Kayla floundered in the darkness and gasped as the lifeline reached her. Alec’s energy poured over her, and she felt the strong pull toward him. She instinctively channeled her energy back toward him. The moment it reached him, she felt herself once more become aware of her surroundings.

She opened her eyes to see his concerned face. Feeling as though she could get lost in the blue depths of his eyes, she reached up to touch his face tenderly. His energy ran through her, and she sent her own flow of energy back to him. Alec gave her an encouraging smile as he felt her energy become less chaotic and more purposeful.

“It’s working,” Seara whispered.

Kayla leaned forward and put her arms around Alec, wanting to be closer to him. The energy flow increased, and she washed her energy over him. He pulled back slightly and withdrew some of his energy. Alarmed, she increased her energy and felt him hesitate with longing for her.

“I don’t understand. I know you want me,” she thought toward him in confusion.

“I do,” he admitted regretfully. “I want to complete the connection with you more than anything else. But not like this. As it is, I believe we’ve already formed a small permanent bond.”

She smiled at the thought. “Then we should complete it.”

He shook his head. “Kayla, you have no idea how hard this is for me. I want you, but we can’t do this under these conditions. I want you to be fully aware and willing when we finally claim one another.”

Alec took a deep breath and withdrew the last of his energy from her. She whimpered at the lapse. He pulled her onto his lap and held her tightly.

Kayla continued channeling energy over him. He struggled against the nearly irresistible desire to return her energy. He thought toward her, “Kayla, you need to pull back on your energy.”

“No,” she refused, her eyes pleading with him. “I know you want me as much as I want you. I’m aware and willing. I don’t understand why you won’t join with me.”

Kayla recognized Seara’s voice in the background but ignored it, intent on convincing Alec to join with her.

“Kayla won’t break the connection. I don’t know how much longer Alec can resist.”

Carl frowned. “Why won’t she break it?”

“It’s instinctual,” Seara explained in a hushed voice. “She hasn’t grown up learning our ways, so she hasn’t learned temperance. Alec is able to harness her energy. I suspect he’s one of the few people who can. If he weren’t as talented, she wouldn’t have any hesitation in breaking the connection. But the fact he can match her strength is appealing to her.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You could try talking to her,” Seara suggested. “I don’t know if she’ll even be aware of you, but it’s worth a try. Just don’t touch her. I’m not sure how that will affect their connection.”

Kayla was dimly aware of movement off to her side, but she wasn’t willing to look away from Alec.

“Kayla, sweetheart, you need to break the connection. You don’t want to do this.”

Carl? At the sound of his voice, Kayla turned to look at him. The concern and longing in his gaze surprised her, and she started to reach out to him. Her energy flow faltered, and she felt Alec wince from the lapse. Her eyes immediately flew back to Alec. She realized she was hurting him from the withdrawal and started to increase the energy again.

Alec shook his head. “No, Kayla, you have to stop. It’s just like before. It’ll hurt for a few minutes but it’ll be okay. I’ll still be here for you. One day, we will complete the connection, but the time isn’t now.”

He leaned toward her and pressed his lips against hers in a promise. When he pulled away, she withdrew her energy from him. She felt his agony and yearning. It hurt her almost as much as it hurt him. He held her for a long moment, simply stroking her hair. Alec’s voice was gentle when he said, “Break the connection now, Kayla.”

Kayla nodded and pulled the threads of energy away from him, gasping at the sharp stab of emptiness where she had once felt completely connected. It seemed even more painful this time than it had been the previous day.

“It’s because we have a more permanent bond now. Too much energy was exchanged. If we were fully bonded to one another, you wouldn’t feel that pain.”

She nodded and then looked over at Carl. His expression was full of agony. “I’m okay, Carl.”

Holding out his hand to her, Carl helped her up. He yanked her to him and held her tightly as though he was afraid to let her go. Kayla wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his chest. She’d scared him. Hell, she’d scared herself. She needed to try to make sense of her chaotic emotions, but she felt too raw.

Seara looked at Alec in concern. “Are you all right, Alec? I didn’t think what you did was possible.”

He stood and looked at Kayla and Carl in each other’s arms. “I’m fine.”

Kayla turned to look at Alec, feeling torn between the two men. She couldn’t deny her feelings for both of them. They each represented something distinctly different. Carl was part of the world she had grown up knowing, whereas Alec touched her on a primal level she was strangely drawn to but didn’t understand.

Alec gave her an understanding look. His thoughts touched her mind. “I know you’re torn, Kayla. I can be as patient as you need me to be.”

Kayla swallowed and didn’t answer. She turned to Seara. “Did it work? Is the bracelet deactivated?”

“Yes,” Seara admitted and jingled the inert piece of jewelry on her wrist. “It’s an ordinary bracelet now. But you two can’t do that again. It’s far too dangerous until you’ve been trained.”

Kayla was about to object, but Alec stepped forward. “She’s right, Kayla. I don’t think either one of us can go through this again. It’ll continue to be more painful.”

Carl lifted his head, his grip tightening on Kayla’s waist possessively. “Painful? It looked as though you were enjoying it well enough a few minutes ago when you were kissing her.”

Alec regarded Carl with a look that would have sent most people running in fear. “You know absolutely nothing about us. Your ignorance is the only thing that makes your presence remotely tolerable.”

Carl met Alec’s look with one of his own. “And since you stepped in Kayla’s life, you’ve done nothing but try to use her for your own means.”

Alec’s eyes narrowed, and he said in a dangerous voice, “You’ve crossed the line, Trader.”

Carl released Kayla and took a step toward Alec. “So have you.”

“Stop! Both of you,” Kayla said in frustration. “Carl, Alec didn’t do anything wrong.” At Alec’s smug expression, she added, “And Alec, stop baiting him.” She looked back and forth between them. “We have enough to worry about without having to worry about your egos. If you two are determined to have this out and kick each other’s asses, fine. But leave me out of it. I don’t feel like dealing with this crap.”

She gave them both an irritated look and stormed out of the room.