Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“I quite like your potent scent,” she said without thinking and drifted away from him, ducking down until the water skimmed her chin.
At times, her scent drove him to distraction but hearing that his scent did the same to her further stirred the arousal he was fighting to keep at bay.
He grabbed the soap and started scrubbing, anything to get his mind elsewhere.
Bria felt the sand beneath her feet disappear and she began to swim in the deeper part of the water. Her da had taught her to swim when she was young, though it worried her mum. But her da insisted it was better their daughter knew how in case there ever came a day it proved necessary for her to know.
Thoughts of her parents lingered. She lost them two years apart a few years ago. And she missed them every day. Her mum had been a skillful healer and her da a farmer who could coax the land into producing fine crops.
She stopped swimming and tread water, like her da had taught her. If, as Winnie said, her roots were in Driochmor, did that mean her parents came from here as well?
A decision came to her then. She could not leave Driochmor until she learned the truth about herself. And who she truly was, no matter how even the idea of it frightened her. Not so much the search itself but what she might find.
She turned to swim back to Kaelan and bumped into him.
She quickly backed away, having felt too much of him brush against her and how it caused her body to tingle with far too much pleasure.
“How is it you can sneak up on me without me hearing you?”
“I have talents,” he said with a playful smirk, trying desperately to ignore how the mere brush of her body sent his desire for her soaring.
She wondered about his talents but didn’t ask.
“I need to talk with you about—”
“Not right now,” he said and turned away abruptly.
“This cannot wait,” she insisted.
“We need to leave now,” he insisted more strongly.
Bria looked around concerned. “Are we in danger?”
“If you don’t move from there and get dressed, we may be.”
She scrunched her brow.
Kaelan eased himself deeper into the shadows, so she wouldn’t see the passion he knew had to be burning in his eyes or how his arousal could no longer be contained.
“Move, Bria,” he ordered more sternly than he intended. “That part of the pool lights brighter. I can see every bit of you.”
Bria gasped and hurried into the shadowed part of the pool.
Kaelan was already out of the water, reaching for his cloak to dry himself.
With his back to her, it gave her the opportunity to slip out of the water without him seeing her. She grabbed her drying cloth and garments and hurried to the shadows to dry herself and get dressed.
When she was dressed, she gave her hair a good drying with the cloth and ran her fingers through it to prevent it from knotting. Then she stepped out of the shadows.
Relieved to see him fully clothed, she approached him. “I think you are right, the council can wait—”
She was in his arms before she realized he had grabbed hold of her. His hand went to her backside to press her hard against him as his lips came down on hers in a kiss that left her breathless, her heart racing, desire mounting, and wanting more, so much more. And with his manhood hard against her, she knew he felt the same.
He stepped away abruptly. “Soon. It better bloody hell be soon.”
He stormed out of the cave, leaving Bria to follow.
Chapter Fourteen
A Rainy Night
Things Uncovered
Rain greeted them the moment they stepped outside the cave. Not a gentle mist this time, but a steady autumn rain that fell heavily through the trees and quickly soaked the forest floor beneath their feet.
Bria barely had time to pull her cloak tighter before Kaelan reached for her.
Without a word, he drew her against him and swept one side of his heavy cloak around her shoulders, tucking her securely beneath it and against him, shielding most of the rain from her.
The sudden closeness stole her breath far more effectively than the cold rain ever could. His body remained warm from the spring, the scent of him surrounding her instantly, wild earth, rain, and something distinctly Kaelan that never failed to unsettle her in ways she no longer wished to understand too closely.
Or perhaps wished to understand far too well. That frightened her more than being here in Driochmor, more than the truths unraveling around her.
Kaelan frightened her.
Nay, not Kaelan, but how deeply she enjoyed being with him, being held in his arms, being kissed. Her desire for him grew by the day, the hour, the moment. It seemed so strange and yet so right. It was impossible to ignore, and worse, she no longer felt certain she wished to resist it.