I will risk my life to save him. Repeatedly. I swallow the bile rising in my throat. “And that’s what you need, to fix Parker?” I ask McGregor.
He nods. “It’s the only way I’ll be able to try.”
“Rose,” Parker says. “We need to find another way.”
Ignoring him, I speak to McGregor in a low voice. “Then I’ll get it for you. Everything I can about the drug given to Parker. And when I bring it to you, you’ll fix him.” McGregor’s blue eyes narrow as I extend a trembling hand toward him. A cold sweat breaks out over my skin. “Deal?”
Parker’s firm shoulder presses against mine. “Rose,” he warns under his breath.
“Deal?” I repeat to McGregor, arm still extended.
“Deal,” he says, and his burly palm slides into mine.
The moment our fingers part, I check my watch and plant my hands on Parker’s broad shoulders. Energy flares beneath my sternum, lashing against the walls of my chest like a tiger’s claw through the bars of its cage.
Parker grips my hand, still clutching his shoulder. “Rose, stop.”
Head hammering and body vibrating, I close my eyes and push the volatile energy into him. Every cell in his body pulsates alongside mine, as if his blood and flesh are anextension of my own. Pain rips through my head, but I grit my teeth and muffle the cry building in my throat.
Parker’s grasp on my hand is almost painful. “Rose, don’t do this. Let me see her one last time.”
He doesn’t believe we’ll return. Which means he’s guessed where I’m taking us, or he thinks I’m too weak to bring us back.Maybe I am.Either way, Parker’s words are my ammunition, fueling the shaking of every single cell in my body. I suck in a breath and the energy in my chest explodes, engulfing us both.
15Mariella
My body’s on fire. My limbs are shaking, my heart pounding. I’m naked, my chest pressed against skin, warm and firm. My fingertips ripple over the muscular ridges of a strong, broad back. Eyes clamped shut, tension builds between my thighs as hands explore my body, roughly caressing and teasing, guiding my hips as they rock.
Each breath abandons my lungs in a short pant, quickening when soft lips and coarse stubble press against my neck. With each passing second, I’m closer and closer to shattering. The palm on my thigh glides upward, over the skin of my bare abdomen to rest over the wild thumping of my heart. And beneath it, chilling energy flares to life, a contrast to the euphoric heat between my thighs. Starting as a tiny ball, the power wells, snaking through my body, and ricocheting against my rib cage, searching for the path of least resistance.
I push the feeling away. I want to focus on the lips trailing down my neck. But it only grows until my entire body’s pulsating with current, radiating from my chest to the tips of my fingers and toes. A stubbled cheek presses to mine, and a sharp whispering fills my ears.
I jolt awake, unfulfilled and gasping for breath, the words dissolving into hazy wisps that will forever be out of reach.
I’m lying on Parker’s bed, alone and hungover, my body buzzing with electricity. I bring my hand to my face and stare at the pads of my fingertips, the sparkling current racing along my skin. Closing my eyes, I focus on it, and electrical energy combusts within my chest, jolting my heart into a frantic rhythm. Power inundates my body, shooting down my arms and legs. I cry out and force it away, shaking my hands like they’re crawling with eight-legged insects.
My heart’s still racing when I sit up and the room spins.Did it look like this yesterday?I rifle through my hazy recollection of last night. Parker’s heated gaze flashes through my mind and every muscle in my body clenches. I have a sudden urge to capture the moment in my sketchbook.
Clutch and shoes in hand, I exit the bedroom, my chest sinking when Parker isn’t in the living room or anywhere else in his apartment. Neither is Rose. Every scrap of paper has been removed from the tiny dining table. No dishes await cleaning in the kitchen sink. No toothbrushes or soap sit beside the spotless bathroom sink.
I lock the door from the inside and pull it shut behind me. “Shit.” I stop outside my own door without a key. Shivering in my dress, I knock on our door.
“Coming,” Anna calls, answering the door still dressed in last night’s clothing. “Just getting home, are we?” she asks with a knowing grin.
If only she knew the half of it.“I lost my key.”
“I just got in myself.” I enter her apartment and we both collapse on the sofa. “Where did you sleep?”
Think of an excuse, Mariella.
My stomach rolls and I groan. I lower my pounding head onto a sofa cushion and flinch from the sting of my new piercing.
“Ella?” Anna says.
I’m too hungover for this.
“In Rose and Parker’s room,” I say, my words stifled by the pillow.
Anna gasps, sitting up. “You didn’t. Where?”
