Running Hot

“What now?”
    “We stay with the plan. Wait for our target to arrive and ID him.”
    “And then we try to find out the identity of the hunter,” she said briskly.
    “Fallon would like to know who he is, if possible, but I can find him on my own.”
    “It would be easier if I stick around to help you.”
    “Grace—”
    “I can handle it. I’ll be prepared next time. I won’t freak out on you, I promise.”
    “Forget it.”
    “I overheard that conversation with Fallon,” she said, going mutinous. “He told you it’s my choice to make, didn’t he?”
    “There are times when I don’t pay any attention to Fallon Jones. This is one of those golden moments.”
    “You need me,” she insisted. “Admit it.”
    “I need you to be reasonable. Chasing down hunters is not your area of expertise.”
    “This is all because I got a little anxious tonight when we passed that hunter, isn’t it? That’s hardly fair.”
    He felt his temper start to slide. “Fair has nothing to do with this. You’re not a trained agent. You’re a genealogist who got drafted for an emergency field trip. When it’s over, you’re going home as fast as I can get you on a plane.”
    She drew herself up in the shadows. “Mr. Jones obviously has other ideas. I work for him, not you.”
    “Got news for you. When you’re with me, you take orders from me.”
    “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” she snapped. “Give the bullheaded, I’m-in-charge-here thing a rest.”
    “That’s not what us bullheaded, I’m-in-charge-here types do. I think we’d better talk about this in the morning when you’re in a more reasonable mood.”
    “Now you’re patronizing me.”
    “Is that what it’s called? I think of it as just doing my job. Let’s go back to the hotel. You’ve had a long day.”
    Automatically, he started to reach for her arm, intending to steer her out of the gardens. She took a quick step back out of reach. So much for thinking he was special because she could touch him. He let his hand fall to his side and tried to suppress the wave of gloom that resonated through him.
    “One thing before we leave here,” she said softly.
    “What now?”
    “Would you mind very much if I tried touching you again?”
    The gloom dissolved in a heartbeat, replaced by a thrill that zapped across all his senses. In the next instant comprehension struck. His initial excitement faded.
    “You want to run an experiment?” he asked. “See if things are different this time now that you’re not distracted by the hunter?”
    “Well, yes,” she said. “Look, if you’d rather I didn’t touch you, I certainly understand. Better than most people, in fact. I mean, I really understand why someone wouldn’t want to be touched.”
    “No,” he said. “No, It’s okay. I don’t have a problem with the experiment.”
    He held out his hand, palm up. Great. He’d been reduced to the level of a lab rat.

She took a cautious step forward, as wary as any wild bird being offered food by a human. Slowly she put out her hand.
    Her fingertips hovered just above his for a few seconds, and then she brushed them across his palm, alighting briefly before immediately taking flight. He resisted the urge to capture her wrist and draw her closer.
    Slowly she lowered her hand again until they were skin to skin. This time she did not flutter away. He could feel fine tremors going through her.
    “Are you all right?” he asked.
    “Yes. I’m fine.” She sounded entranced. “This is amazing. Last week I accidentally touched a clerk’s hand in the grocery store and got another bad jolt. I was starting to think that maybe I wasn’t going to recover this time.”
    He wanted to ask her how often she’d experienced the problem in the past but he sensed that this was not the moment for that kind of question.
    “Feel anything?” he said instead.
    “Yes, but nothing bad.”
    “You know, a compliment like that could really go to a man’s head.”
    “Sorry. It’s just that for the past year I haven’t been able to touch anyone without getting a strong psychic shock. Just going to the dentist was an ordeal. I had to take a dose of anti-anxiety meds to get through a simple cleaning. You can’t imagine how it feels to know that my senses are returning to normal.”
    Slowly he closed his fingers around hers. The fine bones of her hand felt delicate and incredibly sensual. Her skin was warm and soft. She did not try to pull away.
    “I wonder if it’s just you,”