The Last of the Red Hot Vampires - By Katie MacAlister Page 0,29
had quite a pleasant time examining the mechanics of the kiss. It noted that once his lips softened against mine, my breath started coming in short little gasps that had me parting my own lips. It understood that the act of his hands, sweeping down my arms, around to my back, and finally down to my butt, where they pulled me up against his body, were responsible for a sensation that left me feeling as if my entire body was tingling. It noticed that when his tongue touched mine, my knees seemed to be unable to support my weight, and deep within me, sensitive areas started to throb with an almost primal need. It made no judgment when I started kissing him back, sliding my fingers through his hair as I twined my tongue around his. It didn't even care when people walking by us giggled at the sight we made, kissing like crazy on the sidewalk.
But when Theo managed to retrieve his tongue and lips from where I was nipping at them, the analytical part of my mind pointed out that I had just been necking with a man who only the day before had kidnapped and assaulted me.
Oddly enough, that seemed to fade into unimportance in the face of what must surely be the world's best kisser.
"Sweet mother earth," I swore when he stepped back, releasing me.
"Salus invenitur," he said at the same time, his black eyes mirroring my surprise.
"What was that?" I asked, ignoring the giggles of three teenaged girls as they skirted us.
"A kiss. I think." Theo looked just as disconcerted by the experience as I felt. His expression changed to one of annoyance, though. He looked upward for a moment, then frowned at me. "Stop that."
"I would like to point out that you are the one who kissed me, not vice versa."
He raised one ebony eyebrow. "Really? So that wasn't you trying to suck my tongue out of my head?"
"I kissed you back. I did not initiate the kiss. If your tongue gets sucked out of your head, it's no fault of mine," I said righteously, straightening my shoulders and ordering my knees to stop melting at the memory of the kiss.
Theo walked next to me as I continued up the hill toward the pub, taking my hand again in what was no doubt a precautionary move to keep me from bolting. The fact that escaping him had slid down my top ten lists of things to accomplish in the next half hour was neither here nor there. "I would like to think the responsibility and praise for a kiss lies with both participants, not just one. Will you please stop that? It is getting annoying."
"Stop what?"
He pointed overhead. "Stop raining on me."
Good gravy, the cloud hallucination was back, and it was following me!
I'm not ashamed to say that, for a moment, a wild irrational fear gripped me. "I'm not doing that!" I wailed, then shook my hand free of Theo's and raced up the hill to the safety of the pub.
"Portia - "
The damned cloud followed me the whole way, raining harder and harder with each step, so that when I arrived at the pub, my breath coming in big rasping gasps as I clutched the stitch in my side, I was soaked to the skin.
"Portia, stop!" Theo had been right beside me as I bolted, a look of concern on his face. "You can't outrun it. You have to make it stop."
I spun around, water flying from my sodden hair. "I cannot control the weather!" I yelled.
"Yes, you can." We stood outside the pub in the parking lot, which was thankfully unoccupied at that moment. Theo grasped my forearms and looked me deep in the eyes. "You have the Gift. You do not wish to acknowledge it, but you must in order to control it."
"It's impossible for a person - "
"Don't you have any faith in yourself?" he asked, shaking me slightly.
"Of course I have faith in myself!" My teeth started chattering with cold.
"Then prove it! Prove that no matter what situation you are in, you believe in yourself."
"This is asinine. I can't control the weather!" Overhead, my cloud rumbled ominously, the hairs on my arms standing on end with the feeling of static electricity.
"Yes, you can," Theo yelled over the noise. "You can make it stop, Portia! The power is yours. Will it to go away!"
Rain pelted down on us with such force that it stung my bare skin. I looked around