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I bury my face in my hands. “What if I can’t figure it out? Fuck, Raphael. What if I fail and they kick me out?”
He’s in front of me instantly, kneeling on the floor at my feet and lightly moving my hands away so he can see my face.
“Hey. You aren’t going to fail because I won’t let you. You’ll get the hang of it, I promise. Do you trust me?” he asks, his voice full of sincerity.
And I’m nodding just like the very first time he asked, before I even realize it. I’m no longer shocked at how easy it is for me to answer that question. Despite having known him for only a short time, I trust Raphael completely. He’s had my back on more than one occasion, and I truly believe he’ll give up every hour of sleep to keep me here.
“Good. Remember that trust in a moment.” He leans in to press a quick kiss to my lips before darting back to the chair opposite mine.
His kiss distracts me from his words, but once the fog fades away, unease spreads through my limbs.
“Raph … What do you have planned?”
He goes utterly still for a moment, and the oddest look crosses his face. Surprise mixed with happiness, perhaps? Whatever it is, he shakes it off quickly and says, “Nothing you won’t like, eventually.” He throws me a wink before pulling out a pen from his bag and placing it on the table. “I want you to pick this up and toss it behind you.”
I’m half tempted to pick it up with my hand, but I know that isn’t what he means. Telekinesis on its own is easy. It’s combining it with something else that’s hard. Instead of being a smart-ass, I focus my mind on the pen. Ballpoint, with blue ink and Silver City University scrawled across the side. The university must have given them out to every student because I have one of my own just like it.
The pen itself isn’t heavy as I lift it off the table and press my will into it so hard that it goes flying behind me. Maybe a little more forcefully than I intended based on the resoundingthwackwhen it hits the floor.
“Good.” He stands, walking past me to go pick up the pen. “Without speaking out loud, tell me which side you’d like your reward. Left or right?”
I hear him as he picks up the pen, his feet shuffling across the floor, but he never appears in front of me again. “I don’t—”
“Without words, sunshine.”
Letting out a huff, I focus on opening the pathway between our link and push the words to him.I don’t understand.
“Left or right. Just pick one.”
Right.
He must hear my mental response, because he places a soft kiss below my right ear. Electricity races through my body where his skin touches mine, causing the hairs to raise on my arms.
“Here’s how this is going to go. If you complete a task, you get a reward. If you don’t … well, let’s just say you’ll be heading back to your room awfully unsatisfied. Do you agree?” He leans past me, nuzzling into my neck and placing the pen back on the table.
“I do.” He’s barely touched me at all, yet I can’t hide the desperation in my voice. I have a hard enough time focusing on this shit without him seducing me. How the hell am I going to manage now?
“Telepathically from now on, my sweet sunshine.” He rests his arms on the back of my chair without touching me, but the warmth of his breath tickles my neck. “Raise that pen a foot above the table and hold it there.”
I do as he says, finding the task easier this time now that I know the weight and feel of it. “Very good. Now, keep it there while I help you get a little more comfortable.”
Before I can ask him what he means, his hands skate over my shoulders and around to the front of my sweater, then tug slowly on the zipper. The pen wobbles in the air, and I try to fix it but end up over correcting and flinging it off to the side.
Raphael’s hands stop unzipping my sweater, and I have to force myself not to whimper. He’d barely moved it at all.This is hopeless.
I don’t realize that I mentally spoke the words to him until he says, “It’s not hopeless, sunshine. Have a little more faith in yourself. You’re getting the hang of it far faster than I did when I first learned. Trust your instincts.”
He brings the pen back without moving away from me, placing it on the table once more. “Try again.”
This time when I clear my mind, I throw away the self-doubt and worries that I’m not good enough and replace it with trust and faith in myself, just as he says. When the pen floats above the table, his hands come back to my sweater. He moves the zipper down ever so slowly, and I can’t help the gasp that escapes me when his hands pass over my hardened nipples. The pen wobbles again, but this time, more determined than ever, I don’t let it fall.
He pulls the sides of my sweater down to reveal my shoulders to him, where he places soft kisses along their tops, then trails the pad of his tongue up to my ear.
The pen falls to the table with a clatter.
Fuck,I say, mentally.
“Progress is progress. You’re doing so good, baby. Don’t let it discourage you. Here,” he says, pulling on the sleeves of my sweater until my left arm is free. “Let’s get you out of this.”
