Eversworn: Daughters of Askara, Book 3 by Hailey Edwards Read Free Book Online Page B

my knees. The worn fabric smelled of mint and male, of Dillon, and I flushed with pleasure.
    I kept my tone light. “I did bring clothes better suited for travel.”
    Of course, my belongings were in my saddlebags, and I had no clue where they had gone.
    When he didn’t answer, I glanced up and found his mismatched eyes flickering over me. I loved how their colors contradicted one another. They befitted the male who owned them. One was bluer than any sky had the right to be. The other was the green of forests far north of Askara. Both stirred hotly as his slow perusal heated my skin. Crossing my arms over my chest hid my most obvious reaction to him. He swiped a hand down his face and swore before approaching me.
    Jerking my arms down, he rolled the cuffs of his shirt over my wrists. I held perfectly still and let him tend me. Even the simplest words failed me. How could he be so cruel, yet so kind? I stopped myself before adding so perfect , knowing the sum of his flaws had attracted me to him.
    And attracted to him I was. My mind blanked at the sight of his bare chest and sinewy arms. Even as his healer, I’d seen no more of him than from the knee down during his time in my care. He was very private, and I respected his wishes. His presence was enough to make guilt churn in my stomach. Desire had flirted with my ethics, but he was no longer my patient. He was a male I craved, and he had kissed me first and kissed me thoroughly. Perhaps seduction was the answer.
    As I thought it, the embers his touch stoked in my lower belly cooled. I was not the whore Roland had named me. I was once, but no more. I had already tarnished Dillon’s memory with deceit. This one moment, I wanted pure. Staring up into his wary eyes, I said, “Kiss me again.”
     
    Self-preservation rocked Dillon back on his heels. “What part of mistake didn’t you get?”
    After a hushed moment rife with disappointment, his, Isabeau bit her bottom lip and nodded.
    Damn if her teeth sinking into that soft mouth didn’t make his water. His hand lifted, fingers outstretched. He snapped his arm back to his side and made it stick. Comforting her kicked open a door best left shut and locked tight. One kiss he could forgive himself. Two kisses… He checked the perimeter, almost wishing Phineas was back so he had an excuse for taking up her invitation.
    “Are we going to walk, or should I find your tent on my own?” she asked his boots.
    He had been quick to offer his bed to her, another mistake. He grimaced. How long had it been since the sight of a female had stirred his blood? He couldn’t remember if anyone ever had. “Come on. I have one more stop to make.” When the silence stretched for too long, he said, “There’s a market run scheduled for the day after tomorrow, but I guess you knew that already.”
    Her head popped up as she stammered, “Why would I?”
    “You mean besides the fact Emma authorized our city passes weeks ago?” He was tempted to tap her mouth shut with his finger. “I thought you handled all her paperwork—my mistake.”
    “Oh.” Her tone held an odd note of relief.
    Turning with a sigh, he paused long enough to check for her muted footfalls behind him.
    “Yeah. Oh.” Her run-in with Phineas must have spooked her worse than he’d realized. Kiss me again . Her request began to make more sense. She was scared and he was here. She trusted him. She shouldn’t. He didn’t trust her. She wanted comfort. He didn’t. He wanted her. “ Stupid .”
    “Excuse me?” She caught his arm. He obliged her by twisting until her palms braced on his chest. Her hands on his bare skin derailed all higher brain function. Her sharp nails bit into his pectorals, the sting a sweet counterpoint that flipped some internal switch. “What did you say?”
    His memory sputtered. His lips parted. Nothing intelligible passed through them.
    She shoved him for all the good it did her. “I asked you a question.”
    The best he could manage was a