Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 92771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
He kissed her, a gentle kiss as if he wasn’t sure if he should kiss her or not and Shade’s heart soared. It may have been only days since he had kissed her, but it felt far longer than that and she had desperately missed his kisses. He let his lips linger on hers as if uncertain yet not wanting to let go.
His hand went to the nape of her neck to grip her there as if he feared she would deny him and his kiss grew stronger. He kissed her with a strength and desire that stole her breath and flared her passion, and she wished they were in their bedchamber.
He ended the kiss so abruptly that it shocked and disappointed her.
He kept a strong hold at the nape of her neck. “I miss kissing you, touching you, being inside you.”
Intimate mages flashed in her head, and she could almost feel him slipping inside her.
He brushed his lips faintly across hers and her eyes fluttered closed when his warm breath whispered near her ear, “I have no right to love you more than I loved Amara.”
The shock of his confession stilled her for a moment and when she finally opened her eyes he was gone.
Ena entered and asked, “He did not harm you, did he?”
Shade smiled softly. “Quint, The Monk, whatever you choose to call him loves me far too much to ever hurt me.”
The Monk stormed through the village, a sudden wind whipping around him, grabbing at his cloak and lifting it to make him seem like he had wings. Women mumbled blessings and men stared in awe and fright. The Monk was not a man any one of them would want to fight. He was glad he frightened people away, his anger too raw to talk with anyone.
He loved Shade, but he didn’t realize the depth of his love for her until he’d helped her tend to her wound. He had missed Amara when he was away but nothing like the last three days, he missed Shade, and she was right in front of him. Her touch comforted like no other and calmed him like no other. One simple touch from her and he knew he was loved. And though he knew Amara loved him and he favored and enjoyed her touch, he never ached for it as he did Shade’s touch. He never thought he would love again, but never would he have ever thought that he would love someone more than he had loved Amara. And that angered him, for he felt he betrayed the love Amara had for him.
Servants scurried when he entered the keep, though his loud shout stopped them. “How do I get to the cells?”
A brave servant lad showed him the way and The Monk descended into what felt like the depths of hell, though no fiery flames greeted him only a foul odor and near darkness if it weren’t for the few torches that barely lit the way. The cell area was not as dark, and The Monk was glad that floor to ceiling iron bars prevented the prisoners from having any privacy. It was an easier way of finding out what more they knew.
The man The Monk planned to kill ran so fast to get to the bars to plead for his life that he tripped and fell to his knees. He stretched his arms out, his hands gripping the iron bars and begged, “Please. Please, sir, don’t kill me. I have a wife and two daughters. They need me. They will starve without me.”
“You’re a dead man, Rufus,” James called out, his face pressed against the bars of his cell. “Asher will see you and your family dead.”
“This is all your fault, James. You told me I would get coins that would last me for a good, long time if I fought for Lord Torrance. You told me once the battle was done, I would get the coins and could return home. You lied.”
“We weren’t done,” James argued.
“The battle was done. That’s all I agreed to. I was to fight the battle and return home. You lied,” Rufus accused again, then tamed the anger in his voice when he looked at The Monk. “I am sorry, sir, I meant your wife no harm. I was angry that I was given no coins and not allowed to return home. I fear for the safety of my family and worry they are starving.”
The Monk would not have given a second thought to his plea, but now between not being there for Amara and how he felt about Shade, the thought that the man’s family could be suffering disturbed him.
“Tell me where your family is so I may have them brought here and see for myself that you speak the truth, only then will I consider letting you live,” The Monk ordered, leaving no room for refusal.