Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
He reached out and stroked her cheek with his fingers. “You honor me with the truth and your trust.”
“You have proven yourself trustworthy.” She thought she caught him flinch, then scowl, then smile. The myriad of expressions confused her until she realized it was a trick of the eye caused by the hearth’s flickering flames.
“Have you thought about loving?” he asked.
Aliss had hoped he would not pursue his query; exhaustion made her much too vulnerable now. Or perhaps she didn’t want to admit that she was growing comfortable with the Wolf?
“Perhaps now and again.”
“And you dismiss the thought,” he confirmed.
“I know not what else to do with it.”
“Let yourself think on it,” he encouraged.
She yawned. “I do not have . . .” Another yawn swallowed her words and her eyes drifted shut. “Wake me with the sun,” she said before another yawn attacked.
“Rest, you need it,” he urged gently.
In minutes, she was snoring lightly and Rogan reached around her to pull a light wool blanket over her.
He lay beside her studying her lovely face. Hers was a natural beauty, her creamy skin flawless, her lashes as fiery as her mane of red curls, her slim nose in perfect symmetry with her features, and her rosy lips much too inviting.
She was bewitching and he had fallen easily under her spell. It could not be helped, fight as he did against it, it seemed inevitable. They were drawn to each other. She wanted his kisses as much as he wanted to kiss her.
Was this the prelude to love?
The signs were all there as they had been when he had fallen in love with Kendra. He had wanted to spend all the time he could with her, hold her, touch her, kiss her, and damn, how he had ached to make love to her.
He felt all those things now about Aliss, and he felt grateful, grateful to be experiencing such powerful feelings once again. He had forgotten the intensity of love; sorrow had replaced it with his wife’s death. He wanted to savor the feelings that had finally revisited him, explore them with Aliss and let the sensations take them where they might.
He reached out and stroked her silky skin, her cheek cool to his touch. She was such a special woman. He could not imagine that any man would not want her, healing propensity and all. And he could not imagine any man but him touching her, a thought that had haunted him of late.
Rogan rested his hand on her hip and watched her sleep and listened to her snore, a light purring sound. He would not mind hearing her purr in his ear each night. He would cuddle close with her; perhaps join in with his own snores to form a distinct melody of their own.
He shook his head and rolled quietly off the bed, reluctantly going to his room.
Was he crazy?
How did he think this could possibly work between them?
She had deemed him trustworthy, confiding in him.
He dropped down on the bed, pillowing his head with his arms and stretching his feet out.
He was a wolf in every sense of the word, cunning, fearless, and fiercely loyal, that loyalty being the very reason Aliss was here with him. She, however, would not view it that way, and how could he ever get her to understand?
Strange, he felt he was on the precipice of finding love once again, excited and eager and fearful that once Aliss learned the truth he would plunge over the edge alone.
Chapter 14
“Your neck healed nicely,” Aliss said, slipping her yellow blouse on and tucking it in her waistband.
Anna beamed. “I am so very happy the rash is gone. And for good as long as I do not touch motherwort with my bare hands. I cannot thank you enough for helping me.”
Aliss sat down beside Anna on the grassy knoll not far from the stream’s edge. The sun was bright, the air warm for early morning and she felt refreshed having just washed from top to bottom in the stream.
She squeezed the excess water from her red hair and used the thick towel she had dried off with to soak up the rest before she attempted to comb it.
“You have thanked me many times over with all your help.”
“I enjoy healing work—” Anna paused a moment before rushing to finish her words. “I would love to be a healer.”
“You would make a very good one.”
“I would?” Anna asked, surprised.
Aliss began to comb the tangles from her hair. “The clan will need a healer once I am gone. I will teach you all I can until then and you can continue to learn on your own as I once did.”
“You really are going to leave us?”
“Once I determine the cause for the persistent illness and provide a cure, yes, I will leave.” Aliss shook her head. “You knew that. Everyone here does.”