Page 63 of Remnants
He turns back to me. “Last lesson.” Jack holds up his hand. “Touch me.” I start reeling my gift in from one hand, and he shakes his head. “With your gift.”
Fear grips my chest. “What? No. Jack—”
Even Aiden steps forward, ready to jump in, but Jackson cuts him a look over his shoulder to stop him, then brings his gaze back to me. His eyes are locked on mine, a small, relaxed smile perched on his lips as he keeps his hand raised and waiting for mine.
“You won’t hurt me.”
I want to believe him. I do believe in him. But the risk…I can’t lose him if he’s wrong.
I hold my hand to my chest, shaking my head slowly. “…don’t ask me to do that, Jack,” I whisper. “If I fuck this up…”
Jackson doesn’t move. His gaze is so intense, so confident that I’ll do what he asked.
Fuck.
I stare at his hand.
At him.
I don’t know if I can bring myself to do it.
“You’re the master of your gift, little one. It’s yours. Not the other way around. Don’t treat it as separate from yourself.”
Isn’t it? Doesn’t it do what it wants sometimes? Spreading too far. Killing people when I didn’t mean to…
He cocks his head the slightest amount. “Are you naked right now?”
The strangeness of the question startles me out of my thoughts. I blink at him, confused. “No…” I reply slowly with the obvious answer.
“Is the floor crumbling to pieces beneath your feet?”
I look down, trying to figure out where he’s going with this, and see the reddish glow on my pants. On my boots.
My clothes. Shoes. The floor that I’m standing on. All of it is connected to my gift right now.
His smile is still there when I look back to him with that realization.
“Sometimes, the difference is simply intent.Yourwill, whether you’re aware of it or not.” Jackson turns his palm up, reminding me of my original instruction.
I look at my hand, at the reddish glow from my gift like a light beneath my skin spread to my fingertips.
I take a deep breath, though it does little to settle the fine tremble that’s taken over me.
And I place my hand on his.
The room is silent around us. No one breathes the moment we touch.
Jackson’s fingers wrap around the back of my hand, and he tugs me forward. His mouth crashes into mine, his other hand gripping the back of my head as panicscreamsthrough me, and I rush to gather and shove my gift away. His hand may be okay, but I amnotready to jump headfirst into testing everything at once.
His tongue pierces past my lips and buries deep as his other hand finds the small of my back and pulls me in tight. I sink into the kiss. Into him. My body buzzes with adrenaline, tingling and hot. Desire mixes with it in a fiery combination, pooling between my thighs as I press myself into Jackson as much as I can, my hands clawing at theback of his hoodie when it isn’t enough.
Hands tug me back at the same time as Jackson’s pulled away. I gasp at the loss, almost reaching for him when oxygen floods back into my lungs, and I remember where we are. Jack licks his lips; his blue eyes still pinned on me even though Dane and Aiden have grasped each of his arms. Kellan’s at my back, his body blocking mine from the rest of the room.
I stay there for a moment to catch my breath, panting like I’d forgotten to breathe in that kiss; it was so intense.
I touched him with my gift. And I didn’t kill him. My gaze drops to his hand. I didn’t hurt him. There’s nothing there.
Relief swells in my chest like a balloon…until it hits me.
