Page 47 of Desire

“He won’t last two more days,” Brandle said.

“Let him go to the mines,” Garron said.

“He can’t go alone, and facing the trackers with even odds is dangerous.”

“Then what do you want to do?” I asked.

“Every time he’s been this angry, you’re the only one who has managed to calm him.”

“I believe I had the opposite effect,” I said.

“Because you’re frustrated as well. Please, Kitten. Two more days.”

I wanted to kick Brandle in the shin. Instead, I stomped off in Edmund’s wake. He was at the well, splashing water on his face. I took a spare cloth from the pile one of them had left nearby and wetted it in the bucket Edmund had drawn.

He watched me warily.

“Sit,” I said.

He did, but I could see the petulance in his expression. Taking his chin in hand, I gently wiped his face then checked his nose.

“It’s not broken,” I said.

“I know.”

“Are you angry?”

“Yes.”

“At me?”

He scowled even harder at me and tugged me closer so I stood between his legs.

“Kiss me,” he said.

“Kiss me—kiss me—kiss me,” I said in frustration. “Do none of you have any other thoughts?”

“Do you? All you think of is casting now.”

“Unfair, Edmund.”

He slowly drew me into his arms. I didn’t go willingly, but I didn’t fight it either.

“Kiss me, Kellen. Please. Show me patience.”

I sighed and tossed the cloth aside. “Close your eyes.”

He did. I studied the tension in his expression then placed my first gentle kiss between his brows. The next was along his jaw. Then his eyelids. Kiss by gentle kiss, I soothed his tension and watched his anger bleed away.

When nothing remained on his face, I picked up the cloth and washed his hands.

“I never hated you,” he said softly. “I resented your presence because I feared what it might mean, but I never hated you. Inever will. You’ve done the impossible, Kellen, and claimed a piece of a heart I didn’t think I had. And I’m giving it to you gladly. No regrets. It’s yours. I love you, Trouble. Even when you put me in my place and bite my arse.”

I stared at him, my hands frozen on his. He wasn’t the first of them to mention his heart, but he was the first to say it with an absolute seriousness that I couldn’t ignore. Hemeantit.

Edmund loved me.

“Breathe,” he said softly. “You’re safe with me. Always.”

---