Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
When Sky woke from a fitful sleep, she tilted her head back to look at him. “I need to stop for a bit.”
“We stop just ahead to camp for the night,” he said and saw the relief on her face. He also saw that the hit to her nose had caused some bruising to form under her eyes and again, his anger sparked.
It sparked again a short time later when he saw how exhausted she appeared as he reached up, his hands taking hold at her waist to lift her off the horse.
Alarmed at the strange way he looked at her, she could not help but ask, “Do I look that bad?”
The fact that she was able to detect the slightest display of expression on his face stunned him, though more so that he allowed it to show. He had to be mindful not to let that happen again. It was far easier and wiser to never let anyone get a hint of what he felt, or it could prove disastrous.
“Your eyes are bruising some, not badly but enough to last a few days,” he said after lowering her to stand beside him.
She sighed. “I must look a fright.”
“I doubt there is anything that can rob you of your beauty.”
His unexpected remark left her speechless and with a strange, yet pleasant flutter in her stomach. Her da had been the only man to ever tell her she was beautiful. Most men made disparaging remarks about her or avoided acknowledging her at all.
What the bloody hell was wrong with him? He never spoke such flowery words to a woman.
“We camped by a creek. Go clean the blood from your face,” he ordered gruffly, annoyed with himself, and grabbed his stallion’s reins and walked away to settle the horse for the night.
The flutter in her stomach faded and was replaced by a twinge to her heart. He probably regretted his words, but why say them in the first place?
With a few sorrowful expressions and many shocked ones that she received from the warriors as she walked past the campfire, she assumed she looked even worse than she thought. There was little she could do about her appearance except wash the dried blood off. Time would heal the rest.
With a soft moan, she lowered herself to the ground at the edge of the narrow creek. Her body ached from the hard fall she had taken and riding all day on a horse had not helped. She still had the second sleeve Slayer had given her and she soaked it in the creek. A shiver raced through her from the biting sting of the chilled water, and she hurried to rub what blood she could from the cloth and rinse it so she could use it to wash the dried blood off her face.
She gasped and her shoulders cringed when she placed the wet, cold cloth on her face and another shiver ran through her.
The cloth was suddenly snatched out of her hand as Slayer dropped down beside her. His hand slipped under her chin to turn her head toward him, then he proceeded to gently wipe the dried blood away.
“You should have told me how exhausted you are instead of moaning and gasping,” he admonished.
“You heard me?” she asked with a small gasp. “I did not mean for anyone to hear or know of my discomfit.”
“Well, I did,” he said, though did not bother to clarify that it was not because he had heard her but that he had seen it in her uneasy movements. “Now be still and let me clean your face.”
Sky’s eyes drifted closed as he gently scrubbed her face, rinsing the cloth a time or two before he continued. His tender ministrations relaxed her tense and aching muscles, and she wished she could linger in his gentle touch.
Slayer never tended to a woman before Sky. He could not recall a reason why he would or perhaps he never paid heed to it before now. Though most likely he was seeing to her care because it was his duty to keep her safe. Whatever the reason, he did not seem to mind. An odd thought for him since women were not a priority to him. Their purpose was minimal and yet that was not the way with Sky. She had been utmost in his mind since meeting her and her protection grew more important to him by the day.
He ran the cloth lightly over her lips even though they were clean as was the rest of her face. She required no more tending and yet he could not take his focus off her lips. There wasn’t anything different about them, except they seemed rosier than most and he wondered if rosy lips would taste any different to kiss.
Kiss?
What was he thinking? Why had he let his thoughts wander? That would not do. He controlled his thoughts. They did not control him.