Splintered Energy (The Colors Book 1) by Arlene Webb Read Free Book Online Page B

with you?”
    “Yes. Teach Jade where water is. Please.”
    David grabbed the empty glass and ran into the connecting bathroom. She cast a hesitant look at Aaron and followed.
    Behind her, Aaron paused in the doorway. A sharp shudder ran through her before she inched toward her reflection. Her large eyes became enormous, filled with horror. A visible tremor in her hand, she touched her face in the glass.
    “Aaron, help?” She turned to him, pointed to her teeth, and gasped, “Take them away?”
    Dear God. “They can’t come out. They won’t hurt you.” He stepped to her, grabbed her limp hand, and raised her fingers to touch her mouth.
    She sobbed and wrenched free.
    Jesus. A ninety-pound cutie. But his wrist throbbed like a gorilla had yanked at him. She stared at her hand, her face twisted in the now familiar anxiety.
    “Aaron…Jade is here. Why?” She cringed from the mirror. Her head banged down on the black tiled counter, her thin shoulders heaved, and that soft sobbing began anew.
    “It’s getting weird again, Dad.”
    Understatement of the year. David needed super-dad to fix everything, even an angel disabled by fear. Teethphobia connected to albophobia? Weird wasn’t the word for it. Yet any excuse to hold her was sweet. Especially if he could make her forget about pulling teeth or ripping his arm off. Gently, Aaron guided her…Jade into his arms.
    “Shh. Nothing will harm you.” He jerked his chin at his son. “Get her a drink.”
    Even her tears, glittering their way down delicate cheeks, were green. Aaron raised her head, put the glass to her lips and smiled—with his mouth closed.
    She drank. Droplets spilled over her chin as she gave a hiccupping sob.
    “This is a shower.” David opened the glass door. “Water comes out, and you get cleaned.” Smart kid tried to distract her from the mirror.
    “A lot of water?” Her voice shook.
    David turned the shower on.
    Jade’s shivering stopped, and surprise lit her face as the air around her ignited. Emerald photons sparkled from a stirring fantasy being, a being unable to be contained by a mere human. And escape Aaron’s arms, she did.
    To his bemusement, the dress moved over her head in one fluid motion. Black panties and bra joined the pile of material on the floor, and she ran into the shower.
    “Dad, she’s naked,” David croaked.
    “Yep, I noticed.” Lord, how I notice .
    He glanced at his flushed son. Damn . He pushed the boy into the bedroom and angled the door. The kid couldn’t see around him, and no way would Aaron forgo another look.
    She’d left the shower door open, her eyes closed. Water splashed everywhere. Droplets slid over her upturned face and down. She was thin to the point of anorexic, yet that radiance emanated from her head to toe. Water reflected green, splattered off perky breasts, deeper emerald nipples and yes, if this forest nymph dyed hair she did everywhere. Jolts of desire shot through him. He forced himself to turn before his knees gave out.
    After a few minutes, Aaron turned to his son perched beside him on the bed, studiously avoiding eye contact.
    “Stop thinking about how pretty she is,” he muttered. “God, she’s gorgeous. And no, you can’t teach her anymore. I’m her exclusive instructor from now on.” He smacked the kid in the shoulder, and David sprawled backward.
    “Grow up, Dad.”
    “Will do, son. Hey. Go fetch some sort of food. We can’t bring her in the kitchen. The fridge might inspire things worse than tooth removal.” Aaron rubbed his wrist. “And, skip the spinach.”
    “Why don’t you go?”
    Further discussion? Nah. Brute force. His unhappy captive pressed into his side, Aaron shuffled David past the open doorway. “Think I’m leaving you alone with a naked goddess? Think again.”
    A sheepish glare, a sigh, and David bolted for the kitchen.
    Lovely. Beautiful. Surreal. Words failed to describe the being in Aaron’s shower. Of course, he’d have many hours in prison to