The Sunstone Brooch : Time Travel Romance Katherine Logan (no david read aloud TXT) 📖

The red cloak clung to him, rippling over his muscles and genitals, and she couldn’t stop staring. When she finally took her eyes off him, she realized the red cloak was identical to the one Erik wore in her dreams. Was it Erik’s? And if so, that must be why he wasn’t wearing it when he fought the bear. But why give it to JC?

“JC,” Ensley said, as calmly as she could manage. “Did you see Erik after you left me? Is that how you got his cloak?”

JC glanced down at the fabric clinging to him as if static held it there. “I don’t know… I don’t remember…” And then his eyes glazed over, he convulsed, and his tortured screams echoed off the walls.

Ensley cringed. Never in her life had she heard anything so harrowing, so gut-wrenching. She’d been in the arena when cowboys were being trampled and gored by bulls, but they never sounded like JC’s agonized, enraged screams.

Elliott climbed to his feet, and David shot up off the floor. They both remained where they stood, watching JC, searching for an opening. When JC stopped screaming, he reached for Kenzie, catching her off guard. He yanked the gun out of her hand, pulled her close, and wrapped his arm around her neck.

“JC, drop the gun. Now!” Braham barked, pointing his weapon at JC.

“Yer fight’s with me, James Cullen. Let Kenzie go,” Elliott said.

JC looked over his shoulder, retaining his hold on Kenzie, did a quick sweep of the room with his gun arm outstretched. “My fight is with every fucking one of you.” His gravelly voice made him sound possessed.

Out of the corner of Ensley’s eye, she watched Charlotte, armed with a hypodermic syringe, tiptoe out of the room where she’d taken Remy. JC continued waving the gun. She snuck up behind him and jabbed the needle into his ass, pressed the plunger, and pulled it out—two seconds max.

Braham used his gun to signal to his wife to move out of the way. She backed up, but before she could get out of range, JC hooked his other arm around her neck while still gripping the gun.

“What the hell did you give me?” he snarled at her.

“A sedative,” Charlotte said in a smooth, calming, almost hypnotic voice. “You’ll start to feel sleepy very soon. Why don’t you give me the gun?”

“Hell, no! I need it to get out of here.”

“Where are you going?” Charlotte asked as if talking to a frightened child.

JC swayed and loosened his grip on her, but she didn’t move.

“I’ve…got…to find…Kristen,” he said.

“Did you see her recently?”

He nodded. “She…saved me.”

“She saved you before, didn’t she? When you were lost in the cave,” Charlotte said.

JC blinked. And blinked again, obviously struggling to keep his eyes open.

Ensley watched the tableau play out, and Kenzie impressed her as much as Charlotte. There was no fear in Kenzie’s eyes, only alertness and confidence. Kenzie knew she could take JC down but was waiting to see what he would do next. When he swayed again, she did just that, and JC sprawled on the concrete floor. If Ensley had blinked, she would have missed it.

David yanked the gun out of JC’s hand and shoved it in his waistband with the other Glock. “Good work. Ye okay?”

“Nobody’s gotten the drop on me before—ever,” Kenzie said, looking down at JC. “But I’m fine. I hope I didn’t hurt him.”

“He wouldn’t know if ye did.”

The sedative finally took effect, and JC’s eyes rolled back in his head while his ferocious smile faded. And the resemblance to his father was never more pronounced. He’d aged. Not by much, but he did look older. The changes were so subtle that if she hadn’t just spent days looking at him, she might not have noticed. And his hair was lightly salted at the temples.

Braham shoved his gun into his waistband before pulling Charlotte into a ferocious hug. “Don’t ever do anything like that again.”

She hugged him back. “I’ve known JC most of his life. He wouldn’t hurt me.”

“The James Cullen ye’ve known wouldn’t hurt ye, but this one isn’t himself.”

“I’m sorry I scared you. I won’t do it again.”

He kissed her. “Ye haven’t changed since the day I first laid eyes on ye in Chimborazo Hospital. Ye risked yer life then, and ye risked yer life today. And I doubt ye’ll do anything different tomorrow.”

“You know me well, don’t you, major?”

He patted her ass. “Damn right, I do, Cap’n Mallory.”

“I haven’t played the role of Cap’n Mallory since I rescued you from that Confederate hospital. One of the smartest things I’ve ever done.”

He kissed her again. “And not a day’s gone by that I don’t appreciate it.”

She tugged on her earlobe, drawing attention to the diamond stud earring. “And I like the way you show your appreciation.”

“Anything for my bride.”

“Then, will you put JC in the bed next to my exam room?” she asked. “As soon as I finish with Remy, I’ll examine him and do some blood work. But for now, restrain him. I don’t want him getting up and threatening anyone else.” She shot an intense look at Elliott. “What in God’s name happened to him?”

Completely out of character, Elliott looked ready to cry. But he straightened, took a breath, and released it slowly. “Members of the Illuminati captured him in Chicago and tortured him. Erik barely arrived in time to save his life.”

“He doesn’t have a mark on him,” David said. “Was it psychological torture?”

“They broke every bone in his body and skinned his arms…and…and…chest…” Elliott’s voice trailed off, and he looked pale and forlorn beneath the scruff, which was also out of character for the man who always appeared tanned, trim, and perfectly coiffed.

It was one of those brief moments when Ensley’s brain couldn’t wrap itself around what Elliott just said. She didn’t want to think about how horrible everything was now, and she wished, for just a brief second, that it was all a bad dream.

And then reality returned with