Out of This World

the ground and dove in like a man starved for a feast.

And in perhaps the best surprise of the day, I learned something new about Kellan McInty.

The guy could kiss.

I mean, seriously kiss. Unlike anyone in my past, which had always been a little like the story of the Three Bears-either too much or not enough-Kel had it down: a hungry pressure, an uncivilized connection and just the right amount of tongue.

And then my mild-mannered, easygoing Kel did something a little shocking. He bumped it up to the next level, sinking his fingers into my hair, gripping my head so that the angle suited him better, and took it deeper, pressing me back against the closest tree. Now I had the hard tree trunk against my spine and Kellan’s hard body against my front.

I’d been kissed plenty, but I had to admit, not as if nothing else mattered-not the lightning, not being lost in the woods, not a single thing…

Finally he lifted his head, his blue eyes so dark, they were nearly black. He stroked my lower lip with his thumb as he looked at me. “That was different for us.”

Before I could say a word in response, he kissed me again. And when I say kiss, I mean more like devour. As in no-holds-barred, destroy-any-lingering-thoughts, melt-all-the-bones-in-my- body devour. Seriously, I couldn’t have whispered my own name if my life had depended on it.

Then he upped the heat even more by pressing a thigh hard between mine, while still taking my mouth with a possessiveness I’d never ever have guessed he carried. He kissed me long and deep, and so thoroughly, I’d completely forgotten where we were by the time he lifted his head.

His mouth, wet from mine, curved wryly. “Yeah. Definitely different.”

I couldn’t tear my gaze from his lips, which I desperately wanted back on mine. “Very.”

From somewhere behind us came a thrashing sound, familiar now, so I didn’t leap out of my skin this time. And then two seconds later, Axel appeared, sticking his head through a bush. “Dudes, you gotta keep up.”

“Yeah,” Kellan said, holding my gaze, not to mention still having me pinned against the tree so that I could feel what the kiss had done to him. Yowza. “We’ll try to keep up.”

I might have spoken, but my body kept humming with an undeniable sexual tension. Plus there was that underlying headache from whatever had happened to me out here.

Oh, and let’s not forget my new superpowers.

Yeah, lots on my mind today, and I was quiet on the walk back. With Axel’s dubious tracking skills, it definitely took longer than it should have, but with my thoughts racing faster than the speed of light, it didn’t matter.

Unfortunately, out here in the Twilight Zone, day faded faster than a blink of an eye. No twilight, no dusk, just a disconcerting blink, and poof, daylight to nightfall with no warning at all.

Eeriest thing ever.

Well, except maybe for waking up on the ground with the ability to see through everything.

Luckily we had been within easy reach of the B &B when everything had happened. Unlike earlier though, the house wasn’t lit, but was dark as can be. Without meaning to, I focused, and saw right into the house, into the darkness, and saw nothing.

So why did the hairs rise on the back of my neck?

“Lost power,” Axel declared with a shrug that said it was no big deal. “Shit happens, right?”

I gulped. I hated the dark, had ever since I had gotten hooked on reading Stephen King novels in eighth grade. “Does it happen a lot?”

“Enough. No biggee.”

No biggee, the stoner said. Okay, then, I’d just relax.

Not.

Kellan pulled me aside and lifted my face, studying me for a long moment the best he could in the dark, letting me study him back, which wasn’t such a good idea, as I drowned myself in his eyes. “It’s going to be okay,” he said.

Again, I felt that melting sensation, as if he really could make it so.

“I have the flashlight, remember.” He flicked it on and handed it to me.

I silently blessed his mother and sisters for drilling the sweet, sensitive gene into him, because he knew I hated the dark.

“Thanks,” I whispered, my throat unexpectedly thick.

“You’re back to being very quiet,” he said. “Making me a little nervous.”

He should be more nervous about the fact that I now knew the answer to the age-old question, Shorts or briefs? But as he didn’t yet know my secret, he might not appreciate the fact that I found his plaid boxers both sexy and amusing. I did manage a little smile, but he didn’t catch it, his eyes holding mine captive.

“Everything’s not okay, is it?” he murmured.

And much as I wanted to pretend it was, or at least to make fun of his plaid boxers, I slowly shook my head.

“Let’s get inside,” he said. Then, so briefly I might have imagined it, he stroked my jaw. “Get you dry, hopefully fed with something other than that pasta sauce Marilee’s working on, because trust me, yeesh.” He paused, waiting for another smile, but I couldn’t muster one, not even for him.

“We’ll figure it all out from there,” he said very quietly, still holding onto me. “Okay?”

I’d always prided myself on my independence. Having him comfort me still felt foreign. So I have no idea why suddenly I wanted to put my head on his shoulder and cry.

Silly. I’d never lacked for much in my life-well, except money-but maybe, as I was discovering, having a bit more warm-and-fuzzy in my life wasn’t a bad thing.

“A few cookies, and I’ll be fine. Good as new,” I said.

“Atta girl.”

We entered the back door of the inn, clomping into the kitchen with our wet clothes. The room glowed from candles and the lit woodstove, each causing flickering shadows to dance in the dark corners.

I purposely didn’t look in the corners.

Marilee stood at the woodstove in black leggings, sheepskin boots and a long white sweater. Beneath she wore some damn expensive-looking lingerie, which I tried like hell not to notice.

She was stirring her large pot, frowning into it so fiercely, I wondered if she’d just taken a taste and discovered how bad it was.

She glanced up when we came in, her eyes widening at the sight of us drenched, probably still looking a little wigged out and, in some of our cases, still smoking. But her gaze kept returning to Kel-specifically, to his bare chest. “My God,” she murmured. “What happened?”

“Lightning,” I said.

In the dimly lit room, she exchanged a long look with Axel. “We don’t have lightning here,” she said.

“Yeah, so I’ve heard.” I’d just made up that incredible strobe of electricity. “You saw it, right?” I asked Kellan.

He nodded. “Saw it. Heard it.”

Axel opened a long, narrow closet and pulled out two sweatshirts. He handed one to me and one to Kellan.

“They got lost,” Axel told Marilee, and mimed the motion of smoking.

“We have not been smoking!” I said, exasperated, pulling on the borrowed gear, both relieved because Kel was now covered and Marilee could stop staring at him, and disappointed because that meant I had to stop staring, too. “And we did get lost.”

“The woods around here are tricky,” Marilee said. “They close in on you if you don’t know where you’re going. Next time, take a two-way radio with you. I can talk you in. I know this whole area like the back of my hand.”

“It was no problem,” Axel said. “Our faithful guide brought ’em back.”

Marilee looked confused. “Who?”

Axel frowned. “Me, of course. I’m the guide around here, not you.”