For The One(44)
He spoke after some hesitation. “I would like you to do that for me sometime. I don’t believe in it, though,” he added quickly.
I nodded. “I’ll read for you. But right now, we need to work on visualization and breathing. We can’t have what happened at the hockey game happen at your next duel, right?”
He looked up at me briefly, caught my gaze and then yanked his eyes away. He looked almost…guilty.
“What’s up, Wil?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t leave because of the crowd.”
I blinked. Well, this was news to me. “You picked me up and carried me out of the arena like the place was on fire. If I recall correctly, you seemed pretty darned determined to get out of there.”
A smile hovered on his lips, and then his eyes flicked to my chest before shifting away just as quickly. Then he colored beautifully. Though William had dark hair and eyes, his skin was pale and it flushed a deep shade of red.
“You gonna tell me why you’re blushing, or am I going to have to guess?”
William’s jaw clenched and he looked off into the distance, over my shoulder.
“Hmm.” I folded my arms. “I was sitting on your lap and…” I remembered the feel of his body underneath mine, the hardness of his chest against my back. It had been pretty darn pleasant for me, and maybe—“Oh, I get it. You got turned on.”
“Turned on what?”
I mentally groaned. This language thing was a bit of a pain in the ass. “You got…aroused?”
His color deepened. He’d probably been worried what my reaction would be if I knew he’d gotten an erection.
It was both adorable and incredibly arousing. And funny. Because I’d been turned on, too. Feeling his strong arms under mine, his warm breath on the back of my neck. It had been almost impossible to concentrate on the game.
Suddenly, I started laughing.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because it’s funny. Did you think I was going to slap you?”
He frowned. “No. I just thought you’d call me a pervert.”
“It was a natural reaction, Wil. I can’t fault you for that. I was the one who volunteered to sit on your lap, remember? And I know how male anatomy works.”
His eyes narrowed. “How well do you know?”
My eyes flicked meaningfully to his crotch. “I know enough. So that’s why you bailed—I mean, left?”
He rubbed a hand down his thigh. “Yes.”
“Well, next time just tell me. We’re adults here. Don’t be silly, okay?”
“I’m never silly.”
I cleared my throat. “How about we work on visualization now before everyone gets here…”
I instructed him to sit cross-legged on the floor facing me, our knees touching. Or rather, my knees touched his shins, as his legs were longer than mine.
His whole focus seemed to be on where our legs touched each other. “You okay? No, um, sudden reactions?”
He scowled but didn’t reply.
“Okay, so this should be easier for you because you naturally think in pictures. We’re going to ground and center using a mental image…”
“What am I picturing? TIE fighters? Snow speeders? Imperial walkers?”
“A tree.”
He raised his brows and smiled. “Ewoks?”
“Nope, no Ewoks. A tree. You are a tree.”
“But—”
“It’s pretend, Wil. Imagine you are a great oak tree and you are going to connect with the earth. You are going to be solid and sturdy and unflappable as a tree. You will be dug in so deeply that not even the strongest storm can blow you over. Because your roots run deep into the earth.”
He was staring at me as if I’d sprouted a third eye on my forehead.
“No, I’m not crazy. Close your eyes and imagine roots extending from your body into the ground below us.”
“But the ground isn’t below us. We’re two floors above the ground.”
I sighed. “Just do it.” His eyes snapped closed. “Good. Hold out your hands. It might help to connect with me.” I rested my palms on his and clasped his hands.
“Now breathe in and send those roots down into the soil below you.”
“Out of my butt?”
“What?”
“Are the roots coming out of my butt?”
“Come on! You aren’t taking this seriously.”
I moved to pull my hands back from his, but his fingers tightened around mine. In that moment, something startling happened. It felt like…a pulse of heat passed from him to me. If I were more new-agey than I actually was, I’d have called it an energy exchange or said that I’d felt his aura.
But no, this was something much more basic. I licked my lips, acknowledging this in-your-face physical attraction.