Free Closer: A Novella by Dannika Dark

talking until the madness in her head disappeared.
    Carrie hadn’t thought of that. Something that large would take far more effort than the smaller items. She closed her eyes and concentrated. When she finally looked up, a couch had materialized on the right side of the room. Plush, brown, and dressed up with her favorite beige blanket.
    He stood up with his arms around her, and while it was awkward, Carrie didn’t complain. She tucked her arms snugly against his chest and relished the way he held onto her. The link with Kane wasn’t just in his touch; their connection was on a deeper level now. They had shared private secrets that people would only tell a close friend or a lover. This was the darkest time in her life, and a simple twist of fate kept her from having to experience the impending darkness all alone.
    Kane lifted her up and she giggled, feet dangling helplessly off the ground. He began to sit on the couch but when he glanced hesitantly over his shoulder, he set her back down. Their lover’s embrace wasn’t going to make this easy.
    His throat cleared. “How are we going to—?”
    Carrie was a born problem solver, so she pushed him down. They both collapsed onto the couch, knocking heads and laughing. Once her giggles subsided, she climbed on top of his lap. The only comfortable way to sit was to straddle him with her arms wrapped around his neck.
    “Let me go back and hold your hand or something,” he said. His breath hitched when she slid her legs up and her head nestled into his neck. Carrie’s dress rode up, revealing her left thigh, but she didn’t care. His hands were already where they needed to be. “You can wrap up in the blanket and we don’t have to do this. I don’t have to be holding you so…”
    “Stay with me, Kane. Just for a little while.”
    His body generated heat like the sun and she relaxed, rubbing her nose against his neck. He groaned and tightened his hold.
    “I covered your body with a warm blanket,” he said absently. “Maybe that’ll help.”
    “It won’t matter,” Carrie murmured. “It’s not my body that’s cold. Can you tell me another story to pass the time?”
    “No. No more about me. You already know too much and it’s not the kind of shit you need to hear right now. They’re not happy stories. Why don’t you tell me why a pretty girl like you isn’t married?”
    She snorted against his neck. “My right hook?”
    They both laughed.
    “That would be a selling point for me,” he said. “So why no kids or family?”
    She shrugged a little. “You know how it is. Sensors don’t want a defective wife.”
    “You’re not defective,” he growled in a low voice.
    That warmed Carrie more than she had expected. No one had ever stuck up for her disability before, nor had any guy looked at her the way Kane did.
    “What’s the use of being what I am if I can’t even transmit anything? Sure, I can experience all I want, but there’s no exchange,” she pointed out. “I wouldn’t have wanted to use my gifts to make money trading, but in the bedroom… you know how it is.”
    Kane shifted his hip and she sat up to look at him. A ruddy color darkened his cheeks and she caught a spectacular glimpse of the coppery orange in the center of his hazel eyes.
    “I’ve never been with another Sensor,” he admitted, averting his eyes to the left. “Not the way you’re supposed to be with joined hands and sharing. I have conditions when it comes to sex.”
    “What conditions?”
    “Gloves.”
    Carrie licked her lips and looked down at their hands. “But you’re not wearing any.”
    “Yeah,” he said with a short laugh. “I have to touch you to be here. I normally wear gloves all the time—I can’t deal with physical contact because it’s too painful to tolerate. I sure as hell don’t want to experience any of that in the bedroom, or it might kill my sex life for good. I’ve never been able to touch someone without sensory overload, not until