Read Online The Challenge by Susan Kearney - Free Book Online Page B

counterproductive to what you need to evoke her psi.”
    And if Tessa didn’t learn to use her psi and win the Challenge, the last of his people might perish. “Her strength of self-control suggests the process of bringing out her psi abilities may take longer than I’d planned.”
    “And require more extreme measures that you find distasteful.”
    “I’ll do my duty.” Kahn had no choice.
    “You may need to go deeper. You may need to evoke her emotions.”
    Kahn groaned. “According to the Federation manuals, programming her suit to sexually stimulate and frustrate her is the best way to teach a woman humanoid to use her psi.”
    “The manual may need to retire.”
    “After dealing with Tessa, I may need to retire,” Kahn joked.
    Helera’s grin faded. “And don’t think of explaining your rationale to her. That would be kind, but doing so in past Challenges has led to failure. Telling her that you need her frustrated to engage her psi will only lower her anxiety level and be counterproductive to your purpose.”
    “I thought you just told me to retire the manual?”
    “A smart man listens to all advice and then makes his own decisions.”
    Decisions? Or mistakes? “I’ll do my best.”
    “Do better than your best.” Helera prodded then signed off.
    Full of rigid determination, unwilling to put off another meeting with Tessa any longer, Kahn strode toward the room with the Earth woman, unsure what to expect from her next.
    Using his psi, he opened the entryway into her chamber. He’d prepared these quarters after careful consideration of innumerable details. He wanted no portals, technology, or stimulation to distract her from the sensations he’d programmed into her suit.
    Perhaps, her frustration level had already grown high enough to enable her to change her suit’s transparency so he needn’t push her further, so he needn’t view the constant reminder of her sex. He found her nudity disturbing and too attractive. He didn’t want to appreciate her sleek proportions. He didn’t want to admire her toned muscles or her shiny black hair, especially the dark curls between her legs. He wanted to think of her as sexless, but with her perfectly shaped breasts alternately heaving, trembling, quivering, and standing up proudly, he was all too aware of her attributes.
    He found her on her feet, facing him almost as if she was waiting for him. He tried to hide his distress that she still remained naked.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked, striding toward him as if that suit weren’t still caressing every bare part of her.
    For someone so incredibly stubborn, she was also perceptive to his moods. “I was hoping you’d made more progress,” he admitted.
    She arched a delicate eyebrow, a gesture he was beginning to associate with skepticism. “And how do you know that I haven’t?”
    “I cannot tell you that.” He sincerely wished he could. However, if he explained that he was deliberately frustrating her in order to develop her psi abilities, the explanation itself would calm her and create the opposite effect necessary for success.
    “Can you tell me why you’re here?” Her tone remained reserved, and yet he sensed a whetted intensity in her like a man’s, though no one would mistake her for one, not unless he were blind. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders in a straight rainfall of jet black. Her lips were lush. And stars, for a short woman she had long legs. Her attributes should not matter. But there was a green fire in the center of her eyes that he didn’t understand, that hadn’t been there earlier.
    “We will share a meal.” Without waiting for her acceptance, he strode to the wall and opened several compartments.
    Tessa matched steps with him, ambling close beside him, watching him perform the simple tasks, but no doubt unable to comprehend how his psi operated the ship’s technology. He gave her credit that she didn’t seem upset or consider his abilities evil as several other