Veiled (Rapture's Edge 2)

Once each had the signals down, Merl positioned Rachel at various points.

She thought it would be impossible to do as Merl suggested. But each time she accessed her grayle power and released her shield, she seemed to increase in distance and accuracy, as well as a feel for the group as a whole.

As soon as she had the team covered, Merl would set up a battle scenario then direct one of the warriors to take the lead. Rachel’s primary job was to keep the team shielded no matter what happened.

There were several jumbles and mishaps, warriors running the wrong direction and colliding with each other.

When Joshua misread a signal, turned the wrong way and knocked her down, Merl stopped the drill. He then spent another fifteen minutes reviewing the hand gestures.

An hour later, the team moved seamlessly and Rachel was able to encompass the sixty feet Merl had insisted on.

Merl called a rest and she flopped onto the black mats, sweating profusely. Merl passed around bottles of water.

As she glanced from warrior to warrior, she couldn’t believe what they’d accomplished in twenty-four hours. It wasn’t so long ago, tensions had run high and none of them had been able to do a fold while in wing-mount.

Her thoughts ran to the woman in the veil, to Katlynn, knowing all this effort was geared toward her rescue. Rachel couldn’t imagine what it had been like for her to be inside a jail cell for fifty years. She replayed Duncan’s earlier vision through her mind of the warriors and the woman. An urgency was on her, yet she, too, could feel the mission wouldn’t take place for another night yet. Of course, this wasn’t a bad thing since they needed to learn all their Third Earth skills first.

But would the team get there in time?

“You look really worried.” Duncan sat down beside her. He stretched out his long legs and leaned back, supporting himself with his palms behind him.

“Just thinking about Katlynn.” She swigged her water. “Do we still have the same timing? When we need to be there?”

He nodded. “Yes. We’ll engage sometime tomorrow night.”

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, because I’m getting worn out. I know we’re not done yet, but I’m going to need some serious rest before we head back into the Third grid.”

He smiled at her, his expression softening. “You’re not alone.”

When Rachel turned to look at him, he shifted a little more in her direction.

Her lips curved, “We haven’t been alone much tonight.”

“No. We haven’t.” The timbre of his voice had deepened. He searched her eyes and she wasn’t surprised when his spicy-ale scent began to rise all around her.

He leaned close and whispered against her check. “Shield us, just for a couple of minutes.”

She knew what he wanted and didn’t hesitate to let her power flow. She knew the moment the shield was complete and so did Duncan, because he simply eased her onto her back, rolled on top of her, then kissed her.

As his kiss deepened and his tongue drove into her mouth, she grabbed his thick, muscled shoulders. He then sucked at her throat greedily, and she moaned.

He drew back just enough to kiss her cheek, the line of her jaw, then drift down her neck. I’m hungry, Rachel. I need you.

I want to feed you, Duncan, but we shouldn’t be doing this.

He drew back, a tender half-smile on his lips. “Everything’s changing, isn’t it?”

She smiled. “I can definitely feel you changing.” She arched her hips against his growing erection.

He chuckled. “Yeah, we shouldn’t be doing this. Don’t know what I was thinking.”

He slid off her and sat up.

When she joined him, she was about to release the shield but he grabbed her arm. “Just give me a sec.”

She covered his hand and held his gaze. “Hope the training ends soon.”

“Me, too.”