Awakened: Prequel GL Series

Chapter 13

13. FIRST DATE

“Are you okay?” he yelled, eyes darting across my face as though searching for injuries, hands gripping my shoulders.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out. I nodded. What was he doing here? Was his meeting with the CT successful? Not that it mattered. He was here, right when I needed a friend.

He cupped the back of my head, closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead against mine. A deep sigh escaped him as though some weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “You’re okay.”

His presence, the whispered words of concern, and the gentle way he touched me were too much. The tears I’d been fighting crested in my eyes and rolled down my face. Sobs raked my body. Strong arms drew me to a warm masculine chest. I bunched his shirt with my hands and burrowed into his neck.

I drenched his shirt, savored his soothing words and gentle rubs on my back. His thoughts and feelings flowed into me. There was tenderness and concern, protectiveness and longing to ease my pain.

My tears slowed down to a trickle then stopped. I became conscious of many things at once, the rhythmic beat of his heart, the special pine scent I came to associate with him, his lips brushing my forehead as he sang to me. Like an angel. Then I felt it—the loneliness underlying his other feelings. It was so deep and vast, a bottomless pit filled with despair. He didn’t feel like he belonged anywhere, neither with us nor with the demons.

I wrapped my arms tightly around him. You belong with me.

He didn’t respond, but for a brief moment, images of me flashed in his mind—at school, by the pool, in our trailer. Beautiful and elegant, yet strong with a core of steel. Was that how he saw me? I delved deeper, needing to see more. He shut me out and leaned back, forcing my arms to fall to my lap.

For a moment we just stared at each other without speaking, his face unreadable, mine burning. “Sorry,” I whispered.

“Are you?”

I wanted to say no because I now knew how he felt about me, but I had done what the trainees were afraid of, tapped into his feelings without his consent. I looked away from his face, tears threatening to fall again. I hated feeling this helpless. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to control my empathic abilities or powers, and had no right to invade your privacy and see things you’d rather—”

“Show than tell you,” he finished and lifted my chin with his forefinger. His emerald eyes sparkled. “I don’t care that you’re an empath, Lil. Or that you can read my mind better than I could ever read yours.”

My eyes widened. “You don’t?”

“No.” He brushed drops of tears from my cheek with his knuckles, then reached down and took my hand in his. “What do you feel from me right now?”

My chin trembled, and I bit my lower lip to control it. I closed my eyes and absorbed his feelings. “You’re happy, optimistic about the future, and excited.” My eyes snapped open. “Did the CT sanction the mission?”

He laughed. “Yeah.”

“When?”

“Whenever. It’s up to the Cardinals now.”

“That’s wonderful news.” Then something else registered. His clothes were different. Bran favored expensive, soft shirts, and a leather jacket. The drab black pants and shirt, and the long coat had Cardinal Guardians written all over them. I stiffened. “Why are you dressed like this?”