Free Taydelaan by Rachel Clark Page A

of relief in his voice. “ She’s still sitting in your car out front of her apartment. Where are you? ”
    “ About fifty yards behind you. Wait for me. ”
    She parked directly behind David, and together they approached the car Kayla sat in. As they got closer, Jessica realized that despite the obvious tears rolling down Kayla’s face, she could no longer feel any of the woman’s emotions. She wasn’t even sensing the small connection they’d felt before.
    David realized about the same time and grabbed her hand as they approached Kayla together. Slowly, trying not to frighten their upset lover, Jessica pulled the car door open and crouched beside the vehicle so she could see Kayla’s face.
    “Honey,” she said softly, “we can explain.”
    “Really?” Kayla asked angrily. “You can explain. Explain what? David’s sudden withdrawal or that you have some sort of telepathic connection between the two of you?” Kayla looked angry enough to put her fist through a wall.
    “Both,” Jessica said feeling ashamed for not explaining sooner. She should’ve told Kayla about the telepathic mate link. She knew that. Despite the fact that she’d only been trying to protect the woman she loved, it had been wrong to not tell her.
    “Or maybe,” Kayla said, stepping out of the car. Jessica moved back to give her room. “Maybe you’d like to explain to me how fifteen minutes after David’s sudden attack,” she curled her fingers into quote marks as she spat the sarcastic words, “he was fine, and you looked well and truly fucked.”
    Shocked by Kayla’s vehemence, Jessica unconsciously took another step back. It wasn’t until David stepped around her that she realized she’d moved at all. Kayla seemed even angrier now.
    She planted both hands on her hips, looked them up and down, studying their shocked expressions.
    “You know what? Fuck it. I won’t be someone else’s plaything. Not again. You want to play kinky games, go find some other fool to use. I’m done.”
    She made to step around them, but David grabbed her arm, holding her tight, refusing to let her leave.
    “Let me go,” she ground out through clenched teeth.
    “Not until you listen,” David said quietly. Jessica could feel his desperation, but suddenly Kayla’s emotions hit her, full force. Anger, confusion, loss, and deep, deep pain assaulted Jessica’s empathic senses. Raw, unfettered emotion rolled off Kayla in waves, taking Jessica off guard. Her knees wobbled, and David steadied her with his other hand. He was staring at Kayla as if he’d never seen her before.
    “What the fuck?” Kayla said as her legs crumpled, and she lost consciousness.

Chapter Nine

    “ I felt her emotions almost as clearly as I feel yours .”
    “ Same here, but she’s not our Taydelaan. Why would the mate link kick in? ”
    “What’s a Taydelaan?” Kayla mumbled as she finally managed to open her eyes. God, it felt like she’d been hit by a truck. She struggled to sit up, but two sets of hands gently held her down.
    “You heard that?” David asked, sounding surprised.
    “Of course I heard it. You’re speaking loud enough to wake the neighbors.” She began to smile, and then memories of everything that had happened assailed her, and she frowned instead. Her head thumped with the mother of all headaches, so she ignored the impulse to brush away their hands and leap to her feet. She closed her eyes and groaned quietly instead.
    “What happened?”
    “You passed out,” Jessica said nervously.
    Anger curled in Kayla’s gut once more. They weren’t even answering her direct questions honestly. They knew she was asking about what happened before she passed out. She could feel their hesitation very clearly. “Why did you pull away?” she asked, trying to stop the tears from leaking under her lids. She could sense David’s deep distress and Jessica’s fear even with her eyes closed.
    She could even hear the jumbled thoughts going through both their