answer. “I watched bruises pop out on your neck as you struggled to breathe, and
all I could do was sit there and pray. There’s not one damn thing I can do if something goes wrong when you’re under. You’re asking me to sit and watch you get hurt.”
A little piece of me melted under his surprising revelation, tempering my normal reaction to such a comment. “I’m asking you to trust me to know my limits.”
He cradled my chin, his thumb brushing back and forth. “Trusting you isn’t
hard. Letting you do it alone is.”
He let me go and I missed his touch. Maybe what started all those months ago wasn’t as far out of reach as I thought. The notion had no sooner cleared the
gate than I shoved it back.
Wrong time, wrong place.
“So don’t,” I said. “Let’s do what we did before. It puts you right there. If I
go too deep, I can use you as my way back.”
He grimaced. “Did I happen to mention slapping you when you’re out of it
just feels wrong?”
“If it’ll make you feel better, I promise to slap you back.”
My attempt to lessen his worry worked, and he chuckled. “Promise?”
I grinned. “Promise.”
CHAPTER 12
A fter a short discussion, we headed into the second bedroom. Since Ellery
had passed through it to get to the gun safe, it was our best starting point.
Once again, I found myself sitting on the edge of a bed with Kayden crouched in
front of me.
“Deja-vu,” I muttered under my breath.
Kayden flashed a grin before taking my hands in his. A tremor ran through
me and my stomach clenched so tight it hurt. As confident as I was about suggesting this to him, overcoming years’ worth of suppression wasn’t easy. Not
even with knowing how critical the reasons were.
Kayden watched me. “Ready?”
Blowing out a breath, I nodded, and then closed my eyes. This time, my
ability met me halfway, as if it was eager to be used. No trip to the brick wall necessary. Stunned at the strength of it, I worried that Kayden might actually have something to worry about.
“Steady.”
The sound of his voice settled me. The same bright connection we shared
earlier snapped into place with a suddenness that left me off balance. It made me
squirm to realize I was literally sharing my headspace with him. Here’s hoping
his reception was as cloudy as mine because I knew he was there, but that was
about it.
My eyes fluttered open and there was no time to brace before the memories
sucked me under. At first, they colored the room like a multi-layered tapestry of
vignettes, bits and pieces of Kelsey making her home, of guests visiting. Nothing involving me, thank God, because I had no idea how to handle seeing myself. It
wasn’t something I ever had to worry about, but with Kayden tagging along, anything was possible.
Relief hit when the sound of Kelsey’s faint laughter arrowed under still raw
wounds. At least the soundtrack still worked. I looked around and spotted Kelsey’s white-blonde hair strobing like a camera flash. Half-remembered
conversations swirled around me, tumbling into a wash of background noise, that let an occasional phrase through.
