Page 41 of The Book Reader
I reach for her hand. “He’s fine, a little beat up, but he will live. What happened next?”
“They… took me. They—” Her eyes darken and flicker back and forth, concern etched on her face.
Squeezing her hand tightly, I say, “It was just some trouble at the restaurant; they were looking for something.” I lie, I don’t want her to know about the trouble that’s heading our way, not yet.
She nods slowly, then bites her lip. I reach out and tug on her chin to release it, and then lean forward to place a kiss on her mouth. I wince against her lips, feeling a pull on the wound at my side. Seconds later, warmth floods the area, telling me that it's started bleeding again, the pain getting worse. Ari gasps as she looks down at my blood-stained shirt. “You’re hurt?”
“It’s nothing,” I say dismissively.
“Let me see.” She reaches for the bottom of my shirt, lifts it up, and sucks in a breath, seeing the wound that Jade left me with.
“Gaelan, that’snotnothing, let me heal it for you.” She catches my lie, making me grin. Gods, I love her.
She stands up and makes her way into the kitchen. A few seconds later, she appears with a bowl of cold water. “I may only be a low-level witch, but I’m good at healing spells.”
She is, she’s always been good at them. I pull up my shirt further and hide my grin at the hungry look in her eyes, as she takes in my muscles and my markings of a dragon wrapped in roses on my chest.
Right over my heart.
She places the bowl of water on the table and then places one hand in it and the other over my wound. “This will feel a little hot.” She reassures me.
I know, but I keep that thought to myself and just nod my head instead. I watch as she closes her eyes and whispers a healing spell in a language I’ve not heard in a very long time. I’ve never understood the words; my Rose would also tell me that only she can. As she whispers, the water from the bowl travels up her arm, her eyes blazing brighter as it travels down the other arm and over my wound. My skin burns as it knits itself back together, the water healing me.
When she pulls her hand back, the water retreats with it back into the bowl, steaming hot. Ari always amazes me with how she is able to heal anyone like this.
She runs her warm hand over my now healed skin. “How does it feel?” she asks. Her fingers touching me feels fucking amazing, and I want her hands all over my body, begging me to fuck her again
“Good.” The single word nearly comes out as a groan.
She places the bowl on the side and bites her lower lip again, deep in thought for a moment, until she says my name. “Gaelan?” She looks at me. “Do you know what they werelooking for?” Ari asking me this tells me that tonight is still playing on her mind. Good.
“Yes,” My voice is low, nearly a whisper. I wasn’t going to tell her, but I need her to find that spell book.
“What?” Her tone matches mine, her eyes now downcast, not wanting to look at me when I answer.
“The Book Reader,” I say confidently, her eyes snap up to mine again, and I watch as fear, shock, and something I don’t recognize cross her face. She sits back in the chair and closes her eyes.
“Do you know who it is?” she whispers.
I reach for her hand again. “It is you, my Rose.”
Her eyes fly open; she stands up quickly and paces over to the window. She turns to face me. “What are you not telling me? Why do I feel like I’ve met you before? Why do I feel like I need to touch you all the time, that we have known each other for years?” she implores.
I stand up, but she moves away from me. I worry that I’ve said too much.
Many times, before, when I’ve revealed who I am to her too early, it has pushed her away from me. “Rose?—”
“Stop calling me that,” she snaps at me, not letting me finish. I walk over to her, grab her arms, and pull her in close. I lift one hand to rub over her cheek.
“Do you trust me?” I ask her
She shakes her head at me. “Gaelan, I’ve known you less than a day, how can I?—”
I lower my head and kiss her, cutting off her words. When I pull back, I ask again, “Ari, do you trust me?”
She stares up at me, searching, and then whispers, “Yes… I don’t know why, but I do.”
“Then know that I will never hurt you or let anyone else hurt you.”
