Veiled by Caris Roane Read Free Book Online

Beatrice of Fourth
    Duncan reached the out-going landing platform, got the okay from the Militia Warrior in charge, and folded himself straight to his bathroom at his Paradise Valley home.
    His thighs tingled up through his groin and all because the breh-hedden kept torturing him with Rachel’s rich garden scent. He sniffed his shoulder near his weapons harness. Rachel had touched him there, fondling his muscles. He could still smell her on him and he wanted more, craved more.
    He was in pain.
    Sure, he took care of himself in the shower, and always with images of Rachel streaming through his head. But it wasn’t the same as being buried deep, tasting her blood on his lips, hearing her moan. He loved the sounds she made when she was aroused and especially when she came.
    Tonight, he’d almost relented. Even now, he listened hard to any sound of Rachel returning home, wondering if he should go to her.
    He’d given her the master bedroom for the duration. A month ago, wreckers had taken her cottage down to the foundation in the Seattle One Colony. Yolanthe had wanted Rachel dead for the simple reason Rachel had the power to create a protective shield around him, something she’d done tonight.
    In the meantime, Rachel had nowhere else to go so of course he’d offered his home, even if he couldn’t be close. He’d thought about moving into his cabin on the Mogollon Rim, a place he’d bought several months ago, but he didn’t feel easy about being separated from her. If Yolanthe ever located Rachel on her own, the madwoman would kill her.
    He stripped off his battle leathers and put them in a hamper. His housekeeper came by every afternoon, picked up whatever was there, then took it to Murphy’s for laundering. He had good staff.
    He punched his chest with his fist a couple of times, wishing he could fix what was wrong inside him. He hated himself for not being with Rachel, for not taking care of her. But proximity had become a snake that bit hard, adding poison until his gut writhed and he could hardly breathe.
    Stepping into the shower, he moved under a hot stream of water and worked at letting go. He scrubbed his body down hard, washed his hair, tried to relax. But a half hour later, after toweling dry, he still felt like shit and knew sleep wouldn’t find him anytime soon.
    He put on some shorts and headed to his workout room. After a few minutes of stretching, then jogging on his treadmill to warm up, he gave himself to a whole lot of iron and a punishing regimen.
    Though he’d spent hours battling death vampires, grid wreckers, and trying but failing to reach some level of competence with Merl’s Third Earth drills, he still wasn’t loose.
    A good lay would have helped. For that reason alone, he’d almost taken Rachel up on her offer.
    Rachel.
    God help him.
    Ten lifts. Switch up the weights. Ten more. Repeat.
    He was sweating hard.
    Moving to the leg curl bench, he worked out his quads. Every few minutes, he’d switch to another station, and hammer a different set of muscles.
    A half hour passed, then an hour. Dawn had come and gone.
    When Rachel finally came home, he heard her call to him, letting him know she’d arrived safely.
    “Good,” he responded.
    Brilliant of him.
    He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to keep a lid on how much he craved her right now.
    He recalled how she’d been lusting after the other men and his breh-hedden reflexes suddenly vaulted into another searing overdrive. He took several deep breaths, struggling to get calm. He even growled and his fangs made an appearance. Still, he remained where he was and put his weights in motion again.
    How could he explain to Rachel what his life was like, what it had always been? A viper lived inside him and had from the time he could remember, a serpent moving through thick waters, writhing and biting when he got too close to anyone. He’d promised himself long ago to keep his distance from any serious relationship.
    He’d made an exception