Free My Forever by Nikki McCoy Page B

had happened. A vital change had taken place, as though a part of him had been ripped away and replaced with an alien entity. It wasn’t painful. In fact, he’d never felt more energised and sexually invigorated, but the implication of it terrified him to the very core of his being.
    “Kyle?”
    The young man rolled over to his side, stretching lazily, and blinked open eyes filled with bewilderment. Happiness kindled in Lucas’ chest and spread throughout his body, flushing his senses. It clashed with his own sudden flare of panic.
    Kyle frowned and touched his knee lightly. “Is something wrong?”
    That depends entirely on you, Lucas thought.
    Emerald eyes widened and Kyle scrambled away, coming to a halt only when his back hit the headboard.
    “Kyle, can you hear me?”
    Lucas felt the breath expel from his lungs in a rush as Kyle hesitantly nodded his head. Anger swept in and he jumped from the bed, tugging on his short hair painfully in an effort to regain focus. “What the hell did you do?” he snarled.
    “N-nothing,” Kyle stammered.
    Lucas whirled around, taking a threatening step towards the cowering man. “Nothing? You can hear my thoughts, damn it.” The joy he’d felt moments ago evaporated in the wake of his anger and distress. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
    Tears welled in Kyle’s eyes and he scurried from the bed, nearly falling over his feet as he snatched his pants from the ground then ran from the room. Lucas threw the condom into the trash and yanked on his own pants before giving chase.
    “Kyle!” he shouted. He caught the man’s arm just as he ran through the front door and pulled him back inside, a little too roughly. Kyle fell against the wall of the foyer and cried out, knees collapsing under him until he was curled into a ball with arms raised over his head in protection. Pain and fear thrummed through Lucas, causing bile to rise in his throat.
    Remorse rivalled the unbidden emotions streaming through him. “Baby, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” He sat on his haunches and reached for Kyle who flinched and hunched his shoulders further. It was a struggle to disentangle his feelings from that of the frightened man crouching before him and even harder to calm his frenzied nerves. If his suspicions were correct, Kyle could feel his emotions as clearly as he could hear Lucas’ thoughts.
    After taking several deep breaths, Lucas tried again, brushing back strands of silken hair from Kyle’s face. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I just wasn’t expecting you to do what you did. You’ll have to give me some time to figure this out.” Puffy eyes met his and he wiped the drops that clung to Kyle’s lashes.
    “What did I do wrong?”
    He gathered the shaking man into his lap, berating himself for causing the fear that still coursed through Kyle unchecked. “You did nothing wrong. You couldn’t have known that would happen. And I’m just as much at fault. I wanted you so badly but I had no idea you felt the same way.”
    “What happened? Why can I hear you in my head?” Kyle pressed his palm tentatively to Lucas’ chest, over his pounding heart. “I know you’re mad. I can feel it.”
    Lucas squeezed his eyes shut, words escaping him. In one moment of heated passion, their lives had changed forever. Kyle had unwittingly consigned himself to a future of hiding and danger, and Lucas had gained a bond he’d sworn never in his life to have. As long as his emotions were in turmoil, Kyle would pick up on them, and the last thing he wanted was to add additional stress to what was to be an already difficult conversation.
    He needed time to adjust to this new development.
    “I’m not mad at you. I’ll explain everything, I promise, but right now I think you should get some sleep.” When Kyle shook his head, he asked, “Do you trust me?” Breath caught in his throat as Kyle looked up at him with a baffled expression. What had passed between them was strong and