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No. She drew away from him, not wanting any of his pity. No, I need to deal with this myself. It's my problem, like you've said. I want to manage it on my own.
Thankfully the vehicle was moving again, turning a corner onto a side street off the exclusive main thoroughfare with its bright boutique lights and milling crowds. It was better here, but still a struggle to hold it together under the constant battering of her mind. Her mind was like a broken radio receiver, intercepting only the worst feeds, bombarding her with countless inputs until the cacophony seemed to consume her.
Find one that you can focus on, Tegan said from beside her. His breath was warm, his fingers tender but commanding as he took hold of her hand. His thumb swept over her skin, gentling her. Grounding her. All you need is one, Elise. One voice that you can deal with on its own. Separate it from the others. Let the rest go. Let them fall away.
His deep voice was almost hypnotic, coaching her further into the pain of her gift so that she could learn to harness it. With eyes closed, she followed his direction, sifting through the terrible din to find something she could grasp ahold of. Slowly, bit by bit, she peeled away the worst of the voices in her mind until she heard one that hurt the least.
Focus on the one, Tegan murmured, still holding her hand, still guiding her with his words and the protective warmth of his touch. Pull one voice closer, even as the others begin to drift around you. They can't touch you. You're stronger than your gift, Elise. Your power is in you, in your own will.
She felt everything he was saying. She knew it was true. With his fingers wrapped around hers, his voice a low purr near her ear, she believed that she was strong. She believed that she could do this...
Feel your strength, Elise, Tegan coached her. There is no panic here, only calm. Your gift does not own you...you are in control. And so she was, she realized only now-- knowing that what Tegan was showing her was just a glimmer of the control she was capable of. He was opening a door in her subconscious, and wherever it was that her Breedmate gift originated within her, Tegan was guiding her inside that place, letting her see the power of her own potential.
It was a revelation. Her temples still pounded from the onslaught of psychic pain, but it was a dull, manageable throb now that she was focusing, honing her skill. She wanted to keep working it, to keep pushing herself, but the exercise was also exhausting. The one voice she clung to began to slip out of her grasp, blending back into the din.
Outside her body and her mind, she felt the car slow to a stop. Footsteps approached, two pairs of them, joined by the efficient shuffle of the driver's quick gait as he ran around the vehicle to get the door.
As soon as it opened, Tegan's touch was gone.
Elise blinked, lifting her gaze to find Reichen outside the car, giving a beautiful raven- haired woman a brief kiss on the mouth. She was wrapped in a silvery fur coat--and from what Elise could tell, little else beneath it. On the side of her graceful throat was a pink bloom of color, only a fading rosebud mark to indicate the place where Reichen had no doubt fed from her just a short while ago.
A pleasure as always, my darling Helene, he said as the two of them parted. You spoil me so well.
Evidently the Darkhaven male's personal business was of a very personal nature.
The woman's glossy mouth curved into a catlike smile at his charm. She didn't wait at the car for him to leave, but pivoted on staggeringly tall silver stiletto heels and sauntered back into a red, unmarked door of the building where Reichen's car sat idling.
My thanks for the curb service, the German said as he crawled into the limousine and took a seat opposite Tegan and Elise. Not to imply I don't enjoy your company, but I rather hoped you might be longer at your appointment. You finished quickly.
Tegan smirked. So did you, from the looks of it.
Reichen chuckled, unabashed as he lounged back in the seat and the car took off. He smelled like expensive perfume, blood, and sex. Not that he cared, Elise thought as she considered him. His broad, sated grin said he couldn't be in a happier, more familiar state.
Andreas Reichen was a very attractive male, mysterious and sophisticated, but even his smoldering sensuality paled next to Tegan's raw appeal. Elise practically burned from the heat of Tegan's thigh where it pressed unassumingly against hers. His head was tilted down, eyes hooded beneath the thick fringe of his eyelashes.
He kept his arms crossed over his chest now, and she missed the warm feel of his touch. She craved it, especially as the limousine navigated through the busy city streets and her Breedmate gift continued to buffet her senses. Instead she tried to use the brief lesson he'd given her, taking what he'd shown her and wielding it against the crush of her psychic pain.
More than anything, she wanted to grab Tegan's hand again and feel his calming strength.
But he only put a measure of distance between them. He moved away from her on the seat, a subtle shift of his thigh that left a gap of space in its place. When they arrived a short while later at the lakeshore Darkhaven, Tegan leaped out of the car almost as soon as Klaus slowed to a stop on the front driveway.
I have to report in to the compound, he said, keeping his gaze averted. He stalked off before either Elise or Reichen could get out of the car.
All business, that one, Reichen remarked with a shake of his head. May I get you something to eat in the house, Elise? You must be hungry.
She was famished, actually, having last eaten around noon. That would be lovely, thank you.
Elise let Reichen help her out of the vehicle, and took his proffered arm as they walked up to the main entrance of the estate. But all the while, her thoughts were fixed on Tegan, and on quelling the strong--evidently onesided--desire he stirred in her.
Chapter Twenty-one
Tegan closed his cell phone after reporting in to the compound and leaned back on the ridiculously froufrou velvet settee in his private room of the Darkhaven. He was pissed off that the night had resulted in a stalemate with Petrov Odolf, and more rattled than he cared to admit by the Bloodlust reality check he'd gotten at the facility. Seeing Odolf and the other Rogues was a damn good reminder of the fire he'd walked through after Sorcha's death.
He'd managed to beat his Bloodlust all those years ago, but the fight had been brutal. And the hunger was always with him, even when he was trying his hardest to deny it.
Being near Elise only magnified his craving. Damn, but that female put his blood on a slow, rising boil.
That moment alone with her in Reichen's car--touching her, walking her through her psychic distress--had been a colossal mistake. It only made him realize how deeply he wanted to help her. That he didn't want to see her in pain.
