Talent For Trouble Read Free Page A

but didn’t understand the reason for her reaction. He knew she loved her sister, and vice versa, but was there some problem between the siblings? If so, they’d have to work it out. They needed each other, as far as he was concerned. Family was important. Too important to allow a misunderstanding to linger and corrupt the relationship.
    “You think I need two Shas to shield me? Are you that worried about what the stone might have done to me?”
    “Yes.” Darak watched her carefully as he leveled with her. “I know for a fact that Jeri is worried, too, and wants to be with you.”
    “Just how well do you know my little sister?”
    The question took him totally off guard. He reared back a bit in surprise.
    “What kind of question is that?”
    “You heard me. You speak of her as if… as if…”
    “As if I’ve been inside her?” He deliberately pitched his voice low, watching the furious flush rise in her cheeks. Her raw Talent sparked along his senses, and it made him hot in more ways than one.
    “You’re disgusting.” She turned her face away from him.
    “No.” He spoke softly as he sat on the side of her bed. “Just truthful.” He sighed heavily. “I have loved your sister.”
     
    She didn’t think her heart could take the pain that lanced through it at his admission.
    “Love? You call that love?” She couldn’t fathom this culture or the way they shared their bodies so freely. She just did not understand it.
    “A small part of my heart will always be hers, just as a small part of her thinks of me fondly. But she loves my cousin deeply and truly, in a way that I’ve never experienced. They belong together. Micah will care for her all the days of their lives.”
    “Then, why in the world would he let you…?” The question slipped out before she could censor her words.
    “Fuck her?”
    She gasped at the blunt word, and Darak sighed heavily. He moved closer on the soft mattress, but didn’t touch her.
    “I know you and Jeri were raised on Mithrak and that your culture is different from ours.” He shook his head, as if frustrated. “Our people discovered, not long after the Council was formed, that those with Talent have a way of reenergizing each other through sexual pleasure. Though first joinings can be dangerous, once the energies are aligned, the giving and receiving of pleasure can enhance our natural Talents, recharge us and heal those in need of psi energy.” He looked back at her, pinning her with his dark gaze. “This was discovered several centuries ago by the Founders of our Council, you understand. Over the years since then, joinings among Talents became more open, more free. Micah and I, as well as just about everyone who lives on a Council world, were raised to give and receive pleasure freely.”
    “So, you’re telling me that my little sister sleeps with anyone she pleases? I thought she was married!” Her anger was getting the better of her, but there was no way not to get angry at the thought of her innocent little sister being victimized by these Council brutes.
    “That’s not what I’m telling you at all.” Darak’s voice was calm. How could he be so blasted calm when he was talking about having sex with her sister? “Jeri was on the run for most of her life. I don’t know all the details, but she did tell me that after the Wizards took you and murdered your parents, they hunted her. She hid among the horses, eventually stowing away aboard a ship bound for Pantur. Even there, she wasn’t free. The Hill Tribes share pleasure almost as openly as we do, but she never joined in. She came to my cousin a virgin.”
    “She told you that?” She couldn’t imagine her little sister speaking so frankly about such private things.
    Darak grinned wickedly. “No. He did.”
    Just like a man to discuss his conquests with his buddy. She was disgusted. But then why did she feel just a tiny flicker of flame low in her belly? It must be anger, she decided. All men were