Read Hurricane (Last Call #2) for Free Online

him.
    Bernie spun and fixed a hopeful look on
Ben.  “Please tell me his dick is going to fall off. 
You’d be doing the world a favor, because that is one bitter,
bitter man.”
    “ What, that?” Ben
snorted.  “That was just a little flash and light to make
him think I’d
cursed him. Maybe he’ll put a little bit of effort into his bedroom
games until he figures it out. “
    “ If he figures it out,” Bernie muttered.
    “ Exactly.” Benito nodded
toward the door. “Put a sign up that we’ll open again at sundown
tomorrow, and get some rest.  Oh, and Karl?”  He waited
until he had the electrician’s attention.  “I need you to look
at my private elevator.  It’s stuck somewhere between the
nineteenth and twentieth floors.”
    Karl inclined his head.  “I’ll get a
crew out here within the hour.”
    “ Good.  Tell them not
to come up to the penthouse.  I earned some sleep.” He grinned
at Bernie before turning to the door that led to the back
hallway.  “But if Robert shows back up here, feel free to beat
him within an inch of his life.  Just don’t actually kill
anyone on the property.”
    The empath yelled after
him.  ”And who’s going to drive me to the hospital after I pound on
Mr. Grumpy’s face, Ben?  You and Miss Hurricane?”
    “ Nope.  We’ll be
otherwise occupied.”  I
hope.

    Fiona tugged the pilfered T-shirt down a
little more and swore at the shards of porcelain in her
hands.  “Where the hell are the rest of you?”
    Finding the rest of the vase would require a
thorough search of the room, so she set the pieces aside and picked
up a ripped painting.  “Oh, crap.  Not the
Soutine.”  She ran her fingers lightly over the rift in the
canvas and closed her eyes.  Biting her lip, she concentrated
until she felt magic run through her and into the canvas, mending
the fibers and smoothing the oil back into place.
    The currents of magic in the room rippled,
her only warning before she heard Ben’s low voice a few feet behind
her.  “That’s amazing.”
    Her eyes shot open.  “It’s the only
thing I can do, really. Put things back together.”  Just
looking at him as he lounged inside the door made her heart
race.  “I couldn’t sleep, and I told you I’d fix it, so I
thought I’d get started.  I hope that’s okay.”
    He pushed off the wall and strode toward her
in a way that did nothing for her composure.  “Don’t belittle
that talent.  I have massive power at my fingertips, but I
never could do anything delicate with it.  All of the more
subtle spells in the building were cast by other people.”
    “ Mmm.”  She rose and
leaned the painting against the nightstand, then pulled at the hem
of the T-shirt she wore.  “He was here, wasn’t he?  I
thought I felt him.”  The dread had woken her from a sound
sleep and driven her from the bed, like the threads of a nightmare
she couldn’t quite remember.
    Ben folded his arms around her and pulled
her against his chest, into the warmth and safety of his
embrace.  “I told you from the start, sweetheart. Robert
Carmichael is no match for me.”
    It would be easy to melt into him, to ignore
reality.  “That isn’t --” She drew back and stared up at
him.  “I know what he must have said.  I heard the same
things from him when I left.”
    “ I’m not in the habit of
listening to anything that a man like Carmichael says.”  He
lifted a hand and rubbed his thumb along her jaw in a gesture that
was more tender than sexual.  “Besides, I’ve given him
something else to think about.”
    Fiona tried not to smile.  “You
didn’t.”
    “ Mmm, I sure the hell
did.”
    Her shoulders shook with laughter as she hid
her face against Ben’s chest. “Boils?  Chronic bad
breath?”
    “ Nothing so crude.” 
His fingers stroked through her hair softly.  “Let’s just say
I’ve given him good reason to pay more attention to whether or not
he’s treating his lady friends with the