Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
I’m still missing something. A truth just beyond my reach. But I have searched every corner of this kingdom, from mountain to sea, temple to ruin. Even the water maidens have scoured the ocean floor and found nothing.
Now I wonder. Have we searched amiss? Asked the wrong questions? If only I could go back and talk to them. King Morris and his Andrea. Though they are but dust and memory now, they hold the answers I seek.
Part of me wants to go back. Perhaps I can. I’m told there is a water maiden able to bend time. But no. You keep my eyes fixed firmly on the future.
If ever the day comes and you are standing where I am now, drowning in mysteries with no lantern to guide you, remember that you are not alone. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, I walk beside you. Beyond death, beyond time, beyond eternity.
All my love,
Your father
I hugged the journal to my chest and closed my eyes. Wow. Such devotion to his unborn child. But shocker: Ahav himself had considered time-travel. With the help of a water maiden, no less.
I called forth the mental image of Elowen. The one where she had gripped my hand, smiled, and helped me stand. As I studied it, ribbons of affection unfurled. At some point, I had trusted and loved her.
But could she bend time? Digging…
A sudden commotion shattered my bubble of concentration. Startled, I searched for the source of the disruption.
Breath lashed at my lungs. Jasher. He moaned in pain and writhed on the floor, eyes squeezed tight, jaw clenched, wings rippling. His chain clinked as he moved.
With a leap, I dropped the journal on the bed and rushed over. At his side, I sank to my knees and pressed my hand against his brow. No fever. No signs of shifting or poisoning—
A hard hand gripped my wrist. His eyelids popped open, and he yanked me to the floor. A humiliating squeak burst from me as cold, hard stone met my back…and a sizzling hot man rose above me.
Jasher’s sultry grin made a new appearance. He radiated delight. “Now then,” he purred. “Let’s continue our chat.”
15
OFF WE GO
My heart stopped, or sped up, I couldn’t tell which. Couldn’t think properly as realizations collided. Jasher’s strong arms caged my head. His muscled weight pinned me, while his spread wings anchored us in our own little world. Here, now, only we existed.
His intoxicating scent filled my nose. My blood heated. Aches bloomed. One reaction blended into the other, rousing sensitive goose bumps that pulsed with wild things I had no business feeling. A ravenous hunger and frothing need older than my reeling mind could currently fathom.
Those same wild things churned inside him, like calling to like. I should pull away. I knew that. The warning flared, born from the same instinct that had kept me alive this long. He sought my destruction, and he was strong enough to succeed. And yet…
I conformed my body to his. “Jasher,” I groaned.
“Once again, you find yourself at my mercy, princess.” He brushed the tip of his nose against mine. “Whatever shall you do?”
This playful side of him, so like my Jasher, sent me spinning. “Oh, you have mercy now, do you?” The raspiness of my voice sparked a widespread blush. But back off? No. “You pretended to be in pain to lure me over. I call foul.”
“No, darling. There was no pretending. I merely unbottled the pain I feel every day, as I hold the monster at bay.” He smiled a little, smoldered a lot. “But yes, I did use it to lure you over.”
He didn’t lie about it. That mattered. If he had, I might have rallied the strength to walk away.
I stroked my fingertips over his cheek. “I hate that you hurt.”
“Kiss me and make it better.” He nuzzled into my touch. “You want to—you want me.”
I did want him. More than I could articulate. But… “You threatened to kill me. Repeatedly.”
“A misunderstanding.”
Ha. “Kissing you would be foolish.”
“Ah, but when given the chance to follow through with my threats, I protected you instead. Did I not?” he asked, the edge of each word frayed. “Actions trump words, always.”
Maybe. Warmth uncoiled in the center of my chest. “You think you deserve a reward, hmm?”
“Deserve? No. Crave?” His gaze dropped to my mouth. “Yes.”
Resist. But I traced his biceps, then his shoulders, then toyed with the ends of his silken hair. Tracing him. Learning him again. “You won’t win me to Ian’s side, Jasher.” Assurance seeped into my tone. “He arranged my mother’s assassination—I’m certain it was him—and he intends to kill my father.”
“I know,” he admitted. The barest hint of vulnerability flickered over his expression. “Everything is a jumbled mess inside my head, but not that.” Gaze still on my lips, voice low and husky, he said, “I still want to kiss you.”