Chapter 6
Kytrima shot a look at him. Was he hinting at something? Did he realise she wasn’t being completely honest with him? Perhaps it had been a mistake to tell him anything. He was unusually perceptive for a human.
But he was just grinning at her, his face open and trusting.
She swallowed, and reached out a hand towards the pup.
The dog shrank back against Nate’s chest, as though she could find safety in the man’s embrace. As though she could hide from Kytrima’s touch.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Kytrima assured her.
For some reason, the little pup’s blatant fear made her feel bad. She wanted to convince the dog that she wasn’t a threat. That she was a friend.
She touched the pup’s shoulder, and the little dog snarled and snapped at her fingers.
She was a feisty one. She reminded Kytrima a little of herself at that age. Ready to snarl and snap at anyone who tried to push her the wrong way.
Her parents had tried to push her. They’d wanted her to find love, choose a mate, settle down. They hadn’t wanted her to be a warrior. But it had been all she desired, and she hadn’t been willing to give it up.
She gave the little dog a scratch. “I know exactly what you’re feeling, scamp,” she told the little dog, forgetting where she was for a moment. “Maybe we can be friends, huh?”
Then she felt even worse. She wasn’t going to be around to be friends with the little dog.
What was coming over her? Why was she indulging in this nonsense? The dog couldn’t understand her, and certainly wouldn’t care if she was around tomorrow or not. She was just doing this to keep up her act with Nate.
The man who was watching her with a smile on his face.
Her heart gave a thump. Looked like it was working.
This time the pup didn’t snarl, though it was clear she wasn’t happy. She watched Kytrima with suspicious eyes, her body as far away from her as she could get. If she could have crawled into Nate’s chest, Kytrima suspected she would have.
“I don’t think she’s convinced,” she joked.
“Give her time,” Nate said.
His eyes met hers, and Kytrima was sure they were both thinking the same thing.
They didn’t have time.
Nate cleared his throat. “Well, shall we go inside then?”
Kytrima nodded and followed him. He put the little pup into the bathroom with some water and food. Kytrima tried not to feel bad about the pup whining as he closed the door.
Really, she was getting far too emotional about a dog. She had bigger things to worry about.
“So, how does this work?” Nate asked, jamming his hands in his jeans pockets and staring at her.
Now that the moment had come, Kytrima felt a twinge of nervousness too.
She had a lot riding on this.
Taking a deep breath, she took his hand and led him back into the bedroom, where there was a mattress on the floor. Nate stared at it, then at her, then cleared his throat. “So, um, you’re going to sleep first, is that right?”
“It’s not exactly sleep,” Kytrima explained. “Though we call it that, because it’s the closest we can get. Basically, we need to synchronise our body’s major processes, and this will ease me into the Mesmer. Since I’m conscious for the process, it should be easy.”
Nate nodded. Then he waved to the bed. “Shall we begin?”
For some reason, Kytrima found the invitation set her body humming. That wasn’t supposed to happen until after the Mesmer. But she didn’t have time to focus on it now.
She sat down cross legged in the middle of the bed, and waved to a spot in front of her.
After a moment’s hesitation, Nate joined her.
She held out her hand, and when he put his in it, she placed it on her chest.
Nate’s eyes widened, and suddenly Kytrima was very conscious that his warm fingers were pressing into her breast, sending a tingle of excitement through her body.
Was this going to be an issue?
Nothing she could do about it, so they might as well try.
Kytrima put her own hand on Nate’s chest, feeling his heartbeat reverberating through her fingers. It was a little faster than normal too. Perhaps if they were both accelerated, then it wouldn’t matter.
“We need to sync our heartbeats,” she explained.
Nate’s eyebrows shot up. “How are we going to do that? I can’t control my heartbeat.”
Humans had the strangest notions sometimes. “Of course you can,” Kytrima said firmly. “You’ve just never tried before. Start by listening to my heartbeat. Let it fill your mind and heart. Relax and let it happen.”
Nate looked doubtful, but he nodded.
The intense look of concentration on his face was so cute it made Kytrima’s heartbeat do a little tap dance.
That wasn’t helpful. She closed her eyes, and focused on his heartbeat.
Slowly, his heartrate grew steadier. A solid, thump-thump in a spinning world. Kytrima felt her own rhythm settle into an even pace, slowing and synching up with his.
“That’s unbelievable,” Nate breathed, his voice barely above a whisper.
It broke Kytrima’s concentration, but that didn’t matter. They were close enough. Time for the next step.
“Now we need to synchronise our breathing,” she told Nate.
He nodded, his expression determined now.
Kytrima edged a little closer to him on the bed, and stared into his eyes. She could still feel his steady heartbeat through her hand, and now she focused on the rise and fall of his chest as well.
Forcing a synchronisation of breathing was easier than heartbeats. All it took was listening to the rhythm of his breaths in and out, and matching it.
But that wasn’t true synchronisation. A true connecting of healing energy took more than just changing a rhythm. Their hearts and breaths needed to synchronise on their own, not through force.
This time, Kytrima didn’t close her eyes. For some reason, staring into Nate’s brilliant blue eyes seemed to help. They distracted her from her breathing, true, but they seemed to bring her closer to him.
After a few moments, she realised she was unconsciously leaning in closer.
And he was too.
Out of nowhere, Kytrima felt an impulse to kiss him. His lips were so close, and they looked so full and tempting. Her breathing quickened, and his did too.
Was that because of the Mesmer ritual, or was he as tempted as she was?
Kytrima eased back a little, bringing the distance between them into a more normal range.
She saw one corner of his mouth raise a little, acknowledging her movement, sympathising with it.
He was feeling the same thing. His heartrate and breathing sped up again, hers in time. Had hers increased in response to his, or was it the other way around?
She’d never had so much trouble entering the Mesmer before. If he were a dragon, they’d already be there.
Kytrima forced herself to focus.
When she did, she found that they’d already achieved synchronisation. Their hearts beat as one, and their breathing followed each other perfectly.
It was time for the next step. The riskiest one.
Kytrima took a deep breath, Nate’s breathing echoing it. “Now we need to synchronise our brain patterns,” she told him. “This one will follow naturally on from the synchronisation of our hearts and breathing.”
Nate frowned. “So how do we do it?”
Kytrima uncrossed her legs and moved the hand on his chest to take his hand, pulling him into a lying position onto the bed.
“We go to sleep,” she explained.
He looked as nervous as she felt about that.
She could feel his heartrate speed up, the pulse in his wrist beating strongly. Her own heart increased uncomfortably.
She didn’t try to reassure him. She knew words wouldn’t help. There was no point in both of them promising not to attack each other while they slept. If they were intending to do that, either of them could easily just lie.
But they both needed something. She needed to find the princess, and he needed to find his brother.
For now, their goals were aligned.
When they found the couple… well, who knew what was going to happen then?
Kytrima felt herself slipping into the Mesmer sleep, trying not to fight it.
The last thing she was aware of seeing were Nate’s blue eyes, staring into hers.