Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 123779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 619(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 619(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
“At Jason’s house,” I reply as I lie down. “Thanks for the healing session, Raighne, but if you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep because I think I’m coming down with the flu.”
It feels as if a truck’s parked on my chest, and I’m burning up with a fever.
Raighne leans over me, placing his hand on my forehead.
“Let me in.”
I’m too sick and tired to care about keeping him out.
I feel his warmth enter my mind, and it’s so soothing I start to drift in and out of consciousness.
“Get Jason,” I hear Raighne snap. Time warps, then I hear Jason ask, “How many… it’s for my dog…cancer.”
The room grows quiet, and I feel Raighne hold me tightly, his warmth chasing away the fever and nausea.
“I can’t believe you did this,” he growls. “You’d rather die of pain than come to me.”
As the minutes pass, I start to feel better from Raighne healing me, and I drift off to sleep.
Chapter 23
Alchera
When I come to, it feels late at night and everything’s quiet.
It doesn’t take long before I realize there’s no pain anywhere in my body, and I feel good as new.
When I begin to sit up, Raighne gets up off the bed and snaps, “Stay where you are.”
His features are drawn tight, a dark frown on his brow.
God, I’ve never seen him so angry.
I watch as he digs something out of his bag. It looks like a first aid kit. He takes a pair of small scissors from it and coming back to the bed, he glares at me.
My tongue darts out to wet my lips. “I’m sorry.”
“Lie on your stomach,” he orders, his tone promising nothing good for me.
I do as I’m told, and a moment later, I feel how Raighne removes the stitches from my leg.
“Do you realize what you’ve done?” he growls at me. Not waiting for an answer, he lays into me. “You took painkillers meant for dogs that have cancer. Dog medicine, Alchera!”
Done with removing the stitches, he tosses the scissors back into the first aid kit then pins me with a dark look. “Why do you keep rejecting our bond?”
“I’m not,” I argue as I turn around and sit on the bed. I pull the covers over me as I explain, “I just don’t want you in my head twenty-four-seven.”
Because then he’d see how I feel about him, and I’d just die.
“That’s how a bond works,” he snaps. “I have to see what’s going on inside you so I can make the right decisions.”
“No!” I snap back at him as I climb off the bed.
I don’t care that I’m standing in pink lace underwear, because clearly the man doesn’t see me as a woman.
“To you, I’m just your charge, and there are things I don’t want you to know about me.” I press my hand to my chest. “I need my privacy.”
“Just a charge?” he scoffs while shaking his head. His tone is much lower when he says, “I told you I live and die for you, Alchera. What more can I say to make you understand how important you are.”
My heart hurts because I want to be important to Raighne for who I am, not for the bond we share and the destiny I have to fulfill.
Unable to stop myself, a sob escapes my lips, and I turn my back to him so he can’t see my tears.
“I know you have a lot to deal with,” he says, his tone softer. “But you’re not alone. Let me in, so I can help you.”
I shake my head as I cover my mouth with my hand to keep another sob from escaping.
“By Awo, Alchera,” he groans, and I hear him move closer to me. He takes hold of my shoulders and turns me around to face him. He looks at me with pure desperation as he says, “You are the only being that matters to me. I will sacrifice everything I am for you.”
I stare at Raighne, wishing it was enough. But it’s not. All I want is to be loved by him. It would make everything so much more bearable.
But I can’t have what I want.
When I try to pull away, his hands frame my face and he forces me to keep eye contact with him.
“You’re fucking killing me.” He presses his forehead to mine. “Please. I’m begging you. Let me in.”
I feel his breath on my mouth, and his lips brush against mine.
“Let me in.”
Right now, I can’t handle a kiss just so we can connect and yank away from him.
I close my eyes and place my hand over my stomach as my shoulders shudder.
“I can’t kiss you and not feel anything,” I admit one small truth as I struggle not to break down.
In a flash, Raighne grabs hold of me, pinning me to his body with one arm while his other hand grips my jaw. His mouth crashes against mine, and he proceeds to kiss the everloving shit out of me.