Page 4 of Take

He watched me with such intensity I was unsure of what he was doing. And that I didn’t like. He was a Scar and I didn’t know what type and some Reflectors were really good at breaking through shields. There was slight heaviness in my head and it was him attempting to read my thoughts, but I knew from the pressure he wasn’t strong enough. Fortunately, it was one advantage I’d gained from my captivity, a concrete wall around my thoughts. It took several years before I managed it, and even Xamien, who was almost as powerful as the North American Taldeburu, Waleron, was incapable of reading my mind.

“A Scar with unreadable thoughts.” His brows rose and the corners of his lips curved up. “But . . .” His thumb caressed my chin. “There’s something more to you than that.”

I stiffened, eyes widening then I yanked my head to the side, dislodging his hand. How did he read that? Oh, God, he couldn’t know just from touching me could he?

“Sunshine, I don’t give a shit what you’re hiding.” He boldly looked me up and down then drawled, “Except perhaps what’s under that towel.”

I bit my lower lip—hard. So hard I tasted blood. I released the pressure then flicked out my tongue to caress the damaged surface.

“Liking the tongue action, but best keep it locked away or you’ll be losing that towel. Morals rarely cross my mind.” I yanked my tongue back inside my mouth. He grinned, but it didn’t match the piercing look in his eyes.

“Just get out of here.”

He tsked. “Not the way to treat a guy who was concerned for your . . . safety.”

“Safety?” Was he crazy? I wasn’t in any danger.

“I’m a Sounder, babe. Heard your thrashing from my bedroom.” He hesitated as if he was deciding what to say. “I realize some erotic dreams can be rather . . . vivid, but you might want to keep them under wraps while I’m here. Or . . .” he grinned. “I’ll be tempted to make them real.”

I tried to blanket the desire that suffocated me, but he was messing up all my control and I was spiraling into unknown territory.

“Unless of course you and Xamien are fucking one another?”

My mouth dropped open. Bastard. First of all, it was none of his business and second of all . . . it was none of his fucking business. I clamped down on my retort which was going to be my fist belting him across the face, but instead used the response Drake had enforced in me. No confrontation meant I stayed protected.

“No, sir,” I ground out and looked down at my feet.

Suddenly, I found myself shoved back against the wall, his hands gripping my hips with a fierce bite. I gasped, my eyes flashing to his. Gone was any sort of teasing humor as his eyes narrowed in on me, brows low, mouth tight.

“Sir? Not your fuckin’ sir. Anything but a sir—best you remember that.”

Just as sudden as it came, the violence in his expression disappeared and the corners of his mouth curved upward and sparkling warmth invaded his eyes. His hands left my hips only to slowly move up my sides until his thumbs were resting just below my breasts. “Fuckin’ beautiful.”

He pushed away from me, and for a brief second, I wished he hadn’t.

Then I wished I’d nailed him in the groin.

He turned and walked out, leaving the bathroom door ajar.

I collapsed onto the toilet seat and put my head in my hands.

What the hell just happened? I’d lost my calm. My control. He’d broken through my shield and had my emotions sparking off like fireworks. He was dangerous to me and what I was hiding.

I crawled back in bed, but failed to sleep. Instead, images of Jasper inundated my mind causing me to toss and turn.

The next morning, according to Xamien, Jasper was gone before the sun rose. I should’ve been relieved; instead, I found myself thinking of him and it wasn’t just that day. It became days afterward.

Then a week later, I woke in the night and smelled his scent in my room. I leapt out of bed, turned on the light expecting to see him, but Jasper wasn’t there. Day after day for weeks, I sensed him near me, but Jasper hadn’t returned.

I became obsessed with him. Thinking about him all the time and then constantly berating myself for it.

And the worst was, my nightmares reminding me to stay hidden and safe became riddled with erotic dreams of Jasper.

But the feeling of him being near me was never consistent. It was as if he was there and then . . . he was gone. I couldn’t understand it and after several months, I gave up trying. What I did know was when I didn’t sense him around, I felt . . . alone.

---