“Awww. Don’t go, little ghost, I’ll keep my hands above the waist.”
“Nope. My ass is not happy with you at the moment.” I turn and look over my shoulder, trying for sexy peekaboo but probably end up with duck face. The sight of him in bed, his dick barely covered by the sheet, has me cursing my vajayjay’s figurative ‘‘out of order’’ sign. With his hair falling loosely around his face and his drool-worthy chest and abs, he’s positively sinful. But alas, reality calls, so I turn to head into the bathroom. “Besides, we need to go find the others. They were worried about you last night.”
Even his sigh is sexy. Dammit.
After cleaning myself up and doing one of those odd brush your teeth with toothpaste on your finger things, I walk out to see him pulling on a t-shirt and a pair of sweats. Sadly, they’re not gray.
I could ghost myself and throw on some clothes, but I want to wear something of his. Something to remind myself of what it feels like to officially reclaim the last of my guys. Call me sentimental...or maybe territorial is more accurate? I mean, pissing on him to mark my territory might be a mood killer.
“Can I borrow a pair of boxers and a shirt?”
His eyebrow raises, but he walks into his massive closet without question. While he’s gone, I take a moment to finally scope out his room since I wasn’t thinking about it last night. It’s all clean lines with a modern feel. Tones of gray and slate blue artfully arranged with throw pillows and modern wall art. It’s clean, simple, but comforting and a bit edgy, which is just like my snarky empath.
“Did you have the Gateway redecorate for you?” I ask, walking over to the wall of photos. There are quite a few of the guys together, a lot of the six of us, and a surprising number of just Knox and me. They span centuries. One photo catches my eye, and I feel tears forming. His big arms are wrapped around me, his forehead against mine as we stand under the moonlight. Somehow, the Gateway caught an image that shows our auras brushing against each other, a core of pure yellow as our happiness shines through. The girl in the photo doesn’t look any different, her emotion matching my own at this moment, and I wonder if Knox looks at me with the same intensity he looked at her.
Big hands grab my hips and pull me back into him. “Yeah. And I asked if I could have some of the pictures from our lives before. Thought maybe they might spark a memory or something.”
I turn in his arms. “Did they?”
He shakes his head sadly, and all of a sudden, I’m on the verge of tears. Not pretty tears either, but the ugly kind that makes your nose red and causes snot to drip. Before I even know what’s happening, I’m a sobbing mess against his chest.
“Fate? What is it?” he asks, concerned.
“I...don’t…know.” Each pause is punctuated by sniffles, as if my tears are hiccuping. God, this is horrible. Ghost girls are not attractive when they cry.
“Shit! I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
Suddenly, my sobs are replaced by a completely irrational need to laugh. It starts as a giggle, but soon I’m bent over and full on hysterically laughing, tears once again streaming from my eyes for an entirely different reason.
“Okay. What the hell is going on? Your emotions are changing faster than I can register them.”
I straighten, which is a struggle because I’m laughing so hard my stomach muscles are complaining. I take a few steps away, trying to get a hold of myself. Slowly, the laughter dies, and I take deep breaths as I try to figure out what is happening.
“Are you good now?” he asks, walking up to me and grabbing my shoulders. The effect is immediate. Anger floods through me, and I need to punch something. I jerk out of his hold, walk straight up to the wall, and slam my fist into it.
“Fuck!” I shout, then immediately grab my hand. “Ouch! That hurt.”
“Seriously. What the fuck is going on, Fate?” he asks.
“I don’t know. It’s like my emotions are going haywire, and I have no control.”
His eyes widen, and he takes a step back. “Oh shit.”
“Oh shit, what?”
“My level up. I can influence the emotions of others. Somehow, I must be doing that, but I’m not trying to, I swear.”
“Is this what Mack meant when he told me to ask you about making Thad cry?”
“Yes. I accidentally discovered it after you and Cole finalized your last mark.” His hand comes up to push his hair out of his face and stays on the top of his head.
“Okay, we need to figure this out. Why is it just happening now, and what’s causing it? Throw me those clothes and let’s go find the guys.”
He walks over to the bed, picking up the shirt and boxers, and starts to walk toward me. Fear slithers through me, a cold sense of anticipation followed by an intense desire to run away.
“Whoa. Okay, maybe just…stay over there and toss them to me.”
He looks crestfallen as he does what I ask, and my heart clenches. “Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to fix this,” I reassure him as I quickly dress. “Come on, babe. Let’s go figure this out.”
We head toward the office, our usual meeting place, with Knox walking a couple feet away from me. The sudden distance after our newfound closeness last night is making me antsy, and I’m hit with the urge to throw myself in his arms despite the repercussions. The sounds of the other guys chatting hits our ears as we get closer, but the second we cross the threshold, all talking ceases and four sets of eyes turn to us. We stop in front of the fireplace, making sure to keep a few feet between our bodies, the space feeling like miles. The guys are watching, noting something is definitely not right.
“What’s the matter, babe? Did he have trouble getting you off?” Thad mocks.
“Shut the fuck up, man,” Knox snaps.
“Whoa! What’s up your ass, bro? Figured you’d be on cloud nine after a night with our girl.”
“Guys, we have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Cole asks.
“Knox’s power seems to be...malfunctioning.”
Mack sits forward in his chair. “Malfunctioning how?”
“If he gets too close to me, I get this rush of emotion. I cried, laughed, and punched a wall in rapid succession right before we came in here.”
Macklin jumps up, grabbing my hand and checking it over. He looks up at me quizzically. “Are you lying?”
“What? No. Knox saw it all.”
Macklin turns toward Knox. “Did she really experience all of that in your room?”
“She just fucking told you she did. I watched her sob, watched her bend over in riotous laughter, and then watched as she damn near put a hole in my wall. So yeah. She most certainly did.”
Mack’s brow furrows. “Maybe my power is malfunctioning too because it keeps insisting you two are lying.”
Cole stands and makes his way over to us. “Mack, what could cause something like this?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll need to do some research and see if I can figure it out.”
“Okay, let’s see if we can...” He trails off, his brows shooting up and then narrowing on my sexy nerd. “So you think I’m a cocky prick?”
It’s Macklin’s turn to look shocked. “I didn’t say that.”