Part 11 (2/2)

She finally stopped at the base of the steps, but she didn't turn. When he tugged her around by the arm, she didn't meet his gaze. He cupped her chin and dragged her gaze to his. ”What happened back there, Talia?”

”I... I can't explain. Not to you. I hardly understand it myself.”

Leave her alone, you idiot.

And yet, for reasons he didn't quite understand, he couldn't do it. So he took her hand and turned back toward the pond, tugging her after him. ”Come on.”

She tugged back. ”Archer, really, I don't want-”He kept walking. ”I promise, total silence. Just take a walk.” He looked over at her. ”For once I'll play bodyguard without getting all snakey about it, okay?”

She didn't smile. If anything she seemed irritated. That was how he knew he'd said the right thing. The hollow, haunted look was gone. This was the Talia he'd come to know, all p.r.i.c.kly and edgy. He still didn't know what had happened, but somehow right then it didn't seem to matter. He'd find out in due time.

She managed to tug her hand free, but fell into step beside him.

He hid his smile and headed on down the path.

From above, Baleweg's eyes lit up as he watched the scene below from the

tower window. He let the curtain flicker shut.

Chapter 6.

Talia wouldn't call it a companionable silence- there was nothing truly companionable about Devin Archer-but he did remain mercifully quiet as they wandered down the path toward the pond. And while she was well aware of his big rangy body moving along beside her with that unlikely grace of his, her thoughts were a whirl that had little to do with him. At least directly.

Indirectly they had a h.e.l.l of a lot to do with him.

She still felt the need to hyperventilate over what had happened back there.

Baleweg had said she needed a strong emotion in order to connect. Her strong emotions for Archer were mostly along the lines of irritation. Mostly. She hadn't even planned on trying it, but then he was touching her, looking at her so intently, confusing her with the riot of emotions he was causing inside her.

When he'd leaned in to kiss her, it had seemed like the most natural thing in the world to reach out, to figure out what was going on, why he wanted her.

She hadn't even been aware of doing it really... until she'd connected. It had been like grabbing hold of a hot wire.The second shock had been her reaction. A definite feeling of joy. It was as if she'd known she could do this all along, but had merely been waiting for

someone to come along and teach her how to use it... and what to use it for.She still wasn't too sure about that last part. Certainly she wasn't meant to use it to... well, to intercept feelings like the kind he'd been feeling. She darted a look at him, then quickly looked back to the path in front of her. The last thing she wanted at that moment was to encourage interaction of any kind. She'd interacted quite enough, thanks. In fact, she should really be back in the house, in her room, thinking about all the ramifications of what had happened today. Not walking next to the man who had, just moments ago, been wanting... what he wanted. Namely her.

And there it was. That zing of awareness. A bang really. It happened every time she allowed herself to think about what he had wanted. What he made her want. And dear G.o.d, had he made her want.

It was all she could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other as her mind took the perfectly logical leap to what it would feel like to be connected that way while he made love to her. The very idea of him being inside her while- No, no, no. She shut that mental track down immediately. Just how in the h.e.l.l was she supposed to deal with the man now? The magnitude of what she'd done by intruding into his feelings, the potential future complications, started to settle in. Would she feel things every time she looked at him? Or only when she tried? And how could she do one and not the other? She hadn't even been trying the first time, not really.

Baleweg. Her step faltered as she wondered what he'd make of this new breakthrough. If she could call it that. As they walked on, she was finally able to move past the hot-wired s.e.xual element she'd initially tapped into and began to realize there had been something more there. It wasn't merely the s.e.xual current that had reached out to her, into her. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that while that had been the initial jolt -and one h.e.l.l of a jolt it had been-what had sent her stumbling away was that instant, that fraction of a second, when she'd reached beyond that surface level.

A s.h.i.+ver of dark, of cold, raced over her. Followed by a quick sensation of...of hollowness. Of... separateness. This she identified with as closely as anyone could. She'd felt it so many times in her life.

She risked another glance at him. Had it been more than their explosive s.e.xual awareness and her intensified awareness, having just come from exhaustive attempts with Baleweg? Was it something else? Was there something inside him that called to her? What had she been about to touch? To feel? To discover?

She pushed a wayward strand off her forehead, surrept.i.tiously rubbing at her temple. What had she done by allowing them to stay? By allowing Baleweg to fool with her mind? By allowing Archer to fool with... well, everything else? It was all too much.

”You know, this isn't a death march,” he said, amused.

She slowed, tried not to stiffen. Just hearing his voice right now was too much. ”You said you wouldn't talk.”He sighed, stopping. ”Yeah, I know, I just-would you just wait a minute?”She kept walking. If she were smart, she'd make an about-face and keep walking until she was back in the house, in her room, possibly under her bed or locked in her closet. She needed to search her thoughts, a.n.a.lyze them, categorize them, till she made some sense of what she'd allowed to happen to her... and what she was going to do about it now.

But turning around meant moving past him, possibly looking at him and-heaven forbid-touching him. Which was definitely not something she could deal with at the moment. So she kept walking.

She heard him jogging to catch up with her. ”What, can't take a hint?” she

muttered.

”I heard that.” He fell into place beside her again.

She stopped suddenly and turned to him as the solution came to her. He

managed to stop without slamming into her, but only barely.

”Why do you have to be here?”

He laughed in surprise. ”I beg your pardon?”

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