Once Forbidden by Hope Welsh Page B

understand her new abilities and
learn to master them. They were now sitting in his living room. He was sitting
next to her on a leather sofa, his feet propped on the table in front of them.
    “Devlin,
I don’t understand,” she said irritably. “I am thinking of your kitchen, but I
can’t make myself appear there!” Sarah was frustrated. She just couldn’t do
this!  “I can’t do it!” The lover of only hours before was now in the role of
teacher, and she wanted to hit him!
    Devlin
glared at her and put his hands on his hips. “You can do it, Sarah. You’re
not concentrating hard enough. Close your eyes again,” he ordered.
    Sarah
returned his glare with one of her own. “I might love you, Devlin, but I don’t
like you very much right now!”
    Devlin
grinned at that. “Tough. Do what I said. Close your eyes.”
    Sarah
huffed out an irritated breath and closed her eyes. Instantly, she thought of
taking a hammer to his thick skull, though—she was certain that wasn’t the
image he wanted in her head.
    “Damn
it, Sarah!” he roared.
    Sarah
opened her eyes and gasped in horror. Devlin was holding a hammer in his hands.
“What happened?”
    “Instead
of the kitchen, you thought of braining me?” he said incredulously.
    Sarah
suddenly giggled. She put her hands quickly to her mouth to stifle them, but
her eyes were lit with humor. “I’m sorry,” she finally choked out between
giggles.
    Devlin
sat the hammer down very carefully on the table. “Sarah, you can obviously do
this—if you get a hammer to materialize.” She didn’t know it, but making
objects materialize was a skill some older vampires he knew had never mastered.
    Sarah
stopped chuckling. “I really didn’t mean to hit you,” she said.
    Devlin
sighed. “I know, love. Strong emotion is needed for this exercise, though. Close
your eyes again, love,” he said gently.
    Sarah
nodded and closed her eyes again. She heard his voice coming to her softly.
    “Think
of opening the refrigerator, Sarah. You want a soda—you want it more than
anything in this world. Go get it.”
    Sarah
tried to concentrate, she really did. Where she really wanted to be, though,
was back in his bed. She was tired of the teacher and wanted her lover back.
    Devlin
smiled when she disappeared before his eyes. He closed his own and went to the
kitchen, but was surprised that she wasn’t there? “Sarah!”
    “In
here,” came the reply.
    Devlin
stalked into his room and put his hands on his hips. “Well?” he said, his brow
rose in inquiry.
    Sarah
sighed. “I tried, Devlin. I thought about the silly kitchen, but then thought
that I really wanted to be back in your bed.”
    Devlin
walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down next to her. “Well, at least
you got to another room. Enough of that lesson for now. He brushed his fingers
over her brow, rubbing the crease of irritation away. “This is important, love.
I only want to make sure that you’re safe.”
    “I
know,” she grumbled. “But I didn’t think it would be so hard.”
    “Only
at first,” he assured her. “Then it gets easier.” He took her hand in his,
squeezing it gently. “You’re doing well.”
    Sarah
frowned at that. “You’ve been yelling at me for hours.”
    Devlin
smiled and kissed her pouting lips. “No I haven’t—well, not much. I’m sure I
only yelled when you tried to brain me with a hammer. Remind me never to make
you truly angry with me,” he teased.
    Sarah
smiled at that. “All right. What’s next on the agenda?”
    Devlin
grew instantly serious. “I want to work on mind control for a little while. It’s
one of the hardest things to master, but with the Hunters after you, it’s
important. Let’s go back to the living room.”
    With
a nod, Sarah stood. Devlin was still grasping her hand and she smiled at him. “Are
you sure I can learn all this?”
    Devlin
stood. “I’m sure. Think of the couch, and take me with you.”
    Much
to her surprise, in the next