Free ServingNicole by Marilyn Campbell Page B

they
were within twenty feet or so. But from him…nothing.
    A thought popped into her head. “Are you some sort of
hologram? A computer program? Is that how you changed your appearance and the
décor?”
    His chuckle was low, his grin infectious. “No, no and no.
I’m flesh and blood. Why don’t you come closer and check for yourself?”
    The image his challenge triggered made her palms tingle and
she had to fight the urge to walk across the room and run her hands over every
inch of him until she was absolutely certain he was real. But the fact that she
couldn’t pick up an emotional signal from him was disturbing enough to keep her
standing by the door. “I’m sorry. I think there’s been some sort of mistake.”
She placed her hand on the doorknob to leave.
    “Aren’t you Nicole Claret?” he asked quickly.
    She turned back to him. “Yes, but—”
    “Then there’s no mistake. This is exactly where you’re
supposed to be. In this room. With me.” He set the beer on the table next to
his chair, stood and walked toward her.
    He’d looked like a giant when he first rose but when he
stood right in front of her she guessed he was only about six foot, still a
good ten inches taller than her. His t-shirt was fitted tightly enough to show
off a sculpted chest and flat abs, but his muscular frame now seemed more toned
than pumped as it had first appeared. It was almost as if he had reduced his
physical size once he noticed how petite she was.
    One thing still looked rather big to her though. The
tempting bulge behind the zipper of his soft jeans whipped her thoughts back to
the aching emptiness in her core and the need became a little stronger.
    Goddamn but he is a beautiful specimen , she thought a
split second before he dipped his head and kissed her on the mouth.
    The tingling sensation she’d felt in her palms now tickled
her lips in such a delightful way she almost let him continue, but again, her
sense of self-preservation won out and she pushed at his chest. “What do you
think you’re doing?”
    His mouth curved and he took a small step back. “I was introducing
myself.”
    She eased around him and moved to the center of the room to
give herself some thinking space. She still couldn’t tell what he was feeling
but he was having a positively intoxicating effect on her. Even stranger, she
couldn’t remember the last time she’d made physical contact with another human
being without becoming overwhelmed by their emotions or worse, crippled by
their physical aches and pains. Why was it different with him? Had he lied
about being flesh and blood? “I would prefer you tell me your name and why you
said I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
    “Fine,” he said with a shrug. “But my way is a lot more
fun.” He closed the distance between them and held out his hand. “How do you
do? My name is Brett Donahue.”
    She shook the hand he offered and a shiver ran up her arm
before she could withdraw. “And?”
    “And you are here, in this room, with me, because,” he took
a deep breath and spilled the rest out in one, rapidly delivered sentence, “it
is the Summer Solstice and as a daughter of the Goddess of Alchemy, it is time
for you to join the Sisterhood of the Elemental Goddesses and as a member of
the Brotherhood which serves the Sisterhood, I have accepted the responsibility
of assisting you with your initiation challenge.” He grinned and added,
“Condensed version.”
    One word made her more curious than the rest. “What
challenge?”
    “Wouldn’t you rather know what’s in it for you?”
    She frowned but accepted his point. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why
shouldn’t I leave right this minute?”
    “Because if you stay, you’ll discover how to control the
abilities you have. And if you walk away without fulfilling your destiny you
will relinquish empathy as well as all the other powers meant to be yours.”
    Nicole refused to admit she was extremely tempted by the
promising words, even though