High Energy, Joy, Dara [books to read this summer .txt] 📗

it out! You'll cause a scene."

Resting his chin on the top of her head, he chuckled low against her. "I won't."

He slowly rotated his hands on her just to punctuate his statement.

Zanita squirmed and turned red. Quickly glancing around the room, she noted with

relief that no one seemed to be paying any attention to them. Everyone's eyes

were focused on Xavier and Elizabeth.

"Please, Tyber," she breathed as she desperately clutched his roving hands,

trying unsuccessfully to still his movements.

"Uh-uh."

He caught a strand of her hair between his lips.

The pirate! She was starting to get turned on! Well, two could play at his game.

She reached low behind her, between their bodies, and rubbed. Hard.

Tyber stopped his play immediately.

"I—ah, suddenly see the wisdom of your words."

"I thought you might." She smirked. "What's he doing?" She wiggled her rump on

the cold floor beneath Tyber's thighs.

LaLeche had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt past his elbows, revealing

surprisingly well-shaped forearms with a smattering of dark hair.

"Looks like he's preparing for surgery. Up you go now." Tyber's hands settled at

her waist, effortlessly lifting her back onto his lap.

LaLeche leaned over the supine woman. "Are you comfortable, Elizabeth?"

"Yes."

"Good." He flipped on the cassette player and chirping bird sounds filled the

room. "Now I want you to relax. I'm going to start now."

He closed his eyes briefly, then began running his hands down the length of her

body, never actually touching it. "Concentrate with me, my dear, on the flow of

energy through your body."

Elizabeth seemed a little nervous.

"Relax. Stretch your muscles. Breathe deeply. In. Out. Everyone join in."

"Don't you dare take a deep breath while I'm sitting on your lap, Tyber," Zanita

muttered, causing him to let out a bark of laughter which he tried to disguise

as a cough.

"Now, Elizabeth, I want you to see yourself, your body, your energy. Picture the

energy flowing through you, unimpeded, unobstructed in any way. You feel the

strength of your energy flow through you and around you. Good…" As he spoke,

LaLeche moved his hands on a parallel course with her body, up and down, then in

strange circular motions.

"Do you feel the heat of healing energy yet?" he asked Elizabeth.

"A—a little."

"Good. That's good. Keep concentrating as I am—concentrating on feeling you

well, seeing you well…."

Zanita halfheartedly watched the healing until her attention was suddenly

brought up short by a strange glow that seemed to be coming from LaLeche's

hands.

She blinked to clear her vision. Her vision did not change.

Her body jerked upright.

She felt Tyber's hands lightly squeeze her shoulders, a gesture which told her

that while he was acknowledging what they were seeing, he was, at the same time,

encouraging her to relax.

Zanita could sense the others in the room shifting their positions, all watching

the strange phenomenon, each afraid to speak lest they break the spell.

The glow was all around his hands now.

Little arcs of light played around his fingers as he continued to pass his hands

in the air just above her body. LaLeche seemed to be in deep concentration; a

bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

It was an unnerving experience.

It seemed absolutely genuine.

It scared the bejesus out of her.

"Tyber," Zanita croaked in a whisper, "could we have been wrong?"

Tyber didn't respond except to give her the strength of his gentle hug. It was a

welcome ground in a situation that seemed… unearthly.

"Do you feel it, Elizabeth?" LaLeche almost seemed to be speaking out of a

trance.

"Yes—oh, yes! I feel a—heat. It feels—" The experience proved too much for the

woman. She burst into tears. LaLeche sat back on his haunches and wiped the

sweat off his brow.

There was dead silence for several moments, then everyone started to whisper at

once.

Elizabeth clutched LaLeche's hands. "Did it work, do you think?" There was a

poignant desperation in her voice.

"Yes, I know it did." He gave her a small, benevolent hug. Zanita turned to

Tyber, her violet eyes huge in her face.

"Tyber, what did we just see?"

Tyber looked perplexed. He didn't answer her for several minutes. When he did,

it was not the reassurance she was looking for.

"I don't know."

Zanita clutched his arm and he gazed down at her.

"Whatever it was, baby, I can guarantee it wasn't what you think it was."

"Are you sure?"

She looks really worried, he thought, surprised. Her face had gone pale, her

eyes wide. He lifted a finger to run it encouragingly down the side of her

smooth cheek.

"Yes. I'm sure, baby. I just need time to figure it out. It's late; why don't we

make our excuses and head back to the warmth of our room? I think the show's

over for now."

Wise words from a man who was proving himself to be a rock of strength for her.

"I agree." She stood up, stretching her creaking, frozen joints. "We need to go

back and mull this over."

Tyber stood. "The only thing I want mulled tonight is some hot cider, quickly

followed by a hot bath."

They made their way through the throng to LaLeche, acting suitably awed by what

they had seen.

"I'm so glad you got to partake in this particular session." He almost sounded

giddy. "I must tell you, this doesn't happen often."

No, only when you need to drum up some hefty donations. Tyber listened to him

with a bland expression on his face.

"Tomorrow we'll have a brief farewell blessing at noon. I try to keep the Sunday

sessions short because most of us have a rather long trip home." It was amazing

how considerate he sounded. "You will be here tomorrow, won't you, Dr. Evans?"

The man seemed rather overeager to him. Tyber thought quickly. "Actually, we

won't be able to make it tomorrow. I've promised my friend we'd have lunch with

him."

Zanita's head whipped toward him in surprise, but Tyber ignored her, reaching

into his inside jacket pocket to extract his checkbook. He took out his pen,

opened the cover, and stopped, as if something had just occurred to him.

"You know, Xavier, I'm having a few friends of like mind down next weekend.

Would you care to join us for the weekend at my home? That is, if you don't

already have other plans? I'm really very interested in what you've done and I

have to tell you, I'm very impressed."

A glint, somewhere between avarice