Page 6 of Joshua's Mistake
She ignored him and stared out the window. Tension crackled between them.
Obviously, she didn’t trust him enough to rest, so maybe some fact-finding was in order. “Your file says you’re telepathic as well as clairvoyant, Tessa.”
“Neither helped me in Afghanistan and neither did any of my other skills.”
“No. We’ll have to think about that. I assume your team members were all psi of some kind and none of them had warning of the attack either. It’s very strange to not sense your aggressors before they strike. In your memory, you gave no indication you felt anything before you were hit.” He touched the red scar marring the flesh of her left, upper arm.
“No. I didn’t sense anything. Actually, now that I think about it, that in itself is a bit strange. We were stationed on the north end of an army base. Usually I would have a flicker of human presence.”
“Maybe they have a blocker.” Not good news.
“I’ve never heard of a blocker.”
“It’s a pretty rare skill, but some people can block all psi waves. Usually it’s limited to a small area around the person and it can only be maintained for short periods of time.”
“Can you block?”
He hated the trepidation in her voice. “No.”
“I’ve heard all kinds of rumors about your abilities. Makes a girl wonder what’s true and what’s just rumor.”
He sighed. “I wish you were talking about sex.”
She coughed out a surprised laugh. “What?”
“A man’s ego could get a real boost if his sexual exploits were the thing of rumor and speculation.”
He could see her smile out of the corner of his eye. “Sorry. Though people do say you can shoot fire from your fingertips. Maybe you could twist that into a sexual connotation.”
She joked, but he still felt her curiosity about him piqued. He was flattered and concerned at the same time. He turned down a dirt road in the middle of a bunch of pine trees.
“What are you doing?” Fear bubbled under the calm surface of her words.
He could smell the terror at being alone with him. His gut twisted at what she thought of him. Remembering the way her mind was laced with light. He knew his mind was black with the things he’d done and seen. He also knew he wanted her and he didn’t deserve her.
The car rolled to a stop and he shifted it into park before leaning over the center console. Tessa backed away as far as she could get from him. “I want you to understand a few things about me. I’m dangerous. You might be better off on your own. I know you’re innocent of what they’re accusing, but that doesn’t mean I can stop whatever this game is we’re trapped in. Who I am changes the game. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
He gripped her chin with his fingers and made sure she was looking in his eyes.
“What did you see when we were linked, Tessa?”
She tried to shake her head, but he held her. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I saw death. I saw pain.” Her eyes closed and he released her. “I saw the people who you’ve killed and the agony their deaths have buried in you.”
Her eyes opened and he smiled sadly. “You have a gift for understatement, beautiful.”
Her eyes softened. “I saw other things too, Joshua.”
He ran his thumb over her lips. He couldn’t help his fascination with her pretty mouth. As if he were a fish on the line he leaned forward until he was kissing those supple lips. It was a whisper of a kiss. He watched as her eyes closed and she sighed against his mouth. It took every ounce of his strength to stay in control.
“What things?”
“Hope, focus and a kind of spirituality I wouldn’t have expected.”
