Page 54 of Of Serpents and Ruins
As if he had been waiting for me here all along.
STELLA
My eyes widened. "Brandt."
He loomed on the other side of the river, hands clenched. The charm around his neck was bright orange. He must have been standing behind one of the large amethyst formations. It sparkled like the most incredible dusk, catching the light of the glowing river. His muscles were taut, his eyes so dark in this lighting they seemed black. His gaze raked over me.
Another chilling shudder cut over me. I couldn't tear my gaze away from him now. Auntie Runa's warning rose then faded within my mind.
How could I ever stay away from him?
We just stood there and stared at one another. His magnificent masculine scent reached me through the crispness of the grotto. Something inside me sparked, heat rising within my belly even as I shivered.
He wore clothing similar to what he wore when we met in the valley. His black tabard and the crimson belt were stark in their contrast. The dancing of the light made the serpent tattoos on his arms seem to coil and pulse. And his eyes…they made me shudder again but this time not from the cold.
He was dangerous. He had been cursed to kill me.
Memories of his hands around my throat returned. The pressure of his thumbs choking the breath out of me. The rage and animalism in his eyes.
And yet, I wasn't afraid.
Somehow.
I should have been.
He was strong enough to snap my neck if he chose, and the charm on his neck warned that he was even closer to being consumed by the curse in that wretched rotational countdown than when we had met before, though allegedly there had been hours yet to go. This river wasn't going to do much to protect me.
But those thoughts were just noise I tuned out as I stared at him as if in a trance.
"You're bleeding." Concern filled his voice.
I blinked, his voice bringing me back to more present needs. I dropped my gaze back to my hands. Cuts and scrapes covered my palms and forearms, blood dripping along with the water onto the glossy stone.
"The Gola Resh."
I hugged myself, tucking my hands against my torso. The blood would probably stain my white dress, but the dull burn that raged along my skin grounded me in the moment along with the cold. I shuddered again.
What was he doing here? Had the Gola Resh set us up? Was it possible this was just chance?
Fear tried to assert itself. This was too good to be true. She wanted us to suffer. She wanted both of us to feel pain, and she wanted me dead to amuse her. This was not just a chance meeting.
He stepped closer to the water. His shadow stretched back, disappearing into the darkness. A muscle twitched along his neck.
"You're in bad shape." Though he spoke like someone also fighting against a trance or just waking from a dream, he removed his tabard and then tossed it toward me. It flew in a smooth arc over the sparkling waters. "Here. Sorry I don't have any sleeves, but it's heat-woven. It should help keep you warm."
Reaching up, I caught the garment. It smelled so much like him it took all my strength not to bury my face in it. The heat of his body still warmed it, and magic had been woven into it to assist with healing. The energy prickled and tingled across my body.
I hugged it close for half a breath then wrapped it around my shoulders. "You never wear anything with sleeves if you can help it."
A half smile tugged at his oh-so-kissable lips. He licked them briefly, dropping his gaze. "No sense covering the ink when it's done this well." As he spoke, he spread his arms and turned them to show off the detailed serpent tattoos that coiled all the way up his biceps to his shoulders.
"Or the muscles." Haziness rose within me. A pleasant warmth. My breaths deepened and yet became uneven.
That smile of his rose higher, hints of redness returning to his cheeks. "You're incorrigible, Stella."
The intensity of his features was softened by that smile. It was an invitation for me to draw closer. If not for the river, I'd have been in his arms already.
"Yeah…" I shivered again, my eyes squeezing shut. "I guess when all is said and done, I'm just really into you." I couldn't resist the smile spreading over my own lips.
