Savage Possession (Temple of Luna #1) by Moira Rogers Read Free Book Online

Previously a novice of the Temple of Luna.” The healer
glanced up at him. “She left the Temple after seeing you? Was there
an...incident?”
    “ Just her deeming me
unworthy.” Rais wouldn’t ask. He wouldn’t. “Where did she go? Back
to her uncle’s?”
    “ No, actually. To your
mother’s court.”
    Where she’d be constantly surrounded by
eligible courtiers. He couldn’t hold back his growl. “That’ll make
her a lovely match, I bet.”
    “ Perhaps. I hesitate to
intrude, but...” Jarek cleared his throat. “You were with her for
twelve hours, during which you claim she satisfied a priestess’s
duties. At what point did she deem you unworthy? The two seem
mutually exclusive.”
    He didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “I
told you. She did her duty, but refused me as a mate.”
    “ Ah. So, if I’m to
understand correctly, you’re acting like a man on the edge of
violence because a woman you’d spent twelve hours with refused to
promise the rest of her life to you.”
    The healer’s dismissive
tone scraped Rais’s raw nerves. “Make light of it if you please,
but you’ll do it elsewhere.” If you value
your face.
    Jarek wasn’t intimidated. He met the glare
with cool blue eyes that showed no hint of pity. “With all respect
due a prince of the blood? Grow up. If she matters so much, spend
more than twelve hours wooing her. And if she doesn’t, stop acting
like a sixteen year old with a bruised ego.”
    He wanted to punch Jarek right in his smug,
calm face, but he forced himself to consider the admonition. How
hard had he tried? All he could remember now was that he’d asked,
and she’d denied him. She’d wounded his pride, and that had been
all that had mattered. “Do we have video communications set up
yet?”
    “ Not stable. The humans are
doing something new to block our signals. We can break through in
spurts to download data, but video communication would be erratic
at best.”
    If he could manage to get away without
endangering his unit, he could settle the matter with Avani once
and for all. “Has Ari made it back yet?”
    Jarek returned his attention to his table.
“Two days ago.”
    “ Then I’m taking a few more
days.” He arched an eyebrow. “Make it a medical suggestion, if
you’d like.”
    “ Pretend it’s a suggestion
if you like,”
Jarek replied, his voice a little sharp. “It’s hard enough on the
men when their leaders are calm. Don’t come back on edge like this.
You’ll get men killed.”
    Rais glared at Jarek as he snatched up his
own tablet. “I overlooked it when you called me an immature brat
because it’s possibly true, but if you treat me like an idiot,
we’ll be taking this outside.”
    Oddly, the corner of the healer’s mouth
quirked up. “There’s the royal temper. Have a good trip. Be sure to
forget to give my regards to your cousin.”
    Jarek fled before Rais could say another
word, and the prince turned his attention toward preparing a
message for his mother. He could be at her summer home in two days.
Avani would be there, and he could do the unthinkable.
    The future king could woo his bride.
     

     
    Karim was handsome. Not a surprise, Avani
supposed. Not with the gorgeous Zahra as a sister and Rais as a
cousin. The entire royal family was sinfully attractive, a fact she
sometimes thought they were all too well aware of.
    But Karim was especially pleasing to the
eyes, and he had too much grace to be an unpleasant person. She was
in no mood to be courted by a stranger, but even she wasn’t foolish
enough to pretend that wasn’t exactly why she’d been summoned to
court. Her aunt and the queen had taken an interest in her future
now that she no longer served Luna.
    An interest in joining their families was
more like it. She supposed she should be flattered that the king’s
own nephew was courting her with the full approval of his family.
She watched him weave through the crowded room toward her with two
glasses of wine and tried