Eversworn: Daughters of Askara, Book 3 (32 page)

“The commune won’t appreciate outsiders in their midst.” Dillon’s brow creased. “It will be a dangerous trip for Adina, and if she’s escorted by a halfling, it might prove disastrous for her.”

“If her mate wants her back, he’ll deal with it.” She scowled. “I may not be a pureblood, but I can do the job. If you think you’re better equipped to handle this mission than I am, you do it.”

I held my breath while he glowered at her. Things he might say tightened his expression, but when he finally spoke, he had settled on the answer I wanted to hear, and I exhaled with relief.

“My mate and I are leaving. We’re taking our child with us.” He shrugged. “It’s your neck if you want to go ahead instead of waiting for a prime to do the job. The legion does employ a few, you know.” Her expression said she hadn’t known. “Mason, draw Lindsay a map or something.”

“No.” Mason used a rag to mop his face. “She can’t go alone. Not with Adina expecting. I’ll go.” He didn’t look happy about it. “Parts of the pass are blockaded. I may have to fly Adina in.”

Dillon was about to argue when the first rays of dawn hit his eyes. Squinting, he fell silent.

“Time flies, I guess.” Emma surveyed their group. “The others will wonder what’s taking so long. If we don’t want Clayton to come through the gateway, we’d better send you all through.”

“She’s right.” Harper embraced Dillon. “Take care. I’ll see you soon.” He nodded to me and smiled at Brielle. “It was nice to meet you, Brielle. I don’t suppose I could ask you for a favor?”

She peered around my leg, nibbling on her bottom lip. “It depends.”

“Can you keep an eye out for my friend here?” He pointed at Dillon. “I think he’s nervous.”

“Dragons don’t get nervous.” But she sighed loudly and offered Dillon her hand. She was markedly less impressed with his human glamour.

Walking over to her, Dillon slid his hand in hers. “You’re a very brave girl.”

Her small shoulders tensed for a moment. “I’m not a girl, I’m a princess.”

“My mistake, Princess Brielle.” He chuckled. Turning to me, he asked, “Are you ready?”

“I am, Lord Dragon.” I tugged Brielle’s blindfold. “Are you ready to be led into his cave?”

She gave a regal nod and resituated her blindfold. “I’m ready.”

My gaze collided with Dillon’s over Brielle’s head, and I mouthed
I love you
. He stole a kiss and murmured the same against my lips as I savored how our future tasted on his tongue. For the first time, as I watched the mighty dragon march the brave princess through a glittering gateway and into another realm, I considered there might be a grain of truth to those fairytales after all.

Stepping from Askaran sand onto earthen grass, I swore, “We will live happily ever after.”

About the Author

Hailey is a wife turned mother turned writer, who loves her husband, her daughter and alone time with her computer. Whenever southern living strikes her as too ordinary, she can be found squinting at her monitor as she writes her next happily-ever-after or with her nose glued to her Kindle’s screen. Wings and/or cupcakes are usually involved…

She loves to hear from readers at
[email protected]
.

You can also swing by
www.haileyedwards.net
for all her latest news.

Look for these titles by Hailey Edwards

Now Available:

Daughters of Askara

Everlong

Evermine

Araneae Nation

A Hint of Frost

Hope dangles by a silken thread.

A Hint of Frost

© 2012 Hailey Edwards

Araneae Nation, Book 1

When the head of the Araneidae clan is found poisoned in her nest, her eldest daughter, Lourdes, becomes their clan’s new maven. If her clan is to survive, she has but one choice: she must marry before her nest is seized. All she needs is a warrior fierce enough to protect her city and safeguard her clansmen. Such a male is Rhys the Cold.

Born the youngest son of an impoverished maven, the only things Rhys has to his name are his sword and his mercenary reputation. His clan is starving, but their fondness for the flesh of fellow Araneaeans makes them unwelcome dinner guests. Torn between loyalty to his clan and fascination with his future bride, Rhys’s first taste of Lourdes threatens to melt the cold encasing his heart.

Amid the chaos of battle, Lourdes’s sister disappears and is feared captured. Lourdes and Rhys pursue their enemies into the southlands, where they discover an odd plague ravaging southern clans as it travels north, to Erania. Determined to survive, Lourdes will discover whether she’s worth her silk or if she’s spun the thread by which her clan will hang.

Warning: This book contains one mercenary hero with a biting fetish, one determined heroine who gets nibbled, and an answer to the age-old question, “What does dragon taste like?” Matricide and sibling rivalry are available upon request. The house special is revenge, best served cold.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
A Hint of Frost:

“Is that what I am? Do you look at me and see a flesh-eater whose hungers rule him?”

I recoiled from his touch and his temper. “I don’t know what I see, Rhys. You confuse me. You’re not what I expected. You’re more, better, and it makes me want more and better from you.” I gained a pitiful bit of distance. “Your brother taunts us both with a secret you’re unwilling to share, yet you hope my opinion remains unaltered? How can it? It’s impossible.”

“Lourdes…” His voice broke.

“No, you asked. You keep asking. Let me have my say.” My feet found strength on the riverbed, and I stood tall. “I don’t understand you, but I’m fonder of you than is wise. I can’t abide not knowing where we stand. If nothing else, tell me that. Tell me who Mana is to you.”

His harsh lips curved into a beatific smile I had no defense against. “You’re jealous.”

Had he heard nothing I’d said? Of course I was. “She’s something to you. What is she?”

Instead of answering, he waded to where I stood. Trembling with anger, I forced my knees steady as he palmed the base of my neck and dragged me toe to toe with him. Rhys towered over me, his smile shining like the sun’s rays upon my face, and my treacherous heart flip-flopped.

“You
are
jealous.” Wonderment filled his voice. “You care for me.”

“I’ve said as much.” Either he wasn’t listening, or what I said wasn’t sinking through his thick skull. I’d given him words. I wanted some in return. “I question your affection, not mine.”

His eyebrows slanted as a look of utter confusion crossed his features. Growling, I hooked my leg around the bend of his knees and shoved against his chest. I lost hair in his fall, but the shock on his face was worth the pain. I stood there, pleased with myself one second and then gasping the next as he dragged me under. Beneath the cool water, his mouth found its way to mine and his lips moved across them.
I’m yours
. I understood him as clear as if he’d spoken in my ear.

Peace suffused my limbs and tingled in the smile I could no longer hide. He was mine.

Dumbstruck by his trick, I think I would have floated blissful and unaware as I drowned beneath the pleasure of his vow. He was the one with sense enough to realize we’d both lost our air and dragged us choking to the surface. Spluttered laughter poured from me as he patted my back.

“Maven Lourdes?” The sharp, feminine gasp killed my hysteria. “Are you well?” Mana stood on the shore with stacked clothes balanced on one arm and supplies hung from the other.

Rhys pressed down on my shoulders until water rushed around my throat. “She is well.” He gave her a small smile, a fraction of the one he’d given me, and yet I found myself envious.

“Oh.” Her gaze averted. “Then I will leave your supplies by the water’s edge.”

Until he frowned down at me, I hadn’t realized my nails bit into his arm. I’d seen ursus in heat respond better to encroaching females than I did. He was
mine
. He’d said so.

“He’s mine.” Gods above, had I spoken aloud? Judging by Mana’s broad grin and Rhys’s patient sigh, I had.

“Yes, Maven.” Mana laughed. “He is yours. He told me as much himself.”

“I’m glad I amuse you.” I was acting out, yet I blamed her for my foul temper. Far easier for me to point the finger than accept some animal part of me wanted Rhys bathed in my scent so other females knew where he belonged—at my side—always. Until our life threads joined, such marking was ill-advised, but the need roared through me. Desire was a pale word for what I felt.

“I meant no disrespect.” Her face drained of amusement. “I apologize for my rudeness.”

I rubbed a finger alongside my nose. “You’ve done nothing wrong. I’m sorry, Mana, I am. Whatever your relationship is—
was
—to Rhys, doesn’t concern me. It’s between you two.”

Mana dropped her supplies as her eyes rounded with understanding.

Rhys looked to her. “Thank you,” he said, shifting his attention from her on to me, “
cousin
.”

Embarrassment was a flash fire that ignited in my cheeks and constricted my throat. She was his
cousin
? Fine impression I had made on his family. What Mana must think of me, all but foaming at the mouth. After Pascale’s tantrum, I was amazed Rhys had dared risk the introduction.

“You are most welcome. I will fetch you when dinner is ready.” She hesitated. “I gave your brother the room beside Old Father. I assumed you would want privacy at your home.”

The look he turned on me melted my bones. “We do, and, Mana? If we don’t answer…”

More red blossomed in her cheeks. “I’ll leave a tray outside your door.”

“Thank you, Mana.” I broke Rhys’s gaze. “You’ve been more gracious than I deserve.”

“Hearts are fickle things, Maven. They drive us to act without thought at times.” Her smile was kind and conveyed perfect understanding. “That yours is a love match is a blessing only the two gods could have bestowed.”

My mouth ran dry and my lips puckered closed. Thank the gods for that mercy. I didn’t love Rhys. I didn’t know him well enough. I glanced back at him and my chest tightened. Did I?

His hand traveled my shoulder until he stroked the side of my throat, and all of my doubts scattered as if his thumb had flicked them away. “I judged you unfairly.” I’d let my insecurities speak for me. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” He excused me without hesitation. “Vaughn sews his seeds of doubt well.”

“I let him have his fun at my expense.” I should have known better. “If I’d asked you sooner, we could have avoided this.”

Rhys didn’t speak. He didn’t have to. He radiated smug male satisfaction.

“What?” He managed the word without inflection as he drew me flush against him.

I covered his hand with mine. “I think you’re enjoying yourself too much, that’s what.”

“My beautiful, jealous female is naked in my arms.” He smiled. “What’s not to enjoy?”

I sank lower in the water. “You’re unconcerned with nudity, aren’t you?”

“I am what the gods made me, as are you. There is no shame in what they created.”

His faith bolstered mine. “Your offer stands?” Perhaps it bolstered mine too far.

His heavy brow creased. I bit my lip and glanced between his face and, well, the rest of him. Understanding dawned in the flare of his nostrils. He nodded, and I looked my fill.

The current swirled about him, curving around his waist and drawing my eye to the hard board of his abdomen. Scars crisscrossed roped muscle, pale against his tan skin. My gaze skipped like a stone across a pond, unsure which part of him to admire first. A dark trail led from his navel to the waterline, and my fingers itched to trace its path. His legs were the first bare thing I’d seen of him, and even they fascinated me. He said look upon him. I had. Now how did I stop?

My fingers curled. “Can I touch you?”

“I think that would be unwise.” His gaze cast upon the shore.

“Oh.” My hand dropped. I hadn’t realized I’d lifted it.

“Water is sacred to the Salticidae.” He touched my cheek. “I have a healthy respect for Old Father and his walking stick. Otherwise, I would have left you under Mana’s supervision.”

Better for us both that he hadn’t. “No touching then.”

“Not while your skin is bare and your eyes are willing.” His grin turned wry. “I placed more faith in myself than was wise. Resisting you clothed is difficult, while naked it’s nigh impossible.” His fingers sank in my hair. “I thought coming to the water would be safer for us.”

“You mean with your honor to hold you accountable and my fear to keep me honest?”

He chuckled. “Something like that.”

I touched his arm. “I respect their beliefs, but I know myself and own my desire.”

He cleared his throat. “I believe I said I owned my
actions
.”

With a careless shrug that cost me the dregs of my modesty, I stood on knees weak enough to be swayed by the current. Sacred waters kept my virtue untouched, but it also kept Rhys untouched. Digging my toes into the sandy bottom, I owned my desire. My innocence was his. He would be my husband. I knew him well enough to understand he would never let me go.