JoshuasMistake (3 page)

“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.”

In a few moments linked with him she had seen way too much.
Yet he couldn’t help being relieved everything she’d gotten from him hadn’t
been dark. His body fought with good sense. Remembering how erotic it had been
to visit her mind, he couldn’t help wanting to explore that place again. He
backed away.

She watched him.

“Are you setting me up?” he asked.

“No. I don’t know why this is happening.”

“Someone wants to get rid of us. What’s your psi ranking,
Tessa?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Some people think a ranking over five is more danger than
benefit. Plus they wouldn’t have called me in for just anyone.”

“You think there’s a conspiracy. All three of the men on my
team were level six.”

“And you?”

“Seven.” She narrowed her eyes. “I heard a rumor you were
level eight or nine. Of course I never believed it. I met an eight once and he
was close to insanity just from the constant input. Everything I’ve ever heard
about you tells me you’re not insane. I would have felt any craziness when we
were linked. Your mind is focused, organized.”

He couldn’t help smiling. “It might be better if I didn’t
tell you.”

“Who else are you going to trust?”

She had a point. He trusted his brother and sister-in-law.
He could go to them, but he didn’t want to involve them just yet. Not until he
knew what was happening.

“You don’t trust me.” She looked out the window into the
dense trees. “Why should you. I let you mind-rape me less than an hour ago, but
why should that move me up on the great Joshua Lakeland’s list of the
trustworthy?”

Her anger was genuine. “The fact is you allowed me in and by
definition that means there was no rape. However, you’re right, I should give you
something in return for what can only be described as a valuable gift. Your
mind is quite beautiful.”

That piqued her interest. He could feel her curiosity
blooming as her eyebrows rose. She wanted to touch him. He sensed her hesitation
and he agreed she should keep her distance. “It’s a wise choice, beautiful. I’m
not safe for you.” He shook his head and put the car in reverse. “I have a
level ten psi ranking.”

“Ten.” The word came out on a breath. Her fear doubled. “Now
I wish we were talking about sex.”

Smiling, he ran his fingers down her cheek and brushed his
thumb over her bottom lip. Everything about her made him want to hold her,
comfort her and fuck her. He knew she could sense his attraction, but blocking
it would be a waste of energy he might need later. Besides, if he blocked her,
he would have a hard time sensing other dangers.

She was just as attracted to him. He could feel it and it
had kept him semi-hard since he’d first seen her in the beach house. Of course
he’d crave a woman people want dead. Why couldn’t he fall for a nice girl in a
coffee shop or in a bar, like normal guys?
Who the fuck are you kidding, Lakeland?

Tessa watched out the window as they drove through the
pinelands, into a suburban area and then into rolling countryside. “I didn’t
realize New Jersey was so pretty.”

“Yeah, most people only see the airport or the turnpike.
There’s a lot of good country in the Garden State.”

“It reminds me of where I grew up.”

“The Midwest somewhere?” he asked.

“Ohio.”

“Big city or a small town?”

“Small town.” She had no idea why she was answering so many
questions. He asked and she answered without even thinking of the consequences.
She must have lost her mind. Why did she trust him? This was one of the most
dangerous men in the world. He was even more unsafe than she had first imagined
and she was feeding him ammunition to use against her. Yet she had a sense he
wouldn’t.

He ran his knuckles down the side of her cheek. It was an
intimate touch. “What are you thinking?”

“Don’t you know?”

He pulled his hand away and she watched his frown deepen. “Just
because I could pry into your thoughts doesn’t mean I would without permission.”

“Sorry. I was thinking I shouldn’t trust you.”

“Yet I’m all you’ve got.”

“True.” She wished she could dispute him, but at the moment
she had no one she could trust. Joshua might not be the best choice, but he was
all she had. She remembered the way he had protected her while he’d been
probing her. He could have hurt her. The fact was, he could have killed her,
but he’d taken special care to keep her safe and sane while gathering the
information he’d been ordered to obtain.

The memory of his gentle mind slipping through hers should
have terrified her, but she found it arousing. In fact it had turned her on at
the time too. She wanted to deny it, pretend she’d hated having someone invade
her consciousness, but it hadn’t been an invasion. It had been an experience
and one she would never forget. He’d caressed her from the inside out and made
her consider things she’d always avoided.

Most telepathically talented people opened their minds
during sex. It allowed them to experience the pleasure from both their own and
their partner’s point of view. Tessa had always shied away from that type of
intimacy. It was too raw, too personal. Yet she yearned for exactly that type
of familiarity with a man she’d only met a couple of hours ago.

If he sensed what she was thinking about, he was gentleman
enough to keep it to himself. She blushed and focused her attention back to the
scenery as they turned off the road into a long, treed driveway.

At the end of the driveway she saw an old, white farmhouse. She
could just make out two people standing on the porch. As they drove closer she
noted the couple was older and the man had a shotgun in his hand. “Where are
we?”

“Somerset, New Jersey.”

“That’s not exactly the answer I was looking for.”

He smiled and pulled the car to a stop several feet away from
the house. Joshua opened his door and stepped out. Tessa watched from inside
the car as the older couple beamed at the sight of him. Then she got out of the
car.

He was hugging the old woman. She never would have believed
a man like Joshua Lakeland would have a soft spot for an old couple, but the
way he looked at these two changed her mind.

Tessa approached the porch.

The woman said, “Who’s your friend, Joshua?”

He turned halfway toward Tessa while still keeping his
attention focused on the couple. “Bill and Peggy Flack, this is Tessa Clark. We
work for the same organization.”

Bill shook her hand, frowning. “And you’re both in trouble,
if my instincts are right?”

Peggy was lean and muscular while Bill was stocky and
several inches shorter than his wife. They both looked to be past seventy yet
there was a kind of strength about the pair. Tessa liked them on sight.

“Sharp as ever, Bill. Are you sure you’re not a psi in your
own right?”

“Just good instincts.” Bill was still holding the shotgun
though he had it pointing toward the ground.

Peggy said, “You’d better come inside and tell us what this
is all about. I’ll put some coffee on.”

The house was cozy. A large kitchen dominated the front and
windows looked out toward the barn. Clean and functional, the kitchen hadn’t
been redecorated since the seventies. A small cottage sat off to the right of
the house. Horses grazed in large, fenced fields, and woods surrounded the
property. It was an idyllic setting.

Tessa sipped the strong, delicious coffee and listened in
surprise as Joshua told these two the entire story. He didn’t lie or hold any
information back.

When Joshua had finished his tale Bill stood up and buried
his heavily veined hands in his jeans pockets. “How can we help, Joshua? We’re
just two old people living out our life on a farm we should have sold years
ago. I want to help you, but what can we do?”

Joshua remained seated. “Bill, I hate to ask this of you. I’m
hoping the people chasing us will overlook this place. The people who knew
about my connection with you are either dead or in prison. I think it’s safe. We
need to figure out our next move and Tessa needs to rest. I didn’t want to go
to Kane and Lena. With the baby and one on the way…”

“Of course you’ll rest here, Joshua. You’re family to us. We’d
do anything for you. You know that. It’s only we wish we could do more,” Peggy
said. She went to the coffeepot and started refilling mugs as if the dark
liquid would fix the problems of the day.

Tessa felt the effect her words had on Joshua. His body
stiffened and then relaxed. Something about him frightened and intrigued her.
They had only been linked in the probe for a few minutes, but she still felt
somehow connected to this powerful man. She wasn’t trying to sense him but she
did. She knew he cared for these people and yet he was uncomfortable with their
obvious love for him.

His mind had been filled with terrors she wouldn’t soon
forget and yet he had been so tender when it came to her. He had protected her
and saved her at great risk to himself. Why? Who was Joshua Lakeland and what
did it have to do with her?

Joshua got up from the farm table. “I’ll be back in a little
while. Peggy, can you show Tessa where she can rest?”

Peggy smiled warmly. “Of course. You’ll be wanting a shower
too. If you give me those clothes I’ll get them in the washing machine and have
them clean when you wake up.”

“You’re very kind, Mrs. Flack.”

She waved a bony hand in dismissal. “You just call me Peggy.
Everyone does.”

Tessa had said all the right things to Peggy. She had been
polite and controlled her emotions. Inside she was just short of full-on panic.
He was leaving her. Who could blame him? Tessa didn’t want to alarm the Flacks
so she remained silent yet practically screamed in her mind,
“Where the hell
are you going? Are you leaving me here?”

Part of her wanted him to hear and another part of her
understood why he would want to get as far away from her as possible. Just
because she could feel his emotions didn’t mean he would sense hers. He was
undoubtedly very practiced at closing off his mind. If he was really a level
ten psychic, he would have to just to stay sane.

He’d likely get killed if he stayed with her. At least he’d
gotten her to a place where she could try to catch a few hours of sleep and
then she’d be on the run. Probably for the rest of her life, however long that
might be.

From the way his head spun around she might as well have
spoken out loud. His eyes widened and then he stalked toward her. He was
visceral and terrifying. His body language said he wanted her and he might take
her right there in the kitchen.

Tessa held her ground in the center of the old linoleum
floor. She didn’t know if she wanted to move closer or run away. Everything
about Joshua made her at once curious, aroused and afraid.

Bill cleared his throat and walked out the door with his
shotgun in his hand.

Peggy said, “Well, um…I’ll just wait for you in the next
room, Tessa dear.”

Joshua didn’t stop until he was standing with only a sliver
of light between them. She had to crane her neck to look up at him. His mouth
came within a centimeter of hers, but he never touched her.

“I’m not leaving you.”

Her heart pounded in her chest and her stomach clenched
painfully. “I can take care of myself.”

One side of his mouth lifted. His right hand came up and
calloused fingers slid across her cheekbone. He was powerful. He could kill
her. If his psi rating was true he could likely kill her without touching her,
but he could just as easily snap her neck. She could defend herself, but what
would be the point? This was Joshua Lakeland. Eventually he would win.

Those same fingers continued until they were threaded
through her hair and he forced her to look him in the eye. “I know you can,
Tessa. I’m not leaving because I don’t want to leave you. I can’t explain why,
but we’re in this together. You’re going to have to learn to trust me.”

She had to force air into her lungs. “I’ve already taken
several leaps of faith. You just said you were leaving. If you want to go, then
go.”

He shook his head but didn’t release her. “I’m going to get
rid of the car. I don’t want to get picked up by the local police because we
made a rookie mistake and kept a stolen car too long.”

“Oh.” She could feel her cheeks flushing.

His left hand came up and cupped her other cheek. He ran a
thumb along her bottom lip. She wanted to be impervious to his attention, but
her body trembled at his touch.

His mouth drew closer. His breath mingled with hers as her
lips separated partially in shock at what was about to happen and partially in
need of his kiss. Those deep-blue eyes locked with hers and she couldn’t blink
or look away. He scanned her face to her lips, closed his eyes and stepped
away.

Tessa’s instincts told her she should throw her arms around
his neck and take the kiss he’d nearly given. Her cautious nature kept her feet
planted in the spot on the linoleum.

Only the sound of heavy breathing filled the kitchen for
several ticks of the clock.

“I’ll be back in a little while. You’d better get some rest.”
Joshua walked out the kitchen door into the yard.

* * * * *

After the events of the past few days Tessa wouldn’t have
been surprised if finally closing her eyes left her riddled with nightmares.
She’d certainly had her fair share after the attack and the death of her team.
However, her dreams in the back bedroom were of a decidedly more erotic nature.
The central character in every vision was Joshua Lakeland.

She didn’t know how long she’d slept when she felt as much
as heard Joshua come into the room. His body weighed down the bed and he curled
behind her, though on top of the covers.

She should have been offended about him getting in the same
bed with her. She’d only met him a few hours earlier. Yet it would have been a
lie. She was charmed by the notion he’d kept the blankets between them and
comforted by his strong arm wrapping around her waist.

“How do you know these people?”

The sun had gone down and though it was probably still early
the room was cast in total darkness. His whispered tone created an intimate
cocoon for them to share. “My brother Kane married a woman named Lena. These
are close friends of Lena’s family. They helped Kane and Lena escape a
mercenary attack last year and I protected them and Lena’s grandmother, Rose.
They are very dear to me.”

“Aren’t we putting them in danger by coming here?”

“I don’t see how anyone could have tracked us here. No one
in the agency knows about the Flacks or my relationship with them.”

“Where do we go from here?” His body fit behind hers as if
they were two pieces of a puzzle coming together. She wanted to snuggle in
closer but didn’t dare.

He pulled her tighter to his chest. “Sleep, Tessa. We’ll
leave at first light. I know another place and we can get some agents to help
us.”

“Agents? Psi Agents? How can we trust anyone with the
agency?”

The pressure of his lips touching the crown of her head
silenced her with a series of shivers that vibrated down her body. “Sleep.”

The command worked as if it were a drug and she felt her
lids closing with exhaustion. She’d had very little rest over the last month
and when she did those few hours were riddled with horrifying nightmares.

Joshua’s presence blanketed her in peace while sleep claimed
her.

As soon as she was asleep her mind opened to him. Was it
intentional? Did she know what she was doing?

“Tessa?”

“Joshua.”

Her voice floated through his mind and he closed his eyes
and allowed her to draw him in.

He was again struck by the way light consumed darkness
inside Tessa’s aura. A kind of lightness filled him. She led him through a maze
of experiences to the spot he’d seen for just a moment during the probe. This
was where her fantasies lived.

His body tightened. “Are you sure about this?”

There was no answer only the opening of a passage. An
enormous field lay between them and she was gloriously naked. Her firm breasts
and taut nipples made his fingers ache to touch her. As he walked closer he
noted he too was naked and uncomfortably hard.

“What are we doing, Tessa?”

“Didn’t you want to see my fantasies? I had the
impression you did. I don’t usually share this. If you’re not interested you
should tell me now.”

“I’m more than interested and not just here in your mind,
beautiful. I want much more, but it doesn’t have to be now. You need to rest
and I can wait.”

Laughter chimed through his mind. “I’m asleep, Joshua. I’m
resting.”