Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
She drew in a deep breath and removed her fingers from his temple. “You have suffered much, Warrior. Why did you not come to the temple for healing after your escape from the Scourge?”
“Because I don’t like this,” Baird said honestly. “The feeling of somebody else inside my head—I had enough of that with those slimy bastards. Not that it’s as bad when you do it, your holiness, but still, a male should have privacy inside his own mind.”
The priestess frowned. “I understand your reluctance, Warrior, but you should know that delving into the mind of another is no more comfortable for me than it is for you. Some of my sisters call it a curse—the ability to see within a male and know his true thoughts and actions. It is why so many of us choose to dedicate ourselves to the Mother of Life instead of finding a mate. Your memories especially are terrible—some of the worst I have ever seen.”
“I’m sorry.” Baird didn’t know what else to say. He’d had no idea that the process was as uncomfortable to the priestess as it had been for him.
“Do not be.” She patted him on the shoulder. “We each act for the will of the Mother. It is she who decides the fate of us all.”
Baird looked at her eagerly. “And can you see my fate? What will happen with my bride—with Olivia?”
The priestess looked grave. “I wish I could tell you that the way before you is smooth, Warrior. But I fear you have some trials ahead of you.”
“Trials? What trials? What am I supposed to do?”
She closed her green-within-green eyes, a frown crossing her face. “I see a choice you will have to make. A terrible sacrifice. And danger—so much danger.” She opened her eyes and they were troubled. “I fear for you.”
Baird felt a shadow pass over his heart. “What do you fear? It’s not danger to Olivia, is it? I don’t care what happens to me as long as she’s safe.”
“There will be danger for both of you, I am afraid.”
“But what can I do? How can I protect her?”
The priestess shook her head. “I wish I could tell you more but this is all the Mother of Life has given me to see. My own advice to you is to follow your heart. It may be that you will have to lose your bride in order to gain her. And I fear you may lose yourself in the process.”
“What does that mean?” Baird asked in frustration. “How am I supposed to follow advice I can’t even understand?”
She shook her head. “You will have to discover the meaning for yourself. I only pray you will be able to do so before it is too late.” Then she turned and glided away, her bare feet making almost no sound on the sacred grass.
Baird was left kneeling, his head filled with more questions than ever. Damn it, this was what he hated about consulting a priestess. Why couldn’t they just spell things out instead of all this mysterious mumbo-jumbo crap? But the worst thing was, it wasn’t just crap and he knew it. The priestesses of the Mother of Life were never wrong. In the very near future he and Olivia were going to be in danger—what kind he didn’t know.
He just hoped he could keep her safe and get them both out of it alive without losing her forever in the process.
Chapter Seventeen
The rest of the week was incredibly tense. Liv and Baird didn’t speak about their fight but things didn’t exactly go back to normal—or what she’d come to think of as normal, anyway. True to his word, Baird refused to let them leave the suite and toward the end of the week Liv was beginning to go stir crazy. It wasn’t just that she minded being confined to a single set of rooms, although that was bad enough. But there was also the growing attraction between herself and the big warrior to contend with and the more time she spent with Baird, the worse it got.
He warned me it would get worse. I can handle this, she told herself. Forewarned is forearmed. But somehow her determination to hold out and resist got hazy whenever she was near him. And it left her completely every night when it was time for the bathing ceremony. Because Baird insisted on following the contract and washing her in the bathing pool every single night despite the fact that she’d made it clear she didn’t want him anywhere near her.
Of course, there was nothing Liv could do about fulfilling the contract she’d signed. But she wished that just once, she could keep her cool and icy demeanor in place while Baird washed and touched her. Unfortunately, that never seemed to happen, no matter how sternly she talked to herself about not giving in to desire. When he put his big, warm hands on her and washed her bare breasts and stroked between her thighs with his fingers she lost her self control every single time. More often than not, she wound up begging him to take her and Liv knew that only the fact that he had promised not to bond her to him during this week kept Baird from doing just that.