hoodie and a ball cap, the sunlight had sapped much of his energy—too much to allow him to vapor to the island. Although exhausted, he needed to see to Mackenzie’s safety himself. Chuck had assured him she was fine, but that wasn’t enough. Knowing she was on the DB list, he couldn’t rest until he was with her.
He clung to the railing, stumbled down the stairs, but on the last step, he tripped and sprawled on the pathway. As if a flimsy curtain was lifted, the unyielding sun pelted his face and eyelids with searing heat. His sunglasses and cap were gone—lost in the fall. He crawled on his hands and knees, and somehow made it to the cabin before he collapsed.
Her scent filled his nostrils but he didn’t feel her presence inside. He didn’t need to search the rooms to know she wasn’t here. The entry mat just inside the door felt bristly against the back of his head. He focused inward, concentrated, and picked up her latent energy trail. She was somewhere nearby.
He pushed himself up and made his way to the windows. Thank God the automatic blinds had been deactivated. He didn’t know if he had the strength to find the switch if he had needed to open them.
He spotted her immediately, walking alone on the rocky beach, wearing some crazy red boots.
How could he have left her, like he had his parents, when he knew the danger she faced? What a goddamn fool not to admit to himself what she meant to him. To assume she’d be fine without him.
He watched as she pulled her hair forward and over one shoulder, then she stooped to turn over a rock. His heart slammed in his chest and his throat was thick and swollen as he remembered that afternoon in the cemetery. Her hair, her graceful movements, her long legs. She entranced him now just as she had then.
Mackenzie. My beautiful Mackenzie. She turned then, stared up at him. Of course she could feel him.
A hidden reserve of energy surged through his veins. He made it out the door and down the three steps to the beach. When he saw her running toward him as well, his heart surged. She wasn’t still angry with him for last night. It was a sheer miracle he didn’t fall backwards when she jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. He hadn’t realized how empty he had felt until he was holding her again. His knees gave way and they sank to the ground.
“I’m sorry I left you.”
His fingers gripped her hair and he pulled her lips to his. Greedily, he kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, her neck, her earlobes. He couldn’t get enough. Oh God, he needed to make love to her, to have nothing separating them but skin. Share energies and—
If it were dark, he’d take her right on the beach, like he had last night. How had he ever thought he could leave her?
I love you. The words, his words, tumbled unbidden in his thoughts.
“I love you, too,” she said huskily as she pulled back to look at him. Her hair cascaded around them, shielding them from the outside world. Her eyes were heavy with passion.
He hardly heard the dull roar of the waves or the seagulls screeching in the wind as he pushed himself up and swept her into his arms. Rejuvenated by her energies, he carried her back to the cabin.
Not stopping to close the blinds, he slammed the door shut with his foot. His boots pounded on the floor as he strode into the bedroom. All that mattered was what he was going to do to her in about ten seconds. He needed her in a way that defied all logic. Given how her nails dug into his shoulders and her heart banged in his head, she clearly felt the same. He didn’t need to get into her mind to know that—her body language didn’t need translating.
He tossed her on the bed, kicked off his boots, and unzipped his fly. It was the only undressing he did. She shimmied her jeans around her ankles and wrenched one leg free. He was on her in an instant. With an otherworldly cry he’d never uttered before, he plunged himself inside.
“DARLING, I WANT you to know that when you’re ready, if you ever are, I’m ready.” She could see the doubt in his eyes. He obviously didn’t think he was strong enough, but she knew