Sinking to the ground by Sam and Shawn, I watched Kim try to shield her Protector from Haniel's onslaught. Her grunt of defeat made it clear she had failed. I didn't want it to go to my head, but I was a little proud that the oldest and wisest band here struggled with a task. Being the newbie's was starting to grate on my nerves slightly.
Kim finally gave up after several minutes, sinking to the ground. "That's tough," she said panting, looking at me appraisingly. "Well done Krista."
Kieran and John went next and nailed it almost immediately. I wasn’t surprised. Their bond was strong. They obviously spent a huge amount of their time communicating through the bridge in their mind. That's what made my successful attempt even more impressive, since Mark had closed our bridge several weeks ago.
Lynn and Robert went after Kieran and John, but had the same outcome as Kim and Paul. By the time each pair had taken a shot at the exercise, only three of us were successful at it; Kieran and John, Michael and Faith, and Mark and me.
"The Dark Angel will use any means available to manipulate you, and will use any method necessary to turn you against one another. You will all be pushed to your limit when the battle begins, and all of you will be Protectors in your own right. This will be unlike any situation you have ever encountered," Haniel said once we were all done with the exercise. "You must learn to do this," he added earnestly.
"The Dark One may even try to engage the Archangels, hoping for divine intervention so he can retaliate, but we have our orders from The Light," Haniel said solemnly, laying it all out for us. "We cannot, and will not, step in to intervene, to do so would jeopardize humanity."
His words did not surprise me. Mark and I had been on our own the first time and we survived. I'm sure we would not take his dad by surprise a second time, but I also felt our numbers were strong and we had eliminated the surprise element from the equation.
Putting up blocks proved to be harder than overcoming emotions. We were not only trying to protect ourselves, but our very reason for living as well. After several more attempts, Sam and Shawn were finally able to master it along with Grace and Thomas.
We switched gears and Haniel came at us in a surprise attack, playing his part well, his gifts matching those of the Dark Angel. He was relentless as he mixed up his strategy, going after one of the Protectors then shifting gears abruptly to one of the Guides and then back again. My head was spinning, trying to keep up with his rapid attacks. By the time we broke, I was shaky and slightly sick.
Settling on the sand, I rested my head on my knees, trying to hold back the burning bile rising in my throat. I sensed someone approaching from behind, and then felt Mark's soothing touch as he massaged the tension and nausea out of my system with his healing touch. Leaning back into him gratefully, I sighed with pleasure as my system slowly returned back to normal.
"Thanks," I said, tilting my head back to give him a quick peck on his jaw line. I smiled when his eyes darkened slightly. Mischievously, I pressed another light kiss on the soft skin right below his chin. Gripping my hand in his, he slowly pulled my wrist up to his mouth, gently kissing me on the one spot that he knew turned me to mush. There was just something so seductive to me about being kissed on such a sensitive spot.
"You're not playing fair," I whispered, glancing around self-consciously. I was relieved when I saw everyone else engaged in conversation.
"And you are?" he asked, showing me a flash of his thoughts. Go figure, he decides to start sharing his thoughts again and they are R-rated. Needless to say, a houseful of guests pretty much left it all as just wishful thinking. Gazing in, his eyes, I let my own thoughts merge with his expressing just how much I wanted to be alone with him too. He stood before me, cupping my face with his hands, bringing me closer. His lips met mine as our thoughts merged together, leading us down one fantasy trail and then another. Each one taking us closer to the point we so desperately wanted.
"Um, pretty sure you guys should get a room for a kiss like that," Shawn said dryly, sinking down onto the sand next to us.
Blushing deeply, I pulled away from Mark and covered my flaming face with my hands. I knew he couldn't read our thoughts, but I was mortified that there was someone in our group that could. Sneaking a peak through my fingers, I was immensely relieved to see Haniel engaged in an in depth conversation with three of the older Protectors. If he had heard our thoughts, I would have probably died, and saved Mark's dad from having to do it.
"Figured it was my brotherly duty to interrupt before you guys completely forgot where you were," Shawn continued.
"Gee, thanks for that one," Mark said sarcastically, sounding more than a little frustrated.
I couldn't help the giggle that slipped out. Here I was worried that Haniel could hear our dirty thoughts while Mark was aggravated that we were interrupted. We had definitely reached new ground. Who needed dirty texting when you can share dirty thoughts, I couldn’t help thinking ruefully.
Mark chuckled as he pulled my errant thoughts from my head before I could firmly close the gate. "Any time you're up for another round, you let me know," he whispered in my ear, all hot and sexy.
My cheeks had to be as red as a sunburn now at his suggestion this time, but not from embarrassment. This was more from the blood vigorously pumping through my veins at the thought of another round.
He placed one more heart-stopping kiss on the sensitive spot of my delicate wrist, and then jumped to his feet, sending a quick light swat to Shawn's head as he loped away with Shawn fast at his heels.
"Wow, that was one hot kiss," Sam said, taking Shawn's place beside me.
"Ugh, you saw it too? Did we have like a flashing sign above our heads or something?" I asked, turning pink again.
"Well now that you mention…"
"Are we talking about the "we need a bedroom" kiss?" Lynn interrupted, settling in the sand on the other side of me.
"Seriously! You saw it too?" I asked.
"Well, at first I didn't see it, but I felt the heat behind me and I thought someone had started a bonfire," she joked. "Kidding. I would have missed it if our not so very mature guys hadn't pointed it out to us," she added, reassuring me. "Right Sam?"
"Oh yeah, Shawn nearly cracked my rib nudging me with his elbow. Of course I think he was hoping I would interrupt it. He's not all that crazy about seeing his sister getting all hot and steamy with his best friend," Sam said giggling.
"It wasn't like we intended to make out in front of everyone or anything. It's amazing how an innocent kiss can lead…," I said, letting the rest trail off.
My friends nodded their heads affirmatively, knowing from personal experience what I was talking about. I wasn't sure what their raging hormones felt like, but I'm pretty sure mine rivaled theirs tenfold.