Tame the Storm: 2 (Cinder Mated) by Ella Drake

or he can flash back at you. I told you exactly how to do it. Now get off the phone and do as you’re told. I’ll be there tonight, to finish it off.”
    “Finish it off? Tonight?”
    “You don’t need to know, Astrid.” He didn’t call her a pet name. No, sugar with a growl of sexual urgency.
    She shuddered.
    “Are you listening, Astrid?”
    “Yes.”
    “Is someone there? Why are you whispering?”
    “Nobody’s here.”
    “Don’t risk it. Get off the phone. I’ll get you and all the records they keep tonight. That was always the plan.”
    He hung up.
    She slipped the phone in her small clip-on holster and stared across the rolling lawn. She was no longer alone.
    A man stalked toward her.
    She took in a sharp breath. From around the side of the house, he prowled. Strong thighs covered in well-worn jeans. A tight gray shirt clung to wide shoulders, exposing strong biceps. Tanned everywhere. Windblown brown hair. Stormy brown eyes that trapped her.
    “What are you doing outside, sugar? And what are you doing with part of my cloud?”

Chapter Six
     
    “Part of your cloud?”
    Astrid’s confused expression eased the tightness in his shoulders. Her genuine puzzlement loosened the uncomfortable suspicion inside him. He laughed and her gaze dropped to his mouth.
    “Seems that the part of my storm that, let’s say, enjoyed you earlier today has decided to stay with you. Look up.”
    She did but not before he caught that blush stealing across her cheeks again. The woman was adorable. Above them, she’d see a small puffy cloud hanging in the air.
    “Why do you think it’s yours and if it is, why is it staying with me?” She continued to stare at the rebellious part of his powers that had deserted him to stay with her.
    “I know it’s mine. You’ll have to trust me on that one.” He chuckled. Now that she was near, he relaxed all the knots in his gut, his back, his shoulders. The remaining tension bled away. The anxious play of static over his skin soothed. “I think you know what it means.”
    “I don’t.” She jerked her attention back to him and her wide eyes were all he could see, until she chewed on that lip of hers and he wanted to put his mouth there.
    “If I even wanted to pull it back in, it could cause some damage. Tear into one of us. Kind of a defensive action. Once a part of my power has latched on, it’s best to let it play out. Otherwise I’ll lose all control of it.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “We’re connected. It happened when we—”
    “Impossible!” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Impossible as it seemed, she was even more adorable with a mad on.
    “It’s right up there. Proof.”
    “Is that how you killed that little girl in Florida? Lost control of your powers and let it look like a hurricane?”
    “What are you talking about?” The cloud above them darkened.
    “The little girl. Last year.” She cocked her head and the corners of her mouth turned down.
    “I haven’t lost control in quite some time.”
    Screams in the trenches, the tans of the American troop uniforms covered in blood, bodies flying through the air and the stench of the concentration camps flooding him, making him lose the twister that shot through the allies, his friends, and screams everywhere.
    “Griffin?”
    Grappling the memories, he blinked, sending those horrid visions back where they lurked, in his nightmares. He cleared his throat and wished he could rid himself of the taste in his mouth.
    “I haven’t been to Florida since the first shuttle launch. I couldn’t stay away that day. Wanted to be there to be sure the weather was perfect.”
    “Not since then?” She bit her lip again. “But I heard… My partner said…”
    “He’s not your partner,” he growled then took a deep breath. No need to frighten her. Before she could respond, he continued, “I haven’t lost control since WWII, and certainly didn’t go to Florida last year at all. I’ve been