by Mlyn Hurn
One of the greatest problems was that some people still thought all psychics were evil and that they wanted to rule over all non-psychics. The pervading belief was that psychics could read anyone’s mind, which naturally leads to fear. Sean had been taught almost from his first conscious thought to master his powers so he had complete control, not the powers. After college he had been looking for some excitement and danger, and ended up crossing paths with a PSI agent, Trevor Thomas, who had then recruited him.
His recruiter was now a department head of the Agency and working hard to get programs to educate about psychics and what kinds of talents and abilities they can have. Trevor believed that only through education could society achieve healing as a people. With education would come understanding, acceptance and tolerance, and hopefully would lead to friendship. When Sean had told Trevor he was leaving, he’d been offered several interesting management-level positions. Sean refused because even though it had been the excitement that had drawn him in the first place, he was tired of the subterfuge and delving into people’s pasts. The last few years everyone he’d investigated had been harmless.
“Harmless” for psychics meant the individual was a level three or less. Tyre Leyton had been a five, and most of the overlords had been recorded, or speculated to be level four. Sean had tested to a level four when he joined the Agency, but since he was working with them he was perceived not to be a threat. And over the last few years, the remaining psychics from Leyton’s time were living peacefully with the new government in power and were closely monitored. Many were aging or their grandchildren suffered from a chemical dependency to the drugs some of the overlords had used to enhance their powers.
Sean had been instrumental in bringing down the largest known band of psychic holdouts to date. Several of the men he had become friends with over the years through the Agency had infiltrated the band until they could gather enough information to know the location of them all and finally arrest them for re-integration into society. If it appeared after several years of conditioning therapy the person could not be safely reintroduced into the public, a permanent incarceration would occur.
Chapter Two
Sean stopped thinking about the past as he turned down the gravel road that ended at his farm. Pulling the truck to the side of the house, he turned off the ignition. As he climbed from the cab of the truck, he could hear the barking of the two dogs he had gotten as a bonus with the purchase of the farm.
A moment later the two large multi-colored, mixed breed dogs were there to greet him. Squatting down, Sean gave each of them a few pats and rubs.
“Keep that up and they’ll be putty in your hands, Sean.”
Sean stood and saw his sister, Colleen, standing on the wrap-around porch of the house. She had her arms crossed but they were resting on her big belly. Her thick auburn hair had been cut short since they’d moved here, making it easier for her to care for. Her green eyes were usually smiling and she wasn’t afraid of the sun, as evidenced by the freckles sprinkling her cheeks and forearms. Sean’s hair was several shades darker than Colleen’s and his skin tanned easily. Whenever they were together, people always guessed they were siblings.
“Shouldn’t you be sitting down somewhere with your feet in the air?” Sean asked as he walked toward the front of the house to join her. As he started up the front porch steps, another voice answered him.
“I believe it was that position which got her into—”
“Bob!” Colleen admonished her laughing husband, ignoring the grin on her brother’s face. Pretending she was not blushing, she sat on the porch swing beside him. As she adjusted into a position of comfort, she could hear her younger brother joining her husband in the laughter. “Keep this up much longer and the two of you will be cooking your own meals.”
Bob stopped immediately. “I’m sorry, darling. Have I told you how lovely you look today?”
Colleen ignored her husband’s belated attempt to smooth things over as she replied, “No, but you had best continue to tell me several more times today to make this feeble attempt at sucking up work.”
Sean laughed and sat down on the top step. The dogs lay down near enough hopefully to get an occasional pat or rub. As he relaxed and started to enjoy the fact that he was a farmer, his sister interrupted his thoughts.
Colleen spoke softly. “How did your little trip work out for you tonight?”
Sean frowned as he turned to glare at his sister. “Who told you about my visit to the neighbor’s?”
“I did,” Bob answered sheepishly. “This woman should be working for the police. She could interrogate anyone.”
Sean laughed and shook his head. “Just you, Bob. And you sound like you knew all along things would not go as I had planned.”
Colleen shrugged. “Call it a woman thing, if you insist. But I was pretty sure that you couldn’t just walk up to Rayne and get her to tell you her deepest secrets. Why should she in the first place? She has all the ‘gentlemen farmers’ knocked on their collective asses by how well her small farm is doing. Did she laugh in your face when you asked for her secret recipe?”
Sean glared at his sister. “Let’s just say that I’ll need to try again.”
“What happened?” Bob added.
Sean knew that his brother-in-law was curious to know why the lone lady farmer was the talk of the town. The gratitude Colleen and Bob felt that Sean had hired him to work as his foreman here was unnecessary in his opinion. Bob had worked on different farms and ranches since his teen years. The last fifteen had been as manager or foreman, and since coming here he’d expressed his desire to make this place the most successful in the area. Between this place and the tiny concern bearing the name of “Green Gardens” there was really no accurate basis for any comparisons.
His trip to “Green Gardens” had only come about because he had received a visit from a neighbor—a fellow rancher and farmer—and his son. Upon his retirement, which his superiors had not wanted to accept, he had shared his plans. “One last assignment” was how they had put it. A rumor put a great-grandchild of Tyre Leyton in the area of his new home. The report had only recently been filed and they needed it checked out. Reluctantly Sean had agreed. This evening he had planned on filing his report through the secure uplink his computer still maintained with the Agency. In spite of his observances and subtle conversations, he had not found anyone that had required further investigation.
Yet this afternoon, walking Ralph Tandy and his son back to their truck, Bob had struck up a conversation about a particular kind of fertilizer, so he had deliberately held back and soon he was strolling more slowly with Billy, Ralph’s teenaged son.
The young man was in high school and obviously worked out, so Sean had asked if he was participating in sports. It had seemed like a safe topic. The sad look that covered his face told Sean he’d made a mistake. Quickly, as the kid was shaking his head, Sean asked him something else.
“What do you do with your free time?”
Billy’s grin had flashed so quickly Sean wasn’t sure he’d seen it. “I’ve been helping Ms. Waters lately.”
“Helping her with what, Billy?”
Billy had stopped walking, glancing toward his father. He grinned at Sean. “Just around her place. She’s alone there and I thought she might appreciate a helping hand.”
Sean had looked at the kid’s face and he had known that Billy was keeping all of this from his father. “She’s an older lady and you’re helping her out,” he had offered, thinking that teen boys must be getting nicer. When he was seventeen, helping elderly women would have been nonexistent in his scheme of things.
There had been no mistaking Billy’s grin as he winked at Sean. “She’s twenty-five and I’m hoping to help myself into her hot little shorts.”
Sean had tried to hide his surprise, but he’d known he’d failed as Billy’s grin widened. “I’ve heard older women are the best! You don’t have any of the bullshit girls my age want to hand out. I imagin
e a few more times of helping her carry water and so on will have her ready to strip naked and fuck in the garden!”
“Hey! Billy! We need to get going.”
Sitting on the porch now there wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that Ms. Waters had the hottest body he’d seen in quite some time. As he’d stared at her firm full breasts and rounded ass revealed by wet knit material, he could see exactly why Billy was falling all over himself to help the lady. He easily replaced the scenario that had been replaying in his head that starred Billy banging some older trollop. It was now his naked body joining her in the cold water, and his hands running eagerly over her wet flesh, shoving clothes out of his way.
“Sean!”
“What? Sorry, Colleen. I didn’t hear you.”
“I’m aware of that. Do you want me to reheat your dinner? If not, I’m going to bed so I can get an early start for tomorrow.”
Sean paused for a moment to ponder his sister’s words, but then decided he couldn’t have missed too much. “Go to bed, Colleen. I can forage for myself, and thanks.”
He sat quietly thinking about the beautiful Rayne Waters. His attraction was powerful, yet he still knew that he would check a little closer before he could explore anything at all with the seductive siren he’d observed tonight.
* * * * *
Sean came down the broad staircase reluctantly. He was dressed in a suit to satisfy his sister’s demands. It didn’t make any sense why Colleen was insisting on all of them dressing up for dinner tonight. He paused for a moment at the foot of the stairs as he heard voices coming from the living room. Since moving in here, the only time Colleen had made them use the living room before had been when their parents had come for a visit.
Stepping into the room a moment later, he understood his sister’s odd behavior. The woman he had seen nearly naked and who had starred all night long in one after another of his erotic dreams was now seated on the sofa his parents had insisted on buying him during their visit. Her black silky hair was caught up into a haphazard knot, leaving tendrils of hair across her neck and ears. As she turned to see what her hostess was looking at, Sean realized she was wearing a pale pink dress. The cloth was cotton, and probably not considered sexy by most. Obviously they had not seen the soft material draping over this lady’s curves.
“Oh, good! Here’s my brother now, Rayne.” Colleen walked toward Sean and linked her arm with his. “He never seems to remember what time supper is.”
Sean kept his eyes glued to his guest as she slowly turned. There was not the surprise in her eyes that he had expected. Perhaps his sister had only kept him in the dark about their guest.
“Hello, Ms. Waters,” Sean spoke softly. He watched as her eyes looked away from his gaze as she spoke.
“Good evening, Mr. MacDougal. I accepted your sister’s invitation to save you from coming back to my place.”
Sean started to offer his hand but she had already turned back toward his sister. He let his hand fall to his side as he listened to her speaking to Colleen.
“Thank you again for your kind request.”
Sean watched as the raven-haired woman resumed her seat on his sofa, smiling as Bob joked about his wife’s cooking. He had wanted to touch her hand, he realized with a jolt of surprise. Deciding he needed a drink, he turned toward the drinks cabinet in the living room.
“Would anyone care for a refill?” he asked as he poured himself a shot of bourbon. Pausing, he considered tossing that one back and refilling his glass. It only took a moment for him to conclude he needed all of his faculties this evening.
Colleen called out to him from across the room. “No thank you, Sean. Rayne and I are having tea.”
Before he could turn away, his brother-in-law was at his side. “Pour me one like that, Sean. I have a feeling this is going to be a long evening.”
Sean frowned and glanced at Bob while he poured the requested drink. Passing it to him, he asked softly, “What makes you say that?”
Bob took a quick drink before he spoke. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Sean. I love Colleen and I never…well, hardly ever, look at another woman. But sitting across from that woman is going to be tough! She is so fucking hot!”
Sean stared at his brother-in-law in disbelief. Bob fell into that classification of the “never stray” kind of husband. It was totally out of character for him to even make a comment like that. Looking at Bob, with his slightly thinning brown hair, Sean guessed that women would probably still find him attractive. Quickly, he opted to skip confessing how he had seen their dinner guest last night.
“She is pretty,” he muttered as he picked his glass up to finally take a sip.
“Ack!”
Sean grinned at Bob’s response to hearing Sean’s words. The look in his brother-in-law’s eyes spoke volumes, which was reinforced by his next words. “Pretty! You are either insane, Sean, or you’ve gone blind.”
“Bob! What are you two doing over there?”
Sean watched as his brother-in-law grimaced behind the napkin he used to wipe his mouth a moment before he answered his wife.
“Just getting a drink, honey.”
Sean followed Bob, but his gaze was focused on Rayne. She was even more beautiful when seen in good lighting. The dress she wore really did more to conceal than reveal her sensuous figure. Granted, he was comparing it to last night, which wasn’t fair to the dress. He walked over and stood at the far end of the sofa where Rayne was seated. As he watched her talking with his sister, he concentrated on trying to perceive as much as possible about her.
The idea that psychics could read minds was only true in some cases. What he did was to open all his senses, focusing on the subject. Channeling all of his energies into his powers, he opened himself to receive whatever output possible. Over the years, Sean had learned that he usually got what he wanted within a few seconds from most people. It took him a moment to realize that the only input he received was coming from Colleen and Bob! Turning his eyes to rest only on his guest, he did something he rarely did…channel all of his concentration and focus on Rayne.
Once, several years back, he and a friend through the Agency went on a camping weekend. After too many beers, his friend, who was a level three psychic, suggested they try their abilities out on one another. Sean had long suspected that his power was greater than level four, but had disguised and not used it for so long that he was stunned to discover that his friend was able to block his efforts. He was equally surprised that he blocked all the tricks his friend had up his sleeve as well. In the cold light of morning, they decided to keep this secret from the Agency.
An alarm sounding drew his attention abruptly back to the present. He saw that Colleen was getting up.
“Dinner is ready.”
Rayne quickly set her drink down. “Let me help you, Colleen.”
Colleen quickly shook her head negatively. She wiggled her fingers at her husband instead. “Bob will help me. You stay put and we’ll call you both when we get everything on the table.”
* * * * *
Rayne shifted uneasily on the sofa and picked up her glass. Hurriedly, she took a sip and then another. Suddenly her throat felt dry and seemed to be closing off. She didn’t want to do anything else stupid in front of this man. While his eyes had been devouring her last night, she had seen him clearly. His stone-chiseled features, warm hazel eyes and sun-streaked reddish brown hair had struck her immediately with intent, deep and overwhelming desire. The rush of emotion had left her feeling raw and vulnerable. Her reaction had been knee-jerk when she’d asked him a moment later to leave. If she’d been completely honest with herself, she would have admitted that was the last thing she wanted.
This morning, as she first heard Colleen’s dinner invitation, her gut reaction had been, “yes!” Then she’d be able to see the handsome man who had sent her normally logical and sensible brain into limbo while her body took over. Last night she’d slept barely one solid hour. Each time she awoke it was with the
impression of this man’s face in her head. Her heart would be racing and she was completely aware of the fierce need she felt deep inside herself. The last time, at dawn, the erotic dream had still been alive in her mind and easily entered her consciousness.
In the dream, as the water coursed down over her head and shoulders, she had lifted her hands to rub sensually over her breasts. The hard nipples had jutted eagerly in her palms as she pressed and then massaged her big tits. She’d shivered and opened her eyes. Like slow motion, Rayne watched his eyes move down and back up her wet body, thinly veined by the scraps of cotton.
Walking toward her, the handsome man had jerked his shirt off and tossed it aside. Her heart jerked wildly as he stepped under the water with her. One of them took a step forward, or was it his hand touching her arm? A second later their wet bodies pressed tightly together. Wet mouths met and slid against each other. The meeting of their tongues was not a gentle, questing exploration. Hot, fierce and demanding, Sean’s tongue battled with Rayne’s. With Rayne caressing his shoulders and neck, Sean cupped his large hands beneath her breasts.
Her groans and her body pressing into his grasp had signaled her eagerness. She had barely noticed when his one hand dropped down and cupped her mound possessively. Rayne eagerly welcomed the fingers that eased under the cotton and massaged her clit. There was no stopping him nor did she want to, as first one, and then two fingers slid easily into her slippery pussy. The curling and pressing of his fingers denoted his level of experience as he had controlled and mastered her motions.
There had been no thought other than acceptance as her body jerked forward into his body the first time. And the contractions and spasms of her cunt around his fingers a few seconds later were unmistakable. Limp and clinging to his shoulders, she’d not said a word as he moved her toward the house. But he wasn’t taking her inside. Instead, he had pressed her flat against the side of the house. Standing almost immobile, Rayne had savored the feel of the shivers dancing along her nerve endings while his fingers were no longer resting dormant within her body. The stimulation of her clit had seemed almost too much as she heard dimly the sound of his zipper sliding down.