Eluria's Enforcer (The Argadian Heart Trilogy Book 1) by Adrianna Dane Read Free Book Online Page A

fingertips
and a yearning inside took shape. A spark of pleasure charged through her.
    One kiss. Just one. To last her a lifetime.
To remind her of what happiness tasted like. He would never know she was but a
hungry thief who stole a small sample of paradise.
    Eluria leaned forward. His breath whispered
across her senses. Like the ray of first sunlight to a new day she touched her
lips to his, felt their firm yet yielding hardness, wanted more. She’d known
one touch would not be enough. Yet it must suffice. Long ago she’d learned to
live in unfilled want.
    She began to pull back. Hard hands rose to
cup her face, with gentle firmness. Eluria held her breath and waited.
    He opened his eyes. His turquoise gaze locked
with hers. She inhaled in shock. “You’re back,” her words were a triumphant
gasp of breath. “Thank Guardian, it worked.”
    “Eluria. Na-nivia .” His hoarse
utterance stilled her. My love . If only it were still possible.
    “I remember you. I remember all of it.” Devon
released a shuddering breath.
    She nodded in thankfulness, her eyes filled
with tears. “I know.”
    Slowly, he sat up without releasing her. His
gaze swept over her as a thirsty man eyes a well of water in the middle of a
desert. He lowered his head, his lips capturing hers, drawing from her very
core, the desire Eluria had fought so hard to control. Her radiance shimmered
attempting to burst free, to encompass them both in hot, blazing light. As much
as she wanted to, she couldn’t let it happen.
    “No,” she breathed, attempting to pull from
his arms, from his power. “There’s much you don’t know. We can’t do this.”
    Finally, she broke free and frantically put
distance between them. Devon struggled for control. Passion simmered between
them, ready to blaze again. Electricity crackled in the air around them. Her
radiance fought savagely for freedom, which she couldn’t allow. Eluria strove
for the peace of inner balance.
    Devon stepped away from her. Staggered, and
righted himself.
    “Devon,” she gasped, instinctively taking a
step towards him, ready to help him if need be.
    He winced, but motioned her back. “I’m fine,”
he growled. “Let it be. The memories are settling—finding their place. The pain
isn’t as bad.”
    “You need to rest, Devon. We don’t know how
this will affect you.”
    Like jeweled daggers, his gaze pinned her.
“You think I’m not aware of that? Everything is turned around. With these
memories, these emotions—everything is changed.”
    He leaned down and picked up the uniform.
Donning it quickly, he turned back to her and straightened, his gaze the look
of a hunter sizing up its victim. “I want answers.”
    She’d known he would. Once the memories of
Before returned, he would want the truth.
    Though no longer the eyes of a dreaded
Enforcer, still they pierced her. “Where is my family?”
    Eluria bit her lip, turned her gaze from his,
unable to meet his searching look. “Your mother is alive, as is your sister. I
don’t know about your brother. Alekos has disappeared. There’s been no real
word of him for many years. Just rumors. We think he may have been terminated,
but have been unable to confirm it.”
    She paused, taking a deep breath to steady
her. “Your mother is in seclusion on Ednos. Gavrielle sought peace
after…after…” She stopped speaking, trying to find the words to continue.
“Kierra…Kierra is near your mother.”
    “And my father?” The question she feared most
dropped between them.
    “Taeryl. Taeryl was terminated, Devon.”
    Painful silence echoed all around them.
Finality. Eluria saw his jaw harden, and his eyes fill with pain.
    They were silent for long moments as she
waited for Devon to absorb the knowledge of his shattered family.
    “All these years I had no memory of them. If
I’d actually met any of them during that time, I wouldn’t have known them.”
    She nodded. There was a time when he’d passed
her several years ago. There’d