“She’s generating a massive amount of energy, and she’s not tied to your reservoir yet. Take some from her if you can.”
“Yes…” I hissed as he leaned in, some of that too much-slash-not enough feeling settling as soon as his skin touched mine. The more his body pressed against me, the better I felt. So it was only natural to lean up, tug his head down and kiss him.
He made a small sound, almost like a child whimpering in their sleep as the connection was made. Boom! Whatever it was inside me that directed my camera rushed out towards him, needing more—more connection, more energy, more links, more power. Just more.
His lips were silk and steel, his tongue finding mine almost as easily as breathing. His hands went under my shirt as mine did his. Clothes were a barrier, an affront. I needed more.
“Stop.” The voice was a gentle feather of a suggestion, quickly brushed away. I tugged so hard on his shirt it began to rip. “Stop!”
I stood with my back against a wall of empty road cases, looking past Johnno’s shoulders at the stage beyond, with him jammed up against me, panting.
“You need to even her out, not push her higher. Will she let your bandmates take some of her energy?”
Aen’s voice was this clear, calm sound cutting through the maddening heat. I blinked and looked past them both.
The rest of The Changelings stood there, clustered tight as a group, watching the three of us burn. Because we did. All our skin glowed phosphorescent bright, a cold fire, and I wasn’t sure if it would burn me whole.
“She’s going nova,” Jen said, eyes wide, shouldering the others aside and taking a hold of my shoulders. “Ki, can you hear me?” I nodded. “You need to let some of this power out, give it to someone else. It happens to novitiates sometimes, because you don’t know what your magic is yet. I can take some, but it’s going to be weird.”
“Here,” Marlow said, his warm eyes swimming into view. Jen didn’t let me go, just held me as I moved into the other man’s arms, let my hands go to his face, our lips connecting on automatic. What burned inside me rushed into him, feeling like a bolt of white light. The world felt like it stopped for a moment, everything going completely still. The sounds of the crowd, Jen, the stage, the lighting, my camera—it was all gone, except for Marlow and me. All I could hear was the pleasure-pain of his moans, the rasp of his lips on mine, the feeling of his fingers raking over my back as he struggled to hold me closer.
“Get them apart before she burns him out completely.”
I blinked, the world reasserting itself with a violent snap. I growled as the band held my lover back, Marlow glowing like the sun. His eyes were like lasers, roaming the whole area aimlessly as he struggled to find his equilibrium.
“What the fuck are we gonna do?” Johnno said, appearing at my shoulder. “She’s so fucking sensitive, and she’s building power like a goddamn nuclear bomb. Someone could take her back to the bus.”
“That won’t make any difference,” Aen said. “Not unless you cancel the show. The energy here is pulling at her, and you’re about to push it a whole lot higher.”
“We’re not cancelling the fucking show,” Liam said, staring the others down when they looked on in fear. “This is exactly what we wanted. I fucking told you to tie her to us, Johnno.” He shook his head when no one responded and stepped closer to me. I could only stare at those burning blue eyes as they looked onto mine, unable to move when his hand cupped my cheek. And I didn’t want to. A small part of me deep down inside screamed about this, but right now, I could see. I had the power, and he was somewhere for it to go. He needed it, wanted it, and I wanted to give it to him. He smiled when I leaned in towards him, needing to make that connection. “You gonna give it up to me, butterfly?”
“You sure, Kira?” Jen asked. “It’d be the easiest place for it to go until we can get a feeder here.”
I nodded my head, but I wasn’t sure at what. It didn’t matter. I stepped in close to him to the sound of protests, but Liam didn’t care. He watched me come to him with the strangest expression on his face, and it took me until the next day to place it. There was a softness there.
But not when we kissed.
As soon as I was close enough, his arm wrapped around me, jerking me tight against him. He didn’t kiss me at first, just seeming to relish the feel of me against him. For a split second, I saw that triumphant smile that was all teeth before I tugged him closer.
My back landed on the wall behind us, and as my breath rushed out, it went into him and he swallowed it down hungrily. As he did everything. His hands shoved into my hair, holding me hard against him, his tongue pushing into my mouth.
His hunger awoke an answering one from me. I remembered some of it, as more of the power leaked out of me into him, the more I came back to myself. But right now, I didn’t fucking care. My fingers raked his back, slid up his shirt, and skated across a body turned to stone. I flipped us around, slamming him against the bricks, swallowing down his wild laugh as I kissed him again and again and again, until I finally pulled back, panting.
“I’ve got the taste of you now, butterfly,” he said. “How about draining some of that tasty damn power into Jakey?”
“You need to get a drainer in here right away!” Jen snapped. “You’re using this as an excuse.”
Liam clicked a finger at a passing employee and said, “Find the sentinels and ask them for the hungriest of drainers, now.” He turned to Jen as Jake sidled up. “She’s exactly what I thought she’d be, and until we can send her power to the reservoir, we’re the ones most likely to be able to drain it from her. I put her in our bus for a reason—this reason. Johnno doesn’t want to rush her? Well then, this is the only option. Billy, you’re up next.”
“The fuck I am,” he said, casting those hollow black eyes over me as Jake settled beside me, dropping a few kisses on my shoulder. “I’ll take everything she’s got to give tonight, but not before the show.”
“Billy.” Liam’s voice was pure menace.
“I can’t do it full. I cannot go out on that fucking stage and do what I have to full of her power. Afterwards.”
“Lucas.”
“No. Fuck no.”
“With us or against us, Lucas. What’s it gonna be?”
“Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain,” Jake said, tipping my chin up, his smile crooked and feline. “Knowing doesn’t help.”
“And what does?” I asked, not even understanding this weird arse conversation, but the words came anyway.
“Sensation.” His hands slid up my arms, trailing over so lightly, but I wanted his caress to deepen. Those long sensitive fingers brushed over my cheekbones, a thumb grazing my lips, his smile widening as they parted and my tongue flicked out. “Fuck, it feels like I been waiting forever for a taste of you.”
Jake started a lot slower and gentler, replacing his thumb with his mouth, leaving gentle little kisses that I struggled to meet, but he moved on before I could respond. It wasn’t until the fire inside me raged hotter, higher, that he stopped.
“There it is, all that lovely power. You ready to give it up to me?”