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A wind so fierce that it rocked the smaller outbuildings had captured the
prairie. And the clouds seemed to be warring for space. Had there been any
trees, they would have been uprooted. The hiss of the wind tunneling through
every corridor and bending around every corner grew louder, its power
staggering.
Adam circled her waist from behind as they watched quietly the awesome
spectacle nature played out right before their eyes.
He pressed his lips to her hair. I love you, Jez. I know you don t understand
that, but I ve always loved you. It s just that it took me so long to find you.
She sighed. I love it when you call me Jez. And I want to believe you. I m
trying, Adam. From this point on I m leaving Jesse behind. Thank you, Adam.
My pleasure, Jez. He nibbled along her neck. God, has it been my
pleasure.
They held each other tight. Tight enough to last a lifetime& and beyond.
71
About the author:
Kathryn Anne Dubois lives the demanding life of a mother of five, a wife of
30+ years, and a public school art teacher. What better reason to escape into the
delicious fantasy world of writing romantica.
Reviewer Lani Roberts of Affair de Coeur Magazine has this to say of Kathryn.
Kathryn Anne Dubois makes her debut& with such sexual intensity that the
readers will definitely cry for more.
Kathryn was first published in 1999 with Virgin Publishing s Black Lace Line
whose publisher s claim only the most arousing fiction makes it into a Black
Lace - erotica at the cutting edge written by women for women and later with
Red Sage s Secrets and still writes for both publications. She is pleased to have
joined the wonderful authors of Ellora s Cave.
Kathryn has been an active member of Romance Writers of America since
1998 and lives in the greater Philadelphia area.
Kathryn Anne Dubois welcomes mail from readers. You can write to her c/o
Ellora s Cave Publishing at P.O. Box 787, Hudson, Ohio 44236-0787.
Also by KATHRYN ANNE DUBOIS:
A Man s Desire
RAYNE DANCE
by
Mlyn Hurn
Rayne Dance
Chapter One
It was a dark and stormy night.
Rayne threw the mystery novel across the room. It was too damned hot to be
inside reading; especially since power usage was still so closely monitored since
the end of the psychic war. Walking back to where her book had landed, Rayne
picked up the maligned text carefully. Books were an expensive commodity
these days, as was just about everything, unless you happened to be gainfully
employed and non-psychic. Going over to her front door, she looked outside
through the screen.
Bullshit! I d give just about anything if it was a stormy anything.
Rayne walked outside and over to where her well had been successfully
drilled a few years ago. She was luckier than many of the small farms around
her. Her plants were still growing healthily, which was primarily due to her
daily watering schedules. The buckets she filled twice a day and toted sometimes
half a mile, took an hour to fill some days. By the time she finished filling them,
the sun would be low enough in the sky for her to begin watering.
Finally, she had enough water to begin. Picking up two of the buckets, Rayne
started the slow walk to the most distant of her precious plants. There was a
watering can at different points along the path where she could fill them to water
several rows and avoid carrying the buckets as far each time. Beginning with the
first row, Rayne wondered how her sisters were getting along. That was one of
the things about watering her delicate herbal plants and floras with a bucket it
gave her lots of free time to think.
The year was 2150. Since his assumption of power in 2048, Tyre Leyton had
ruled with an iron psychic fist. He had established a system of overlords, who
ruled over large cities, or regions. These overlords followed Leyton s laws, which
were passed by his selected legislators. The psychic overlords that the rebels
finally defeated had destroyed what was once a unified world economy, using
their paranormal ability to dominate the globe and control resources for their
own greedy use. While the top overlords centralized the world government in
the North American continent and lived in splendor, the rest of the world s
nations had to use profits from their GNP to pay for such necessities as water.
The overlords had systematically destroyed as much infrastructure of the
North American continent as they could when they knew they were about to lose
to the rebels. Since the peace accord, most of the world had been striving to
rebuild the heaviest damaged areas during the Final War of 2100. Rayne worried
about her two sisters when her hands were busy, leaving her mind free to worry.
75
Mlyn Hurn
While she was unaware of her sisters exact locations other than which state each
lived in, it was probably wisest for their safety.
Moving on to the next row, Rayne realized that she had not heard from
either of her sisters for over a year. She couldn t help but resent the fact that they
had to be separated for their protection. And sometimes she wondered if living
in such isolation was worth the supposed safety it provided.
Rayne had finished the second row and now needed more water. It was
getting darker and soon there would be no light at all. She hated watering in the
dark. It seemed like she was always taking a wrong step and slipping in the
shallow mud. Many times she returned home covered in mud. She resumed the
watering as quickly as possible, reminding herself to focus on the plants, not her
family or friends.
Of course, she missed her grandparents and often wished she could return to
be with them once again. She didn t, though, because to do so could expose
Maile and herself to detection by the government s police force designed
exclusively to investigate, track and, when necessary, remove psychic citizens.
Maile had sensed the three young girls powers early on and secretly trained
them. But she had come upon them once practicing a ritual that went back so far
no one was completely sure of its origin. It took great concentration, and it was
assumed that only equal psychics could truly accomplish such psychic
connections successfully. Rarely was there more than one psychic child born into
a family. But with the girls history of direct psychic lineage, one could only
guess at their true powers.
Rayne shook her head, hating to remember the fear in her grandmother s
face when she had found them that day. Along with the fear came the pain of
being forced to leave her grandparents forever. Her sisters had seemed to
understand better, or they were just better at concealing their pain at leaving the
only home they had ever known. Unfortunately, she didn t know exactly where
either one was but sometimes the urge to find them was almost irresistible.
* * * * *
Rayne was dead tired as she made her way back toward her house. She still
would have to make something to eat for her menagerie of pets. From the look of
the dry earth, she might have to water during the night once again. Just the
thought of that made her groan out loud.
Good evening.
Rayne would have jumped out of her skin if she could. The deep masculine
voice shocked and surprised her, coming from her front porch as it had.
Obviously a visitor had made himself comfortable waiting for her. Abruptly, she
stopped a few feet from the steps.
76
Rayne Dance
Who are you? What are you doing here? Rayne snapped at the unseen
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