Free Steam by Lynn Tyler

expected her to rage against her situation, or at least be a little resentful. “How come you’re not pissed about being here?” he blurted.
    Sunny shrugged. “I can’t really explain it. I’ve never really fit in before. I’ve always kind of felt restless, you know? I’ve always had these visions of fire I couldn’t explain. I actually spent time in a psychiatric hospital when they couldn’t figure out if I was a danger.”
    She fiddled with the hem of her shirt for a few seconds before looking up at him with a sheepish smile. “There’s something about being here that makes me feel at peace. And something about the people here, especially Matthew, that soothes me.”
    Jealousy hit Sloan so hard, he nearly stumbled. She found Matthew soothing? What was it about the little pup she found so comforting?
    Just as quickly, he pushed the thought aside. What did it matter to him if she found Matthew comforting? He had Dara’s memory to keep him company. Except, it had been getting harder and harder to remember how she had felt in his arms. He had to look at her photograph now if he wanted to remember her smile.
    He’d promised at their wedding to never love anyone else and it was an insult to her memory if he lusted after another woman.
    Except he knew Dara wouldn’t have wanted him to live out the rest of his very long life alone.
    “Which way do we go from here?” Sunny asked suddenly.
    He was really out of it this morning. They’d made it to the bottom of the stairs but he’d apparently stopped walking. “This way,” he said, pointing to the left. The tone of his voice came out a little sharper than he’d intended, and she shot him a weird look.
    He wasn’t exactly sure how to apologize for his abrupt change of attitude, or if he even wanted to. All he knew was there were two empty chairs at the dining table and she headed straight for the one next to Matthew.
    Which only left one chair vacant. And it happened to be right next to Sunny.
    He sighed and headed for the table, knowing if he attempted to skip breakfast again, Raven would probably tie him to the chair and force-feed him.
    Matthew looked over at him when Sloan collapsed in his chair. “Having a rough morning?” he asked.
    He resisted the urge to drop his face to his hands and grabbed a platter of bacon instead. How could he explain why his mood had gone from fantastic to shit in the matter of a few seconds?
    “Apparently, it’s a lack of coffee,” Sunny said with a grin.
    Why wasn’t she upset with him? Hell, she didn’t even look perturbed.
    Nonplussed, he reached toward the middle of the table for the pitcher of orange juice. Sunny, who had reached out at the same time, closed her hand on the handle of the pitcher at the exact second his did.
    The contact between them was electric. Literally. He vaguely remembered touching the end of a battery to his tongue once on a dare and the buzz and hum that had traveled through him. It felt like a line of cartoon sparks running up his arm. His dick stiffened in his pants and, amazingly, he realized he was only seconds away from coming.
    Almost instantly, the sensation changed. It was as if his magic had become magnetized, and it immediately reached for Sunny’s magic.
    He yanked his hand back, knocking the jug over and causing the bright orange juice to spread across the pristine white tablecloth.
    “What’s the matter?” Raven asked sharply.
    Sloan was about to say something sarcastic, or at least nasty, but one look at Sunny’s face told him she’d been as affected by their accidental touch. There was no way he could play this off as his usual morning attitude. “Our magics reacted when our hands brushed against each other’s,” he said gruffly.
    Raven nodded even as Sunny started rubbing her hand. “It’s okay,” the leader said to Sunny. “I’ve been told handler magic responds fairly strongly when it comes into contact with another handler’s.”
    Sloan would have left it there