WastelandRogue by Brenda Williamson Read Free Book Online Page A

“Easy does it.”
    “Do you make a habit of helping strangers?” she asked
sharply, flustered by her roiling emotions.
    “It’s not something I go looking for, but I don’t ignore
things I can make right,” he answered with a serious tone and a subdued smile.
    Even though the shirt she held was between them, it didn’t
fully prevent the contact of her breasts against his firm body. The hair on his
bare chest tickled her nipples. Heat flamed in the pit of her belly. The
campfire had made his skin warm, inviting her touch. She spread out her
fingers, fanning them over one of his taut nipples.
    Pride be damned. Her desires prompted forwardness.
    She swept her hand over his hard pectoral muscles, caressing
the fine soft hairs. Tingling threads of stimuli flowed from her fingertips
into all parts of her body.
    He placed his hand against her cheek and she closed her
eyes, absorbing the comforting feel of his touch. Vulnerable to the attention,
she savored the glide of his fingertips over her cool skin. As if guided by the
invisible tug on her senses, she leaned and felt strands of her hair fall
forward.
    With one finger, he swept the lock from her face and tucked
it behind her ear.
    Half-mindless with desire pooling in her loins, she licked
her parched lips and lifted her lashes. She stared into his beautiful brown
eyes with a thirst for his kiss. Immediately, her reflection in his pupils made
her aware of her too-desperate need of affection. Tears bubbled to the rims of
her lower eyelids.
    She feared him seeing her as weak as a human woman and she
shouldn’t have cared, and yet, she did.
    Tension thickened the air as they each stood hesitant. She
gasped for a breath.
    Sevrin broke the spellbound connection first, pulling back
from her.
    It severed both her sexual hunger pangs and her growing
emotional bond.
    “Take your time, no rush to move too much,” he advised,
sliding his hand down her arm and around her elbow.
    His fingers tightly gripping her arm gave a steadying
reassurance he’d not let her fall. It brought back a vivid memory of his long,
thick fingers inside her. His gentle caresses washing between her legs had
lulled her beyond relaxation. She had fought sleep to enjoy both his touch and
the euphoria of her orgasm. Wanting to relive that moment of tranquility, she
lifted her gaze to his. All she needed was one glimmer of weakness in him to
see her as desirable. But he no longer showed any indication of wanting her
now.
    She decided it was for the best. She didn’t have the
strength to play the seesawing game that had her emotions in turmoil.
Begrudgingly thankful for his help, she stepped out of the rickety crate.
    “Are you hungry?” he asked.
    His question reminded her he was human. Quickly, she
snatched her hand out of his. What was she thinking, trying to seduce him? She
had never been intimate with a human before.
    “I’m sure you know we don’t eat.” She put on the
long-sleeved, dingy white shirt.
    Her hands shook as she attempted to fasten the laces and the
task became pointless. Holding the garment closed, she took a step. This time
her knees buckled and she collapsed, falling to a heap on the ground.
    Sevrin immediately came to her assistance, grabbing her at
the waist and raising her up. “You need a drink.” He guided her to a wood
chair.
    “I don’t want any blood,” she snapped, recalling him
straddling her in the steam-trekker and forcing her to feed from his arm. It
was humiliating to know he had seen her rapacious hunger.
    “I meant water.” He squatted in front of her and picked up a
lizard-skin flask. “You’re still dehydrated. That’s why you feel woozy.”
    “How do you know how I feel?” She took the flask and gulped
down every drop of the cool liquid.
    “It’s just an assumption since you weren’t jumping around
after waking.” He carried the flask to a pipe that went through a crack in the
ceiling of the cave.
    “I have a barrel up top that catches rain,”