Page 67 of Shattering Dawn
“Can you slow down and clarify for me? It’s been a difficult night.I thought I knew where this was going but now I have absolutely no idea.”
“Right,” she said. She pulled herself together. “Okay, here’s my problem. I think there is a strong possibility that sex with you would be dangerous. Not for me. I’m afraid you’re the one who will get burned. I’m talking literally, Gideon. Or at least semi-literally.”
Chapter Thirty-six
“Let me getthis straight,” Gideon said. “You think you might accidentally shock my aura if we have sex?”
“Something like that,” she mumbled. She was mortified. “This is absolutely the most awkward pre-sex talk I’ve ever had, but I don’t know what else to do. I don’t want to be responsible for damaging your energy field.”
“Pretty sure my energy field will survive, but I can’t guarantee that my ego will make it through this conversation.”
“I’m serious, damn it.” She realized she was starting to get mad. “I’m trying to do the right thing here. I’ve always had problems with…intimacy.”
“Sex.”
“Whatever. It’s like a part of me is always standing back. Observing. Waiting for something big to happen.”
Gideon’s mouth twitched. “Are you trying to tell me you like to watch? There’s a word for that. Voyeurism.”
“That is not what I meant and you know it,” she snapped. “Looking back, I think my core talent has affected my whole life. Itexplains why I chose photography as a career. That way I’m always the one who is behind the camera. I’m not part of the action. Maybe it’s the reason I’ve never been able to fall in love.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I don’t know how to be in the moment. Maybe I’m afraid to be there because when I’ve tried, things have not gone well. Dr. Pike said he thinks that because of my past failures I’ve let my risk-averse tendencies take control.”
“Forget Dr. Pike,” Gideon ordered.
“Okay, but what if he’s right?”
“Until tonight, have you ever had an anxiety attack before having sex, or am I a first?”
“I am not having an anxiety attack. I told you, my intuition is trying to warn me that I might injure you.”
“How?”
“Well, I don’t know, exactly,” she admitted. “You told me that your talent has a negative effect on your relationships. I think I’m in the same situation.”
He smiled. “Welcome to my world.”
“I mean it, Gideon. I’m scared.”
Another flash of silver lit his eyes. “This is your lucky night, Amelia Rivers, because I’m not scared.”
Outrage splashed through her. She clutched the sheet to her breasts. “You aren’t taking this seriously, are you?”
“Nope. You have allowed yourself to fall down the rabbit hole of catastrophizing. You’re afraid of your new talent. I get that. But what you need is practice, and that requires a suitable test subject, one who isn’t afraid of your psychic side.”
“You?”
“Me.”
He leaned toward her, yanked the sheet out of her fingers, wrapped an arm around her, and hauled her against his chest.
“Your ribs,” she gasped.
“To quote someone I know, don’t you worry your pretty little head about my ribs.”
She gripped his shoulder. “Gideon.”