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“Shit, yes. I should have thought of that since my home is well off the beaten path.” Silas jumped to his feet and stalked into the kitchen to get me a glass of water, watching until I drank it all. “Do you need some more?”
I shook my head. “No, thanks. I think I’m good now.”
“How did you wind up here?”
Handing him the empty glass, I slumped against the cushions. “By being too irritated with my parents to pay close enough attention to where I was going.”
“You could’ve been hurt.”
His hand was clenching the glass so hard, I was worried it might shatter. So I reached out to take it back from him and set it on the small table next to the couch. Then I turned back to him and flashed a sheepish smile.
“I know. It was silly of me not to bring a backup flashlight since I should’ve expected the one I was using wouldn’t last that long.” His brows drew together, and I realized he had no idea what I was talking about. Taking the flashlight out of my pocket, I wiggled it in the air. “I’ve always had a bit of a problem with technology, especially stuff that uses batteries. My mom likes to say that I suck the energy right out of them. Watches, cell phones, you name it. If they’re going to glitch, they do it when I’m around.”
“That could explain a lot.” A muscle jumped in his jaw as he heaved a deep sigh. “And brings us back to our original conversation about what I meant when I asked you about the zapping and tingling.”
“I felt the zing, but I figured it was…um…just…how I was reacting to you.”
The tension seemed to seep from his body at my soft confession. “I hope like fuck that’s all it was because I couldn’t bear the thought of ever hurting you.”
“I’m very glad to hear that because I hate the idea of hurting you, too.” I tilted my head to the side. “But why do you think that you would?”
“Because I’m a monster,” he grunted.
I stroked my palm against the side of his face. The bristles of his short beard scraped against my skin. “You don’t look very monstrous to me.”
His spine straightened, as though he was steeling himself for something, and then he straightened his arm and pointed a finger toward the fire. “Only a monster could do something like this.”
My jaw dropped when a bolt of energy darted from his fingertips toward the fireplace, making the logs jump and pop as the fire blazed higher. Stunned by this turn of events, I pinched the inside of my elbow and let out a little yelp. His nostrils flared, and a hint of red hit his cheeks. “Why did you hurt yourself?”
“I needed to make sure I hadn’t fallen and hit my head while wandering around, lost in the woods.” I bit my bottom lip. “It’s hard to believe you were really able to do that.”
“Tell me about it.” He let out a deep bark of laughter that held no humor. “I’m the one who’s a walking, talking electrical outlet, and it still took me almost killing someone to get how real my affliction is.”
Although Silas was big and rough around the edges, I couldn’t picture him hurting anyone, let alone killing someone. “There has to be more to the story.”
“There is,” he confirmed with an abrupt nod before telling me what transpired on Halloween two decades prior.
By the time he was done, I was leaning against his side, trying to comfort him after hearing the horror in his voice and seeing the guilt in his eyes. I pressed my hand against his bare chest, right over his heart, as I stared into his eyes. “You had no way of knowing you could hurt someone by touching them back then, and you’ve kept to yourself for twenty years so you wouldn’t hurt anyone else. You’re the furthest thing from a monster.”
He pulled me closer. “I’m glad you don’t see me as one. I couldn’t handle seeing fear in your pretty brown eyes when you look at me.”
My heart melted, and I gathered my courage to ask the question that had been bouncing around my brain during his explanation. “So you really haven’t touched a woman in twenty years?”
5
Silas
Icouldn’t stop touching her, but I satisfied myself with a stroke of my finger over her soft skin here and there. It made me hard as fuck when she shivered in response, or there was a trail of goose bumps in my wake.
But when she asked how long it had been since I touched a woman, I paused and stared into her eyes as I shook my head. “No one.”
“Soo…” Her expression was uncertain and pink stained her cheeks. “You’re just touching me because I’m the first person who hasn’t been affected by your power?”
I was shocked by her question, even though I completely understood why she had made the assumption.
Cupping her hips, I raised her and set her on my lap, straddling my legs. Then I placed my palms on her cheeks and brought her face close to mine. “I haven’t touched a woman with anything other than familial affection since long before that night. I never wanted to.”
Closing the distance, I rubbed our noses together and smiled at the pink stain on her cheeks and the sweet upcurve of her lips. “When I saw you, I thought that fate had played the cruelest of tricks on me. The one woman who made me come alive for the first time in more than twenty fucking years was so close yet out of my reach.” I locked our eyes together, holding nothing back because I wasn’t going to waste time playing games. “I’m not sure I’ve ever responded to a woman like this, baby. And…I’m dying to kiss you.”
