I tried my hardest to keep focussing on the waves and counting each one rolling on to the beach. I took little breaths as to minimise the overwhelming, deliciously sexy, scent. I was managing it, I wasn't trying to kiss him or touch him. I looked at his face, inches away from mine, but my mind was firmly on the waves.
“Good. Keep focusing and now normalise your breathing. You're well in control.”
Zack's encouraging words gave me the strength to try it. I kept counting the waves and visualising Kas on his surfboard riding them. With each wave I let a bit more of the scent in, like Zack had told me to do. Eventually, I took a good sniff, challenging myself and I was surprised to feel in control. Maybe I would be quite good at this, I dared to think. Then the scent distinctly reduced in ferociousness, and I realised Zack had moved away from my face to the back of the room. He looked at me intensely.
“How are you feeling now? Are you okay?"
He studied my face as I answered.
“Yeah, I think so. I really do think so. That was actually awesome, knowing that I will be able to be in control again.”
I was feeling genuinely elated and relieved. Moments later though, I was overcome with tiredness and started shivering again. Zack felt my head and shook his head.
“No more now, you have a temperature and need to go back to bed. I'll get you a cool cloth. Do you feel sick?”
“Just really tired," I whispered.
I was grateful to go back to bed and it didn't take me long to doze off.
The next couple of days all seemed to melt into one with practising my controlling techniques, eating, showering, sleeping. The medication was leaving my body and I felt better by the day, getting back to normal strength. I still struggled with the impulses reaching my brain so powerfully. The noise of everything around me, the brightness and intensity of my surroundings were immensely uplifting and draining at the same time. Zack was trying to teach me to filter the senses by concentrating on the one I wanted to use and turning down the other ones, like a radio. But I really struggled with that. At times it did feel I was going absolutely crazy, but luckily Zack was there to help me through those moments.
Amazingly, he'd managed to introduce Zaphire to me in small doses at a time, without me turning into a gibbering mess. She was beautiful, caring and smart with a cheeky sense of humour and getting to know her was not doing anything at all to lessen my crush on her. She seemed to like me too, as I started to notice little signs like her heart quickening when I brushed past her, and catching her staring at me when she didn't think I was looking. However, nothing escaped Zack's watchful hawk eyes and I swear they'd had words about me. Anyway, I wouldn't have time to explore those feelings for a while as Zack had devised my training schedule and was about to go through it with me. I was sure there wouldn't be a lot of free time.
CHAPTER 16
Eliza made excellent progress in the last couple of days. I noticed she smelled different, a cleaner scent without the medication in her system. She was growing stronger and less tired and ill, so I decided to increase her training schedule to include physical fitness as well. She needed a bit more time away from Zaphire as I had noticed her feelings for her were increasing in strength, even though she was in better control of them now. Zaphire had been brilliant with her, though and I appreciated her help. She just knew how to make people believe in themselves and grow their confidence. Eliza really had blossomed with her attention.
However, I had to have a strong word with Zaphire about being professional, as she had displayed signs of attraction to Eliza, which I'd noticed were no secret to Eliza either. She was getting better at picking up people's signals and she was encouraged by Zaphire's, albeit subtle, signs. Zaphire was a master at controlling her signals and I'd been surprised that she'd let her guard down. She wasn't particularly happy with being ticked off by me, and had given me lip, but I knew she understood I was right about this. We shouldn't distract Eliza with emotional issues right now. It would have to wait till after the mission.
“Right, let's have a look at my timetable for you.”
Eliza looked a bit apprehensive. She looked over her schedule for today and looked a bit surprised.
“Boxing?" she asked incredulously.
“I haven't got a violent bone in my body, Zack. That's not for me." she said determinedly.
“Don't write it off before you've tried it Eliza. You don't have to be violent to enjoy boxing. It's fantastic for stamina and coordination. And on top of that, being able to throw a good punch is not a bad skill to have in our line of work.”
She looked shocked, but I carried on.
“You'll also have self-defence lessons, to give you confidence in awkward situations you may find yourself in. I personally am looking very much forward to those lessons.”
I had to smile at the look on her face. It said it all. She'd never expected that any physical violence might come into play in our mission. Markus had conveniently been vague about that, but she should be prepared for anything.
“There's s no need to be scared of it Eliza. It's just better to be prepared. We rarely use physical force in our missions, but you never know who or what you’re going to have to deal with, so we must train to prepare for the worst.”
I had to be matter of fact about it to try and break through her reluctance and it seemed to work as the stubborn frightened look
