Page 7 of Training Rain
He nodded. “I won’t read your mind while you sleep. You have my word.”
She believed him. “I appreciate that.”
“Go to bed, Rain.”
Rain took the lantern and got ready for bed. She lay back in the small lumpy bed.Why did they have to send Jess?Of all the people who could have come to train her, why him? She’d never forget the day they’d gone to Las Vegas to defeat Troth Banta. The man was so evil even now her skin prickled to think of him.
Rain didn’t know the extent of Jess’sskills, but she suspected that had Banta succeeded in stealing his aura, the agency might not have won that battle.
Being able to block psychic waves had made her valuable to the plan. She had been too late for one man but had gotten there just in time to save Jess. She’d immediately set her healing powers to the task of mending his aura. That memory still haunted her nights.
She’d tried to banish what it had been like. The searing pain. The terror. It would not be put aside. Her body quaked six months later from the recollection. Seeing Jess again brought it all back in vivid detail.
Over an hour passed and the thoughts would not leave her. Wiping the moisture from her cheeks, she resigned herself to little sleep.
His tall, sinewy body was shadowed in the door frame. Rain gasped and clutched at the sheet and blanket as if they would protect her. Even in the dark with only the glow of the fireplace behind him, he was beautiful. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“What?” she asked.
“You’re freaking out and it’s keeping me awake. What could you possibly be that upset about? Is it because you shot me? Because if that’s it, I’m fine and I forgive you.” There was clearly a combination of anger and worry in his voice.
“You said you couldn’t read my mind. You lied.” She was at a disadvantage. Getting out of bed, she put her hands on her hips.
He took a step into the room. “No. I said it wasn’t my greatest psi ability. However, if the person in the next room is in a complete panic, I can sure as hell feel that. Now what’s wrong?”
“I don’t remember you and I being in each other’s confidence. I’m not required to tell you my innermost thoughts and feelings and I don’t believe you really care. You just want to get to sleep. So I will control my emotions and you can return to the couch.” Even as she said it, she wasn’t entirely sure she could do what she claimed. His presence had brought those memories to the forefront and he was very much still a factor.
He didn’t say a word for a long time. Then his voice was very soft when he did. “Come in the living room, Rain.”
She should have ignored the order. It was definitely a command. Even in that barely audible voice, it held grit and even though she wanted to tell him no and slam the door in his wake, she followed him out. Her only act of defiance was that he sat and she crossed her arms over her chest and glared down at him.
“Are you afraid of me?” he asked.
“No.” It was the truth.
“Then why am I in your thoughts as well as pain and fear?”
She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “That seems like a lot of information for someone who doesn’t have good telepathic abilities.”
“A psi child could read that. You were practically projecting your thoughts. So do you want to tell me what that was all about?” His southern lilt got stronger.
“I don’t really want to share that with you.”
“You’d probably feel better if you did. Maybe I can help.”
“Unless you can change the nature of my gifts, you can’t help.”
“I don’t understand.”
“No. You don’t. That’s because it’s none of your business.”
She watched as his chest rose and fell in the firelight. She blocked her mind from him since she was unable to look away from his beautiful body.
He leaned against the back of the couch. Relaxed as if he was a cat, but just like a cat he appeared ready to spring at the least provocation. “All right. Since you can’t sleep and you’re keeping me up, we’ll talk about something else. Why don’t you sit?”
She couldn’t argue with him. She was not going to sleep and once she tried to relax her mind would open and she would project her fears. She took a seat at the other end of the couch. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I’m glad you can at least block your mind. I know you can block other people.”
