Page 67 of The Tracker's Secret

Jake.

His fingers caressed my cheek, pushing hair away from my face. I imagined him talking, asking me what was wrong. I rolled over, turning my back on him, and started crying again. The bed dipped, and I felt his body align with mine. I knew it well, and it fit perfectly. He pulled me to him, tightly, protectively. His hand caressed my arm from my shoulder to my wrist and then back again. My breathing eased, and I stopped crying.

In his arms, I finally slept.

Chapter 24

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WHEN I WOKE UP, THEalarm read 2 AM. My senses were back. I breathed a sigh of relief and slowly turned and faced Jake. He was lying on his back, asleep, breathing peacefully.

I watched his handsome profile, feeling a raw ache inside my chest as I resisted the urge to kiss him. His eyebrows twitched, and he stirred a little as if he could tell I was lying here, longing for him.

Suddenly, his eyes sprang open and darted to meet mine. He shifted to his side and rested a large hand on my cheek.

“You scared the fuck out of me,” he said. “Are you all right now?”

I nodded.

A worry line appeared between his eyebrows. “You couldn’t see me or hear me.”

I lowered my gaze, feeling mortified. I hadn’t wanted him to know about my side effects, and this was the worst possible way he could have learned about them. Could a tornado please whisk by and scoop me up? Was that too much to ask?

“How come?” he asked. “I think I know, but I want you to explain.”

I scooted to the foot of the bed and sat up. There was no point in trying to hide any of it now.

“It’s the side effects of using my tracking skills,” I started. “I told you already how I can use my senses while I’m in a trance. Well, I can choose to use my smell, hearing, sight, or any combination of the three. But it doesn’t come without a price. For every minute I’m under, I lose whatever senses I activated.” I shrugged dismissively. “It’s no big deal.”

The bed shifted, and Jake joined me, sitting next to me. He stared straight ahead at the floor.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” he asked.

“I thought you would want me to stop tracking. It’s a lot easier now. I can handle things better, but I didn’t do so well back then. It took me longer to recover and it affected me emotionally. Rosalina has helped me a lot. She has a great calming effect on me and makes things easier.”

“This is what you meant when you told me you had lied to me when we were together, isn’t it?” He turned and met my gaze then.