close.”

  In a flash, he pulled away from me, stripped my pants off and shoved inside me. It was without finesse, but it felt so fucking good.

  He rutted like an animal. Desperate. Like he wanted to mark me.

  I held him as tight as I could. I locked my legs around his back, my heels digging into his ass as he thrust inside me over and over. With each rock into me, his pelvis ground against my mound, and soon I felt a familiar tingle.

  I was going to come. Carson jerked in and out of me, the muscles in his neck straining. If I remembered correctly, from the little I’d gleaned from the guys, Carson had little experience doing this. That was okay. I could feel his love for me in every pore of his body.

  And it was hot as hell.

  It was that thought that spurred me forward, that thought that brought me to the edge. I came around his cock, exploding around him. I dug my fingers into his back. We weren’t linked. I couldn’t fix the damage I did.

  He jerked, following me into the oblivion that was the knowledge the two of us still had
each other, even with the rest of the universe destroyed.

  Pleasure wrapped around me and with it came the tears I hadn’t wanted to shed. They traveled down my face. He kissed them away but didn’t tell me to stop. If ever there was a person who would understand it was Carson. He didn’t turn from dark things. He looked them straight in the eye and somehow he still believed.

  I lay across his chest, my head on him. His heart didn’t beat. Did he know? “Carson?”

  “It’ll come back.” So he had followed my train of thought.

  I squeezed him tighter. “I’m afraid to let you fall asleep. I’m afraid you’ll wake up Controlled.”

  He kissed my head. “The good news is that I have no need to sleep now. Uncontrolled who are unconnected don’t need to sleep.”

  That didn’t make me feel better. “Now I’m not sure I can sleep.”

  “You can. I promise I’m not leaving you. I can’t even hear them anymore. Sleep. I’m going to keep you safe. And tomorrow we’re going to figure out how to bring them back. I’m working on it right now.”

  Carson was so focused, so completely lasered in on whatever I needed him to do. I closed my eyes. “Got any ideas yet?”

  “No. But I’ll let you know if I come up with anything. I will. I’m really smart, Whit.”

  I lifted my lids. “I’m so glad you’re here with me Carson. I want you to know that. You were there right in the beginning with Brandon. You were always there. Always in my heart.”

  46

  Whitney

  I knew he was gone before I opened my eyes. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep; I could have kicked myself. Awareness returned to me, and I just knew, Carson is gone.

  There was nothing worse than hope. My hand drifted over the sheets, toward the pillow, but no one was there.

  I took in a breath, gave myself a three count, and opened them.

  The sun was shining through the windows. It had gotten dusty again since the last time I’d been here. I remembered the very first night I spent here, how Brandon had fallen onto the bed and the dust had exploded into the air. When the light had hit them, they’d looked like fireworks.

  “Carson?”

  No answer.

  I sat up, glancing around the room, but it was empty. His shirt was in a ball on the floor, and I picked it up to bring to my nose. His jeans were gone, and I had the tiny, tiniest little bubble of happiness spring up inside me. Imagine he’s downstairs. He’s found breakfast. He’s waiting for you…

  “Carson!” I grabbed my clothes, pulling on my jeans. His t-shirt smelled like him, and I wanted his scent all over me. I didn’t bother with my bra and just threw his t-shirt over my head. “Carson are you here?”

  I jogged toward the stairs, checking the rooms along the way before thudding down. The sound echoed dully off the plaster walls. “Carson!”

  There was a feeling to the house, an emptiness that went beyond just a lack of people.

  The kitchen was empty.

  The living room was empty.

  A quick glimpse out the door revealed the front porch, front drive. No one.

  Nothing.

  I hurried down the back hall, through what my grandmother would have called, the parlor, still thinking, stupidly, that he might be here.

  The back door was open, and a warm summer breeze caressed my face. Carson never would have left the door open. He never would have left me alone.

  All that hope I had: that maybe he was in the kitchen, in the living room, the parlor, the front yard, the backyard—

  A sound left my throat, and with it, all the hope I had. In that second, the second where I realized I’d lost everything, I made the only sound I’d make for the next two weeks.

  Because after that sound, there’d be no reason to speak. There was no one to speak to. It was just me.

  Alone.

  But damn it, I would get them back. All of them.

  Afterword

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed the book, we would be so grateful if you would leave us a review. Reviews help readers find books and are so important for indie authors. Please don’t worry, Whitney and the guys’ story will wrap up in the third book in this trilogy The Deluge, coming soon.

  In the meantime, please consider checking out one of our other books!

  Ripley: Forge and Fire: https://amzn.to/2RDKJIh

  Rebecca: Hard Truths: https://amzn.to/2C4QHHZ

  Hugs, Rebecca and Ripley.

  About Ripley Proserpian

  Ripley Proserpina spends her days huddled near a fire in the frozen northern wilds of Vermont. She lives with her family, three magnificent cats, and a dog she doesn’t deserve.

  About Rebecca Royce

  As a teenager, I would hide in my room to read my favorite romance novels when I was supposed to be doing my homework.

  I am the mother of three adorable boys and I am fortunate to be married to my best friend. I live in Austin Texas where I am determined to eat all the barbecue in town.

  I am in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal and try to use all of these elements in my writing. I've been told I'm a little bloodthirsty so I hope that when you read my work you'll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. I love to write series because I love to see characters develop over time and it always makes me happy to see my favorite characters make guest appearances in other books.

  In my world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.

  I'd love to hear from you! Please visit my website at www.rebeccaroyce.com to sign up for my newsletter and learn about my books!

  Here’s where you can find me online:

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  Cheers!!

  Rebecca

  Also by Ripley Proserpina

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  Books by Ripley:

  Midnight’s Crown:

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  The Searchers Series:

  Finding Honor

  Finding Nora

  Finding Valor

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  Forge and Fire

  Iron and Ashes (coming soon)

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  Matched with a Demon

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  Revolution and Rising: Coming Soon!

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  Standalones:

  The Ice Bride

  Missing Linc

  While Beauty Sleeps

  Co-Written with Rebecca Royce:

  Lightning Strikes:

  Thunder Rolls

  The Deluge (coming soon)

  Also by Rebecca Royce

  Wings of Artemis

  Kidnapped By Her Husbands https://amzn.to/2BQdUxy

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  Lost Star (coming soon)

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  Tradition Be Damned

  Past Be Damned

  Destiny Be Damned

  Compassion Be Damned

  Future Be Damned

  Dragon Wars (completed series)

  Forever

  Eternal

  Always

  Evermore

  Endless

  Wards and Wands

  Hexed and Vexed

  Curse Reversed

  Meow, Baby (novella, Coming Soon in Petting Them antho written with Ripley Proserpina)

  Tragic Magic (Coming Soon)

  Safe Haven

  Everywhere and Nowhere

  Dimension X (coming soon)

  More coming soon….

  Soul Bound

  Prisoner of the Dragons

  More coming soon….

  Shadow Promised

  Strange Days

  Weird Nights

  Bizarre Years

  More coming soon…

  The Warrior (completed series)

  Initiation

  Driven

  Subversive

  Redemption

  Justice

  Warrior World (spin off of The Warrior, completed series)

  Deacon

  Micah

  Jason

  The Westervelt Wolves (completed series)

  Her Wolf

  Summer’s Wolf