by A. D. McLain
“Okay, two things. You sensed me from here, with your band on?”
She nodded.
“That’s gotta be at least a hundred feet.”
She shrugged.
“What’s your range?”
“I don’t know. When the lights blend together, I can’t tell how far away they are.”
“Second question. You hear thoughts? I didn’t think anyone could do that.”
“There aren’t many who can. My father only knew of one.”
“I can see why your father did what he did. If they found out what you can do—”
“There wouldn’t be a trial. They’d kill me on the spot or find a way to use me. I know.”
“You took a great risk telling me all this.”
“So did you.”
They were quiet for several heartbeats.
“I could teach you the techniques I use,” Jared said. “It could help you control your ability. The more control you have over it, the more likely you are to notice threats. It could save your life.”
“I don’t know.” Lexy took a few steps back and crossed her arms, trying to rub away the goosebumps. “I’m not taking the band off, and I can hardly sense anything through it.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not entirely convinced of that, especially if you sensed me all the way from here, with your band on. But all the same, that’s why you could wear one of these.” He pulled off his headband and handed it to her. “It looks and feels like a regular band, but the inhibitor chip is disabled. It’s done to look like a defect, so if anyone ever decides to check it—which never happens unless you get arrested—you can always claim you didn’t know, that your Psy ability was too weak to notice. They let you off with a warning and you thank them profusely for discovering the defect.”
She handed the band back to him. “I don’t think I want to feel everything all the time. The band isn’t so bad. It’s quiet.”
“Once I help you, it can be like that without the band. You can select what to let in and keep out.” He pointed to her chest. “You choose,” and then her head, “not the band. Don’t you want to learn what it’s like to be who you really are, undiluted?” He grabbed her hands. “I know you’re afraid. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I’m here and I’ll help you every step of the way.”
“You barely know me.”
“I’d say I know you fairly well.”
She pulled her hands from his and took a step back. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
“Do you trust me?”
Her eyes watered, breath caught in her chest. “I… I do.”
“Then come with me. Let me show you what life could be like. Then if you still want to wear the band, I won’t try to stop you. I won’t ask again.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the treehouse.”
6
Jared drove, off the wired roads as he had the night before. They went toward the skating park but passed it and turned off on a barely used service road that swept around the park. He followed the road for so long that Lexy began to feel hypnotized by the many shadows in front of them. Large trees, much like the ones near his sanctuary, lined their path. Eventually, he turned onto a small dirt road that Lexy would’ve missed had she been driving. Dirt turned to gravel and then to grass. After a few minutes, they were no longer on anything resembling a road. He stopped beside a small lake with a dock and wooden fishing poles sticking up out of the ground. After taking off his inhibitor band and putting it on the dash of the car, he got out.
“Where’s the house?”
“Past that line of trees.” He pointed. All this is on my land. Care for a swim?”
“I didn’t bring a suit.”
He grinned, mischievously. “We’re the only ones here, and I have electric sensors around the edge of the property line. If anyone crosses it, an alert gets sent to my watch.” He pulled off his shirt and pants and jumped into the water with just his boxer shorts on. “Come on in.”
Lexy took off her shirt and shorts, folded them and put them on the ground, by his clothes. Even after the previous night, she still felt self-conscious standing in front of him in her underwear.
“You can take your band off, too.”
Lexy stiffened. “I told you, I’m not going Psy.”
“There’s no one around for miles.”
“You’re here.”
“I can block my mind as well as the strongest inhibitor band. You won’t sense anything from me unless you want to, but the choice is yours.” He flipped onto his back and started swimming out into the lake.
Lexy watched him for a minute. She touched her band and put her hands down twice before she grabbed the band and clicked the disengage buttons. Braced for a shock, she was surprised when she felt nothing more than the same hum of his Psy energy she felt before. The haze of energy around him was a little brighter, but otherwise, he was holding it back as he promised.
She put the band on the ground and moved away from it, every step like something from her dreams. By the time she made it to the end of the dock, she was running. She leaped and dove into the lake, then took off with an underwater sprint and broke the surface a good distance into the lake. While treading water, she reached up for the band and felt only hair and head. Tears rolled down her face. She felt free for the first time in her life.
Jared swam by her and she followed. They splashed and played. She laughed and smiled so hard her cheeks hurt. And then he pulled her to him and they kissed. She saw his light flare for a split second, and then it was down again.
He groaned. “You do make it hard.”
“I should hope so,” she said.
“Oh, really?” He pulled her with him, out of the water and kissed her on the bank. “Would you care to check?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary. You’re shorts don’t leave much to the imagination.”
“Then perhaps I should remove them, since they aren’t fulfilling their intended function.”
“Your logic is sound.”
He chuckled. “Well, if we’re using logic, these have got to go, too.” He leaned down and bit her breast through her transparent bra.
She reached back and unhooked it.
He tossed it beside their other clothes. “That’s more like it.” He buried his head in her chest, licking and sucking the wet skin.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Hmmm? Oh, yeah.”
He reached down and pulled off his boxers, while she removed her panties. Then he slid down her body and buried his face in her. She moaned and clutched at the grass, pulling several pieces from the ground. While licking her, he reached around and slipped a finger inside, driving her mad with the different sensations. She felt her wetness again and urged him up with her hips. He rose and stretched out on top of her, preparing to enter her. But Lexy surprised him by pushing him over onto the ground. After taking her place on top, she speared onto his rigid manhood and arched her back. He moved his hands to her breasts and she rode him slowly. Then, as her feelings grew stronger, she flattened her body over his and kissed him hard, their hands intertwined over their heads. His body rocked as he spilled his seed into her. Her climax came shortly after.
After taking several minutes to rest, they jumped back into the lake to wash off and then walked naked, clothes in hand, to his treehouse. Jared pulled out some towels from the small bathroom and tossed one to Lexy. They dried off and climbed into the loft bed, leaving their clothes on the floor. Jared put his arm around her shoulder and held her close, playing with her breasts as they stared out through the small window by his bed.
“It’s nice not to have to hide, for once,” Lexy said. “Having any kind of relationship has been impossible. Sooner or later, they all want you to go band-less. Even my friends don’t understand. They can’t understand. Honestly, Kara’s the only friend I have.”
“I can’t say I know exactly what you’ve been through. My father is a powerful
man. He inspires loyalty. Even though I had to learn to hide what I could do, I’ve always been around people who knew who I was. Curtis was the only one outside that circle who I ever confided to, and that was out of necessity.”
“I hope you’re not too mad at him for telling me.”
“No. After the concert, he saw the way I watched your car as you drove away. He said something to me. I can’t even remember what it was now. I told him I was bringing you here. He knew what that meant. I don’t bring anyone here.”
Lexy snuggled in closer and felt his arms tighten around her.
“Can you see anything now?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“What do you see?”
She pushed away just enough to look at him. “A humming glow—white, with streaks of turquoise and midnight blue. It’s everywhere around you.” She reached up and gestured. “When you flare, I see a white light brighten at your chest.” She touched his heart. “And sometimes I see a light flash from your eyes.”
“You see this all the time?”
She nodded. “What do you see when you look at people?”
“Nothing. I just see the person. Does everyone look like that?”
“There are different colors, usually greens or purples. Pulses are usually just white, though I’ve seen a few with ribbons of color snaking through. It depends on how strong the thought is, on how much of themselves they’re putting into the contact.”
“You said you see a humming glow. What do you mean by humming?”
“I see it, but I also feel and hear it. When I close my eyes, the vibrations form a picture in my mind. I see flashes of lights and colors swirling over darkness. Sometimes they show the outlines of people. Other times, it’s just light.
“All that sounds beautiful.”
“I guess I’ve never really thought of it like that. When there’s a lot of Psy energy and pulsing, it feels like I’m being pummeled by continuous waves, and it becomes a suffocating pressure. When someone pulses, I can see where it comes from and who they touch. So instead of a bunch of individual lights, I see light everywhere.”
She hadn’t realized how animated she was until she felt his hand on her arm. His light warmed her skin, sending calming emotions to her.
“You’re doing it now without even realizing it.” She looked back up at him.
He furrowed his brow.
“Your hand is glowing.”
The glow went out. All his light dimmed as he clamped down on his energy, and her arm grew cold again.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Everyone does it. Our Psy energy follows our thoughts and desires. When you want to comfort someone, some of your energy goes into that. Even inhibitor bands and crystals don’t block out all the transfer. People just don’t realize it. It’s not enough for anyone to notice, unless you can see it.”
She put her hand back on his chest and fed her energy into her palm. His chest filled and his face relaxed.
“That kind of transfer is the only kind I can do.”
“You can’t pulse?”
She shook her head. “Not very well. I can’t focus. I get too distracted by the energy I see and feel from others. The only time I can concentrate is when I have my band on. But that’s normal for a Reader. My father told my mom there were only a few police he knew who were as good at reading as pulsing. Usually, we can only pulse with people we’re extremely connected to, like a spouse or close friend, or when we’re highly emotional or provoked.”
He wrapped his fingers around her hand on his chest and the glow returned. Warmth spread through her and her fears melted away.
“Can you show me what it feels like?” she asked.
With one hand holding hers and the other on her back, she felt his soft touch on her face. A hazy trail of light reached out from his constant aura glow. She closed her eyes and saw his ribbons of color all around her. Gentle touches peppered her skin. They started out barely noticeable and grew stronger. She could’ve sworn she felt his fingers on her. She opened her eyes. The air was full of smoke-like tendrils of light. They encircled her breasts and she felt his lips there. At the same instant, she felt his mouth rain kisses down her side and lower back. All the while, he didn’t move. Psychic hands swept down her sides and cupped her bottom. One finger slipped through her legs and inside her. She sucked in a breath. Not restricted by physical limitations, his psychic fingers delved everywhere. His physical hands held her firm, as her body convulsed from pleasure. His phantom fingers slowed and sped up to draw out the experience as long as possible. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, he would back off and bring her to the crest again.
Then Jared did something unexpected. He kissed her, really kissed her. She felt his lips on hers, while his psychic lips remained in other areas. His real tongue plunged into her mouth, as his phantom tongue plunged into other depths. Another mouth sucked on her neck, while still another set of phantom lips remained on her breasts. His knee nudged her legs apart and he pushed into her. She could feel him enter a moment before he actually did. She could still feel his psychic touch licking and touching her sensitive areas outside and in. A wall of ghost hands held her back, pulling her closer to him. She shook and felt her vision fill with flashes of light that had nothing to do with Psy energy. Jared followed and she felt all his psychic hands disappear in a flash of white light, as he lost all focus and control. His energy blinded her, filling the room for an instant, before he could pull it back in. Lexy continued to flutter in his arms.
“So that was syntercourse.” Her voice was raspy and dry. She licked her lips and continued to cling to him.
“Yeah.” He was out of breath as well. He tightened his grip and buried his head in the crook of her neck. “You okay.”
“I’m fantastic.”
Jared laughed. “Well, we can do that any time you want.”
“I don’t know about that. You flared pretty far at the end there. I don’t think we could do this anywhere but here, even if you did teach me to control what I sense.”
“Hey, give me a break. I think I did pretty good, considering.”
“Oh,” she giggled, “you did way better than good.”
He laughed. “Okay, so let’s just live here.” He nibbled her neck.
She closed her eyes. “Ohhh, don’t tempt me. What about our lives, our work? We can’t just drop away from the world.”
“Why not?” He moved to her collar bone
She moaned. “Having a hard time coming up with any other arguments right now.”
“Good.” He sat up and smiled. “Then it’s time to go.”
“Go? Wait, what? Go where?”
He took her hand and helped her down from the loft bed. He went to their clothes and picked up his shorts, still dripping with lake water.
“Hmm, looks like we’ll have to go commando. Unless you want to wear wet underwear.” He held up her bra and looked at her, wriggling his eyebrows.
“Actually, that could work either way. Your choice.” She raised an eyebrow, then picked up her shirt and pulled it on, sans bra.
He nodded. “Yep, works either way.”
Lexy shook her head and pulled on her pants. “Where are we going?”
“To a place where people live without bands.”
“No place like that exists.”
“They do. And there are more of them than you’d ever know. I’m talking about communities with families and futures, living the way our grandparents did. People marry, have children, and work, all without the bands. They learned to control their Psy energy, like I did.”
“What about the government?”
“These cities are hidden in the free zones. The government has no jurisdiction there.”
Lexy eyes teared up. A place without the ever-present control of the government. It was too good a dream to hope for. But to live without the band…
She touched her head. Jared handed off her inhibitor band. She held it for several seconds before
reluctantly putting it on. She wanted to leave it off, as Jared promised her she could learn to do. But if they were going to a place with un-banded people, she couldn’t take the chance of going there unprotected, no matter how much control they may have.
She looked up at him. He squeezed her hand and smiled at her. She felt the slight warmth of his palm. His light was dimmer now. They returned to the car and drove back out to the service road, but they were only on it for a few minutes, when he turned off onto another dirt road.
“We could walk it,” Jared said, “but it would take an hour or so, depending on how fast we move. To drive there, we have to go a little out of the way, but it’s quicker.”
The car bounced over the rocky road. Trees reached over the trail and looked like a green and brown tunnel. Flickers of sunlight danced across their windshield. Lexy’s eyes drifted closed. Just before she was about to fall asleep, she felt Jared touch her right cheek. She grinned and watched the tendril of Psy energy get pulled back into him.
“Rest,” his voice said, in her mind. “I’ll wake you when we’re there.”
She took a deep breath and let herself fall into sleep.
7
Jared woke her with a kiss. It only took Lexy a moment to sense that something was off. His lips weren't physically touching hers.
She touched her lips and opened her eyes. Looked over at him. “I think you’re enjoying that a little too much.”
He laughed and leaned over to kiss her for real. “What can I say?” He grinned. “I like being the only one who can touch you. I’m just grateful I can do it without overwhelming you.”
“Me, too.”
“Come on.” He opened the door and walked around to her side to help her out. “I still have so much to show you.”
They stood on the cliff of a mountain range. A rusted metal bar rail marked what was once a lookout spot, before people stopped traveling the country with family and friends. Now it was an abandoned relic of a time not that long ago. Below them, deep in the valley, were trees from mountain to mountain.