Ashborne (The Ashborne Trilogy: Book 1) by Kat Lilynette Read Free Book Online Page B

tree-tasting medicine. I begrudgingly
downed the glowing liquid before curling up on my side, ready to
accept his verbal gift of storytelling. He looked down at my
attentive face, smiled sweetly, and began reading to me.
    His soothing voice was captivating,
and the story he was telling was beautiful, but for the life of me,
I couldn't follow it. I was far too distracted. I couldn’t stop
studying his beautiful face, going over his lips with my eyes, and
trying to make sense of everything he was making me
feel.
    The feelings I had felt the night
before only grew stronger as I gazed at him. My heart felt at home
as I laid there in front of him and listened to him speak softly to
me, and it was scaring the hell out of me. I was worried that my
heart was attaching itself to him, even without my conscious
permission, but I felt powerless to stop it – no, I don't think I
wanted to stop it.
    It wasn’t long before I could feel the
medicine began to take hold, and as he continued reading to me, I
closed my eyes and let his voice begin carrying me away. I still
didn’t understand what the hell he was doing to me or why I was
feeling the way I did, but as I drifted off to sleep, listening to
and feeling safe with him, my heart had never felt more at
peace.
     

Chapter Six
The spring in Shadowbark
     
    When I woke the next morning, I was
greeted by the sweet smell of breakfast. I leaned up and could see
Emoren preparing a setting at the small table he was seated at the
night before. His lean, muscular arms showcased in the thin,
sleeveless leather vest he was now wearing.
    “ Good morning,” he smiled,
placing a metal fork atop the neatly folded cloth that lay beside a
plate of delightful smelling eggs and fruit.
    “ Morning,” I responded
sleepily. It was just as I feared. After the past two nights, it
felt completely normal to wake up to him – like I was were I
belonged.
    “ I've prepared breakfast
for you. Come. Eat,” he said as he walked to my bedside.
    I looked up at him, a bit shocked that
he wanted me to try and get up. As I shifted my weight, to my
surprise, the pain in my leg was almost completely gone. I turned,
sat on the edge of the bed, and looked up at Emoren's smiling face.
Did he really want me to try and stand? With my wound, I knew I
would probably never be able to walk correctly again. There's no
way I would be able to stand so soon.
    “ It's all right. Try to
put some weight on it,” he said as he put his hands out to assist
me.
    I took his hands and carefully put all
my weight on my uninjured leg as I rose from the bed. It still
surprised me how soft his skin was to the touch. I stood there,
standing on one leg, holding his hands, feeling a little nervous
about trying to put weight on my injured leg.
    I slowly eased my other foot to the
ground, applying a small amount of pressure. It didn't hurt. I
looked up at Emoren and smiled in amazement, his stormy-blue eyes
just a bit higher than my own. Not sensing any pain, like a fool, I
immediately tried to stand normally. I gasped as a sharp burst of
pain shot through my calf, sending me crashing into Emoren's
well-defined chest as he caught me in his arms.
    “ Gently now,” he said
softly as he supported my full weight with the strong arms he was
wrapping around me.
    As he held me, helping me regain my
balance, I could feel my breasts pressing firmly against his tight
torso, and the anxiousness and racing in my heart that I had felt
before, returned to me like a flood of too much sunlight. I could
feel my cheeks become completely flush. So much so, that I knew he
could see it. But, as he helped me over to the table, he just
smiled sweetly at me. I was glad we were both pretending that I
wasn't blushing like an idiot.
    “ Are you not eating?” I
asked as he sat me at the sole chair of the table.
    “ It's all right. You eat.
I'll have some later.”
    He wasn’t going to hear any arguments
from me there. I don’t know if it was because of the medicine