Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 123779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 619(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 619(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
He consumes me entirely until there’s only him, and I have no idea how long we kiss for.
Raighne starts to slow down his assault on me, and when I regain control of my mind, I’m a breathless mess on his lap.
His hands brush up and down my back once more before he pulls them out from under the fabric, and when he breaks the kiss, he trails his fingers over my cheeks.
I swear the man took me to the heavens and beyond, and coming down, I begin to feel self-conscious.
My eyes focus on him, and seeing the serious expression on his face, I squirm and glance away.
“Look at me.”
I shake my head, and it has him gripping hold of my chin and forcing me to look at him.
When our eyes lock, he asks, “How do you feel?”
I suck in a deep breath of air and focus on my back while I lift a hand to my face. The pain in my back is much more manageable, and the scabs on my cheeks are practically gone.
Slowly, a smile tugs at my mouth. “It worked,” I whisper, the awkwardness forgotten as relief fills me.
“Good.”
I lower my eyes from his, then ask, “So you have to kiss me in order to heal me?”
He lets out a chuckle as he shakes his head. “No, but the kiss got you to focus on me so I could do my job.”
The words sting like hell, and I quickly glance away so he won’t see the disappointment in my eyes while I mutter, “Right.”
I begin to move so I can get off his lap, but he grips hold of my hips and frowns at me. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head, refusing to make eye contact with him. “I’m just exhausted.”
When I move again, he doesn’t stop me. The cut at the back of my leg is tender as fuck from the position I sat in, and the stitches pull, but I suppress the pain so Raighne won’t pick up on it, because I can’t handle another kiss right now.
“Thank you for healing me,” I say as I walk to the bed. “At least I’ll be able to sleep now.”
Raighne doesn’t get up and just stares at me.
“Why are you withdrawing from me?”
“I’m not,” I lie. “I’m just tired. You should get some rest as well.”
Still, he doesn’t budge from the chair.
I climb beneath the covers and pull them up to my chin as I gingerly lie down, careful not to agitate my broken ribs.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I will sleep to come quickly, but instead of my wish coming true, I lie awake, highly conscious of Raighne.
“Did I make a mistake by kissing you?”
Avoiding the truth, I answer, “It helped with the healing.”
“But?”
“No buts.”
“Alchera.” His tone is much harsher this time around.
“Just leave it,” I snap out loud.
I hear the chair creak, and a moment later, the bed dips beneath Raighne’s weight as he sits down beside me.
“Don’t shut me out.”
I pull the covers up higher to hide the blush on my face as I admit, “It was my first kiss. I thought it would be more special than just being used for healing purposes.”
Raighne is quiet for a moment, and then he climbs to his feet and walks out of the room.
“Raighne?”
“Rest well, Alchera.” His tone is cold and clearly unhappy with me.
Was I wrong to admit that to him?
Confused as hell, I lie for close to an hour thinking about what happened tonight, but by the time I drift off to sleep, I’m no closer to an answer.
Chapter 20
Raighne
It feels like every time I make progress with Alchera, she pushes me away and the distance between us grows.
Standing outside her living quarters with my arms crossed over my chest, everyone gives me a wide berth.
The past week has been hell. Feeling the pain Adeth and Ares were subjecting her to and worrying about not getting to her in time almost killed me.
Scratch that. The past week was the worst I’ve ever experienced.
I glance at the doorway, feeling frustrated and hurt that Alchera minimized our kiss like that.
I thought she felt the passion, but I was wrong.
Maybe it’s just one-sided?
Fuck. I’m doomed to love my charge while she doesn’t feel the same.
There was a moment when I believed the attraction was mutual. Alchera kissed me back.
Maybe she was just caught up in the moment.
I let out a heavy sigh, not happy at all.
My growing love for her is not the only problem I have. Alchera keeps fighting me, never fully letting me in. Which means she’s either hiding something from me or she doesn’t trust me.
Both are bad because it will keep our bond from deepening.
What the hell am I going to do to get through to her?
Letting out a sigh, I stare up at the night sky as I try to find answers to the problems.