Zoe used her almost perfect recall. “Sexual attraction is at its fullest during the solstice when two from the same clan are well matched. In the rare case, two can be so well matched that their powers are permanently shared after coupling...” A light went on in her brain. “You think that you and I match? Are you nuts? Olivia told me you are chief or high lord or some such thing of the whole east coast.”
“I usually settle for clan leader.” He gave her a crooked grin. “As for the match, I feel it. You feel it. It is what it is.”
Nan’s voice from last night kept niggling at her conscience. “Uh-huh...”
“I did some studying of my own last night. That little black vortex you conjured, it’s not even supposed to exist.” He tilted his head and studied her. “Tell me, what’s your lineage?”
Zoe gazed out onto the greenish-blue ocean. A seagull screamed in the distance over the crashing of the waves.
“Honestly? I have no idea and I’m still not convinced you guys didn’t put something in my coffee last night.”
He chuckled. “C’mon now. Get real. Tell me. What do you know about your parents?”
“Nothing. I’m adopted. After my parents died last year, I found my birth certificate along with this old letter. I connected with Olivia. We figure she’s my second cousin.” She watched some kind of grasshopper jump off the dune grass and onto the bench. “I hadn’t heard of any of this until I came here.”
He reached for her hand and she pulled away before he touched her. She needed a clear head if she was going to understand any of this.
“What about your powers? Didn’t you suspect anything?”
“I’ve never had any…powers. I’ve never done anything like that tornado thingy before.”
He frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Nothing about any of this makes sense,” she snapped. She bit the inside of her cheek and sighed. “The book said you can only be from the Healer clan or the Warrior clan, but you can’t be both.”
The insect nodded his head in agreement. It took flight, landing by Jack’s sandal foot, which was so damn masculine. He moved closer and their little toes touched. She almost moaned. It wasn’t fair how much he affected her.
“You’re right,” Jack said, watching her with his sexy, lazy smile. “It’s impossible. Except I know what I feel. You have to be warring or I wouldn’t want you.” He looked off into the distance, then turned back to her, his brows drawn down. “What did the letter say? The one you found with your records.”
She shrugged. “It’s in Romanian, to my birth mother from her aunt. It was dated from when I was a baby. Said something about hiding me. Wind talent. I honestly thought my translation was off. Either that or my great-aunt was off her rocker. That’s all I’ve been able to find. Olivia agreed to help me look for more relatives online, but nothing so far.”
The grasshopper jumped again with wings outspread, and landed behind them in the dunes. The blue sky promised a perfect summer day. She guessed they both enjoyed the harmony of the crashing waves against the shore because the ensuing silence was comfortable.
“I think I may have created a dust devil thingy once before when I was very young. I wasn’t even sure, until yesterday, if my memories were real or a dream. It was like I was possessed or something.”
“What do you mean?” His unblinking stare was unnerving.
“I’m not sure. I heard a voice in my head and remembered things from before I was adopted. I was maybe three or four. Yesterday was the first time I've ever recalled anything of my birth parents.” She pulled her legs to her body when the breeze kicked up from the ocean and shivered.
“You’re wet and cold. We should head back.” He stood and held out his hand. “We can talk more, later.”
“Talk?” she raised an eyebrow and stared at his outstretched palm.
“Yes, just talk.” His voice was strained and tense. He dropped his hand. “Until you understand more about who you are, I promise–” He swallowed hard and grimaced. “No sex.”
“Why?” The question sounded far too much like a whine on her own lips.
“The solstice madness will affect me and you’ll have to fight me off to have sex. If you aren’t strong enough, I could hurt you, badly. You could do the same to me. You need enough training for us to be safe.”
Zoe shook her head, stood, and gave him a playful smile. “We could just wait five days and have normal, after-solstice sex.”
“I’ve already said the oath.” He moved towards her, slowly, like a predator intent on its prey. “We’re going to finish this during solstice. Neither one of us will be content with anything less.”
The dominance in his voice vibrated across her senses and she froze.
“Say you’ll train with me.” He trailed his knuckles down her cheek. The gold flecks in his light brown eyes seemed to flash with the heat that sparked between them. “Promise me.”
“I promise,” she whispered, but it came out more like a moan.
