Touched by Corrine Jackson Read Free Book Online Page B

stepped back, yanking the boy and me to safety.
    The blond stumbled again—this time away from the fire—and leered at my chest. “Thanks,” he slurred. “I’m flattered, but I have a girlfriend.” Then, he shuffled off, yelling at a group of his equally drunk friends, “Shit, did you guys see that? The new chick wants me.”
    I stared after him, unsure if I should be pissed or amused. The idiot hadn’t even realized he’d been in danger. I turned to face Asher, but he didn’t look at me, his face impassive. Instead, he tucked his hands in his jacket pockets and stalked away, as if he hadn’t saved a seriously inebriated idiot—and myself—from third-degree burns.
    I stood frozen, stunned at the abrupt change in him. The party continued around me, and I wondered if he blamed me for bumping into the boy. The scene replayed in my head and an alarm went off. His bare hand had pushed away a burning log.
    My brain shut off, and I acted on instinct, running toward where I’d last seen him. The back of his navy blue peacoat disappeared as he rushed up the path toward the top of the cliff, and I worried I wouldn’t catch him if he entered the tree line.
    “Asher!”
    His body froze long enough for me to catch up with him at the edge of the woods. He didn’t turn around or take his hands out of his pockets, so I circled around until I could see his unfocused eyes. His tanned face had turned ashen with pain and shock.
    Yearning to help him, my hand automatically stretched to touch him. It hung in midair when he twisted his shoulders out of my reach. The waxy expression of pain dissolved into the fury I’d seen simmering below the surface every time we talked. “Don’t!”
    “I can help you.”
    Asher’s bleak eyes shut me out. “You can’t! Don’t you get it? I don’t think I could stop myself from hurting you, and I’m not sure why I should even care.” Every word was forced through gritted teeth.
    That he understood what I could do should have sent shivers of fear down my back, but it didn’t. Better yet, his words sounded like a threat. A threat that the blond bimbo always ignored before the killer chopped her to pieces in the woods. I shivered, wondering why the hell I didn’t run for the nearest crowd. The answer was easy. When it came to healing, I got by on pure intuition. Who to heal, how to heal: I didn’t ponder these questions when someone was hurt. Besides, I would turn and fight before I let some wimp stalk me through a forest in a mask. Eager to get this over with, I felt calmer than I’d ever been near Asher.
    My jaw set. “You were hurt saving that boy from the fire. Let me help you.”
    Raw, humorless laughter cut through the air. “Who will save you from me if I let you?”
    Without waiting for my answer, he stepped around me and off the path until his body was one more shadow among the trees.
    I plunged in after him. “Asher, stop!”
    “Go back, Remy!”
    In seconds, he would be out of my sight, and I wouldn’t be able to keep up. Maybe he would attack me. He’d done it twice already, and I had no idea what would happen if he lost control. I remembered how hungry his energy felt and knew he could hurt me. Had hurt me. I should let him go. He could go to a doctor, and we could pretend this had never happened. I could walk out of the forest with a clean conscience.
    But my feet wouldn’t take that first step to the beach. My instincts hadn’t let me down before. That didn’t mean I wanted to chase him through the woods. I dropped my mental barricade and a current of energy spiraled inside me. I sent it unwinding toward Asher and knew the instant he felt it. It was a repeat of the first time I dropped my defenses to scan him at the beach. A wave of my energy sparked something in him, and his body went rigid. I held my breath and waited for his attack. When it didn’t come, I moved to his side.
    Asher refused to look at me, and he shook. In a hoarse voice, he asked, “Remy,