Page 78 of Silver Claw

It was like the two wounds inside me had begun to heat and melt beneath Zach’s hands, and they drilled deep through my shoulder to reach each other. They joined, and when they did, I felt it.

I didn’t like it, but I trusted Zach. Even if he didn’t consciously know what he was doing or why, I trusted him. He wouldn’t do anything he thought might harm me.

The bites joined together and then they began to slide through me. Down my chest, my arms, my abdomen. Up my throat, into my face, my head.

Maybe they were being diluted. Maybe he would press them right on out of my body.

I heard a car arriving, and then the front door opened and footsteps headed toward the kitchen. No matter who it was, they knew someone was always in the kitchen.

Rick walked in and saw me sitting there with Zach massaging my shoulder, and he didn’t bat an eye. He poured himself a cup of coffee, then came to sit at the table.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

“I got bitten by a ghost last night. I think he’s…” I hesitated. “I’m not sure.”

I felt like someone had attached electrodes and was sending tiny shocks through my entire body. The zaps weren’t painful, but they were distracting.

“You look pale,” Rick said. “And your eyes are jumpy.” He frowned up at Zach. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

Zach didn’t answer. His focus was complete.

“Do you need me to stop him?” Rick asked.

“No,” I told him. “Do you want some late lunch?”

He shook his head. “I ate a couple hours ago.”

“Then just sit there and drink your coffee and let me look at you.”

Honestly, I hadn’t meant to say that last bit, but sometimes my mouth got away from me and caused all sorts of trouble.

Rick’s eyes twinkled, and he hid his smile behind his coffee cup.

And he sat there and let me look at him. It was a satisfying way to pass the time and did go a long way toward taking my mind off the strange zaps shooting through my body.

DidZach know what he was doing?

I really hoped so. I didn’t want any part of Frederick Axton inside me.

Rick was dressed in a suit, his badge clipped to his belt, his gun hidden beneath his jacket. He still looked a little tired, with the faintest dark smudges beneath his eyes. His dark hair had grown a little longer than usual, but it suited him.

He stretched his legs out and slid down a little in his seat, and as he watched me watching him, his eyes grew heavily lidded and the nearly always-present tension in his face slipped away.

Without thinking about it, I pushed my plate out of the way and moved my hand nearer him, palm up. He laced his fingers with mine, and we sat with that quiet, undeniable connection, with the heavy realization that things had changed between us.

He stroked my palm with his thumb and I shivered, licking away the sudden dryness of my lips. His stare fell to my mouth, and I was sure he was thinking about how I’d tasted. The same thing I was thinking about him.

My face heated. Actually, my entire body heated. The zaps Zach was creating inside me only added to a sexual tension that seemed to grow more intense every time we were together.

I wasn’t ready for it when the zaps became explosions, and I stiffened in my chair, crying out, jerking away from Zach’s hands.

Rick was on his feet immediately, grasping my shoulders and narrowing his eyes at Zach. I didn’t even remember standing.

“It’s okay,” Zach said, but his voice was thick and sounded nothing like him. “It’s okay now.”

I turned to face him. “What is, Zach? What did you do?”

He shook his head, rubbing his hands on his clothes. “I’m not exactly sure. I just…I knew I needed to do it.”