Shimmering Chaos (Enchanted Chaos 2)

“Why don’t you have a shirt on?” Seriously, of all the topics I could’ve went with, that’s the one I chose?

I need to give myself a good ass-kicking. For reals.

He drags his hand across his mouth, trying to hide his amused smile. “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to come in here, so I just brought pants to change into. I can dig the shirt I was wearing out of the hamper, though, if I’m making you uncomfortable.”

“No, you’re fine.” I cringe at my stupid choice of words. “I mean, you don’t need to put a shirt on.”

He rolls his tongue in his mouth then steps toward me. My back stiffens, and he halts, his brows puckering.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he says cautiously. “I was just going to peek into the hallway and see where Ollie is.”

“I didn’t think you were going to hurt me … I’m just …” I wet my lips with my tongue and move away from the door, shaking my head at myself. So, I can handle portal traveling and dealing with my powers, but if you put me in a room with a shirtless guy, I can barely think straight. Jesus, I’m such a spaz sometimes. “I’m sorry I’m acting weird.”

“You’re fine.” He offers me a smile then swings around me and cracks the door open.

He’s within arm’s reach, close enough that I can feel his body heat emitting from him, and suddenly lightning sparks across my skin. He doesn’t appear to notice—thank God—as he sticks his head out into the hallway and peers around.

I inhale, and then let it out, trying to steady the overwhelming heat sweltering inside me from the sparks. But, as if his energy draws mine, my fingers magnetize toward him, and I graze his side with my fingertips, right across a tattoo of a lightning bolt. The instant my skin comes into contact with his, Foster’s muscles ravel into tight knots, and a nice, big, icy-cold bucket of metaphoric water douses over me.

What did I just do?

I start to jerk back.

“No, don’t,” Foster whispers, ducking back inside and reaching for my hand. His breathing comes out ragged as his gaze collides with mine, bright and lightning-blue, like the current of

electricity purring across my skin.

“I just …” I shrug. “I don’t know … Maybe … I …”

Despite the fact that I’m rambling and making zero sense, he seems to understand. Or, at least he nods, so yeah, there’s that …

With his gaze trained on me, he slowly draws my hand back to him and lines my palm against his side. A shaky breath falters from his lips as I splay my fingers across the lightning tattoo branding his ribs.

Lightning crackles off me and flows across him. The mixture of that and the skin-to-skin contact sends wonderful sensations throughout my body and makes me realize something. That minus a few hugs from Nina and Gage, I haven’t had much physical contact. Even my parents rarely hugged me, and that revelation leaves me wondering why.

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?” I ask as Foster squeezes his eyes shut.

“No, it feels … amazing.” His eyelids lift open, little bolts of electric-blue lightning reflecting in his eyes. “Do you want to feel how I feel?”

I should shake my head. After all, I barely know him, and what I do know makes me question if we’re only in here, touching each other, because I’m the only girl who can touch him this way. Plus, for me, well, I think I’m simply curious, and I know I’m attracted to him. So, I nod.

He slips his tongue out to wet his lips then carefully reaches toward my face instead of my side, which surprises and kind of disappoints me, but I’m blaming the latter on temporary loss of sanity due to extremely high body heat. Because, yeah, that’s a thing …

My thoughts become distracted as he cups my cheek and delicate sparks kiss my skin, buzzing downward along my jawline and neck.

“Wow,” I whisper as tingles break out across my flesh.

The sensation only amplifies when he moves his hand downward, along my jawline, my neck, and the curve of my shoulder. His gaze stays welded to mine as he then moves his fingers toward my side.

“You can tell me to stop if you want me to,” he says as he nears the hem of my shirt.

A protest burns at the tip of my tongue, yet my lips remain fused. Again, I can’t explain why. Maybe it’s because our powers are connected. Or maybe it’s because I’m curious about what it feels like to be touched like this.

As my lips remain zipped, he slips his fingers under my shirt and drifts upward along my side. The electricity glows brighter, humming, making my body hum with it.

“I can’t …” Foster squeezes his eyes shut, while little gasps of air rush past my lips. He lowers his forehead to mine, turning his body toward me and forcing me to lean back against the door. His chest is aligned with mine, his fingers delving into my skin as he clutches me.

I grasp on to him just as tightly as my legs wobble, threatening to give out.