Savage Need (Temple of Luna, #2) by Moira Rogers Read Free Book Online

have questions?"
    He laughed a little as he refilled his goblet. "You've never been the type to need to answer to anyone, cousin. I lay my trust in your judgment, as always."
    He offered her more wine, and she didn't refuse. Now that her impossible question had been answered, she didn't quite know what to do.
    But Avani did. She lifted her glass with a laugh. "You'll forgive me if I wish your intended all the luck in the world. Your family has more in the way of good looks and charm than is entirely fair."
    Zahra smiled. "Jarek still has some healing to do. But when he's ready for me..."
    She'd be more than ready for him.

    Zahra pulled her rental car to a stop on the gravel drive outside the plain farmhouse, but there was no one in sight. She gathered the tin of cookies from the passenger seat and headed for the front door, but the sharp ring of an axe cleaving through wood stopped her.
    She followed the sound behind the house and found Jarek, bared to the waist, chopping wood. His muscles tensed and flexed as he swung, and she had to suck in a sharp breath. Though they'd gone no longer than a few days without a video call over the last few months, she'd still forgotten his sheer magnetism.
    She had to shake herself from her reverie as he swung the axe again. "Hello, Jarek."
    His back went tense. He lifted the axe and embedded it three inches in the stump in front of him and then turned, his face wary, as if he didn't quite trust his eyesight. For several moments he simply stared at her while the breeze tugged at her hair. His nostrils flared slightly and his gaze dropped to her hands, and a smile curled his lips. "I know I'm capable of hallucinating you, but I doubt I'd conjure up your mother's cookies, as enchanting as they are."
    His smile gave her the courage to cross the space between them. "When my mother found out I was coming to see you, she wanted to send her regards. I told her this was the best way."
    "I was just..." He gestured to the axe, and to the ramshackle farmhouse. "My brother-in-law took my sister and the kids into town to run errands, so I was trying to pitch in. The barn's high tech, but the house still has fireplaces."
    She nodded, her hands trembling. "It's a beautiful place. And it's--it's good to see you again."
    His gaze flicked to the farmhouse again, and something in his eyes tightened. "It's not much. But it was home, I suppose."
    It was clear he hadn't wanted her to see where he lived, and a surprising pain splintered through her. "Should I not have come?"
    He started and covered the space between them in a heartbeat. Strong arms closed around her, pulling her against a solid, warm chest. "I'm sorry. I'm glad to see you, sweetheart. I am."
    Zahra didn't want to let go. She dropped the tin and clung to him, her face buried against his shoulder. "I should have called, but I missed you. I needed to see you."
    "My house isn't fit for the King's cousin," he whispered, the words muffled against her hair. "He told me once to stay away from you. That I wasn't good enough."
    It sounded like the sort of thing Rais would say--a casual, offhand comment delivered without a thought to how Jarek might take it. "He must have changed his mind."
    Jarek went stiff against her. "He knows?"
    He sounded almost scared, and Zahra pulled back to look up at him, her own heart pounding. "Yes, and he's given us his blessing."
    Strong fingers fisted in her hair. He groaned and crushed his mouth to hers, kissing her with the heat and need that had kept her awake at night, wanting.
    It was the first time since speaking to Rais that she allowed herself to really understand what had happened. "I can have you," she whispered against Jarek's mouth. "You're mine."
    "And you're--"
    "Jarek?" It was a woman's voice, followed by the sound of a slamming door. "I thought I heard a--oh." The woman-his mother, if age and family resemblance were any indication--stopped at the corner of the house and stared at them with wide, shocked blue