Page 10 of Desire

“I don’t know how. I simply knew.”

“Are you afraid?” he asked.

“Of being in the dark with you? Hardly. I know where your nose is.”

He chuckled. “You know that’s not what I meant. Do you fear staying here…with us?”

I did. And I didn’t like thinking about why I was strugglingnotto feel that fear. These men didn’t scare me. However, what might happen to them if I stayed did. The trackers they’d fought off weren’t their only threat.

“Kellen,” Brandle said. “Please. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Yes, I’m afraid. But likely not for the reasons I should be. I’m unpredictable and dangerous.

“My mother was sick for a very long time. Death is part of life. We all know this. Yet…”

“Yet you’ve always wondered if your mother was weak because of you.”

I jerked away from him. He didn’t allow my escape but rather pinned me against his chest.

“Edmund’s anger gives him away. Your concern reveals more about you,” he said. “You’ve spoken often of your mother and sister. You’ve risked the forest to save your father. I saw your reaction when you hit the tracker with the hoe. We’ve seen your fear when you lose control. Why else would you be so afraid of hurting others unless you believe you’ve already done so?

“Casting doesn’t work like that, though, Kellen. If it did, it would have died out long ago. While we’re born with the potential, the gift grows as we do. You did not have the power of a caster to hurt your mother at birth. Likely, birthing two babes taxed her as it did my mother.”

“Do you truly believe that?” I asked.

“I do.”

The tension I’d been holding melted away with his words and his comforting embrace.

“I miss her so much,” I admitted. “I miss Eloise, my home, and the life I had. And I hate that I can never go back to the girl I was.”

“I don’t, Kellen.” His fingers brushed over my cheek and down my throat, comforting me. “The girl you were wasn’t someone we would have ever had the chance to meet. And we need you right where you are.”

I turned in his arms and hugged him. His hand smoothed over my hair as he held me.

“I know,” I said. “I won’t leave. No matter who comes, I won’t leave until I’ve helped you…or until you ask me to leave.”

“That will never happen,” he said.

“The trackers will be back, Brandle. You know they will.”

“They will. And we’ll drive them away again. Eadric wasn’t seriously hurt. He merely received a kick to his leg that will leave a bruise and take a few days to heal. Darian’s nose is the worst of it. And as long as you assure him he is still handsome, it won’t trouble him.”

A dry laugh escaped me.

“It’s broken, Brandle. If it’s hit again before it heals, it will trouble him. Edmund is right. It would be better if those men couldn’t return. I just?—”

Brandle tipped my head back and kissed me, a gentle brush of his lips against mine. It was comfort and temptation wrapped together. I found myself leaning into it, wanting more. Wanting to lose myself in the feel of him instead of the doubts plaguing my thoughts.

When I opened my mouth to seek more, he groaned and cupped the back of my head. His tongue danced with mine, provoking me to feel more than I ever had. My skin tingled with energy, and I pulled away with a gasp.

“Wait,” I panted when his lips moved to my neck.

“You can’t hurt us.”

“But I can hurt the land, Brandle,” I said, threading my fingers into his hair and tugging him away from me.

He let loose a frustrated growl.

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