Are you positive? I can't feel the floor beneath my back. Is floating one of your abilities?
He smiled. No, it is not. Just enjoy the feeling.
Don't leave me. She pleaded.
He closed his eyes for a moment and took a silent deep breath. He lifted his head so he could look into her eyes; once he got her to open them. Look at me! He ordered.
She hesitated at first, but then lifted her eyelids.
There was so much pain still within her, despite his efforts to give her a reprieve. I am never going to leave you. Do you hear me, Kaily? Never!
She nodded. Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes.
His temper flared. Enough! He ordered. "You are stronger than this, Kaily. I know you are."
She looked away.
He brought her face back to his and forced her to look at him. "You are." He spoke the words aloud and, in her mind, to reinforce his belief in her strength.
She tried to smile but didn't reply.
He stood. "I said enough!" He pulled her to her feet. "Get dressed."
She looked as if she were going to protest.
He swatted her bare butt and shook his head. "I have tried letting you come to terms with these night terrors your way." Now we do it my way. He finished in her mind. He was not going to give her a reprieve or chance to withdraw into herself if he could help it. He did not pull her out this far just to sit by and let her slip back into her own mind.
She gave him a lost, forlorn look. She shook her head. "I can't, Moto, not yet." She didn't make a move to get dressed as he ordered.
He grabbed her by the upper arms and pulled her against his body. He leaned down so that he could whisper in her ear and mind. "I gave you an order, woman. Don't make me spank you into obeying me." He knew that his tone in both mind and aloud was harsh, but enough was enough. He was not going to let her hide anymore or doubt her own strength. He felt the moment her temper flared, and fire entered her mind. He kept his pleasure at sparking her temper from showing on his face or entering his mind.
"Fine," she ground out between clenched teeth. She stepped back from him. "One of these days, I'm going to be the one giving you orders."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "I'd like to see you try."
Her face flamed and her eyes flared with heat.
"You have five of your world's minutes to obey me. Get dressed, and then present yourself to me in the training room."
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.
"Your time starts now." He called his clothes to him with his ability and retreated to the training room. There he dressed while counting out the time in his mind. He was careful to keep his feelings of triumph from showing in either his mind or facial expressions. He did at least succeed in sparking her temper. For what he had in mind, he needed her to be strong and she was never stronger than when her temper flared. He had tried to force the images of her night terrors on her a couple days ago when they relaxed by the pools. She blocked him. He didn't want to try it again. That was until he inadvertently discovered the training room enhanced his ability to project. He hadn't tried it yet, because he wanted to make sure there was no hope, she would come to terms with her night terrors on her own. It was becoming apparent with each passing moment she was not going to face them on her own. She retreated from them.
He stood in the middle of the training room and tapped his foot in time to what he learned a second and minute was on her world. It still amazed him that Inhabitants of any world would tie themselves to a device like the clock they all seemed to live by on her world. She asked him how his people knew when to meet for something or how to communicate anything that was time related. He shrugged and said they just did. It wasn't anything he could explain. It was something he grew up with on his world. Of course, his Kaily pushed for a tangible answer. He realized when trying to explain it to her that all Kahoali, even those without abilities, possessed an internal awareness of time passing on Ki. It wasn't something that was tangible or anything he could explain. It was these types of differences that made him more and more aware just how different Kaily and he were. Even with their differences, she became his heart and center, and he hoped true bonded mate. Time would tell on that part.
Kaily entered the training room before he finished tapping out the five minutes time. She was dressed as ordered and still in quite a temper.
He was pleased. "Well done." Mocking praise was not going to help quiet her temper. He knew she would need that same temper to face her fears. It was almost funny that he was forcing her loss of emotional control in her temper when he struggled so hard on trying to teach her emotional control. Withdrawal was not the same as control.
She stomped to
