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She couldn’t believe she was going to let someone muck about inside her head If she’d known that would be the cost of dealing with the Defenders, she would have decided to starve first

Zach’s hand splayed over her throat, and she felt her necklace lift until it caether like y sank into her skin, radiating out from the necklace

The hair on her body lifted, and a potent shiver raced through her, lighting up nerve endings as it went

Lexi let out a low groan of pleasure She couldn’t help it Whatever he was doing felt too good, alh her system

Her bones softened, and her body slid down the wall Zach’s strong ar hard She ended up in a loose heap on the floor with her shirt dragged up her back, leaving it bare against the cool, hard wall

"That’s right," he whispered "Just relax"

She didn’t really have an option, not that she was co to feel this nice, she ht have let him do it before

Her eyes were barely open, just cracked enough that she could see Zach’s dark face hovering above her He was so beautiful, so manly That mouth of his was full and soft, unlike the rest of his hard, lean body, and he kne to use it tohim was better than full-blown sex with other men She wasn’t sure how that worked, but she was pretty sure that if she spent soure it out

Lexi reached for hi around his neck in a sloppy stack of lith to hold on, and her hands slipped back into her lap She tried again, but Zach gathered her wrists in his free hand and held them in place

"Just relax," he told her

If she got anya wet puddle Maybe that hat he wanted She thought she could do it if it was

"You’re doing great, honey"

Honey He wouldn’t call her that if he hated her, right?

Lexi latched onto that idea and held it close She didn’t want him to hate her She wanted hiht shocked her to stillness Why would she want his She hadn’t even decided if the life he led was going to work out for her or not Sure, he’d gone a long way toward convincing her to stay He’d given her a home, made her feel like a queen Made her feel iet used to so like that? It just showed she was sane

But love was a big deal It changed things Made them harder Messier

Better

A blunt pressure behind her eyes ht

"Don’t fight it," said Zach

Lexi wasn’t fighting anything, but her h to tell him that

The pressure increased until it was pain A whimper fell from her lips and the pain eased off so uards of yours"

"Don’t kno," she heard herself whisper

He was silent for a h his hand A single pulse of fear slid into her and she could tell instantly that it wasn’t her own It had a different feel to it A different shape, h than her own

It was Zach’s fear He was afraid For her

Soure it out

"It’s okay We’ll try it again This time, I want you to picture a thick brick wall in your head Can you do that?"

She gave a small nod as the wall popped into existence inside her mind

"Good Now take that wall down, brick by brick You don’t need it anymore You’re safe with me"

Safe That was nice

Lexi did what he said, tearing down the wall, only she never reached the botto up from whatever passed as earth inside the fluid constructs of her head

Refusing to give up, she kept doing what he’d said while the pressure behind her eyes once again started to build Heat grew inside her head,up with every atte it

Pain radiated out, filling her skull to bursting A noise sounded somewhere distant: a shrill cry of pain and the dry rattle of panting breaths Hard bands tightened on her wrists and a brittle heat bit into her neck

This rong Even without any sort of experience at these kinds of things, she knew in her soul this was all terribly wrong

The brick wall shot up, thickening as it grew Taller than Jack’s beanstalk and wider than she could see, the thing kept growing and swelling, fighting against the pressure that filled her head

A buzzing sound clogged her ears Her blood burned as it sped through her veins, searing them from the inside out There was nowhere to run toshe could do

Di inside her head, like little bursts of static electricity igniting oxygen As each spark burst, she felt less of the world around her Hearing faded The cool press of the wall against her lower back became a memory The feel of Zach’s hands around her wrists disappeared, along with feeling in the wrists the under the sun until there was nothing left but the brick wall and an incessant pounding against it

Then suddenly the pounding stopped Or er sense it in any way Everything but the wall slipped away and Lexi let it all go She didn’t need any of it All she needed was to let go

Chapter 18

Lexi was li his pounding headache He was shaking like he’d just finished a three-day battle with no water, and it took all his strength to keep hi the wall didhe’d tried see, her defenses impenetrable