Beckham was there.
He was standing right there.
But he was a blank slate. As ever.
And she was as equally mystifying to him.
They moved on to trying to mind reading. Reyna was excited about this one. Not that she wanted Beckham in her head, but she wouldn’t mind unraveling some of his greater mysteries. But all they ended up doing was staring at each other for long stretches of time and asking, “What am I thinking now?”
“You want to eat lunch,” Beckham said.
“Yes!” Reyna shouted. She jumped in the air in excitement. “You got it. You finally got it.”
“Your stomach grumbled.”
She sank back into the chair. “I’m so transparent. You don’t need to read my mind.”
“At times.”
“And you’re so closed off, I’d probably get to read your mind and find locked filing cabinets inside.”
Beckham’s lips curved on one side in amusement. She knew that was his way of saying Of course you would.
“We should break for lunch. You need to keep your strength up.”
“Me?” she asked. “Look at you.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Are you suggesting I’m not strong?”
“I’m suggesting you’re still not a hundred percent and need to eat more.”
His expression said I can take care of myself.
“I don’t need to read your mind or grasp your feelings to know that you are still recovering. The little bit that you drank from me last week is nothing, Becks. We both know blood packets aren’t enough. Maybe this isn’t working because you’re flagging.”
Beckham snapped his eyes to hers. “Flagging?”
“Yeah.”
His nostrils flared. “Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
Reyna’s lips quirked. “Yes.”
“Explain.”
“I thought I’d see if heightened emotions worked. But yeah…no luck.”
He shook his head and rummaged through a bag that Reyna had completely ignored since they’d gotten there. It was full of food. She ate in silence, trying to figure out what the fuck they were doing wrong.
They spent hours staring at each other, boosting emotions and fighting, trying to get a reaction to make the powers work. When she opened herself up to sensing him, it was there. But beyond that was a brick wall of nothing. A wall of air that separated her from him. Imaginary and frustrating as fuck.
Somehow it was worse than exercising. She was warm in the one room and felt none of the calm thinking power that Beckham had claimed the cabin gave him once upon a time.
All she felt was frustrated, achy, and tired.
“Maybe we can’t do anything else,” she suggested.
“Perhaps.”
“This is all a waste of time. There are other things we could be doing.”
Beckham shrugged one shoulder.
“Aren’t you annoyed?”
“This was an experiment. As valid as any other.”
“Ugh!” Reyna grumbled. “Let’s try again tomorrow or something, because I’m tapped out.”
“I think we should keep—”
“I’m human, all right? I have limits.”
Reyna couldn’t help it. Her frustration was getting to her. She’d thought this would be an easy endeavor. That she’d just magically be good at it, whatever it was. Like they’d been with sensing. But if she was capable of more, it wasn’t going to come easy. Not by a long shot.
“We don’t have much time.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh.
She turned and there he was. In her awareness, she’d walked right into his arms. They wrapped tight around her body, pulling her against him. She melted into the embrace. He held her as if she was adored, cared for, loved.
She knew that her annoyance and frustration wasn’t actually directed at him. That it shouldn’t even be there. But she’d felt so useless for so long that sometimes it just exploded out of her. She loved that he knew what she needed.
His hands splayed across her back. She felt the urgency in his movements. And suddenly all the pent-up energy exploded between them.
Beckham pushed her back against the wooden cabin wall. He grabbed her hands and pinned them high above her head. Then captured her lips in a searing kiss. Her head spun with the intensity, the swift change of emotions.
“I need you,” he growled into her mouth.
“Yes,” she gasped.
He fumbled her jeans down and tore her panties off. He inhaled deeply at the strong scent of her arousal. He freed himself from his pants. She watched him stroke himself once, twice, three times, mesmerized. She wet her lips and he pressed forward to kiss her again.
His hands moved to the backs of her thighs and lifted her clean into the air. Her legs wrapped around his waist. Her hands left the cabin wall to fall to his shoulders. She felt his cock hard against her opening. She groaned in anticipation, wiggling her hips to try to tempt him inside.
But he held her hips steady and plunged into her when he was ready. Her head fell back against the wooden wall. She saw stars. This was pure perfection. Everything about it was wonderful and overwhelmingly perfect. She loved Beckham so much. And the way their bodies connected over and over again. Deep, hard, and unyielding.