Gifted Connections 4

“It’s the way it needs to be,” Troy said quietly. “Drake’s in the clinic. The healer can’t even heal him. He went down shortly after you did and hasn’t woken since.”

“What?” I asked standing up abruptly. “When I said to tell me ‘anything important’, that would have been good to know right away!”

“Where are you going?” Noah asked as he stood up with me.

“To the clinic,” I stated, looking at him like he was dense.

“Finish your food first,” Remy bade me gently.

“I can’t,” I said angst filling me.

“You need to,” Jace cajoled me. “You need to build up your strength. Being on an IV drip isn’t the same as real sustenance.”

I reluctantly sat back down and continued to eat my food in silence.

“Jemmy and Gavin had a long talk,” Jaxson informed me. I know it was his attempt to get my mind off things.

“And…” I looked at him expectantly.

“And she’s agreed to go to therapy,” Jaxson continued. “She was too scared to see Drake the way he is. She has yet to see anyone but you in that state. I think it shook her.”

“Good,” I nodded mechanically. I wish I could be more enthusiastic for her and Gavin, but my mind was too clouded with fear.

I looked over at Lincoln and saw his piercing gaze on me. I didn’t know what to do. I still couldn’t imagine being intimate with him, but I wanted us all to get our gifts back. I wanted all of us to be healthy once more.

I felt tears flood my eyes as I looked at Drake lying there so still. He looked so much smaller, even in the small bed he was lying in. He was hooked up to an IV, and his face looked pale and wane. I traced his hands lovingly.

“You need to wake up,” I murmured in his ear. “I need you. We need you.”

I looked over at Lincoln. He was the only one who accompanied me. I knew the other guys were trying to give us more time together. Even Remy seemed shaken up enough to let it happen.

Lincoln reached into his back pocket and handed me a folded piece of paper.

I looked at him in bewilderment, but I took it from him. I unfolded the paper and looked at it in confusion for a moment. As I read further my eyes widened.

“You had a test done?” I asked in shock.

He nodded. “I know you were concerned if I was clean. I am.”

I shook my head in disbelief. It was dated five days ago. Before he came here. We hadn’t even talked about his sexual history at that point. It surprised me that he would get the test done without my request.

I nodded and put the paper in my pocket. I didn’t know what to do with this information. I couldn’t deny that there was some chemistry there, but I didn’t know what I should do. At what point did my gifts—our gifts—get tired of waiting? Would we all suffer because of my misgivings?

“Are you even attracted to me?” I asked bluntly.

He chuckled in that sardonic way of his, and immediately I felt my usual ire with him rise again. “I think that kiss earlier proved to you that there’s something there.”

“You’re an actor,” I reminded him like he was a dense child. “You get paid to act. You kiss several women on screen and off screen.”

He chuckled once more, infuriating me further. He wasn’t supposed to find me amusing, he should be offended by my not so subtle dig. “True. It’s a hard life, that’s for sure.”

I sighed and glared up at him. “I’m sure it is. Just like entertaining Eva and her blonde friend must have been torture,” I blurted out but quickly covered my mouth when I realized I let him know that I had jumped him.

He laughed once more and this time huskier. He lowered his head down to my ear. “I was wondering when you would admit to being a voyeur. That was a…fun romp. I’ve never had anyone jump me before. Did you like what you saw? Did you imagine you were Eva going down on me, or were you Gretchen riding my face?”

I felt my face heat up. I couldn’t admit to him that I had been slightly turned on and that Troy and I had taken advantage of my heightened state of arousal. “You’re a pig,” I bit out at him.

“What happens if I tell you-” he lowered his voice. “-that I jumped Jace before. Do you remember him being particularly…demanding of you one day, almost a month ago? He flipped you on all fours and drove into over and over again. He made you come, but you weren’t done, were you? You pushed him down and rode him until you came again, making him come.”