Free Tribes of Man: The Beginning [Tribes of Man] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Kiel Nichols Page A

briefly noticed that they were able to hear each other even though they weren’t touching.
     
    * * * *
     
    Gideon pulled directly into Raina’s driveway when he arrived at the house. He got out of the car and went around to her side to help her up the steep driveway. About halfway up, Gideon had to pause. His muscles were cramping from the climb. He cursed his weakness.
    “Are you all right, Gideon?” Raina asked.
    “Yeah, I’m fine.” He forced himself to start walking again. He braced his free hand on his knee and pushed with every step to help leverage himself up. The pain in his damaged muscles was enormous. He was also trying to block her so that she couldn’t see it.
    Gideon felt his vision sharpen and knew she reestablished the connection.
    He felt one particularly sharp pain shooting through his thigh and he gritted his teeth. He knew that his refusal to stop and shake out the muscle was going to make him sore all night. He just couldn’t deal with her pity.
    “Gideon, stop.”
    Thinking something was wrong, he stopped abruptly and pulled her into his body. He was about to go for his clutch piece when he felt her hand on his thigh right where the pain was.
    She started to massage the muscle.
    “What are you doing?” he asked.
    I can’t stand to feel your pain.
    He was mortified that she could feel his weakness.
    Your embarrassment is even worse .
    “I’m fine,” he said gruff, and the small break and massage made that statement true.
    She must have known he was telling the truth, because she removed her hand and began walking toward the door again. In a few minutes they were in the house.
    After taking off their coats, Gideon led Raina to the stairway. “Come on, baby. You need to get some rest.”
    “I just want to take a shower,” Raina said, shuddering.
    Gideon started to walk upstairs with Raina, supporting her exhausted body. When his leg began to cramp again, he was ready to curse. She paused immediately and rubbed his leg again. This time, as the pain in his leg eased, a new ache grew in his groin. When her hand moved to the top of his thigh, the back of her hand brushed his erection, making them both groan.
    “Gideon,” she breathed.
    “Come on, let’s get up the stairs,” he said, resuming the climb. At the top, he led her down the hall and into her room.
    “Why don’t you lie down and take a nap,” Gideon said, trying to ignore what happened on the stairs. When he let go of her, Raina swayed.
    “I w–w–w–want to take a shower first,” she said. She reached for the buttons of her blouse, but her fingers were too shaky to undo them.
    Gideon started to undo the buttons for her. He was trying not to look at the skin being revealed by the parting shirt, but it was impossible. He could sense her still in his head, still looking through his eyes.
    When her shirt was undone, he slipped it off her shoulders to let it pool at the floor. He could see the dark areola of her nipples under the white bra. As he looked at them, they pebbled tightly.
    He swallowed convulsively and ran one finger down the strap of her bra and over her hard nipple. When he flicked it with a fingernail, she shuddered.
    “Gideon,” she whispered. “I need you.”
    Before he could respond, they heard the front door open.
    Gideon kissed her hard and stepped back. Later, he promised. “Go take a shower.” Then he paused, thinking about how weak she was from the sedative. “Do you need help?” He wasn’t sure how he could give her the impersonal help she needed, but by God, he wasn’t going to let Bryce do it.
    “No, I can handle it.” She walked a little unsteadily to the door. Just as she passed through, his vision went back to normal. He was stunned to realize that she had been looking through him, even though they weren’t touching. He didn’t know what it meant, but he was sure it was significant.
    Gideon came out of Raina’s room just as Bryce reached the top of the stairs. He knew he was still