Page 9 (1/2)

Bright light poured froht Gray had to squint to prevent his eyes fro Even the trees looked white - wait They hite

His head pounded, and several minutes passed before he was able to orient hie Jewel knelt beside hith of her silky black hair tu a rance in its wake She wore an expression of intense concentration as she gently rainy paste into his arm wound

The injury burned as if she&039;d poured molten lava inside it

"What kind of poultice is that?" he asked between gritted teeth His voice cracked with each word, his throat raw

Startled, she gasped Her hands still, and she blinked over at him "You&039;re awake"

"Seeood ared his teaze bore into his, deep and penetrating, the otherworldly blue of her irises"How do you feel?"

"Like shit"

"I&039;ve done my best to make you ht, studying her crestfallen features Told her he felt like spring roses, or some other ros, and the knowledge didn&039;t sit well inside him Plus, he had pride - more than most and more than he should - and he didn&039;t want the woman he planned to bed to think of hi who couldn&039;t take a little pain

Gray frowned Wait He was not going to bed this woman Think about it, sure, but that&039;s as far as he could allow it to go Much as he ih that would purr froue over her nipples, between her legs - he cut off that line of thought, hoping to slow the a a sexual relationship with a non-earth girl wasn&039;t snancy - did human and Atlantean DNA even s

What&039;s more, a uard and lose his edge, thinking of nothing but getting the woain Gray snorted He hadn&039;t slept with Jewel, but he thought of her naked constantly Hell, he&039;d already lost his guard with her He&039;d passed out in front of her, for God&039;s sake The reet?

"You&039;re doing great My feeling like shit is a good thing," he said grudgingly

"True," she replied after a htened, and she offered him a soft, sweet smile "A man who feels like shit is a ether to s Jewel cuss, nofro his potty- a chorus of hallelujah It just didn&039;t fit with their respective personalities But daet a thrill every time Jewel talked dirty

She returned her attention to his arrainy, feels-like-fire substance into his wound "Do you reht?"

"You irl?" His adrenaline rush must have crashed hard-core "Yeah, I remember"

"What about after?"

He searched his mind and shook his head "No"

Tendrils of different emotions curled over her expression: relief, disappointon So about a Khesterex thath - a screwed up situation"

His cheeks reddened He felt the burn of it, and that made hi - " He frowned "Neverout in front of a wo out in front of Jewel and o killer He&039;d tried his da, capable Invincible

Too late now

"Help me up," he said darkly "You need to rerowl, Jewel slid her ar hihtheaded he felt

"Want to lay back down?" she asked sly

"Hell, no" He raised his knees, planted his elbows there, and dropped his face in his waiting hands "Just give me a minute Damn injuries" His sto "Yes, daround, re at his side He liked her there ainst hiinning to get under his skin

"You could be a lot worse, you know, and if you don&039;t lie still, you will be"

"Wounds aren&039;t to be recovered from, they&039;re to be conquered I&039; not to wince, Gray motioned to his arm with a tilt of his chin "The poultice What is it?"

"Sand," she answered, as if it was thein the world to rub a potentially bacteria-infested clump of mud into an injury

He jerked his arm away from her, his eyes ith horror "Sand? Did you say sand? As in, off the ground, stepped on, spit on, God knohat else has been done on it, sand?"

Confused, she nodded "Are you hard of hearing, as well as stubborn and foolish? Yes, sand Now givedirt in a wound can cause an infection and an infection can cause a limb to rot off And what do you mean, I&039; qualities your body needs" Her shoulders squared, and she pulled her gaze away fro on the wound "Stubborn because you refuse to listen to reason, instead doing whatever you think is right Foolish for the same reason" As she spoke, she wound a strip of white cloth around the injury

He didn&039;t protest further Instead he watched her, watched the way she nibbled on her bottoes probed at the back of his es Last night he&039;d drea a de of Jewel Kissing her His lips had ue had dueled with hers, devouring the sweetness All the while, the soft mounds of her naked breasts had pushed into his chest, her pink, pearled nipples creating a delicious friction

The pleasure he&039;d received from that one dream-kiss had astounded hiht and stars And ic and possibilities

In his dreahts Known she craved him like she craved air to breathe Known she loved him - loved him more than her own life

Known, too, that she carried a secret she feared would destroy them both

What had that secret been? He couldn&039;t re the answer to the surface of his thoughts No luck

Right noel&039;s gaze was downcast, her long, thick lashes shielding the otherworldly blue of her eyes he found so fascinating Perhaps that was best He didn&039;t have the strength to keep frohts swah her mind He couldn&039;t read her as he&039;d been able to in his drea into his thoughts "Hopefully that wound will be better healed" Her sensuous voice swept over hi hard Always hard

He wasn&039;t a teenager, damn it He should have better control over his body Who was master? Him or his dick?

Me, his dick said confidently As if there was ever any question Oh, shut up

Jewel slapped her hands together, back and forth, causing sand crystals to fly in every direction "Turn, please"

He shifted to his side to give her easier access, and a sharp pain tore frorowled "A stupid bite shouldn&039;t have caused this kind of daht A bite like that should have caused e Be thankful you&039;re alive" "I&039;ers probed at his throbbing neck She had to lean closer to hiain filled his nostrils More of her hair glided over his bare chest - when had she removed his shirt, or had he done it? - and the lush fullness of her breasts pushed against his chest

Just like his dreay, he would have jerked her to him and learned if she tasted like his dream Like heaven and hell, sin and deliverance His ht of her

Not smart to fraternize with the locals, Jaainst hi smart was overrated

One kiss didn&039;t a sexual relationship make, he rationalized Would she even be receptive to him? He studied her expression Her rosy lips were parted; her breath eed a little shalloin circles of pink colored her cheeks She ht deny it, but she wanted hins were there

He almost, aly He wanted to kiss her Only the thought that he&039;d do a poor job of it in his weakened condition and have her think he didn&039;t kno to pleasure a woman correctly kept him still

"What do you think?" he asked "How does it look?"

"Better than I&039;d hoped" She nodded with satisfaction "You&039;ll heal with barely a scar" "Maybe you need to lean in and take a closer look"

Her gaze flicked to his in confusion When she saw the heat in his eyes, the color in her cheeks deepened prettily "I&039; you for your sexual invitations"

"Excellent plan I&039;ll pay you in kisses"

She chuckled, a throaty purr better suited for bed than banter "It will only be considered payment if I accept"

"You&039;ll accept," he said, his tone laced with utter confidence "I have no doubts I have a feeling you&039;ll even thankanother strip of cloth, she began rubbing sand into his neck He tried not to cringe at the thought of bacteria andpain "You&039;re one hundred percent positive there are healing qualities in that disgusting stuff, right?"

"Yes Well" She added hesitantly, "ninety percent positive, at least"

"What!" He grabbed her wrist, surprised momentarily by the delicacy of her bones, and stilled her hand "That ten percent of uncertainty could ht into my bloodstreah escaped her "I was teasing Only teasing You need not fear the sand"

"You are a cruel, cruel worees, h than relief at her words Unlike when she chuckled, her all-out laugh had been raw and new, as if she rarely gave way to such unabashed amusement She&039;d uttered the sa to shore It had affected hi his every cell

"I&039;m the one who cracks jokes in this relationship You just stick to caring for my every need" "May I return to rin

"No"

"Baby" Her fingers probed at the edges of the wound As she worked, her nail accidentally scraped a particularly sensitive spot on his ear, and a sharp pain rebounded through hiave no outward reaction, however He didn&039;t want her to pull away God knew he&039;d let her slap, punch and pinch him if it meant her hands would be on him

Wait If he didn&039;t want her to know she&039;d hurt hi about it She would read his mind - if she hadn&039;t already

He studied her more closely, and his brow furrowed As he continued to watch her, she gave no indication that she knehat he was thinking Gave no indication she knew she&039;d scratched hiiven no indication she&039;d heard any of his thoughts since he&039;d woken up, and he&039;d had some pretty heated ones

I want to strip you naked, he projected, still watching her

No reaction Her fingers remained steady

I want to crawl over your body, lick every inch of you, and savor your taste Still no reaction

I&039;ll start with your lips, then workin pleasure and screa

Interesting, he thought again Very interesting Could she no longer read histheir escape from the demon palace, she&039;d et inside his head What prevented her fro so? Less and less, he liked the idea of this wo about?" she asked "Your body has gone stiff"

"Can&039;t you read aze probed her

She paused She drew back and stared down at him "You sound upset by the very idea I can&039;t help what I ao"

On a sigh of regret, he anchored one of his hands behind his head and closed his eyes "I know"

"If it ly, "I&039; into your head It&039;s like your mind built up an immunity to me when - " She stopped abruptly