Free Linked by Hope Welsh Page B

Even those moronic Druids had not been able to vanquish
him. True, they had managed to imprison him for millennia, but that only gave
him more time to perfect his plans.
    He wanted more of a challenge,
demanded it. Maybe he could give the mortals a clue. He knew the woman had some
psychic abilities, paltry though they were. Perhaps a little message would help
them along. Then maybe, just maybe they would present more of a challenge and
become worthy of seeing his true power.

 
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    His being a shapeshifter didn’t
change much or her opinion of him. And making love with one? “I hadn’t really
thought about it,” she said with a grin.
    “Thought about what?” Cole asked.
    “You know, if you can’t remember
what you asked me not even a minute ago, maybe—”
    He shook his head. “That’s just
it, Lana—I didn’t ask it. I thought it.”
    The color drained from her
cheeks. “What?” Oh God, she’d read his mind? She’d never been able to do that
before. What the hell is happening to me? “You didn’t ask me?”
    He shook his head again. “I take
it nothing like this has happened before?” he asked carefully.
    Lana stood and paced, needing
time to think. She couldn’t read minds. That was ludicrous. He was playing some
kind of game with her. “You’re messing with my head,” she insisted.
    He sighed and walked to her. With
gentle hands, he turned her to face him. “I’m not. It’s okay, Lana. It just
means your powers are growing.”
    “I don’t want my powers to grow!
I don’t want any powers at all, damn it. It made my mother’s life miserable,”
she snapped. Oh God, what am I turning into?
    He gave her a little shake. “Just
stop it. There isn’t a damn thing wrong with you.”
    She pulled away from him and
stumbled back. “No. I don’t want this. Just take me home, Cole. I want to go
home.”
    He crossed his arms. “You’re not
going anywhere, Lana. You’re not safe there, and you know it.”
    “You can take me home or I can
call a cab. Either option is fine with me.”
    He walked toward her,
deliberately invading her space, and leaned in so his face was only an inch
from hers. “I said no.”
    Lana drew her arm to slap him,
only to have it caught in mid-air in an implacable grip. “Let me go.”
    “Settle down, you little
wildcat,” he said, his voice tinged with laughter. “Lord, lady, you’ve been
chased, seen me change into a tiger, had a wolf make a leap for you…that’s
before we get into the hell you experienced the last few months. And now you
want to fall apart? Just because you happened to read my thoughts?”
    “You don’t understand,” she said,
her voice weak as she slumped against the wall he’d backed her into.
    She watched his eyes soften.
“Then explain it to me, darlin’,” he said gently as he lifted his hand and
brushed it through her hair. “I promise it’ll be okay.”
    “My mom loved life, she really
did, but it wasn’t always easy,” she began. “She constantly saw the worst of
life, the worst disasters that could happen to people on any given day. I don’t
want to live like that. Don’t you see? I can’t handle that kind of life.”
    “Don’t do this to yourself. First
of all, you’re not seeing things. If you do, we’ll deal with it then. Right
now, all you’re doing is hearing thoughts. Thoughts, I might add, that were
directed at you. You’d probably suspected, at least a little bit, that you had
some of her gift, hadn’t you?”
    Damn him. Why did he have to
ferret out that insecurity? “Not really—I’ve just…sensed things. That’s all.”
    “Come on. Let’s sit down and
talk, Lana.” He took her hand, led her to the couch and pulled her down next to
him. “Remember at your apartment? You sensed the thoughts I projected to you?”
    “It’s not like I heard what you
were thinking. I just...felt your anxiety.”
    He shrugged. “Maybe I’m the only
one you can read. Did you think that? Maybe