Storm and Fury (The Harbinger 1)

I stared at him.

He held my glare. “You’re being ridiculous, Trinity. I’m not trying to see you half-naked. I’m trying to make sure you’re not hurt more than I can tell, and also make sure you heal so that we can continue patrolling.”

There was a tiny part of me that was...disappointed he wasn’t trying to get me naked because he was attracted to me. How messed up was that? I had no idea why that disappointed me. It shouldn’t. Zayne was the perpetual gentleman—annoying and a smart-ass, but a gentleman to the bone. However, the weird twinge of disappointment twisted into something explosive.

I don’t know precisely why I did what I did next, but there was a whole list of reasons for me to lose control, so I could blame any one of them for what I did.

Holding his stare, I reached down and whipped my shirt off, then let it drop to the floor. “Happy now?”

Zayne was incredibly still as he continued to hold my stare and he did so for so long that I thought he might’ve fallen asleep standing up with his eyes open, but then his gaze lowered from mine, and now I was holding my breath. I wasn’t wearing anything sexy. Just a normal bra, a plain black one with scalloped edging over the cups.

A muscle feathered along his jaw as his gaze slowly lifted to mine. Without breaking eye contact, he reached over and handed me the towel.

I took it from him, but I didn’t cover myself. “Does the bra need to come off, too?”

Zayne lifted a single brow and a long moment passed. “Probably be easier.”

For a tiny second, I imagined whipping off the bra, too, right in front of him. Zayne would probably die, right then and there. The look on his face would be worth it, but I chickened out before I even gave it serious thought. “Can you turn around?”

Zayne arched a brow and made a show of turning toward the shower, out of the path of the mirror.

Twisting at the waist, I placed the towel on the sink and then unhooked my bra. It slipped down my arms to the floor. I toed it under my fallen shirt and then picked up the towel and held it over my chest. I could see my back in the mirror, and it did look like a chessboard of pink and blue.

“I’m decent-ish,” I said, and I saw Zayne turn around behind me.

“Jesus,” he grunted, and not in response to my near-nakedness. “I can’t believe you haven’t said anything, and don’t tell me it doesn’t hurt. That has to hurt, Trinity.”

It did. “I’m tougher than I look.”

“You are, but I should’ve kept a better eye on you.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said, sniffing the air as he unscrewed the lid on the jar. The scent reminded me of Icy Hot, but there was something else under that. “What is that?”

“A salve that Jasmine made. That’s Dez’s wife. She’s really good at this kind of stuff. It’s a mixture of arnica, turmeric and menthol. I think there may even be some witch hazel in it. It’s an anti-inflammatory and it reduces pain and swelling,” he told me. “The stuff is a miracle worker.”

Zayne then placed his fingers against my skin, and I jolted at the contact.

“Sorry,” he muttered. The salve was cold and slimy, but it was his fingers that caused the reaction. Other than occasionally taking my hand or knocking me over, Zayne didn’t make a habit of touching me.

And he was really touching me now.

He worked the thick balm across my skin and then up and around. His fingers brushed the side of my breast, and my skin felt strangely warm as I lifted my gaze to the mirror.

All I could see was him standing behind me, so incredibly tall and broad, his golden head bowed as he concentrated on what he was doing.

Seeing him behind me so didn’t help cool my skin down.

“What is Jasmine like?” I asked, trying not to think about the fact I was utterly topless.

He chuckled. “She and her sister, Danika, sort of buck the system whenever they can, but she and Dez are lucky. They love each other, the real-deal kind of thing, and they have two young ones. They’re both a trip. Their girl, Izzy? She’s just learning to shift and fly. Keeps going right to the ceiling fan.”

“Oh, my,” I murmured, my body jerking all on its own, thinking of Peanut when he was near fans. Which made me pray that Peanut didn’t suddenly appear. “I always like to watch the little ones in the community when they begin to shift. It’s adorable watching them learn how to walk and use their wings.”

“Sorry,” he murmured when I jerked again.

“It’s okay.” I felt really, strangely hot, which was weird, because the balm was so cold.

Zayne continued quietly, his fingers skimming under the edges of the towel and along my ribs, causing me to shiver, and I wasn’t sure if there were bruises there or not. When his hands slid back, I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or disappointed.

“Do you think I’ll get to meet Danika and Jasmine?” I asked, desperately trying to distract myself.

“If you want to, I don’t see why not.” His quiet answer warmed me inside, too.

“I’d like that.”

His gaze flickered up, meeting mine in the mirror for a second. “Then I’ll make sure that happens.”

Several more seconds passed and I started thinking about strange things—anything, really—to keep my mind away from his hands. “Before I knew what I was...or I guess, before I understood what I was, I thought I was normal and I wanted to be a thousand different things when I was a kid. None of them was this, but...”

“What were some of the things you wanted to be?”

“Oh, some of them were really stupid.”

“I doubt that.”

I snorted. “After watching Jurassic Park, I wanted to be an archaeologist.”

“I don’t think that’s dumb,” he said, and even though I couldn’t see his smile, I could feel it.

“And I wanted to raise llamas.”

Zayne’s hand stilled again. “Llamas?”

“Yeah.” I giggled. “And don’t even ask why. I have no idea. I just wanted a llama farm. I think they’re the most amazing animals ever. Did you know children can ride them? Adults can’t. It wouldn’t be very comfortable for you or the llama.”

“No, I didn’t.” He chuckled. “That is probably the strangest thing I’ve heard in a while.” His deft fingers slid over my spine. “Did you want to go to college?”

“I did.” I took a steadying breath, and the cool scent of menthol reached me. “But my mom was always against it, you know, before I understood what I was,” I admitted, closing my eyes. “I wanted to see the world a little and it’s weird, because the first time I got to see DC, when we went to Roth’s place, it freaked me out. That sounds stupid, doesn’t it?”

Zayne’s hand stilled. “No, it doesn’t. The city is a lot to take in if you’re not used to seeing all the people.”

A wry grin pulled at my lips. “It was overwhelming. So many people. I can’t tell you how many times I couldn’t tell if a person was dead or alive when we passed them on the street.”

“That has to be inconvenient.” His hand started moving again, and my back arched a little.

It took me a moment to collect my thoughts. “It is a little.”

“Speaking of ghosts, the one that came with you?”

“Peanut?”

“Yeah.” A pause. “Him. Can he...move things?”

I grinned. “Yes. Did he move something?”

“This morning my shoes were in the fridge.”

A giggle snuck out of me. “Sorry. Peanut is very...very weird, but he’s harmless. He just wants your attention and has a weird way of showing it.”

“Can I be honest?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m trying to ignore the fact that he’s now haunting my place.”

“He’s not really haunting it,” I said. “Think of it as cohabitation.”

Zayne snorted. “I’m almost done.” His hand was on the other side, smoothing the salve up my side. “You should already be starting to feel better.”

“I am.”

And that was true, but as we both fell silent, I could no longer ignore Zayne’s hands on my skin and how they were making me feel. It was like electricity flowed from his fingers over my skin, and when those long fingers brushed the sensitive swell near my ribs, I sucked in a soft breath.

“Sorry.” His voice sounded different, thicker even. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Yes.” I tried to find another distraction. “You know what I’m jealous of the most when it comes to Wardens?”

“What?”

“Your ability to fly. I’m this badass Trueborn, but I don’t have wings. That sucks.”

He chuckled.

“It’s not funny.” I pouted. “I’d love to fly and get close to the stars. I used to try to get Misha to take me up in the sky, but he’d never do it even though you guys could probably carry a car into the air. Such a punk.”

Zayne carefully turned me around and then his hands left me. I looked into his eyes. I was immediately snared, feeling hot and dizzy, like I’d been sitting out, sunning on the sandy white beaches, and even though he wasn’t touching me any longer, I could still feel his palms and fingers. I couldn’t stop wondering what would happen if I dropped the towel.

Every muscle in my body locked up. Drop my towel and be topless in front of Zayne? My God, he’d have a stroke. What was I thinking?

But I wanted to, because I wanted... I wanted to feel his hands on my skin again. I wanted to feel his mouth on mine, and this time I wanted him to kiss me.

Something changed in his expression.

Those pale eyes, usually so chilly, were full of fire, and that jaw was a hard, straight line. His features were both beautiful and brutal, a raw combination.

“We may have to do this again,” he said, and his voice sounded off, deeper and rougher.