A Flare Of Sorrow

by Elodie Colt

  She squinted her eyes at me, a playful smile on her lips. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure I let you in.”

  I chuckled at getting the double meaning of my words. “Yes, and I won’t come out so quickly,” I jested, enjoying every second of this night. “What I meant is, you activated your ability. As soon as that happens, you’re cutting me off, if that makes sense. You’re pushing all your power into me and don’t allow me to give it back to you. It’s a one-way transfer. That’s why you might feel a little drained.”

  “So, when I tap into my ability while we touch, I can only feed you with my energy, but you can’t feed me with yours?”

  “Exactly.”

  “What if we both activate our ability?”

  “Then the one with more power wins, and you are stronger than me.”

  Haylie scoffed. “Are you kidding me? You are one of the strongest Fighters, and you’ve been in training since you were a teenager.”

  The way she looked at me in awe gave my ego a boost. “That might be true, but you’re still a Natural.”

  Her lips curled into a smile, the sight making me pine for kissing her, as usual. The fact that there was no need anymore to hold back while pretending she didn’t affect me placed a huge smile on my face.

  “Then show me how strong I made you…” she taunted.

  Her words made me hot all over again, and I reclaimed her mouth, now feeling energized enough to kiss her the entire night.

  When I opened my eyes, I noticed three things.

  One, it was still in the middle of the night. Two, the room I found myself in was unfamiliar because I was damn sure neither my nor Dylan’s or Lauren’s cabin had a poster of a Playmate with oversized tits clamped on the wall. And three, something hard was poking my cheek.

  Lifting my head, I noticed a piece of wood buried under my face. My brain took the fraction of a second before the events of the previous night came flooding back, along with the reason why the headboard above me was only bits and pieces. The memory plastered a stupid grin on my face.

  I would have been up for a second round last night, but Dylan had denied me my wish, afraid he’d hurt me with so much power surging through him. Instead, he’d kissed the hell out of me for another hour before going for a long run to get out the excessive energy.

  To be honest, I hadn’t expected him to return. An evil voice in my head had shouted at me not to hope for more than one night, and yet, Dylan lay next to me on his stomach, deeply asleep and displaying his gorgeous tattoos.

  My belly made crazy little flips when I thought back to how his strong back had felt under my hands, his toned chest pressed against my soft one. A sense of peace settled over me, the Connection still slightly buzzing underneath my skin. I felt strangely outbalanced, focused, and clear in my head.

  The thought of Dylan getting off on the Connection with other women turned the butterflies quickly to stinging wasps. I understood the need for intimacy between Roes, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept I might not be the only one in the picture when it came to Dylan Dwight. I knew he cared for me, maybe even had deeper feelings, but had we eliminated all the barriers standing between us? Did I still remind him of Jenna every time he looked at me? Did he still see Ricky every time I was close?

  I sat up carefully so as not to wake him, holding the blanket over my breasts. My dress lay discarded on the floor along with my underwear and Dylan’s clothes.

  God, what a beautiful night… Sex with Dylan had been a hundred times more amazing than I’d fantasized it to be. His eyes, hands, and lips had been everywhere, as if he couldn’t decide which part to devour first. And damn, it had felt like he’d been everywhere at once. I’d never felt anything like this with the Connection multiplying every touch tenfold. It had driven me crazy, had made me insatiable to the point my body had spiraled out of control and tapped into my ability on its own.

  I glanced again at the Fighter sprawled next to me, his head resting in the crook of his elbow and making his biceps bulge. Had I made a mistake? We were living under the same roof, and Dylan was my trainer. If this went down the wrong road, life here would get a million times more complicated.

  “You look like you’re debating bolting out that door any second,” a voice, gravelly from sleep, startled me. Dylan propped his head on his hand, amusement glinting in his eyes. The sight of his disheveled hair, one strand falling over his scarred eyebrow, and his broad chest on display made my heart go crazy.

  I didn’t know what to reply as an array of questions battled in my head. No words came from my mouth, anxious about how this would turn out.

  Dylan’s lips drooped at the corners, and his face fell at my silence. “Do you regret last night?”

  The vulnerability ringing in his voice took me off guard. “No, I don’t, but I… I mean, I don’t know if you… how we could still… how you want this to…” I trailed off as the grin on Dylan’s face reappeared at my poor attempt to express what was going on in my head.

  “Let’s start again, shall we?” He sat up, his palm cupping my cheek. I watched his eyes roam over my face and saw so many emotions crossing his features—awe, fascination, pain, fear. “Answer me one simple question. What do you want?”

  My lips opened, but the words stuck in my throat as I struggled with pouring my heart out in front of the man who held it in his bare hands, the only man with the power to squish it any second. Dylan bent his head a little, willing me to look at him.

  “The truth,” he added firmly.

  I didn’t know what to say. Actually, I knew exactly what to say, but it was so damn hard to gather the courage and tell him what I really felt. Averting my eyes, I stalled for time, but Dylan wouldn’t let me, grabbing my chin and forcing my eyes back to him.

  “No, no, no. Talk to me,” he begged.

  The air left my lungs all at once, knowing I couldn’t prolong it anymore, no matter the outcome, so I finally admitted, “I want us.” I paused, gauging his reaction, but his face gave nothing away. “I want the real thing. But I don’t know how you feel, not with how it started out for us in the beginning, and—”

  “Everything changed, Haylie,” he interrupted me with a shaking head. He looked down at where my hair fell over my forearms and brushed it softly away from my shoulder. He swallowed before our eyes reconnected, his gaze hard.

  “I’ve never committed myself to anyone.” I tried not to flinch at the flat tone he used and hoped that the raw pain slashing my heart wasn’t visible on the outside. “But I already committed myself to you.”

  He leaned in closer, and with those words, he reactivated my heart that had stopped beating for the endless second it took him to confess. “I feel at ease when you’re around. I love watching you… the way you talk, walk, smile, laugh, scowl, cry, fight. Whenever you’re near, I can’t look anywhere else. You are the brightest star in my universe.” He outlined my jaw with his thumb while my insides slowly melted. “I drown in your eyes every time you look at me. Your touch comforts me and ignites feelings I didn’t even know I had.” His finger found my lip. “I miss you when you’re not around, and hell…” A haunted look crossed his face. “…I swear I went crazy when they took you, not knowing where you were, not knowing if you were hurt, not knowing if you were still alive…” His voice broke at the last word, along with my breath.

  Without thinking, I grabbed his head and crushed his lips against mine, taking him off guard with my sudden assault.

  I pushed in an attempt to get him on his back, but Dylan quickly counteracted and pressed me down. With a swift yank, he discarded the blanket covering me, not allowing anything between us as he buried my body under his. His hands snatched out to grab mine and lifted them above my head, pinning them there.

  “This time, I’m the one in charge, gorgeous,” he cooed into my ear, giving my earlobe a sweet suck.

  His teasing made me eager to challenge him. “You’re sure about that?” I didn’t wait for an answer befor
e I honed in on my power and flipped us both over, Dylan landing with a surprised “Oomph” on his back and me straddling his hips.

  An excited glint shimmered in his appion eyes, and a cocky smile became visible on his face. Quickly sitting up, he shackled my wrists behind my back, immobilizing me. My heaving chest brushed against his as I watched the fire smoldering in his eyes, his hot breath fanning my collarbone.

  “I’m dead sure about that,” he deadpanned, making me pant in anticipation. His other hand trailed a path from my shin over my thigh until lightly brushing over my hot core causing me to exhale on a husky, little breath. “Your skin is so soft… It feels unreal,” Dylan muttered in awe as his eyes followed the movement, and I fought the urge to clamp my thighs together feeling way too exposed like that.

  “I don’t grow hair there anymore,” I whispered, a little embarrassed.

  “What?”

  Clearing my throat, I gave him an unsure smile. “Same here.” I freed one hand from Dylan’s grip, brushing it over one silky shin, and Dylan grazed his fingertips over the same path. “Seems to be one of the advantages of being a Natural.”

  Dylan took a few more seconds to explore this new revelation, activating the Connection with every touch until I thought I’d combust from the overloading emotions.

  “Perfection,” was all he said, but before his mouth could reclaim mine, a blaring sound howled through the hallways making me startle in his lap.

  “What’s that?”

  “Fuck,” Dylan cussed, switching from horny lover to focused Fighter in the blink of an eye.

  “What—”

  “Get up,” he snapped.

  By the time my brain processed the harsh order, Dylan was already hopping into his jeans. Quickly scrambling over the bed, I jumped into my underwear and snatched my dress, but his hand clamped around my wrist.

  “As much as I’d love to see you in that dress again, you’d better take this for now.” He roughly shoved his sweater over my head.

  “What’s going on?” I demanded, trying hard not to chicken out at noticing Dylan’s hard-set jaw.

  “We have company,” he replied, and I sensed he thought the same as I.

  Dorian was alive. And he had come for his revenge.

  I hurriedly stomped my feet into my boots, glad I’d held my ground when Lauren wanted to force high heels on me the night before. Dylan was already by the door, drool-worthy with his naked torso and boxers peeking through the waistband of his jeans. His eyes did a quick scan of my body clad in nothing more than boots and an oversized sweater that barely hid my cheeks.

  “Where the fuck is Dylan?” Chris’ voice came from the hallway.

  “And where the fuck is Haylie?” Sarah replied.

  Dylan, too, let the F-word slip under his breath, his eyes glued to my naked legs. “God, girl, you’re killing me with your outfits lately.”

  I scowled while forcing my wild hair into a bun. “It’s not like I have any other choice right now.”

  Chris and Sarah’s eyes widened when we joined them in the hallway. “Well, that explains things,” Chris muttered with a click of his tongue. At the same time, another door opened, and Cole and Cassie stepped out.

  “Nice,” Sarah commented on seeing Cassie wearing an oversized shirt, probably Cole’s. I did a double take. When had I missed something was going on between those two?

  “What’s going on?” Cole demanded as we strode in their direction.

  “Let’s find out,” Dylan replied, and we all hurried into the control room.

  All eyes bounced between Dylan and me, but Dylan remained unfazed walking in half naked. I, on the other hand, was glad the others found new targets to gawk at when Cassie and Cole trailed in behind me.

  “They’re coming,” Josh informed us, his voice firm. We walked over to the setup of monitors to see about twenty armed figures approaching the compound.

  “Dorian,” Cassie stated, a slight tremble of anger overlaying her voice.

  “How can you tell?” Lauren asked, leaning closer to the screens.

  “It’s him,” I confirmed. Even with the darkness outside, I’d know his features anywhere, along with the enormous thing he held in his hands.

  “Why does it not surprise me he brought that fucking gun with him?” Jimmy swore from behind me. My palms got sweaty thinking back to how Sarah and I had been running for our lives while Dorian had chased us with his weapon. It was the night Ricky gave his life for mine—a night I wouldn’t forget so fast.

  “Let’s get ready,” Cassie suggested, turning to a closet to fetch uniforms.

  “Do you have one for me, too?” I asked, refusing to fight in barely more than underwear.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Dylan’s warning tone reached my ears, and I gave him a perplexed look.

  “Uh… Getting dressed in something more practical?”

  With two long strides, Dylan was in front of me, his features stone-hard. “You’re not going out there,” he declared in a tone that dared me to object.

  I blinked at him, bewildered. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  Scoffing, I shook my head at him. “Are you kidding me? I won’t twirl my thumbs while you’re risking your lives.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” he replied, standing his ground.

  “I’ve become rather acquainted with ‘dangerous’ lately and handled it pretty well. I can help.” Dylan’s concern for me warmed my heart, but my feelings aside, I wouldn’t let him make my decisions for me.

  His anger slowly evaporated, and he took another step closer, dropping his voice so only I could hear him. “Haylie, please don’t do this to me. I already lost you more often than I can handle.” He rested his forehead on mine, closing his eyes while summoning strength.

  “Her life will always be in danger. She’s a Natural,” Cassie said from behind me before I could comfort him. Dylan averted his eyes, and my hand itched to soothe the furrow between his brows. “And not to forget, she’s also the most powerful Roe down here. If we want to win a fight against a horde of Hunters invading our compound, we’ll need all the help we can get.” With one swift movement, she cocked her gun to make her point.

  I hadn’t counted on Cassie supporting my opinion and mouthed a silent thank you in her direction.

  “I agree,” Lauren threw in from beside me, tightening her crossbow.

  “Of course, she’ll fight.” Sarah joined the group of united girls, handing me a uniform. “What else are you training her for every day?” Dylan groaned, finally admitting defeat.

  “I’ll be careful, I promise,” I tried to comfort him, but he didn’t seem to hear me. Instead, he grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the others, hustling me into a side room where the servers and technical equipment were stashed.

  Before I could ask what he was up to, his massive frame backed me up against the wall, leaving no room for escape. His lips descended upon mine, and his kiss was so hard and demanding, I gave off a garbled cry. The next second, I was straddling his hips, his belt buckle pressing against my lower parts. The Connection sensitized my power and willed it to the outside, ready to rush into Dylan.

  “No, let me,” he said in between kisses before something cut off the energy flow. I recalled what Dylan had told me about the Connection becoming a one-way road as soon as one of us activated their ability, and I knew that Dylan was using his to give me his power.

  His hands kneaded my ass before they vanished under my sweater, gripping my rib cage in an attempt to hold me close. Right then, I was a goner with Dylan’s tongue battling mine, his sinful body tensing under my touch, and the Connection multiplying the sensations.

  “Wait,” I somehow managed to say. “Save your strength. You’ll need it.”

  Dylan just grinned. “I’m still charged from last night.” His mouth claimed mine again, apparently not willing to let me go. Grabbing the hem of my sweater, he swiftly pulled it over my head.

  “Dylan, wh
at are you doing?” I huffed in a hopefully scolding voice, but it came out a little breathy.

  “You’re going to put on the uniform anyway, right?” He gave me a coy smile before his face grew serious. His grip on me tightened in a silent warning, and I yelped as his fingers dug into my skin, fingers I’d wanted to worship me for a long time. “Promise me you’ll be careful, okay? If you die, I’m going to kill you.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I know.” A quick last kiss, and he let me slide down, handing me the uniform.

  Taking care was an empty promise to make because let’s face it, in battle you tended to act rashly. Sometimes, you’re left with only milliseconds to make a choice, a choice that might decide between life and death. When staring death in the eye, rational decisions were a rarity.

  Just as I zipped the uniform up to my neck, and Dylan pulled his sweater over his head, the door banged open with Chris standing there, dumbstruck.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? Our compound is under attack, and you’re making out?”

  I ducked my head in embarrassment, but Dylan just clapped him on the shoulder in passing. “I waited for nearly half a year to get this girl. Cut me some slack.” His voice was nearly accusatory.

  Chris clamped his mouth shut whereas mine popped open at hearing Dylan’s blunt reply. Half a year? For real? Dammit, why had this man wasted so much time?

  I shook my head to clear it. I had more important matters to focus on, like killing Dorian and destroying his weapon for good.

  “Josh, Sarah, and Lisa, you’re going to stay here and have an eye on things,” Jimmy ordered as everyone got armed. Dylan handed me a gun, one I hoped I wouldn’t need.

  “Gabby should stay here, too,” Cassie suggested.

  “No. I won’t stand by and watch while my brother goes rogue,” Gabby interjected.

  “If my plan is going to work, you have to stay out of the picture.”

  “Which plan?”

  Cassie pressed her eyes shut and shifted to Gabby in response, causing everyone to gasp in surprise.

  “How did you do that so quickly?” Scott asked, scrutinizing every inch of her face.