It took me a second to register the tingle that started in the bottom of my stomach and rippled through my body.
“Tessa?” he said.
Chapter Thirty-Six
I opened my eyes and jumped off the bed.
What the hell was that?
We’d linked. I’d done it again.
I decided that I had to try and lay back down. Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto started playing. It took a second for it to click that it was coming from my cellphone. I grabbed it from the desk, but didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“Was that you? Were you here?” Dastien said.
“I think so. Hey, how did you get my number?”
“From Michael. Tess. Stay on topic. I could smell you. How did you do it?”
This was embarrassing. “I uuhh…I was thinking of you.”
“You were?” I could almost hear his grin.
“Don’t get a big head about it.”
“I’m going to hang up now, and you’re going to do it again. Okay? This time try talking to me.”
“Can’t we just—” My phone beeped. “—talk on the phone?” I rolled my eyes. Seemed we were doing fine talking before he hung up.
I closed my eyes, and thought about Dastien. The way he looked after he chased me through my backyard. The tingles came, threatening to overtake me. This was way too intense.
I reached for my cell phone and dialed. He picked up on the first ring. “I need time to—”
“Just do it, Tessa.” The phone beeped in my ear.
Did he just hang up on me? Again. What a jerk! Why couldn’t we just talk on the phone like normal people?
My stomach rumbled. It’d been forever since breakfast. I caught the scent of bread. In the corner of the room, tucked beside my desk, was a silver mini-fridge. It was fully stocked with all the essentials.
I’d totally forgotten Meredith was going to set me up with it. A smile spread across my face. I actually had a real friend, and now I totally owed her one. Going downstairs to get food would’ve been a pain if the girls were still in the common room. And then there was Jason…
I grabbed a carton of whole milk, and made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And then made three more. I wasn’t quite sure where all the food was going. Rationally speaking, I was pretty sure I physically couldn’t fit three sandwiches and a half-gallon of whole milk in my stomach. But I ate until the cavernous pit was full, and then settled back down on my bed.
I breathed in and out slowly as I thought of Dastien and the way he smelled. The way he made me feel.
Then it happened again. My stomach dropped like I was falling two hundred feet. My body turned into one giant tingling mess and I couldn’t get enough air. The next thing I knew I was in Mr. Dawson’s cabin.
I stood just inside the front door hovering like a ghost. Being in two places at once was interesting. Talk about a vision overload.
The three guys were sitting at the table now—Trent, Mr. Dawson, and Dastien. Mr. Dawson was on the phone. He turned to me first, lifting one eyebrow, and then continued the conversation with whoever was on the other end of the call.
How did he know I was there?
“Dastien?”
He spun toward me.
“Is she back?” Trent said. “What is she saying?”
Dastien ignored him. “I’ve been reading up on mate-bonds. The thing is, the kind of bond we have, it’s different than the usual kind. What we have is more than what they describe, and nothing I read said anything about this.” He stopped in front of me. “I can smell and hear you, but I can’t see you.” He waved an arm where I was standing, and it went straight through me.
Every muscle ached with pins and needles. “How about you not do that again.” I rubbed my hands over my arms, trying to make it go away. “Can they hear me?”
He settled down on the arm of the couch next to me. “I can’t even. Not really. I hear you in my thoughts, not with my ears.”
Weird. “Can you talk to me through thoughts?”
He sat quietly for a second and made a constipated-like face. I couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Guess not,” he said.
I wanted to reach out to him, but thought against it. “So is this really better than the cell?”
“It’s definitely cheaper and more reliable. If we’re separated, this could really come in handy.” He paused. “Something’s going on. We just have to figure out what.”
“You’re weirding me out, mec,” Trent said.