'Sam.' His name was a mere whisper on her lips.
'What can I do to help you? Just tell me, and I'll do it.' He had no idea what she needed from him, but he wanted to do something, anything, to help her.
'Hold—hold me.'
He enveloped her in his arms, stroking her tense back, trapping her arms between their bodies. She swayed into him, brushing her face over the side of his face, resting her cheek against his. Feeling the dampness on his cheek, Sam looked down and saw that Jeannie was crying.
'Don't cry. Please, don't cry.' He lifted her into his arms, not sure it was the right thing to do, but unable to stop himself.
Jeannie tried to lift her arm to his neck, but she didn't have the strength. Sam sat down on the small love seat in the far corner, bringing Jeannie down into his lap. He lifted her arm and placed it around his neck. She laid her head on his shoulder.
'How long will this last? Isn't there anything I can do?' Frustration on an incomparable level clawed at his guts.
'Not long. Just a little while.' She opened her eyes, those warm, compassionate brown eyes, and looked at Sam.
The bottom dropped out of his stomach. 'Rest, Jeannie. Rest.'
'Take care of me, Sam.' She closed her eyes and went limp in his arms.
'Jeannie? Jeannie?' He shook her gently. She didn't move. He shook her again. 'Jeannie!'
He realized then that she was unconscious. Shudders racked his body. He pulled her close, burying his face against her neck.
They sat there for endless minutes, Sam wishing more than ever that he'd asked J.T. to come to Biloxi to guard Jeannie instead of coming himself. He was prepared to act as her bodyguard, but he wasn't suited to playing nursemaid. And he sure as hell hadn't expected to have to watch her perform one of her miracle healings. Seeing her suffer had ripped him apart. He'd known from the beginning that this assignment would be more than a simple business arrangement, but he hadn't counted on just how personal it would become. What man in his right mind would want to become involved with a woman who possessed Jeannie's miraculous abilities? He sure as hell didn't.
Jeannie awoke, weak and pale. 'Sam?'
'Are you all right? You scared the hell out of me when you passed out that way.'
'We've missed most of the church service, I'm afraid.' She touched his face with her fingertips. He flinched. So sensitive—her strong, fearless warrior. 'Take me home, Sam. I'll be all right. You musn't worry so. When I was a child, I took all the pain from at least half a dozen people each night.'
'Your childhood was a living hell, wasn't it?' Sam had never thought about what it must have been like for her, going from town to town, from one revival meeting to the next, always expected to perform her miracles.
'I suffered every day of my life. I remember feeling very little except pain.'
'Other people's pain.'
She nodded. 'I'm fine, Sam. Really I am.'
'You didn't have to take away Matthew's pain.'
'Yes, I did.' She caressed his cheek. 'How could I look at him and not want to help him?' Jeannie sighed. 'His mother understood that I couldn't heal him. She knows his pain will return.'
Jeannie tried to stand. Sam picked up her cane and handed it to her. Bracing the tip of the walking stick on the floor, Jeannie lifted herself to her feet. Sam stood up beside her. The moment Jeannie took her first step, her knees gave way. Crying out, she grabbed for Sam. He swooped her up in his arms.
'I can't walk,' she said. 'I suppose it's because I felt all Matthew's arthritic pain in my legs, and they're already weak.'
Sam carried Jeannie outside, hoping he could take her away before any reporters or curiosity seekers arrived. Only the minister and three church members remained inside the building, and outside one lone reporter and his photographer waited. Tory Gaines watched from afar, then started to approach them. Sam glared at the man.
'You come near her, Gaines, and you're a dead man.' Sam didn't pause.
Tory Gaines stopped where he stood, not moving a muscle as he watched Sam carry Jeannie to her Lexus.
Traffic wasn't terribly heavy, so Sam drove them home in record time, while Jeannie closed her eyes and rested. Neither of them said a word. He carried her into the house and up the stairs to her bedroom, not once inquiring what she wanted. Easing her down onto her bed, he removed her beige heels, then sat beside her.
'Don't look so worried,' she said. 'I told you I'm fine.'
'You may be, but I'm not.' Leaning over her, he positioned his hands at either side of her shoulders. 'Guarding you has turned out to be a lot more than I bargained for. How could I protect you from what happened today? I had to stand there and watch you suffer and know there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it! How do you think that made me feel?'
'Helpless?' She twined her arms around his neck.
'I don't ever want to see you suffer like that again. Not for anyone, but especially never again for me. Do you understand what I'm saying?'
'Yes, Sam, I understand.'
She understood only too well, but she doubted he did. For the first time, Sam truly accepted the fact that she had taken away his pain the day she saved his life. He hadn't wanted to believe she was a true empath, that her psychic talents were strong enough not only to probe inside his mind, but to actually experience his emotions and share his feelings. Friday night's events, coupled with those at the church today, had forced him to admit the truth. This was a beginning, Jeannie realized, but only a beginning. Sam was not the kind of man who would ever surrender easily. He knew she wanted to help him, but he wasn't ready to accept her help. If she pushed him too hard and too fast, he would balk. As it was, he would fight her every inch of the way. If she was ever to reach his soul and save him, she would have to start by using whatever means were available.
Jeannie smiled. She accepted the inevitable. She was falling in love with Sam Dundee, but she knew he might never love her, might never willingly take what she had to offer him. Was she brave enough to accept him on his terms, share a purely physical relationship, when she so desperately needed more?
Pulling him down to her, she lifted her lips to meet his. She nibbled at his bottom lip, and sighed when he groaned.
'I've never wanted anyone else. You're the first and only man I've ever desired,' she told him.
'Don't say things like that to me. I'm having a hard enough time as it is, keeping my hands off you.'
'I make you feel helpless. I make you feel afraid. And those aren't emotions you're familiar with, are they, Sam Dundee?' She gave him a quick kiss. He groaned again. 'I can get inside you, feel what you feel, experience your pleasure, as well as my own.' She licked a circle over his lips.
'Maybe you
He took her lips completely, with a tender savagery that sent pinpricks of pleasure through her body. He wanted her with a quiet desperation, knowing she wasn't ready to make love, realizing that he needed to progress slowly, allowing both of them to become accustomed to their unique ability to unite on an emotional level.
Deepening the kiss, exploring her mouth with his tongue, encouraging her to reciprocate, Sam unbuttoned her dress. Slipping his hands inside, he caressed her shoulders, easing her dress apart. He ran a loving hand over her collarbone. Clutching his shoulders, she thrust her hips off the bed and rubbed herself against him. He nuzzled her neck, then kissed the swell of each breast rising over the lace cups of her bra. His big hands spanned her waist.
'Sam, I—I'm aching. I need… You need… We want…'
He unsnapped the front closure of her bra, peeled it off her high, round breasts and lowered his mouth to cover one beaded nipple. Jeannie cried out from the pleasure, the sheer sensual delight.
The ache grew more and more intense. The throbbing sensation pulsing through her robbed her of her breath. She gasped for air. Trembling, his own breathing ragged, Sam kissed her on the forehead and sat up, making sure he didn't touch her again.
She caught her breath. 'Sam?'
'It was almost too much, wasn't it?' He stood up beside the bed. 'You're going to be the death of me, Jeannie
