Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Silke burst out laughing. The sound was low and musical. He realized her laughter and sense of humor were gifts. She clearly didn’t know she brought light and joy to those around her, but the moment she laughed, it was as if she triggered elation in him. The watchers stirred slightly, giving themselves away. Flowers lifted their faces upward, two downed tree trunks rolled slightly, stands of moss rustled in a little dance. The sound that was made as the tiny plants swayed sounded a little like a small child giggling.
“What is so funny?” He liked that she found him amusing. She would need that sense of humor. If he was lucky, she could teach him.
He tightened his fingers around her hand. To him, her hand was delicate, but it was the steady hand of a warrior. She could be counted on in a crisis. She wouldn’t be as concerned with her own safety as she would those around her. He had hoped for that trait in a woman, but now that she embodied that characteristic, he found himself wondering how true the old adage was about being careful what you wished for.
“You don’t look old. You could easily be in your thirties. Don’t get me wrong, you look as tough as nails and sexy as sin, but you don’t look old.”
He lifted an eyebrow, daring her to continue. That got him her soft laughter. This time it invited him to join her. He realized this was teasing. Another intimacy between a man and a woman.
“You had the thought of those young whippersnappers taking shortcuts with their safeguards. You know the saying? When I went to school, I walked uphill in the snow both ways without shoes?”
“That makes no sense. You can’t walk uphill both coming and going. And I’ve never used the word ‘whippersnapper’ in my life.”
“Well, you could if you were a crusty old codger who frowns at the shenanigans of the younger generation.”
Her voice invited him to join in her laughter. Truthfully, he wasn’t certain how to laugh. He couldn’t remember laughter, not even when he attempted to call up his youth. There hadn’t been any merriment in his home growing up.
Her fingers moved against his palm, a mere brush, but he felt it right to the bone. “Benedek, sometimes your thoughts are heartbreaking.”
The soothing quality of her tone convinced him she did have a gift, quite definitely as powerful and compelling as his own. He used his to kill. She used hers to make others happy.
“Stop. I called the demons to me in order to destroy them. Don’t make me out to be some kind of saint. I’m anything but.”
“I was in your mind the entire time you fought those demons. Do you know what you felt?” He stopped walking, turning toward her.
She was tall, but he was still a good eight inches taller. She tilted her head back to look up at him.
Her eyes. He shouldn’t be falling into that vivid sapphire. The deepest sea. If he was going to maneuver through this next quagmire of quicksand, he had to keep his wits about him. Reason didn’t matter; he was drowning.
“I was going over the moves in my head to make certain I didn’t make any mistakes. There were too many people in the room they could use as hosts.”
Benedek pressed the pad of his thumb over the curve of her mouth, tracing her soft lips. “Compassion. You felt bad for them. It didn’t matter that they’d been bred to find and kill you, you still felt immeasurable compassion. So much so that I could feel you weeping for them. It didn’t show on your face, but I heard it. It was difficult not to step in and protect you from having to kill. You don’t like it.”
“Neither do you.”
He sighed. “I’m not certain you’re right. I don’t know what I feel because I don’t have emotions.” He gave her that faint smile that felt all too intimate between them because only she could see it. Only she knew he gave her that. To the rest of the world, he kept his expressionless mask. It was one of intimidation.
Her long lashes caught his attention when they fluttered and then unveiled her sapphire eyes. All that blue for him to drown in. His body reacted, a strange phenomenon. Awareness sparked every nerve ending in an uncomfortable but exhilarating way. Very pleasurable. More than he ever expected. The blood rushed through his veins and pooled low, filling him with urgent need. He decided to savor the feeling rather than push it away.
Silke was giving him so many firsts. When he’d been jaded from centuries of living in a gray world, believing he’d seen it all, she had come along. He hadn’t believed in the lifemate bond. He’d seen it with a few of his brethren, but it seemed to happen too fast. How did they know what was in the heart of their mate? How could they trust that woman to be loyal when she didn’t know her lifemate? He’d pondered over that question many times.