Her question was answered as they pulled up to a familiar rustic wooden cabin and the front door opened before she exited the car.
“This will be easier if I go in alone.” Claire opened the passenger door.
Tierra nodded. “I’ve got my senses on you. If something goes wrong, I’ll know, and we’ll be right there.”
“I’ve got Cheeto right here if you need him.” Moira petted the sweet, little pig sitting in her lap.
Claire gave them both a confident smile, though it was only surface-deep. If what Tierra said was true and things went awry, who knew what they’d find on the other side. She exhaled a breath. “Thanks.”
A swallow lodged in her throat as she advanced toward Dru’s home. The small, red ball in her pocket seemed like an inept defense against such a powerful man. Her strength was a shadow of what it used to be, and she’d had a difficult time controlling him when she’d been fully alive.
If it wasn’t for the incessant ache to reclaim her fire, she’d turn and leave.
No. That wasn’t true. The need to see him one more time, to know if there really had been something between was almost as strong as the need for her power. God help her.
Her boots clomped on the wooden stairs as she moved closer to the open door. She could see furnishings inside the house, but not him.
When she reached the doorway, she peered inside.
“I knew you’d come.”
His deep voice reached out from the darkness of the house, startling her. The same voice that had circled in her head the past few days now wrapped around her like lightning. Her body sang with the knowledge that her power was near. Even though she didn’t house it, she received a burst of energy.
She took a breath and stepped inside. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness.
He stood near the ashen fireplace, heat radiating from him like a furnace. He wore nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs, and she raked her gaze over him like a greedy whore. Images of him holding her, touching her, gripped her as though the experience had been real, and she thirsted for more.
She walked toward him, needing to be closer.
He watched her with dark eyes, his expression neutral, closed.
She wanted to reach out, to place her hands on his face. But it didn’t seem right. They were strangers. And yet, not.
“You knew I would come? Are you happy to see me?” Her sisters had tried to convince her he’d used her for his own gain, but she couldn’t dismiss the pounding in her heart that said otherwise.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
His reply was an arrow piercing her armor, stinging with its sharp point, but not enough for her to give up on him.
“I had to. I need what’s mine.”
He reached out to her then, drawing a roughened thumb down her cheek, sending a tremble racing through her. “If I give it to you, it will make us enemies again.” His voice seemed strained, almost breathless as though he struggled to maintain control.
“We’re not enemies now? My sisters disagree.” She touched his bicep, closing her eyes for a second as sweet heat saturated her. She sighed with contentment.
“Don’t do that.” He took a step back.
She left her hand where it was for a moment, hovering in the air, before she let it drop. “I can’t resist. You have a part of me that I can’t live without.” She advanced, placing her hands on his pecs, shivering as delicious heat filled her again.
“Stop, Claire,” he said, but he didn’t move away this time. “Think carefully about what you’re doing.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing. I just know I need this.” She pressed against him as power swirled through her veins in a dangerous rush.
This time, he shoved her away, anger pulsing at his temples and in his eyes. “You need to leave.”
A cold rush of emotion drenched her, bringing her back to reality. “I thought you said we could be friends. You told me if I gave my power to you, I could have my family and we’d be friends. But that was a lie, wasn’t it? You didn’t save me from my evil power that would destroy the world. You seduced me, took what was rightfully mine, and left me with this shell. Why? To make yourself more powerful?”
“Do I look more powerful?”
He looked like a god. “Please give me back what’s mine,” she said, trying a softer