Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Ivan’s body went rigid before he took a huge gasp of air, both his arms snapping up to lock around her with such force that she should’ve been afraid. But she wasn’t. Not with him. Never with him.
She continued to hold on as he gulped in air, his body still too cool, but his heartbeat now rapid. “You’re safe.” Her cat butted up against the silver starlight of him in her mind. “I’m here.” She stroked her hand down his side, not the least surprised by the muscle of him. He moved with warrior grace, his body a fluid machine.
“Lei?” A rough sound, his arms yet locked around her.
But when she pushed up, he eased his hold so she could sit up and look down on him. His eyes were open but they were muddy, hazy—and she didn’t like that at all. Her cat was furious that he’d allowed himself to walk this close to the edge, but this wasn’t the time for temper so she throttled it back.
“Psychic burn?” she asked, once again taking his pulse.
He managed to give a nod.
“You need to replace that energy.” When she went to move away, however, his arm tightened a fraction around her waist. She could’ve broken his hold—he had no real leverage given his position—but she noted that his breathing had also speeded up, his pupils expanding.
Soleil understood fear better than most. She had a feeling her Psy had very little experience of it. Whatever had happened had shaken him. “Just need to grab something from my bag,” she said, and managed to reach out from the bed to drag it close.
Shifting so she had her feet on the floor without breaking the contact between their bodies, she dug inside the bag until she found the calorie-boosting sachets she’d thrown in there. Not as good for him as the nutrient packets designed for Psy, but energy was energy. His body would divert it to where it was most needed.
Having spotted a glass of water on the table, she poured two sachets in there and gently shook the glass to try to mix it in. He sat up, was ready to take the glass from her when she passed it across.
His throat muscles moved hard as he gulped it down in the way of young adults playing drinking games. Opening her bottle of water, she refilled his glass as soon as he was done, adding two more sachets to it. He finished that as quickly, then took the nut bar she handed him.
After finishing it, he took the other one she held out. “How did you know I needed an assist?” he asked after eating half that second one.
Soleil threw up her hands. “Of course I knew!” And, now that she could see he was safe, she gave in to the squeaking, excited bouncing in her heart and picked up the small cat planter she’d seen on the table when she’d picked up the glass of water. “I gave you this.”
He’d frozen when she touched it, now nodded. “Have you remembered?” Rough words.
“Pieces.” Pieces that made her ache with the hunger to know more. “Will you tell me what I’ve forgotten?”
Swallowing down the bite he’d taken, he gave a curt nod. “You walked out of the forest after I’d injured my leg, sewed me up, and told me not to be an idiot and rip it open again. Unable to forget you, I returned to the same spot until you came back. I showed you a cave. We had a picnic and played in the trees.”
Soleil’s mouth had fallen open partway through that military recitation, and the strange thing was, as flat and emotionless as it was, it made her cat run in excited circles, her heart sighing. Because all she really heard was “unable to forget you”—and that was all she needed to hear.
“You made a mushroom tart,” he added. “It’s not my preferred mode of ingesting nutrients.”
A smile in her very bones. Oh, he was adorable in how he was trying not to hurt her feelings by telling her he’d hated it. And she knew then exactly why she’d fallen for him—because the man behind the mask of cool steel? He was kinder than he would ever acknowledge or even truly understand, loyal, and wonderful.
Putting the cat planter carefully on the table, she pounced on him.
He dropped the energy bar to the bed, his hands coming to her hips as she straddled him.
“Hello,” she whispered, looking into those pretty, pretty eyes that fascinated her cat. “I can’t forget you, either.”
“I see you in my dreams.” His voice was like cool water, sliding into her veins. “Once, you were made of starlight.”
Flickers in her mind, half-forgotten ghosts of things past. “You were a boy last night in my dream.” She ran her fingers over the intricate lines and patterns on his chest. “This art is beautiful but it makes my heart hurt.”