Page 51 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

She wasn’t sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. “Then it’s working?”

He didn’t answer, but she felt a confirmation in his mind.

He lay still for a few minutes, soaking it in. He thought of nothing in particular, except for the vague lingering mistrust that lurked in his mind always. The relaxation and contentment she was giving him had mostly crowded that out, though.

She wondered if she should give him a break, in case he decided he’d had enough of her invading his head. She began to pull her hand away, and he hurriedly grabbed it.

“Wait,” he said. “Don’t stop yet.”

She raised her eyebrows. She settled her hand on his again.

An odd, warm feeling came over her. It occurred to her that she had never used empathy to help someone else. Not like this. She’d used it to influence, to manipulate, to control and placate, but never just to comfort someone. This was as new to her as it was to him.

She lay down, still holding onto him. He glanced over at her. For a fraction of a second, she felt something in his mind that was almost like goodwill toward her. She was barely able to hide her shock.

But then it was gone again. He turned away, and soon she felt the heaviness of sleep falling over his mind.

* * *

When she next awoke,her hand was still on his.

And they’d moved closer as they’d slept. The air in the room was cold, but in the bed, between them, there was heat.

When she shifted, he looked over at her. He was already awake.

“You can let go of me now,” he said acidly, as ifshewas the one who’d still been holding him long after she’d awoken.

She rubbed her eyes tiredly. “So can you,” she pointed out.

He lowered his eyebrows at her. A few breaths passed, and neither of them moved. The air between them seemed to grow even hotter. The soft weight and warmth of his hand on hers was suddenly all she could feel.

Instead of letting go, he laced his fingers through hers and gripped her hand harder. He propped himself up on his elbow, leaning over her in a way that made her instinctively shrink back in surprise. A bolt of heat rushed through her core. There was a savage beauty about him that was undeniable. Especially when he was half naked inches away from her. Heat radiated off him, bathing her in his presence.

“You should be careful about which messages you’re sending to men,” he said, his voice low and coarse. “You get in bed with someone, insist on putting your hands on him… Someone may get the wrong idea.”

She almost laughed. He meant to scare or offend her. He didn’t know how much he tempted her. And, unfortunately for her, she knew he wouldn’t really go through with it.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” she said quietly.

A hint of surprise crossed his face. Through their touching hands, she could feel lust coursing through him like a riptide current. The longer he stayed there, positioned nearly over her, the stronger it grew.

Suddenly, she was imagining wild things. She pictured him climbing atop her, pinning her wrists with his long-fingered hands and pressing a hard, angry kiss to her lips. She thought of him tearing her clothes away to expose her body. She thought of how he’d look above her as he took his satisfaction from her.

The images were so vivid that she felt herself growing wet. And he was staring at her with a heat in his gaze like he knew exactly what she was thinking and was strongly considering making those images reality.

Abruptly, he jerked his hand away from hers, breaking their link with a snap.

“What are you doing?” he demanded, wary.

She folded her hand against her chest, taken aback as she realized what had just happened.

She’d been inadvertently feeding him her desire through their connection, and then feeding on his own, which in turn bolstered hers before she sent it back again, and…

She pulled back, aghast. She hadn’t meant to try to push him into it. It had been an accident. Lust was too difficult to keep a lid on. It was easy for it to spin out of control.

Maybe people were right to stay away from her, if she couldn’t keep herself out of their minds. How could anyone know they were safe with her if she could start manipulating them at any time, even without meaning to?

“Nothing,” she said. “Nothing.”

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