Street Game (GhostWalkers #8)(47)
Author: Christine Feehan

Mack held his breath. His mind expanded with hers, locked together in some weird way he didn’t understand, but she was taking him with her out over the sea, as if the two of them were soaring free above everything. It was beautiful. Mystical. Like another dimension or realm she’d tapped into, yet he knew they were firmly anchored in that room.

The water’s energy sparkled like diamonds and he felt the lick of flames along his skin. The cold rush turned hot so that his blood surged and ebbed in time to her heartbeat. He could almost feel her skin brushing along his, inflaming his senses until he felt her very breath.

A boat rose and fell with the waves and inside two men huddled against the biting cold, peering through the fog, cursing their luck of drawing a bad assignment. Neither was happy, both miserable and both a little angry.

Jaimie looked up at him. “They’re watching the wharf, not this building, Mack. I think your Doomsday unit is tracking the weapons and found they were off-loaded on this wharf. Javier spotted them. That’s what has captured his attention.”

“You’re sure?”

“I don’t feel hostile energy, more like misery. They don’t like their assignment.

And one is feeling queasy. That will get worse soon. Both are very focused on watching the area, but my guess is, they aren’t alone. They’ll have sent someone to watch the street.”

“Keep going. Spread out to find the others and our team.”

Jaimie glanced at his face and then away, as if the way he was looking at her made her shy. Maybe he was looking at her like a wolf might. He felt hungry, edgy, needy.

She touched her tongue to her bottom lip. “Ethan, Brian, and Jacob are playing cards in a small room just opposite the bank of windows facing the street. They’re on the second floor. Ethan is facing the window and he has a clear view of the street. Brian and Jacob are very competitive. Ethan’s seen something outside that’s caught his attention and doesn’t have his mind on the game.”

“How do you know that?”

“His energy is directed outside. Brian and Jacob both have their energy surrounding the table and toward each other.”

“Can you tell what they’re feeling?”

“Brian’s moody. It comes across very strong that he has someone he’s thinking about. A female. He’s not worried about her, exactly, but he misses her.”

Mack frowned. “How can you possibly know he’s thinking about a woman?”

Brian had never mentioned a woman to any of them.

The color crept up her neck. “There’s a thread of sex mixed in.”

“I want you to be certain.”

Jaimie sighed and rubbed her temples. Mack leaned closer to her, then realized he was trying to physically shield her and relaxed and allowed his energy to expand to enfold her. Now he felt her moving against him, mind to mind, sharing her world of energy. It was exhilarating and intimate, more intimate than anything he’d ever experienced with her. As if he was not only buried deep in her body, but also in her mind. Every part of his body recognized hers, as if they were part of each other.

Mack had no idea if Jaimie felt the same heightened pleasure or if it was just him, but her energy was all feminine and swirled through his own, so that the electricity rushing through his body was like flash lightning. He could taste her in his mouth.

She filled his lungs. Was that normal? He knew it wasn’t, but now that he’d experienced the joining of energies, he knew he would crave the feeling.

“He’s definitely thinking of a woman. Ethan is very distracted now. He’s moved to the window, and is looking toward the street, down the block where you believe the guns are stored. I’m picking up another energy in the room. Heavy guilt. Secretive, very furtive.”

She was frowning, her mind moving further away, yet taking Mack with her, so he could almost see the room, the table and cards, the filmy window and shadows moving along the walls. He couldn’t read the energy, but through her, he shared it. As it swirled around them, he began to feel the ravenous hunger, the way it subtly attacked Jaimie, seeping into her open mind and battering at her. Immediately he was able to shift, to block the energy’s backlash. She had no filters the way he did, nothing to protect her, yet he could do it, fitting with her, as if they were one person instead of two.

Mack shifted closer to her, trying to feel where the other energy was coming from.

He couldn’t tell. He felt it, although he never would have if she hadn’t caught it; it was further away and subtle. He was a little shocked that she’d picked it up at all.

“The new kid. The one with a chip on his shoulder. He’s sitting in a corner, back to the wall. He doesn’t want anyone coming up behind him to see what he’s doing.”

Mack went very still, alarm spreading through him. “What is he doing, Jaimie?”

He kept his voice low and easy, not wanting to chance bringing her back to the room with him.

She frowned and rubbed her temple again. He was there immediately, blocking the attacking energy, refusing to allow it into her brain. The flow came from all directions, tracing back on the route she’d used and stabbing at her brain with spikes, but he kept his own energy in place like a wall. The negative energy continued to circle Jaimie. He could feel it looking for a weak spot, an opening, wanting to rush in and strike.

“He’s on a computer. I feel the heat. The way he’s striking the keyboard, he’s upset, but trying to be quiet so Ethan doesn’t notice him.”

“Do you know who he’s writing to?”

“It doesn’t work that way. He doesn’t want to get caught. That’s all I’m picking up.”

Brian. I want you to get the kid’s computer. Confiscate that laptop and put him under guard until I give you the word to bring him here.

The energy in the room changed abruptly. Became aggressive. Hostile. The surge around Jaimie was shocking, actually battering at her. It was so unexpected, several spikes got through before he could thicken the shield around her. Jaimie gave a soft moan of distress and he almost pulled the plug on the experiment, but as he became more sensitive and aware, it enabled him to keep building the barrier protecting her.

“They have Paul. He’s angry and scared. Ethan didn’t even turn around, Mack.

He’s at the window. Do you want me to try to figure out what’s got him so upset?”

“If you’re up for it,” he hedged, wanting her to make the choice.