Spirit Bound - Christine Feehan [60]
“You’re upset,” Judith observed, glancing at the muscles tightening in his jaw. “I’m so sorry this happened, Thomas.”
“No worries, Judith,” he assured her, all the while touching the back of his neck to shamelessly remind her of his injury. “I don’t as a rule have problems with insects.”
“You said you’ve never been stung.”
He grinned at her. “Exactly. They leave me alone. That one was unusual, maybe a little vicious and jealous because I was kissing the lady of the realm.”
The corners of her mouth went up and her dimple appeared. “I’m sure that’s what caused the bee to sting you.”
“If I were a bee, I might have gotten jealous. You do taste sweet.” He pretended to frown, thinking it over. “Sweet with a taste of fire.”
She blushed, the color creeping into her cheeks. “You’re impossible. And if we’re going to the hospital, I swear, I’m eating that lunch you brought.”
“And I’m coming back for the tractor challenge. I refuse to allow a bee to keep me from proving to you that I can keep from driving the thing into a tree.” He hesitated. Frowned. Made a show of rubbing the bridge of his nose. Glanced at her.
“What?” Judith asked. “Just tell me.”
“You’re going to think I’m paranoid.” It was time to push just a little bit.
“I don’t know why you would think that, unless you tell me you really did think the bee went after you specifically on purpose because you were kissing me.”
He did think that, but he wasn’t admitting it. “I was in the service, in combat a few times, Judith, and more than that, I have certain gifts. I wouldn’t tell anyone else, but you seem to have abilities as well, we established that the other night . . .”
“And?” she prompted, just like he knew she would.
“Someone was watching us out there in that field. I could feel them.” He hesitated again, deliberately appearing to choose his words carefully. “This is going to sound even crazier to you and at the risk of making you think I’m a lunatic, whoever was watching us was armed.”
Stefan sent her another quick glance and looked away quickly, portraying Thomas Vincent perfectly. A man who had been in combat, with psychic gifts who knew the truth but was afraid of being ridiculed by a woman he was very attracted to.
He cursed himself for manipulating her. How was he any better than Lev? He was taking advantage of his training to extract information from her, playing on her sense of fairness, on her honesty. A woman like Judith would detest making him feel like a fool, especially when she knew it was the truth. Someone had been watching them, a sniper’s rifle in his hands.
Judith’s gaze shifted from his. “I’m sorry about that, Thomas.” Her voice was quiet. Guilty.
“You knew?”
She moistened her lips. He decided there was no satisfaction in manipulating Judith. It made him feel every bit as low as he thought his brother was.
“I suspected it might happen,” she admitted. “I’m really sorry if it made you uncomfortable. This farm is our sanctuary.” She gave a small sigh. “It really isn’t a big secret, we just don’t talk about our lives to outsiders. My sisters and I met when we were all in a special victim’s group counseling.” Her gaze jumped to his and then shifted away. “Each of us is—was—a victim of violence in some way. A couple of my sisters are still at risk. We’re very careful who we let on the farm—and very protective. I’m really sorry, Thomas.”
“I’m sorry, Judith. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. You didn’t have to tell me that. I appreciate that you did.”
It was a lie and yet it wasn’t. Damn the entire mess. She was being honest with him, honest to the point of revealing things about her sisters she felt guilty about telling him. He had meant to probe, deliberately pushing her into