Chapter Seven
Devon was getting dressed when she opened her eyes.
Kalin watched the way he adjusted his clothing before reaching for his gun belt. He locked it into place and reached down to secure the strap that went around his upper thigh. She lifted her head but he didn’t look her way.
Of course not, he’d known the moment she woke up. She could feel him. The gun was sitting on the corner of the bed, within easy reach. He palmed it with an ease that sent a little chill across her skin.
That gained his attention. But he slid the weapon into his holster at the same time that he gave her his attention.
“Don’t do that.”
He lifted one of his dark eyebrows in question. Kalin sat up, hugging the rumpled bedding to her chest to ward off the early morning chill.
“Don’t hide behind your wall while you wait to see what I think of you.”
“You think I like knowing I scare you?” He retreated further, sealing himself against something he fully expected her to say.
“You…” she pointed at him, “…don’t scare me.”
He snorted. “I felt that ripple.”
“Your lifestyle wigs me out a little, but mostly because you retreat behind it like a shield.”
Surprise flickered in his eyes and she felt him lowering his defenses. Just enough to feel her out. She tossed the comforter aside and watched him lose focus, his gaze sweeping down her length before rising to settle on her bare breasts.
“I’m so sorry, Devon.” She stood and moved closer. “Did I distract you? I know how you hate that.”
He jerked his attention back up to her face. “Don’t tease.”
“Why?” she asked. “Because you’re the one getting wigged out by the concept of being comfortable some place other than your solitary lifestyle?”
“This isn’t a game,” he growled. “The guns, the bad guys, the lab coats. You’ll get sick of it. You’re fascinated right now, but the glamor will dull.”
“Stop pushing me away—”
Something chirped in his shirt pocket. He reached for it immediately and pulled out a slim black item that looked like a cell phone.
“I have to go.” He pressed something into the device and dropped it back into his pocket. “We’re not finished with this topic.”
“We sure as hell aren’t,” she confirmed.
“You have meetings today too. Test sessions.”
“Excuse me?”
He shot her something that looked a lot like a challenge. “They are going to assess you, Kalin. Being allowed into the planning meeting is a new privilege.”
“There was nothing privileged about that meeting.” She walked by him on her way to the bathroom. Okay, she’d known it wasn’t going to be a happy-ever-after morning, but so far, it was sucking majorly.
Devon made a low sound of frustration. “I told you fitting into my life wasn’t something you’d be willing to do.”
“What a load of shit.” She whipped around. “Working things out between us doesn’t mean I just fall into line with whatever is going on.”
“In my life, it does.”
He’d closed himself off again and opened the door, forcing her to retreat into the bathroom or give the outside world a show.
Her temper sizzled, but he slipped through the door and closed it.
Chicken.
But that didn’t change how devastated she felt. Apparently, mind-blowing sex didn’t change anything.
Total suckage.
Kalin rubbed her eyes but she realized it was her brain she wanted to massage.
“Enough.” She was surprised to hear the man on the other side of the table call an end to the test. “Thank you, Ms. Smith. We’ll continue tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
She stood up and tried not to think about the last six hours of testing. None of it had made much sense to her, but at least she hadn’t had a panic attack. She headed out of the building and toward her quarters. The little drab, nondescript building was suddenly a palace because it offered privacy.
At least she assumed it did. Once inside, she cast a suspicious look around the interior and found a package sitting on the bed.
Master set of keys.
She picked up the package and grinned. Inside was something very far removed from the military element she found herself immersed in.
It was perfect timing too. She pulled the Victoria’s Secret bra out and slipped into the bathroom to try it on. For a moment, she was lost in enjoyment. Even if it was a wicked sort. The bra pushed her breasts up and together, giving her enough cleavage to smother a grown man.
Now there was an idea.
She hummed as she buttoned her shirt up over it. When she went back into the bedroom, she picked up the one she’d bought for Sonya and put it into the backpack she’d started carrying around instead of a purse.
But she stopped and closed her eyes, concentrating as she reached out to the other psychic. For a moment, she felt ridiculous, until she felt the unmistakable feeling of the other girl reaching back toward her. It was really just a feeling, not nearly as clear as the connection she had with Devon. So she concentrated on the bra, trying to hold the image of it in her mind.
Sonya broke the connection, leaving Kalin nursing a headache and an empty belly. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and headed out for the mess hall.
She’d thought she was getting used to being watched.
Kalin decided she wasn’t as complacent as she’d thought she was, because she felt every set of eyes on her. She stuck out among the inhabitants of the restricted area of base. Most of the men were bulky and muscle bound. Women were few and far between.
But today she had a shadow, and she recognized it was one of the men from the meeting. She looked back at him but he didn’t close the gap between them, only continued to watch her.
“You get used to it.” Devon was leaning against the wall of the mess hall. He pushed away from the building and jerked his head toward the door. He reached out and cupped her elbow when she continued to stare at the man watching her.
“He’s observing you so they have a baseline of your behavior patterns when you’re not under stress.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m at ease.”
Devon sank into her thoughts, pulling her attention completely to him. With just his appearance, he derailed everything inside her, capturing her attention completely and making everything else insignificant.
He also had a way of making everything perfect.
He hooked an arm around her waist, pulling her against him. “I’m not sure I deserve the way you think about me, Kalin.” He drew in a deep breath against her hair. “But when you’re this close, you make me believe it’s possible.”
“You have to stop being stupid to make it possible,” a man with a thick Russian accent informed them.
Devon stiffened, twisting her around so that he was between her and Grace. His fellow Operative gave him a dispassionate look before she tried to turn around and head away from the mess hall. Major Jason Jacobs planted himself in her path.
“You haven’t eaten all day.”
Grace looked stressed out and she reached around to rub her lower back, but she turned around and went into the mess hall.
“Is she okay?” Kalin asked.
Devon gave her a hard look. “Don’t ask about her.”
Kalin pushed out of his embrace. “Don’t be such a hard ass. She’s ready to pop.”
Jacobs stopped next to her and pegged her with a stern look. “I take care of Grace. If she’s not okay, I’m the first person to notice.”
Kalin opened her mouth but shut it.
“Good. You’re learning,” Jacobs said.
“Oh, I knew what a pissing match was long before I got sucked into your world.” Devon tried to pull her away from Jacobs but Kalin pushed him away. “I’m hungry.”
“You’re pissed.”
“Irritated,” she corrected Devon. “Eating will solve part of my problem.”
She walked into the mess hall, feeling Devon on her heels. Grace had picked something up from one of the cold storage areas and was picking at it in a booth near the door. Kalin found herself watching her until Devon stepped into her path.
Devon was hiding behind a stony expression. It wasn’t that small of a place, but it felt like it was bursting at the seams.
Grace was the only one not watching her. The emerald-eyed Operative left her dinner behind and started pacing along the outer edge of the building. Her C.O., Major Jacobs, wasn’t really watching her, making it clear the behavior wasn’t abnormal.
Still, something about it tugged on Kalin’s attention.
“Grace prowls. Constantly,” Devon informed her. “Don’t stare at her. It’s normal for her.”
“Fine.” And yet it didn’t feel right, but the short-order cook slid her plate up onto the stainless-steel counter. She nabbed it and headed to a table while Devon ordered.
When he sat down across the table from her, she found herself laughing softly.
He arched one of his dark eyebrows.
“It’s not Spam.”
His eyes filled with the memory and his features softened. For just a moment, she glimpsed the man she longed for. He was in there, but she had no idea if she could live with just the brief moments Devon allowed him out.
Devon froze, reading her thoughts as he always did. His brow furrowed and his defenses went up.
Disappointment sliced through her.
Sonya arrived, bringing a breath of fresh air with her because she was bubbling with excitement. Another major was trailing her and stopped beside Jacobs and Garrick. This man was older but his gaze was no less keen. Sonya was wearing makeup again and had on a yellow top that just screamed rebel through the front of her open fatigue top. She’d tied the loose ends into a knot and had a matching headband holding her sandy-blonde hair back from her face. There was a sparkle in her light-green eyes as she sat down next to Kalin.
“Waiting for that meeting to end drove me crazy,” Sonya announced. She was perfectly comfortable talking in front of the men watching.
“What?” Sonya looked around and gave a delicate shrug. “I wouldn’t know what to do with privacy.” She smiled like a little girl waiting to blow out her birthday-cake candles. Kalin laughed and opened her backpack. Sonya actually wiggled with excitement.
Kalin pulled the bag out and gave it to Sonya. The girl squealed with delight but her C.O. stepped up.
“Relax, Lorance.” Sonya tore into the paper like a child on Christmas morning. She pulled the bra out and her smile turned naughty as she dangled the lace covered undergarment from one finger so that her C.O. could see it. “I don’t think this bra is deadly.”
“Depends on who you use it on,” Major Lorance remarked.
“Don’t mind him.” Sonya lowered the bra and looked at it with a sparkle in her eyes. “He hasn’t adjusted to the fact that I’m not sixteen anymore.”
The major grunted but went and poured himself a cup of coffee. Sonya reached over and hugged her before bouncing out of the booth.
“I have got to try this on.”
Major Lorance set his coffee down without a second thought before following his Operative.
“There’s a reason she can’t buy those herself.”
Kalin turned and looked at Devon. “The stone man speaks. Should I be flattered?”
Devon was still keeping her out, but she could tell he was itching to barge into her thoughts. Of course, that would just put his own feelings out in the open too. She smiled at him, making sure he knew she was enjoying the standoff.
“You still don’t get it.” He flattened his hands on the table top, killing the conversation from the few Rangers on the far side. “Sonya needs to adjust completely. She can’t wear the latest fashion trend in the field.”
Kalin opened her hands to indicate the mess hall. “This is hardly the field, and you guys are the ones who need to do a little relaxing. There’s nothing wrong with a woman feeling pretty once in a while. She isn’t a girl.”
Devon shoved away from the table. “You were given a privilege, Kalin, and now you’ve misused it. You were supposed to be ordering things for yourself.”
Kalin slowly stood and quelled the urge to look at their audience. “I did order one for myself.” She tugged gently on the neck line of her tee-shirt, baring a few inches of skin. Devon’s lips turned white because he was pressing them together so hard, but his gaze homed in on the strap she uncovered. She granted him just a few seconds to see it before letting the tee-shirt pop back into place. But she made sure the memory of how it looked was foremost in her thoughts. His complexion darkened.
She gave a little hum. “It’s a great matching set.”
Devon’s eyes narrowed and she felt him losing his grip on his restraint.
But something caught her eye. She looked past him toward the door in time to see Grace slipping through it like a shadow.
“Don’t.”
Devon’s voice was razor sharp. “It’s bad enough you can read my thoughts so well. Stay out of Grace’s.”
“A good idea,” Major Jacobs added. He wasn’t on his Operative’s tail but remained inside the mess hall. “Grace likes her space. I crowd her enough as it is.”
“But—” Something was knocking on the back of her brain, something Grace was determined to hide. But her control was slipping and returning in regular intervals. Kalin tried to reach out to feel the other woman.
Devon sliced through the connection.
“No buts, Kalin,” Devon exploded. “You just don’t get it. This is not a place to play around with boundaries. You need to start following orders to the letter.”
“Sounds good to me,” Major Gennaro added.
Major Jacobs nodded a single time to make it clear he was in complete agreement.
Kalin didn’t back down. “You all need a little freshness around here. What difference does it make what sort of bra your Operative is wearing?” She pegged Jacobs with a hard look. “Don’t tell me not to crowd Grace when you’re saying you get to decide if her underwear is correct. That’s crowding on an epic scale.”
“Kalin, Jacobs is an officer with far more experience than you with psychic Operatives.”
“So can it?” she asked.
All three men nodded simultaneously. Their posture rigid.
“Fine. I hear you. I don’t know squat about your world.”
There were three more nods.
Kalin suddenly put her gut feeling together with what she’d seen Grace doing before she slipped outside. “Well, I’ll tell you big bad soldier men what I do know.”