Free Whispered Visions (Shifters & Seers Book 3) by Tammy Blackwell

her was secretly glad to finally have an opportunity to do something for the Alpha Pack other than sit around and be a reminder of the power it held. Since Scout and Liam took over her Sight wasn’t actually needed, especially with Talley around. “Princess Lizzie,” Layne would call her, mocking the way she had all the advantages of being a member of the elite group without putting in any effort or making any sacrifices.
    She was definitely making sacrifices now.
    “Fine,” she answered, standing. Layne hadn’t changed positions. He was still glowering over her, and since he was standing too close in the first place, there was now a mere inch between their bodies. With anyone else, it would have been enough space. Not with Layne. The world tilted as she was flooded with emotions. They washed over her, a deluge of grief, guilt, longing, and fear. It rocked her to her core, yet no one would ever know it by watching. These emotions, this turmoil, was like an old friend. She could weather its attack without batting an eyelash because she knew what was coming. No matter the day, year, or situation, the chaos of Layne’s emotions was a constant.
    “You’re going to have to step back if you expect me to do anything other than stand here and look pretty,” Lizzie said, her voice a perfect balance of bored and annoyed.
    Layne stood his ground for several heartbeats out of principle before finally stepping back. Once he was out of her space, she turned and slowly lifted the bottom of her shirt. Another Shifter would have probably just yanked the thing over their head and been done with it, but Lizzie wasn’t as comfortable with being undressed as her pack mates. Instead, she lifted the shirt to the edge of her bra and held it there. The sound of Layne’s quickly indrawn breath seemed loud in the quiet room.
    “Where does it hurt?” he asked.
    “My side. My back.” My front. My lungs. My spine. You know, everywhere.
    He stepped towards her again, and she could feel the heat of his body on her bare skin.
    “I need to…” He trailed off, unable to ask permission for the one thing she rarely allowed anyone for any reason. There was no need for him to touch her. Even if her ribs were broken, there wasn’t anything either of them could do about it.
    “Go ahead.”
    Where the hell had those words come from? It wasn’t what she had intended on saying, but there was no taking them back now.
    It felt like hours went by as she stood there, exposed, waiting for him to do something. Anything. And then his hand was on her side as his thumb gently smoothed down her back.
    “I’m sorry,” he said, his honest regret chiming louder than his words in her head.
    She should have told him it was okay, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t the amplification of the noise coming from him causing her to shake so hard her vision wobbled. She was prepared for that. What she wasn’t prepared for, what she didn’t know she would need to prepare for, was the feel of his hands on her skin. It wasn’t a sexual touch - he was checking to see if under an expanse of ugly bruises was a broken bone - but her body didn’t seem to know that. As his fingers slid around towards her sternum her breasts got the ridiculous idea that they were his destination and started tingling with excitement.
    Bad. Bad. Very Bad.
    “Okay, then,” Lizzie said, stumbling into a chair she was so anxious to get away. She jerked her shirt back down and crossed her arms over her traitorous chest. “Satisfied?”
    Wrong word choice. Very wrong. Because it was Layne, and it was her, and even with the six inches separating them she knew he was nowhere near satisfied and never would be.
    Damn. It.
    She knew what would happen. She knew how letting him so close would end, yet she let him touch her. Why was she so stupid? Was she a masochist or sadist? Which of them did her subconscious want to punish more?
    “I don’t think anything is broken,” Layne said, unconsciously