Dating Outside Your DNA (10 page)

"Ready?"

The other alternative would be to go back to her mother's artist

colony and help Anna run it. Anna was a friend of her mother's. A

little scatter-brained at times, but nice enough and her mother had

known her a long time. Was she ready to go back to being alone

even though she was surrounded by people? She'd hated being

alone.

"Lyraka?"

"I'm ready," she said, quickly making up her mind.

"Trust me to be your eyes."

He took her hand in his. Maybe it was because she had the

blindfold on, but she was more aware of how his hand felt, the

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calluses, but also the strength. And the heat. The heat was good.

They walked for what seemed forever. She could feel the trees  getting denser, the breeze not as strong. She began to worry. Really,  what did she know about Roan. She only had Joe's word that he was

a good man, an excellent trainer.

For that matter, how well did she really know Joe? He'd come  to the artist colony a few times a year. He'd lied about why he was  there. He wasn't artistic. He'd only wanted to observe Aasera. Roan  could be a mass murderer for all she knew.

Her heart began to pound. She drew in a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. If it came down to it, she could outrun Roan, and she could always blend in to her surrounding if she had to take cover. But she couldn't do any of that with this stupid blindfold on. But when she reached up, he caught her hand.

"We're almost there."

"Almost where?"

"To where we're going."

"Do you really expect me to blindly trust you?"

"Well, you are blindfolded so, yeah, I guess I do."

"I barely know  you."

"You don't have to know me that well, or anyone on the team

for that matter. You only need to trust us." He tugged on her hand to

stop her forward movement.

"Are we here?" she asked.

"We're here."

She reached up to remove the blindfold, but again, he stilled

her hand.

"No, not yet."

"This is ridiculous. I don't think it's a part of the training at all."

"Scared?"

"No."

"Liar," he whispered close to her ear. His warm breath tickled

her ear.

Oh, God, what if he planned to tie her up and strip  away her clothes. Her nipples tightened in anticipation. When had she gotten

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so pathetic?

"Step up," he told her.

She took a deep breath and raised her foot, setting it down on  what felt like a wooden step. She brought her other foot up. "What is  this?"

"Trust me."

She didn't want to trust him. He'd probably get her killed.

They climbed up and up. Her hands began to sweat. How high were they?

"This is as far as we go," he said.

They were on some kind of platform. He turned her in the direction they'd come up. Were they going down now? He kept his hands on her shoulders, nudging her backward.

"Right there. Don't move anymore. All I want you to do is open your arms wide."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Whatever. She opened her arms wide.

"Now fall backwards. "

Her breath caught in her throat. Was he serious? "I'm not going to fall backwards. That's crazy!"

"Trust me."

"No!" She jerked the blindfold off at the same time he pushed.

She was falling! She was going to die!

She landed on what felt like a bed of  the softest feathers. The

blindfold still covered one of her eyes. She tugged it the rest of the  way off and looked up at him. He was only two feet above her. But  how?

She looked at what she'd just climbed and saw that it had all been an illusion to make  her think they were climbing higher than

what they had.

"That wasn't funny." She glared at him.

"It wasn't supposed to be. This was a lesson in trust. You failed.

Before you can pass my training, you have to learn to trust me."

She wasn't sure she could .

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He jumped down, landing just to the side of the air bag, then reached out his hand toward her. "Come on, let's go eat."

She hesitated, then took his hand and let him help her to her feet before they started the trek back to the Jeep.

He'd cheated with this obstacle. It hadn't even been a real

challenge. Something he'd probably created in his own mind to

torture his students. It hadn't been fair to make her think she was

falling to her death.

It wasn't as though she didn't get the concept of trusting h er

team. She did. She just didn't think it had to be carried to this

extreme.

She glanced up the side of the mountain, saw the cable they'd come down on, but nothing else. Good Lord, how far away was the

Jeep? Her legs were burning from everything Roan had put her through today. He traipsed up the side of the mountain with little effort, but then, he hadn't run any of the course. She was the one who'd been working her ass off most of the day.

He looked over his shoulder and she quickly made her expression neutral. She wasn't about to let him know just how exhausted she really was.

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing. Just making sure you were keeping up. I imagine you're pretty tired right now."

"Nope, not a bit."

"Good. After we eat and let our food settle, we still have more

obstacles."

"You've got to be kidding."

"Did you say something?" he asked.

"I said that I felt like a kid again. I'm looking forward to it," she  lied. Oh, God, she was so
 
not
 
looking forward to it. She longed for the days when she could slip into the woods that bordered her mother's  colony and blend in with her surroundings. She even missed the lazy  days of meditating. Not that she was very good at it. Her mother had  tried to teach her but she could never sit still lo ng enough, could

never completely empty her mind.

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Especially now that she knew about sex. She really needed to get laid.

She glared at Roan's back. He certainly wasn't making things easier. She wouldn't give Roan the satisfaction of letting him see she was tired, or that her muscles screamed in pain. Not even if it killed her.

Well, maybe she wouldn't go that far. She'd only hope he stopped before she got to the point of keeling over dead.

They finally made it back to where they'd started. She stopped and looked behind her. It really was fantastic scenery. She inhaled the scent of pine that clung to the air.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

She looked at him. In this, they totally agreed. "I love the woods. The trees, the animals...everything."

"I have a cabin up in the mountains where I stay when I want to get away from everything. When it snows, and there's a fire in the hearth, it feels as though I'm the only one on Earth."

She knew the feeling. That's how she felt when she walked in the woods. Somehow, that made her feel as though they shared a

secret.

That wasn't good.

Before she could let herself dwell on her thoughts for very long,  Roan broke the spell. He turned and walked the short distance to the  Jeep, then pulled out a picnic basket.

For some strange reason she had never pictured him as someone who would carry a picnic basket. He was rugged, with hard muscles. He was strong and...and...manly.

"What? Does the picnic basket not fit in with your image of me?" he asked, correctly reading her thoughts.

"I haven't formed any kind of image of you." She shrugged.

He stopped next to her, a pained expression on his face. "You mean you haven't pictured me naked? Or us together, lying in bed naked, my hands caressing your curves, my lips teasing one of your tight nipples? I had hoped for more fantasies from you." He turned and walked to a picnic table and set the basket on top.

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"I picture it now," she angrily muttered as a burning need turned  her belly into knots. "No, I didn't picture any of that," she call ed out in  a louder voice.

She stomped over to the basket, jerked out the tablecloth that  Frances had packed, and spread it out. Lyraka had a feeling this was going to be a long day if he kept talking about sex.

But damned if she didn't feel giddy with excitement. She didn't feel so alone anymore. Yeah, she felt alive. Really alive and it felt damned good.

She sat down on the bench opposite him. He looked up and grinned. She didn't care what he thought. She wasn't about to sit next to him.

He reached inside the basket and brought out two sandwiches, then studied them. "Looks like they're both ham." When he handed one to her, she noticed the ring on his finger. He'd been wearing it every day since she'd first met him. Joe wore one just like it. It was silver with a red lightning rod on the side and a diamond stone in the center. The diamond wasn't large, but slightly raised.

"What's with the ring? Some kind of fraternity?" she asked.

He removed the plastic wrap from his sandwich. She noticed his face was  a little red.

He shrugged. "It's kind of like a Super Bowl ring, but for agents.

No biggie."

"But not all the agents have one."

"You get it if you go above and beyond the call of duty."

"And you did." He didn't look as though he wanted to talk about

it, but she was curious.

"Yeah."

She took a bite of her sandwich, chewed slowly, then swallowed. "What exactly did you do?"

"You're not going to let this drop, are you?"

She shook her head.

He sighed. "The team was in trouble. We were on a mission."

"O n another planet?"

"Might as well have been. No, it was in L.A. We go anywhere

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we're needed. A gang had us pinned down. I unpinned us."

"Is that how you hurt your leg?"

"Yeah. I lived. So did everyone else."

"Can I see the ring?"

He slipped it off his finger and handed it to her. The  workmanship was beautiful. She ran her finger over the tip of the  diamond. "It looks smooth, but the edges on top are rough."

"If you think that's rough, you should see the mark it leaves on  someone's face. Not that I go  around hitting people. Unless of course  they need hitting."

She looked at him. "You are the best of the best, aren't you? I  mean, that's why Joe has you training me."

"I'm good at what I do." He cleared his throat. "Here, drink some  water."

And quit asking questions, is what he left unsaid. She probably should, too. He was starting to become a hero in her eyes and that wasn't good. Not one little bit.

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Chapter 8

L
yraka had died and gone straight to hell. It was her penance for wanting sex. Someone from above had heard her thoughts and decided to give her something else to think about.

It had worked, too. She no longer thought about jumping Roan's bones. Nope, that was probably the furthest thing from her mind right

now.

Oh, Lord, even her toenails ached. Her eyeballs ached. She closed her eyes and leaned back in the tub of bubbles. Her fingernails ached. The small mole on her right shoulder blade ached.

Her knees ached.

She sniffed.

Oh, no, she wasn't even going there. She was so not going to cry like a little baby. Yes, she hurt, but she'd made it through the day.  She had conquered every obstacle that Roan had thrown her way.

Well, except for the trust issue. She hadn't managed that one.  One out of a dozen or more wasn't bad.

She sank down a little more into the tub. God, she hurt so much. She sniffed again, and a tear slipped from her eye, making a trail down her cheek. She didn't bother to raise her hand and brush it away. She couldn't. She hurt too much.

There was a light tapping on the bathroom door. She opened one eye, and peered at the door. "Go away."

"I brought you a hot, soothing, cup of tea," Roan said. "I thought it might relax you. At supper, you were moving around like you were sore."