Tame the Storm: 2 (Cinder Mated) (9 page)

Who lied now? Whom she could trust? There was nothing outside the window she stared through to tell her what to do. She needed to call Neil. But where? She nearly panicked then remembered what she’d been instructed to do.

She hadn’t called her mother and found she hadn’t wanted to.

Her mother had insisted Astrid not call home. They’d told her that her communication would be bugged, not that Astrid had seen proof of that. And how would they listen in on Astrid’s phone, anyway?

First, she had to do as Neil instructed—make copies of everything she could get her hands on. Pulling out her cell, she took pictures of every last paper in the folder. Maybe Ray had shared them. Maybe not. Neil might find something of use.

Legs shaky, she pushed away from the table, left the folders and listened at the door. All quiet. Heart thumping wildly, she went to a nearby computer and, yanking out the retractable USB cable in her pocket, hands shaking so badly she nearly couldn’t plug it in, she managed to connect her smartphone and start up the program Neil had given her.

A creak in the hall sent her heart racing. Her body jerked. She paced, staring at the screen.

Finally, a little icon flashed on her phone.

“Done,” she whispered.

She gulped past the vile taste in her mouth and ripped out the USB cable. Stumbling out of the room, she calmed her frantic heart so she could think. She’d memorized the map. The front foyer of the mansion wasn’t far.

Her knees nearly gave out on the stairs and she crossed her fingers she wouldn’t run into anyone. But if she did, she had no need to explain herself. She was exploring. She didn’t enter any private rooms.

Finally she made it outside, her grip sweaty around her phone, and quietly shut the front door behind her.

A muffled voice came from inside the mansion. Someone was coming. Her body lurched as if to run, but she froze. Silent. Nobody yelled at her to stop.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to still her trembling and stepped down the front steps away from the house—a bit away, for some breathing room. If she stayed here, she could see anyone coming well before hearing distance. The front lawn rolled down a large hill toward the quiet street of this wealthy neighborhood filled with estates, each acres wide.

Since she’d removed his number, in case CTF had taken her phone, she had to dial from memory.

Neil answered on the second ring.

“Who is this?” It was a quiet question, all hint of mood completely devoid.

“It’s Astrid. I don’t have much time.”

“You’re in?”

“I am. They’ve been nice—”

“Nice? You’re talking about CTF. Don’t get distracted. Just wipe out the powers of the two brothers. The rest will fall apart without them.”

“But—”

“Do as you’re told. You know this is the best course of action.”

“What makes it different for us to take powers?” She sucked in a breath and couldn’t stop the flash from the past, of her mother slapping her across the face for questioning her choice for Astrid’s prom dress. Her stomach roiled at the memory.

“We’re doing it to stop them.” A thread of anger came through the phone. Neil made that clucking sound in his throat. She’d never realized before how annoying it was. “Leave the rest to me. All you have to do is touch Griffin Cinder. He won’t be able to withstand that.”

She started to shake. Her mouth opened but nothing came out.

“Ray will be a little harder. You’re going to need to surprise him or he can flash back at you. I told you exactly how to do it. Now get off the phone and do as you’re told. I’ll be there tonight, to finish it off.”

“Finish it off? Tonight?”

“You don’t need to know, Astrid.” He didn’t call her a pet name. No,
sugar
with a growl of sexual urgency.

She shuddered.

“Are you listening, Astrid?”

“Yes.”

“Is someone there? Why are you whispering?”

“Nobody’s here.”

“Don’t risk it. Get off the phone. I’ll get you and all the records they keep tonight. That was always the plan.”

He hung up.

She slipped the phone in her small clip-on holster and stared across the rolling lawn. She was no longer alone.

A man stalked toward her.

She took in a sharp breath. From around the side of the house, he prowled. Strong thighs covered in well-worn jeans. A tight gray shirt clung to wide shoulders, exposing strong biceps. Tanned everywhere. Windblown brown hair. Stormy brown eyes that trapped her.

“What are you doing outside, sugar? And what are you doing with part of my cloud?”

“Part of your cloud?”

Astrid’s confused expression eased the tightness in his shoulders. Her genuine puzzlement loosened the uncomfortable suspicion inside him. He laughed and her gaze dropped to his mouth.

“Seems that the part of my storm that, let’s say, enjoyed you earlier today has decided to stay with you. Look up.”

She did but not before he caught that blush stealing across her cheeks again. The woman was adorable. Above them, she’d see a small puffy cloud hanging in the air.

“Why do you think it’s yours and if it is, why is it staying with me?” She continued to stare at the rebellious part of his powers that had deserted him to stay with her.

“I know it’s mine. You’ll have to trust me on that one.” He chuckled. Now that she was near, he relaxed all the knots in his gut, his back, his shoulders. The remaining tension bled away. The anxious play of static over his skin soothed. “I think you know what it means.”

“I don’t.” She jerked her attention back to him and her wide eyes were all he could see, until she chewed on that lip of hers and he wanted to put his mouth there.

“If I even wanted to pull it back in, it could cause some damage. Tear into one of us. Kind of a defensive action. Once a part of my power has latched on, it’s best to let it play out. Otherwise I’ll lose all control of it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We’re connected. It happened when we—”

“Impossible!” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Impossible as it seemed, she was even more adorable with a mad on.

“It’s right up there. Proof.”

“Is that how you killed that little girl in Florida? Lost control of your powers and let it look like a hurricane?”

“What are you talking about?” The cloud above them darkened.

“The little girl. Last year.” She cocked her head and the corners of her mouth turned down.

“I haven’t lost control in quite some time.”

Screams in the trenches, the tans of the American troop uniforms covered in blood, bodies flying through the air and the stench of the concentration camps flooding him, making him lose the twister that shot through the allies, his friends, and screams everywhere.

“Griffin?”

Grappling the memories, he blinked, sending those horrid visions back where they lurked, in his nightmares. He cleared his throat and wished he could rid himself of the taste in his mouth.

“I haven’t been to Florida since the first shuttle launch. I couldn’t stay away that day. Wanted to be there to be sure the weather was perfect.”

“Not since then?” She bit her lip again. “But I heard… My partner said…”

“He’s not your partner,” he growled then took a deep breath. No need to frighten her. Before she could respond, he continued, “I haven’t lost control since WWII, and certainly didn’t go to Florida last year at all. I’ve been here. I have an adopted niece, a banshee, she’d been getting more and more restless. I kept near. Waiting. That’s who Vince tried to kidnap.”

Mouth tightened into a line, she nodded and stopped looking as if she’d run screaming down the drive. She believed him. Never had it felt so important for someone to believe him than now. “I don’t know why someone would bother making up that kind of bullshit.”

“Me, either.” She glanced toward the house. “Vince Nelson was convincing.”

“That, he was.” This was too important to leave doubt. Damn Vince. “Come on. I have proof.”

“I believe you.” She rushed the words out.

“You’ll see.”

They made their way inside the mansion and up the stairs. He kept having to hold his breath and space himself because if his mind wandered off one second, his body moved closer to hers. His cock wanted her badly, no question, but his protective instinct pushed too. In the sane corner of his mind, he found her intriguing, the questions she asked. But could it be that he just sought someone to help him control his powers? Did he delude himself or was she his ruin?

His suite mirrored Ray’s in floor layout. On the third floor, the stairs opened to a large gathering area. To the left, Ray’s rooms. To the right, Griffin’s. Sean had a room along the back hallway with a few guest rooms. He opened the heavy oak panel and let her skim past. Her skin brushed so close to his that he prickled.

“Wow,” she breathed in an awed hush.

“Ray has walls. My space is different. I can’t stand enclosed spaces. So, while going to Florida may seem like a great vacation idea, I can’t fly. Only way I’d go is in a convertible the entire way. During the war, being below decks on the ship was torture, but it helped knowing I could get outside. Doesn’t work that way on a plane.”

Her gaze ripped away from the glass walls that separated his sitting room from his bedroom and to the windows that covered every external wall. From here, the back gardens were entirely visible through the transparent vista.

“If you were to go into the bedroom, you’d see that I even leave all the windows open if I can.”

She glanced around at that and when she blushed, her attention seemed snagged on his unmade bed. Her breathing hitched, but she spoke around it. “This is your proof?”

“Not entirely. My desk is over there. Do you have a date for this storm? I can pull up the NOAA data and show you how it would have a certain kind of detectable pattern. Mine would have a different pattern. The nature of my storms are more precise but with the occasional erraticness of human faults. I can’t create a perfect storm. No mage can.”

“Why do you care what I believe?” Wide eyes ensnared his.

His cock went stiff and he didn’t even care about stopping himself from getting as close as possible. The part of his storm that followed her billowed under the door and surrounded them. The air shimmered with sultry heat. The mist gathered on her cheeks, kissing them.

He froze then carefully lowered his arms before he brushed the moisture from her arms. His mind needed to conjure something besides her and that mussed bed of his. And how wet he’d make her pussy before he sank inside. “Who were you talking to? Outside?”

The surge of jealousy rushed through his veins and he embraced it, stupid as it was. At least it was safer than the impulse to lick the rain from Astrid’s body. The rain his storm continued to brush along her creamy skin.

“Outside?”

“Yes, on the phone you put in that little holster at your waist.”

“Oh.” That delightful blush came back full force. This never got old. “I called my partner.”

Thunder rolled in the skies and the static in the room crackled. Astrid backed against the wall near the door. He followed so closely the heat from her skin touched his. Her chest heaved and her eyes had that look. One that a woman used when she desired. Pure invitation.

An invitation he couldn’t take.

“He’s not your partner. How close are you to him?”

She sucked in a breath and blurted, “Not your business.”

“I’m making it my business.” He loomed over her and breathed deeply, taking in her clean scent.

“We’ve discussed becoming engaged.”

He growled a wild, dangerous sound that ripped from his chest. “What’s to discuss, sugar? You do it or you don’t. You bond or you don’t. It’s all nature.”

But it wasn’t. With a stranglehold, he held tight to his nature—the storm that surrounded the mansion. Rain pelted the windows. Wind gusted through the screens. Erratic.

“We discussed marriage. Then Vince started his group.” Her gaze trailed away.

“Why wait, sugar? It’s a partnership. Or,
not
.” His hand hovered over her shoulder. Not touching. Goosebumps coated her skin.

“Don’t know.” Her passion-drugged voice spoke of how the lust had gripped her too. She sounded as confused as he was.

“What did he say on the phone, sugar?” It nearly hurt to keep the inch between them, to keep control of the howling winds that swished through his suite and tugged on the edges of Astrid’s clothes. His legs locked with the exertion of staying in one spot. His cock ached with the need to release.

“He just…he thinks you abuse your power. That it’s not right that you strip people of their talents.” She licked her lips and his attention zeroed in to the slight quivering of that pink flesh.

“What do you think?”

“I think?” She looked genuinely confused, which he wanted to get to the bottom of, but for now, getting that lust-glazed look back would serve him better.

His not-quite-there touch skimmed down, sending static zinging between them. “We aren’t here to hurt anyone. Only help.”

“You wouldn’t rob anyone of their powers without good reason, would you?”

“No. Absolutely not.” He watched that flash of emotion cross her face and he wanted her to believe him. “I can see how important it is to you. You’re a good woman. Someone who deserves a man who can balance that innate goodness.”

Tears filled her eyes and she shook her head.

He ignored the hail pounding the windows and hung on every word that didn’t pass from her lips but seemed frozen between them. Until she finally murmured, “I’m not a good woman. I do what I’m supposed to do.”

“You could never do the kinds of things I have—not any of those lies about a girl in Florida, but I’ve hurt people. On accident. But you’d never put yourself in that position, to lose control, to hurt people. This Neil person, I’m sure he’s exactly the upstanding, law-abiding citizen you need.”

His stomach roiled and outside grew dark. Pitch black. If he didn’t stop it, Ray or Clarissa would be pounding on the door, but he couldn’t disperse the threatening storm.

“He has these ideas. I don’t know. Maybe not so upstanding, but it’s not for me to say.”

“Fuck that. Of course it’s for you to say.”

“No.” Her throat worked and she shook her head. “It’s not.”

Pulling the door open, she turned to leave. In a lightning fast move, he shoved the door closed and leaned into it. Her back stayed to him as her shoulders tensed.

“Why wouldn’t it be for you, to decide if someone is good enough for you?”

She shrugged. The rigidness of her straight back made him want to hold on tight and never let go. But her posture practically shouted hands off. If he couldn’t touch, and he didn’t want to upset her, he’d just have to try something else.

“That’s a great shirt. The color is nice with your hair.” It struck him that he meant it—even if he sounded like a tool because he had no idea what to say. Usually he didn’t notice things like that. Maybe he was going soft. His cloud rebelling, his lusting for a woman he couldn’t even kiss, and now he’d noticed the color of her clothes. “Not that I know much. Anything, really. But… It must be something about you. Your clothes. Your hair. And why’d you dye it? Aren’t you blonde?”

Her shoulders hitched farther before she relaxed them and turned her head slightly but not to fully facing him.

“Yes. I’m blonde.” She shrugged. “The shirt is from one of my sketches. I made it on my own.”

“It’s silky.”

“You like it?”

“I do. You do great work. But I can’t help but wonder, how would it feel to touch that nice shirt?” He brushed his knuckle down the line of her spine. The softness of the material mated with the heat of her body and the shudder of her response made it inevitable. There was no stopping. “It does feel very nice. Does it smell as good?”

His nose nudged against her spine and he took in a long pull of air. She made a strangled noise. “What?”

“You do smell so nice. Good enough to eat. Like hot, melted sugar.”

A muffled, sexy laugh escaped her.

He nipped her lightly at the ridge of a vertebra. Her legs buckled and he gripped her waist to steady her. Murmuring against her back, he nipped her through her shirt again. “And the pants? They’re silky too.”

His thumbs rotated against the lower edge of her back, rubbing the pants—the kind that clung to every curve—heating him, heating her, through the barriers separating them. His entire body felt exposed, ready, seeking.

“I did make them.” The sureness and the pride couldn’t be clearer. He liked that about her. That she opened all her emotions to him. She was so easy to read. It made it so easy to trust. Vince may have betrayed them in a way Griffin hadn’t seen coming, but the strategist didn’t have that open appeal. Not as Astrid did, straightforward in a way that got to him.

“Then it’s delicious because it’s part of you.”

“You think I’m delicious?” She huffed and leaned forward, putting her forehead against the door. “I don’t think anyone else would ever said that to me. You’re different, Griffin. And you take care of people, don’t you? That’s why you brought me here. Why you made me feel at ease. Just like those plants, all the people you found in the camp, and the people you bring here. But I’m no different than them. I’m just someone you feel you have to take care of.”

“I don’t know about that. I do know I want to take care of this.” He reached around and cupped her mound. The heat coated him even through those silky pants of hers.

“Don’t do that,” she whispered but she didn’t move. Not away, anyway, but she did spread her legs. She said he was a protector, but here she was trying to protect him. He started a rhythmic squeeze and release with his hand and unable to resist, nipped at another vertebrae. Her voice trembled while she obviously sought to distract herself—but she didn’t leave, didn’t run.