Touched by Lightning Read online

  Murphy rounded up his introductions with a, “Everyone, this is Gyda. She don’t talk much.”

  “So you did take a vow of silence!” Gomer—that couldn’t be his real name—shouted in triumph. “I knew it. That’s cool as shit.”

  “I wish you’d take a vow of silence,” one of the girls muttered under her breath before she turned a blinding smile on Gyda. “Where did you get your jeans? They’re kick-ass.”

  “God have mercy,” Murphy mumbled next to her. He glanced at Gyda. “They’re young. Think this shit is fun and all that. They’ll learn better.”

  Gyda’s gaze bounced between the girls—who felt it was a good time to wax poetic about her clothes—to the giants on either side of her, feeling as though she’d stepped into a freak show or something. The boys in the backseat were arguing about who trained her and Brit was watching her in the rearview mirror again. Anxiety that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with not knowing how to handle the sheer niceness of these people made her hands sweat.

  Sure, they’re nice now, but wait, they’ll want something too. They always do. You know that. But we don’t give anyone anything, right? Sixteen’s reminder was a lifesaver, or at least a panic attack saver. She was able to push the confusion away and concentrate on the facts.

  These people had captured her. They hadn’t let her go. Yes, Leo and Estelle had both assured her nothing was going to happen to her, but Leo had wrapped Tora up tight to prevent her from coming out. Someone in this vehicle was a Void and they were tamping down her empathic abilities, because she couldn’t feel anything from anyone. That meant they didn’t want her to know what was going on. Her heart pounded, adrenalin scalding her veins like acid.

  They’d locked her down with shackles. That wasn’t the act of people who were planning to ask you to join their little club. They’d planted her between two massive men who could crush her without thinking twice.

  Tora flashed pictures to her. Pictures that urged her to get mad.

  That wasn’t difficult to do. She’d been minding her own fucking business, handling her life the way she wanted before they showed up and started sticking their noses in her shit. She peeked up at Brit as he guided the van off the highway to a narrow trail. He still appeared relaxed, laughing at something the dude in the passenger seat said. Everyone was talking as though they’d been waiting for that moment the entire trip. As though it were normal to be taking a woman to her, what? Death? Incarceration?

  Her nostrils flared at the last thought, panic and fury escalating until some of the restraints on Tora relaxed. She’d never felt this much anger, not even when she’d been trapped in that cage all those years ago. Anger was an emotion that Sixteen handled and handled well. But just the thought of being locked up again…at the mercy of her captors, sent that rage humming through her body. She wasn’t going to jail. They’d have to kill her first. She was not. Going. Back.

  “What’s wrong?” Murphy asked in a harsh whisper, his breath stirring the hair next to her ear.

  Gyda hunched her shoulder, shying away from him, trying to shove the memories aside, but Tora dragged her demons out of the dark. She wanted out. Now. And she didn’t care how it happened. Gyda felt this, knew what Tora wanted and understood that she needed to be smart about how she got away. But knowing and doing were two different things. Because those demons Tora brought out were eager to get a piece of her.

  She had a second to do her best to lock it down, to fight before they surged into the light, their fetid breath scorching the air around her, their slimy, painful hands grabbing at her skin. And then she splintered.

  * * * * *

  Everything had gone well. It surprised Brit how easily they’d managed to get Gyda into the car without her losing her mind. Leo swore the lock he put on her feral mind would not only hold against anything, but also prevent their maverick from doing anything crazy. He wasn’t too keen on her being locked up like a criminal, but it was the only way Leo would allow him to leave with her. Joe had backed the Sensor, stating she couldn’t put raw recruits in a vehicle with a known killer without some precautions in place.

  So Gyda had been locked up and down with Murphy and Ted as a failsafe in case she got out of her chains. Which was ridiculous. Each glance in the rearview mirror made his gut clench. She looked like a kitten surrounded by Rottweilers. Her green eyes were huge and shadowed, scared. Her skin paler than usual. He tried to assure her everything would be fine by catching her gaze, but her expression never changed.

  At least not until Paul and Steve started their shit. He glanced down at his watch. They’d made it this far without anything happening which had to be a minor miracle. As soon as he led the caravan of vans and SUVs up the path, their four-hour trip to his cabin would be over and he could finally talk to her about what was going to happen. He’d wanted to do it before they left, but the instant Gyda “woke up”, she’d gone stone-faced and ignored him.

  It’d taken a lot for him to let it go, but he had, knowing when a woman got that stubborn look on her face there was no way in hell she’d hear what he had to say. He hadn’t wanted to lead the charge up his mountain. He’d wanted to sit next to her, to maybe hold her hand like some idiotic teenaged boy with a crush.

  Brit rolled his eyes at himself as he entered the curve leading to his cabin. This wasn’t some military-type dating game. Gyda was a danger to herself and others. There was no doubt about that. And if Leo was to be believed, she was a danger to Brit. He glanced in the mirror again to see her looking down at her hands, her lashes thick fans on her cheeks. Despite the ass whipping she’d handed to him and the evidence he’d seen firsthand of her skills with a knife, he couldn’t see her as anything but a vulnerable woman who needed his protection. It was what his heart told him she needed.

  Then he saw Murphy lean over to whisper something in her ear and the atmosphere in the van grew heavy. The hair stood on the back of his neck. He glanced at the others in the vehicle. They seemed oblivious to the tension thickening the air, the girls chattering like magpies, the guys arguing about nicknames. Only Murphy and Ted appeared uneasy, their bulk locked tight. He had a split second to watch Murphy’s skin morph into titanium before the big man suddenly slammed through the side window of the van.

  Metal groaned and glass shattered, throwing the balance of the van off. The girls screamed in surprise. Ted barked something before he too disappeared from the backseat. Brit hit the brakes, doing his best not to kill anyone and the van responded with squealing tires, but by the time he brought it to a halt, Gyda had disappeared through the window on Murphy’s side.

  “Fuck,” he breathed as he threw the van into park and opened his door. “Is everyone okay?”

  His shouted words seemed to penetrate the panic surrounding the recruits. They quieted down a bit, checking themselves over. He climbed out of the driver’s seat, his mind already on finding Gyda. Murphy and Ted were slow to pick themselves off the ground, but the group of recruits who’d been in the van following them trotted over to help the big men up.

  “You guys okay?” he shouted back to them, receiving nods in return.

  “We’re fine too.”

  Brit glanced back at the van to see it was Laura who’d answered him. “Good. Stick close to Ted.”

  Without waiting for another response, without waiting for backup, or to discuss strategy, Brit darted into the woods in the direction he’d seen Gyda disappear. He didn’t know what set her off and he wasn’t even sure he cared. She’d scared a group of kids, could have hurt them. His temper, usually hard to rile, rose to the surface in a rush of energy so intense it manifested in a force field of solid electricity. And because his powers were so attuned to Gyda, he didn’t have to expend much thought to tracking her ass down.

  She wasn’t moving fast, hampered by her shackles, but she’d managed to put a good bit of distance between her and the path. Brit, having made a point of learning the woods surrounding his home, moved with silent stealth, pur
posely pulling his electricity back into himself to keep her in the dark about his approach. He heard her long before he saw her, the jangle of the chains combining with the thrashing of her moving through the brush. Obviously his Gyda was not an outdoorswoman. That was fine with him.

  He slipped between a few trees and saw her up ahead, trying to untangle the shackles from a bush. She didn’t speak, grunt or make a sound other than the frustrated rustling of the bush’s leaves as she tried to break free of it. If he hadn’t been so pissed at her for putting those kids at risk, he would’ve found her fumbling cute. But he was pissed and the electricity he’d put a tight clamp on heralded his arrival in the form of a pulse of power.

  Like prey realizing a predator had it in their sights, her head lifted high and she turned to look at him over her shoulder. Their gazes met and it was like being slapped in the face. She sneered at him, her eyes furious and dark as though daring him to come after her. This wasn’t the same woman who’d sat in the van, her face pale and frightened. No, this was another personality, the dangerous one that had no compunction about castrating a man.

  He needed to handle this with caution. Use the diplomacy he’d learned at his mama’s knee. That’s what he needed to do, but it wasn’t what he did. Not after that sneer of disgust and dismissal, as though he were some weakling she didn’t need to concern herself with.

  “You scared the shit out of those kids,” he snarled from a safe distance. If he touched her now chances were he’d paddle her ass. “You put yourself and others at risk with your little fit.” He took another step forward. “I’m trying to save your fool ass and you just proved what everyone’s been trying to tell me since the day I met you.” She didn’t say a word or do anything but lift her chin at him, daring him to do something about it. He forced himself to relax. She’s scared, she doesn’t trust the O.T. yet. Keep it cool. “We’re not going to hurt you. The O.T.— Fuck, I want to help you, to keep you safe.”

  She scoffed. Just a puff of air that spoke volumes. Then she flipped him off and tore herself away from the brush, the chains shackled to her wrapped around her hands to help her along. For some reason, seeing her turn away from him, giving him her back as though he were no threat to her, snapped what little control he had over his temper.

  The feet separating them disappeared as though they were inches. Brit had to push some of his power into the ground with every step to bleed off some of the intensity so he wouldn’t hurt her when he touched her. He couldn’t hurt her, but he’d sure as hell teach her a lesson for treating him as though he were insignificant. Later, he’d think about why it mattered so much, later, when he was in his right mind. Not now.

  Not giving himself time to rethink his decision to confront her, Brit grabbed her arm. His power, so hungry for Gyda’s body, surged into her as though it belonged. She jerked to a stop, her back arching and her gaze finding his, surprise and a shard of pain disappearing beneath pleasure. This was why he couldn’t let her walk away from him. Watching her pupils explode with desire, seeing her nipples swell, witnessing the flush of desire that darkened her cheeks was all the evidence he needed that she was his.

  He only meant to stop her so he could talk to her about what she’d done, to convince her to stay and let the O.T. help her. Those intentions fled the minute he saw her mouth go soft and moist with desire.

  “Gyda,” he growled as he pulled her closer, her shackled hands caught between them. She tilted her head back to keep him in her sights and that was the final nail in his coffin. He was a goner.

  He lowered his head, kissing her with every ounce of desire and power coursing through his body. She jolted at the contact, but didn’t pull away. If anything, she snuggled closer, her softness melding to his hard frame, the gentle slope of her belly cushioning his cock. Her lips parted beneath his and that cool, spicy flavor he recalled so well met his questing tongue. One of his hands cradled the back of her skull, using her thick braid to tilt her head until he found the perfect position that allowed him to plunder her mouth the way he wanted to take her body.

  The instant his tongue surged into the warm, moist depths of her mouth, skating along hers, she melted like butter. There was a clanging of metal as her hands let go of the chain to her shackles and gripped his shirt, pulling the fabric taut as though she needed him to hold herself up. Brit groaned into her mouth, swallowing her sigh. His electricity felt puny and insignificant compared to the heat they generated together. They were a perfect blend of components that when combined formed a volatile chemical. And when her tongue hesitantly met his, he knew she felt it too.

  Tora didn’t want to cede ground to Gyda, didn’t want to give up the delicious thrill of having this man’s power surging into her, but there was no contest. She’d managed to get them out of the van, taking out the behemoths and getting them as far from the O.T. crews as she could, but Tora was no match for the desire Gyda had for Brit.

  Breaking through the ceiling of Tora’s blanket of control, Gyda left one prison for another, but this one was of her choosing. Brit’s arms were tight around her, his body a hot, hard wall she couldn’t stop rubbing herself against. His electricity bounced through every cell of her body, lighting her up from the inside out and banishing the dark demons who’d taken control of her in the van. Those demons had no power when Brit’s lightning touched her, scorched her with delicious pain.

  Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew some people would think this was wrong, that her intense need for pain was fucked-up, but in Brit’s arms with his electricity pulsing through her veins, causing her nerve endings to explode with sensation, Gyda accepted that she was different. His kiss heated her blood and his power banished the demons, leaving her feeling like a brand-new person. A person who could feel desire.

  She clung to his shirt, her fingers scrambling for purchase and somehow she touched the silky skin of his stomach. He growled into her mouth, his kiss becoming hungrier, hotter, which should have been impossible. Yet it happened and she surrendered to it. The liquid heat in her stomach blossomed and flowed south, dampening her panties with want. The past had no hold on her when she was in Brit’s arms. The dirt and grime of her darkest moments was burned away beneath a wave of intense, clean arousal. Sixteen hummed with pleasure, encouraging Gyda to relax and give in to the feeling, telling her this is what she wanted—needed.

  Gyda’s hands flattened on the hard muscles of his belly, the silky hair that began beneath his navel teasing her palms. It was an intimate act, one she’d never willingly performed before and it made her heart—which was already pounding hard and fast—pick up the pace. Brit tensed around her but he didn’t push her for more, didn’t grab her hand and force it down where she could feel the iron bar of his erection pressing against her stomach. He just tightened around her, shuddering slightly as though her touch alone was more pleasure than he could bear.

  And he didn’t stop kissing her, his tongue darting into her mouth, tasting her as though he could never get enough. His reaction and those mind-numbing kisses gave her the courage to glide her palms up his ripped stomach, his shirt lifting with the movement. He was hard all over, not an ounce of fat greeting her questing fingers. Just smooth, satiny skin over muscle that rippled beneath her hands. She brushed the small nubs of his nipples and he drew back from the kiss on a hiss as though she’d done something amazing.

  The electrical current passing between them gave a sharp pulse that she swore raced straight to her clit, which set up a throb to compete with her heart. Gyda dug her fingernails into his skin, not really meaning to, but needing to do something with her hands. She just wasn’t prepared for the reaction she got. Brit gripped her braid tighter, pulling her head back and kissing her with renewed fervor. It was rough and should have reminded her of things best left forgotten, but it had the opposite effect. A whimper, a sound she didn’t mean to make, escaped her throat. Brit met her whimper with a growl that caused miniature quakes to rack her pussy, her inner muscles demanding more.<
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  And he gave it to her.

  Chapter Seven

  Brit knew he shouldn’t be doing this. It wasn’t the right time for it, but Gyda’s sweet surrender was more than he, or his libido, could take. When she clawed his chest with her fingernails and dragged them south, he was a goner. Lust stronger than anything he’d ever experienced swelled inside him. His power increased alongside his hunger until he feared hurting the woman clinging to him, but as though it knew she was precious, it eased off at the max capacity she could handle and stayed there.

  She sighed against his lips and it was enough to have his cock jerking in his pants, the head growing slick. If he wasn’t careful he’d go off like a rocket and leave her behind, but even as he thought it, she tried to wrap one of her long legs around his. The clinking of the chains hampering her movement brought him back from the brink.

  He tore his mouth away from hers, staring into her lust-dazed eyes. He’d never seen someone as gorgeous as Gyda caught in the grips of arousal. Lust made her face softer, the sharp edge of her past blunted by the innocent wonderment in her eyes that told him she’d never felt this level of need. It helped him haul back on the hunger threatening to run away with him.

  Her gaze searched his face for something and apparently she found it, because a small, sweet smile curled her lips. His heart lurched in his chest. Goddamn, she was beautiful and his. All his. He gentled his hold on her hair, but couldn’t make himself let go of the thick, cool strands. The silver hoop in her nose and along her ears twinkled against skin that glowed with arousal. Her lips were puffy and dark pink from his kisses and her body had settled into his, giving him her weight without a sliver of space between them.

  She wanted him.

  It was heaven.

  With that thought in mind, he knew exactly what he had to do to give them both what they needed without going too far. He used gentle, yet firm hands to clasp her hips and turn her away from him. She craned her neck to look at him, her expression all confused arousal. His heart flipped.