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  "We all were.” He didn't move a muscle as he continued to look at her.

  "Dustin, are you okay?” The question seemed to pull him out of his current state, because he stepped back and the tiny surges of power stopped circling around them.

  He shook his head. “Yeah, it's been a..."

  "Very bad day,” she finished for him when he ran out of steam.

  He looked around his living room as though he hadn't seen it in a month of Sundays. “I'm beyond tired. If you don't mind, I'm going to try and get some sleep."

  "I don't. Are you sure you won't eat something?"

  He didn't look well at all and that worried her.

  "Thanks for the effort. I just cannot eat anything right now. Night.” He turned and headed toward the stairs.

  She didn't bother to respond to him. She was sure he wouldn't remember she hadn't. As he disappeared up the stairs, she pondered her overpowering urge to comfort him. For the last fifteen years, she'd lived on her own and hadn't formed an attachment to anyone. She kept the few who tried to be her friends at arm's length. She'd never been willing to risk again the hurt that came with betrayal. She'd learned that painful lesson years ago. So, why had she so willingly spilled her guts to this group of strangers today?

  Because they're like you.

  She picked up the tray of uneaten food and walked into the kitchen. Automatically, she put things away and cleaned up the broken dish as she considered her thoughts. Since coming into her powers, she'd never been around people who considered her normal. Today had been different. For the first time in her life, she used her extraordinary gift, and people didn't stare at her in horror or run from her in fear. No, she worked beside people who used their equally strong powers to help others. She'd watched an IceShaper create ice out of thin air to use for medical reasons. Grady had used his FireStarter ability to weld and secure two support beams that threatened the rescue efforts.

  The most remarkable person, though, had been Dustin. He'd awed her with the strength his powers when he moved a large, heavy section of a collapsed wall out of the way, then brought tears to her eyes when he used the same talent to gently blow tiny glass shards from the open wound of a coworker. She'd seen many sides of Dustin Martinez, and each and every one of them fascinated her.

  A smile played across her lips as she remembered how good it felt to not hide her true nature. The feeling of happiness quickly passed when she remembered the four who'd lost their lives today. The weight of those deaths added to the burden she already carried, and she wondered how much a human could possibly endure.

  Switching off the light, she headed toward the room she'd stayed in the night before. She knew she wasn't going to sleep much, but there was a small ViewScreen, and with any luck, there would be something interesting enough to occupy her mind for a few hours.

  * * * *

  The door to Dustin's bedroom swung open silently, and Lexi stood motionless in the hall. She didn't want to wake him, but she knew she needed to. Knocking and calling out his name hadn't worked, so apparently she would have to shake him. She crossed the space between the door and bed, not bothering to be quiet about it, hoping the noise would rouse him. It didn't.

  Stopping next to the bed, her gaze traveled over his exposed body. Apparently, the man liked to sleep naked and thankfully—or maybe not—he slept on his stomach. Light from the hall drifted in, allowing her to see the expanse of his shoulders, the play of muscles across them and his upper arms. The way his back narrowed to a trim waist and a fine, firm butt. Even in the dim light, she could make out the muscles that defined his long legs. He wasn't bodybuilder buff, but there wasn't anything soft about him, either. He shifted in his sleep, pulling Lexi away from the fine picture in front of her and back to the task at hand.

  "Dustin.” She touched his warm, smooth shoulder at the same time she said his name. Faster than a cobra strike, his hand reached out, wrapped around her upper arm, and pulled her onto the bed with him. Before she even had time to squeak, he pinned her under his body with his right arm across her throat and a gun pointed at her left temple. She couldn't breathe and was too scared to fight, so she lay perfectly still.

  Dustin blinked, then leaned down close to her neck and took a deep breath. “Lexi?"

  Her name was barely a whisper on his lips, and she liked the way it sounded. “Yes, it's me."

  In one smooth move, he slid off her and onto his side, propped on an elbow. By the time she turned her head to him, the gun was out of sight. He ran his free hand across her neck where his arm only seconds ago had restricted her breathing. “Did I hurt you?"

  "No. I do think you scared a few years off my life though.” She inhaled, and the spicy scent of his cologne filled her lungs, branding her memory with a fragrance she would always remember as his.

  He brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “I'm not used to having people stay over, and the few who do know not to wake me."

  "It would have been nice to have been told this yesterday."

  His hand moved so his fingers wrapped around the back of her neck, and his thumb grazed the side of her jaw. “True, but then you wouldn't be in bed with me, would you?"

  "No.” The word came out breathy even to her ears. His eyes dropped to her mouth, and she knew he was going to kiss her again. Her breath caught as he lowered his mouth; she needed to tell him why she'd come in here. But words failed her when his warm, soft lips touched hers.

  He didn't move to hold her or stroke her or climb on top of her like she truly wanted. Instead, he kissed, nibbled, and licked her mouth until she was ready to beg for more.

  Slowly, as if he didn't want to pull away, he broke the kiss. “Why are you in my room?"

  His voice was husky, and his erection pressed against her thigh. She blinked a couple of times and forced herself to think. She sat straight up.

  "My PCD. Do you see it?” She searched through the rumpled sheet but didn't find it. When she was sure it wasn't in the bed, she stood up and searched the floor. She remembered dropping it when he pulled her onto the bed.

  "I'm guessing you didn't come in here to jump me."

  She was glad the dim light hid the heat infusing her face. “No, I didn't.” She dropped to the floor. “I received a message I thought you should see."

  She spotted the device under the bed. Lying on her stomach, she stretched for it, and her fingers barely made contact. Clutching the PCD in one hand, she scooted back out. As she did, her shirt caught on the frame and rode up. She tried to dislodge the top, but she couldn't reach it and wiggling did nothing.

  "Hold still."

  She felt Dustin's hand on her back and froze as fear raced through her body. Her heart pounded faster as he traced one of many scars that crisscrossed her back, causing unwelcome images to flash through her mind.

  "The evil inside you doesn't want to leave, Lexi.” Reverend Fairchild hissed in condemnation as he walked around her cowering, naked sixteen-year-old body. He ran the fingers of one hand across the scars from previous sessions to remove the sin that lived inside her. The cane in his other hand snaked across her body as he moved. “It's my job to rid your body of this wickedness."

  He raised his arm high, and the cane fell across her back with enough force her body moved a good three feet across the floor. He raised his arm again—

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  Chapter Seven

  Lexi's scream echoed through the silent house like a laser blast, causing Dustin's heart to skip a beat. The fabric of her shirt gave way as he pulled her out from under the bed, not giving a damn if he shredded the top. Once she was free, she curled into a fetal position.

  Standing, he reached for his slacks and pulled them on. As he knelt beside her, his foot kicked her PCD. He picked it up and tabbed through the messages. Two carried today's date. He checked the time stamps and opened the first one. It must have been the one that brought her to his room.

  Lost sheep must return to their flock.


  It's time for you to come home.

  That was creepy. He hit the forward button, and the second message flashed before his eyes.

  Sinners can run.

  Sinners can hide.

  In the end, they will die.

  He remembered what she'd told them this morning, and it had all seemed so impossible. Looking over at her, he knew she wasn't faking this. She was reliving some terror in her past. The ridges he'd felt on her back were scars. His stomach turned at the pain she must have endured. He forced his mind away from that line of thought. It would do neither of them any good.

  Slowly, he scooted closer to her, and in a voice one would use for a scared child, he started talking. “Lexi, it's Dustin. You're in my house. You're safe."

  After he'd repeated himself several times, she relaxed enough to uncurl and push herself to a sitting position. She looked around as though she were lost. “I'm s-sorry.” She wrapped her arms around her knees and started to shake.

  Dustin reached out and touched her hands. “God, you're freezing.” Standing, he picked her up and placed her on the bed. “Lie down so I can cover you up."

  She did as he asked but never took her gaze off him as he straightened the covers. He wished he could read her mind, because he wasn't sure she knew where she was or who he was. When the blankets were back in place, he crawled on top of the covers and pulled her next to him, tucking the top of her head below his chin.

  They stayed that way for several minutes before she spoke. “Why did you get on top?"

  The sweet scent of jasmine filled him as he inhaled. He couldn't remember the last time he noticed the smell of a woman or the way it affected him. “You seemed stressed enough. I didn't want to add any more."

  She moved away, and he forced himself to let go. She scooted to the head of the bed, resting her back against it, and wrapped her arms around her knees. He turned so he was propped on one elbow facing her. “I saw the messages. I'm guessing Reverend Fairchild sent them."

  He watched the play of emotions across her face, and a knot formed in the pit of his stomach. “You don't have to tell me anything. I'll need to turn your communicator over to my tech group. If the origin of the message is traceable, they'll identify it."

  She stretched one long, bare, incredibly sexy leg in front of him. He was trying very hard to ignore how she looked in the thin strapped top and short pajama bottoms. But it would have taken a saint to not notice, and he wasn't a saint.

  "Even if your people trace the message, I'd bet my business on it going back to Rick Nelson."

  "Tell me more about Rick Nelson.” He reached out and took her foot in his hand. He didn't even realize what he'd done until he saw the cautious look in her eyes.

  "Rick Nelson is Fairchild's right hand monster. He does all the Reverend's dirty work."

  She didn't tell him to stop, so he lightly massaged her foot. “What happened to you while you were at the Fundamentalist school? You made it sound like you made it out almost unscathed when discussing it yesterday."

  She studied the wall opposite them for a few minutes. “I was there for four very long weeks. When you don't immediately see things the Reverend's way, the punishments start. At first, it was little things like withholding food, water, and sleep. When those retributions didn't work, they moved the sinners to isolation chambers or staked them out in the elements or put them in a metal box in the middle of the summer. For those few these lessons didn't work on, drowning or fire tortures were used."

  He wished with every fiber of his body that he could wipe away her terror, but he couldn't. As much as he didn't want to hear this story, he knew it must be told. “He didn't do any of those to you though, did he?"

  "No, he took me out to the barn. Nelson was waiting for us. He's a big, burly man. Fairchild told me to strip, or Nelson would do it for me. I didn't want Nelson touching me, so I did it. I can still remember standing there trying to cover myself and listening to Fairchild lecture me as to how this was for my own good. Then the Reverend picked up a long cane pole and handed it to Nelson. Nelson smiled when he took it, and I knew then what was going to happen. I vomited before he even landed the first blow."

  "God damned bastards.” Dustin exploded off the bed to pace the room. He felt like a wild beast was inside of him, clawing to get out. “I wish the son-of-a-bitches were here for me to whip them with a cane right now. I'd teach them a lesson or two about pain."

  He glanced over at the bed and noticed the wide eyed distrustful expression on Lexi's face. He forced himself to go sit on the edge of the bed and calm down. He held out his hands, but there was no way he could hide how they were shaking. “I'm sorry, but it just infuriates me this could have happened. Hell, it might still be happening."

  She scooted up behind him, pressing her front to his back and wrapping her arms around his waist. She propped her head on his right shoulder, and her breath fanned his neck. “The last week I was there, the good Reverend became increasingly irritated at my stubbornness. Twice a week, Nelson would dole out my punishment while Fairchild watched. The problem was, the more he disciplined me, the more I rebelled."

  Her voice broke, and so did his heart. He couldn't imagine what she'd endured. “You don't have to finish the story."

  "I don't know why, but I need you to hear my story, to understand what I've been through. Then, as soon as I can, I want to give a formal statement."

  "Lexi..."

  She kept talking, not giving him a chance to change her mind. “He has to be stopped, Dustin. To do that, you're going to need my help. And my testimony."

  Dustin ran a hand down his face. How much more of this could he stand to hear before he lost his sanity? He moved so his back rested against the headboard. Pulling her up between his legs, he wrapped his arms around her and held tight. “Keep going."

  "The final straw came when, in the middle of the night, I used my powers to move the Reverend's new and very expensive two-seater solar-glider into his large private pool. There was no question who did it, and the next night, I was dragged from my bed back out to the barn. I'd never seen Fairchild so angry, and I knew from the look in his eyes he was going to kill me. I fought and screamed so much, Nelson tied me to a pole. That night was the only time I know of that Fairchild dirtied his hands, but he beat me himself. I don't know how long it lasted. There were times I lost consciousness from the pain, and when I would come to, he would still be hitting and screaming at me."

  She stopped and wiped the tears from her face. “Finally, I passed out for good, and when I woke, I was in a heap on the floor. I heard the two men talking but didn't move for fear they would start over again. Fairchild told Nelson to leave me where I was, and if I was still alive the next night, they would give me another lesson. They left me then. I remember thinking it was a miracle I wasn't dead, and if I didn't do something, I wouldn't live through the next night.

  "Somehow, I made it out of the barn and to the closest road. A local widow found me unconscious in a ditch and managed to get me into her car. She drove me all night to her cousin's house eight hours away. They never asked what happened to me, but they knew. Two weeks later, I was handed a transport ticket to the Connecticut Colony, six hundred account credits, and a new identity. That's the day my life truly started."

  Dustin's heart pounded like a runaway solar-train as he studied the woman he held in his arms. She was strong yet fragile, sexy yet shy, but most of all the way she'd gone on with her life was simply amazing. “There is no way I can even being to understand what you've gone through."

  She laid her head on his chest. “I don't expect you to understand, but you listened and didn't think I was crazy or making up some outrageous story."

  He swallowed the rage building inside of him. “I know you're telling the truth."

  Lexi turned so she could see his eyes and knew when she looked into them that he meant what he said. Without thinking, she slipped a hand behind his neck and pulled him down so his lips almost touched hers. />
  "I want you,” she whispered as she closed the distance between them.

  Their mouths touched, and she felt Dustin's arms tighten around her as a shudder went through his body. The kiss was slow and tentative at first. Then she turned, pressing her breasts against his strong chest, and opened her mouth to him. He groaned as he held her to him. Slowly, he maneuvered them so they rested flat on the bed with her on top. Her hips were cradled between his spread legs. The firmness of his erection left no doubt he wanted this as much as she did.

  His hands roamed over her back and down across her butt as their tongues danced together. She rocked her hips against him and was pleased to feel his entire body jerk and stiffen at the movement. Little by little, he moved his fingers down between her thighs and spread her legs until they rested on the outside of his.

  He rotated his hips against her, and her body quivered in anticipation of falling over that invisible edge. He moved a hand up under her top and cupped one breast. Her breath caught at the roughness of his palm slipping across the sensitive skin. It was her turn to groan as he rolled her nipple between his fingers, and her pleasure peaked even higher. She deepened the kiss, letting her body move of its own accord against Dustin, and her hands roam over his hard body. She prayed he would understand what she needed, because words were beyond her.

  His other hand went to the band of her shorts. His fingers slipped inside, down across her bottom, and into the heated wetness pooling between them. Her body jerked when his hand kept moving, pushing her sensitive folds aside. Fire shot through her as he buried two fingers deep inside her, lifted his hips into her, and tweaked the nipple he held with the other hand.

  She broke the kiss as she sat up, pulling her top off as she did. Leaning forward, she whispered, “Please, I need to feel your mouth on me."

  His eyes darkened as he smiled up at her. Without breaking eye contact, he guided her to him. The feel of his warm, wet mouth was like a small taste of heaven, but she wanted all of it. She reached back to take her bottoms off. “Dustin, I need you in me."