Talk to him? That was a first. Ryan wasn’t big on touchy-feely conversations. And he was the last person she could share this with. He had no faith in her gift—or, in this case, her curse.
“I can’t. I’m too… You don’t understand…”
“Maybe not.” Ryan’s knuckles caressed her cheek. “But I’ll try.”
That did it.
Claire began to openly sob, turning her face into the side of Ryan’s neck. “It won’t go away,” she wept.
“What won’t?”
“The aura of death…underground…buried…” The words were just tumbling out, uncensored, and Claire had no control over them. “I’m always inside the head and emotions of whoever I’m connecting with, experiencing what they’re experiencing. It drains me, horrifies me, affects me. But when the pain is gone, when they die, it’s over. The connection is severed.”
“Okay.” Ryan didn’t come back with any jibes. He just listened.
“Like with Julie.” Claire swallowed, still fighting for self-control, and still losing the fight. But at least she was somewhat coherent now. “I felt the impact of the bullet, the pain, the dying. But once she was gone, so was the vision. I’ve never actually felt a dead person before. But now I am. And the experience of death, it won’t go away. It’s living inside me. I’m living inside it. I can’t concentrate on anything else. I guess that just now when we…when I…”
“Came apart in my arms?” Ryan supplied, trying to help Claire in the only way he knew how.
It worked.
“Yes.” Claire could feel Ryan’s gentle teasing flow through her, start to ease back the pain. Her crying slowed, then ceased. “It was like one giant release. The proverbial floodgates opened.”
“That’s pure skill on my part,” Ryan said. “I’m the provider of giant releases.”
Claire leaned back, her face still drenched with tears, blinking at Ryan’s audacious statement and smug expression. In spite of herself, she started to laugh. And the laughter felt good, oh so good.
“You arrogant ass.” She punched his shoulder, touched by the lingering concern she saw on his face. “But, in all fairness, I guess I needed that. So I should be thanking you, huh?”
“Definitely.” His body hardened inside hers, and his dark blue eyes got even darker.
“Okay, you’re right,” Claire said with a straight face. “Thank you, Ryan. You were a great listener.”
His crestfallen expression was priceless. “That’s not the kind of thanks I was hoping for.”
“Really? I’m shocked.”
Picking up on her humor, realizing she wanted exactly the kind of thanks he did, Ryan gave a relieved groan. He rolled onto his back, taking Claire with him. “Let’s do this again,” he murmured. “This time slow. I want you to feel me, only me, every second. No dark visions.” He took her mouth in a hot, devouring kiss, tangling his hands in her disheveled blonde hair. “And no crying this time. It sucks for my ego.”
“Your ego is beyond fine.” Claire kissed her way down his throat and his chest, tasting the salt of his skin. She raised her head and met his smoldering gaze. “But instead of crying, how about if I just make you beg?”
A chuckle vibrated through him as he stretched his arms over his head. “Go for it, Claire-voyant. I’m all yours.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Aidan answered his cell on the fifth ring, and, even then, he dropped it with a clatter to the floor. There were some groping sounds, and then Aidan’s voice.
“You are a huge pain in the ass,” he informed Marc. He sounded like he’d been running a marathon, and definitely like it was a bad time.
That could only mean one thing.
Marc’s lips curved into a smile as he settled himself on his and Maddy’s living room sofa. “Busy?” he inquired.
“Not funny.”
“Gee, I haven’t even asked for the favor yet, and I’m already on your shit list.”
“I don’t know what favor you’re talking about, but you’re sure as hell on my shit list.”