Enlightened (Love and Light Series) by Melissa Lummis Read Free Book Online Page B

casually crossed her arms over her chest, but they would be getting a little show from the back side, too. She wasn’t wearing any underwear. Who slept in their underwear? Rachel trotted over to her, picking up Loti’s bag from the chair.
    “Why don’t you get into something warm, Loti? You’ll feel better.” Rachel pressed the bag into Loti’s arms and steered her toward the bathroom, walking behind her to block the view. “Help yourself to anything you need.” The bathroom door almost closed, then opened far enough for Rachel to tuck her head inside. Gesturing at her head, she whispered, “Brush your hair.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~
    Loti collapsed into the blue chair-and-a-half by the fireplace with a cup of Rachel’s herbal tea, a special blend that calmed and cleared. Loti’s head pounded and her mouth was dry as if she’d been on a drinking binge or taken one of David’s Vicodin, but she’d done neither, so what the heck?
    “Feeling any better?” Rachel asked, curling up on the brown couch on the other side of the glass coffee table. The vampire crossed an ankle over his knee and stretched his long arms along the back of the couch. His lips parted as he stared at Loti.
    “Better, yes,” she nodded, shifting in her seat. “But still strange. Maybe it’s just late, but I’m having a hard time clearing my head.”
    She peeked at Wolf’s high cheekbones and full lips as energy ants marched up her spine. Scratching her back against the chair like a bear with an itch, she studied his strong jaw and prominent nose in the flickering firelight. She was used to a certain amount of prickly sensations, but this was more, harsher and incessant. She gulped her tea. With a little curl to the corner of his mouth, he stared back. The soft lighting highlighted the small, crescent dimple in his cheek, but his eyes . . . they were so brown, almost black, that she couldn’t tell where the irises ended and the pupils began. She couldn’t look away from them; they went on forever and the ants trooped faster up her back.
     Rachel cleared her throat. “I guess I should officially introduce you two.”
    Loti startled.
    “Loti, this is Wolf,” Rachel said, setting her mug on the table. “And Wolf, this is Loti, my best friend.”
    “Nice to meet you.” Loti rubbed her eyes.
    “Same here.” He nodded, his smile captivating as he dropped his leg and leaned his elbows on his knees, hands dangling between them. His long hair slithered over his shoulders as he moved and energy slid up her back, hugging the nape of her neck. Her jaw unhinged as she got the firm impression that his smile, his movements, the vampire himself was causing the unnerving sensations.
    “What are you doing?” Loti’s cheeks flushed pink.
    He blinked, and the ants stomped up her spine, down her arms and legs, both cool and warm at the same time.
    “Hey!” She rubbed her arms. “Are you doing that?” Her voice was thick with uneasiness.
    “Wolf?” Rachel sat up a little straighter as she raised her voice. “Tell us what you’re doing.”
    He ignored her. Loti put down her mug and concentrated on Wolf and the buzzing in her spine and was struck by the change in his energy. His signature was still vampire, but now there was something else—witch? If she had to describe what she felt around witches, she’d say their energy was bigger, but since she couldn’t actually see it—more voltage would be more accurate. However, she suspected that wasn’t it. She’d come to believe over the years that witches, and healers too, were somehow more connected to the universal energy, so they felt like they had more power. Vampire energy was more defined, denser and closer to the body. Wolf had both, which didn’t make sense. Her skin crawled with energy everywhere, and Loti clapped her hands in rapid succession.
    “Okay, that’s enough. Tell me what you’re doing.” She battled the urge to wriggle in the chair as his eyes concentrated on her hers, and