A Time of Dying (Araneae Nation) by Edwards Hailey

Author:Edwards, Hailey [Edwards, Hailey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2013-07-29T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Better females than I had made the journey from Cathis to Titania inside of seven days. Late into our first morning, after a night of no sleep, I began dragging. Murdoch forged ahead, and he set a grueling pace. Though I had done my fair share of walking these past few months, and I did possess enviable endurance, those applied to my own slower gait and not to his long-legged one.

A stitch caught my side, and I put a hand to it, frustrated by pain that hobbled me further.

Murdoch chose that moment to check on me. “We’ll stop here and catch our breath.”

“Are you tired?” Though he stood waiting, I kept walking and finally passed him.

It was a short-lived lead.

“Yes.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and lifted me off my feet. “I am.”

After kicking a pile of loose pine straw into a mound at the base of a tree, he dropped onto it with a grunt and sat me across his lap. His head fell back against the trunk, and his eyes closed. I watched him breathing easily and knew we had stopped for my benefit. I thumbed his eyelid and pushed it open. His other remained resolutely closed. His lips, though, curved at their edges.

“Well?” He stared at me unblinking, which was no doubt due to my grip on his lid.

“Nothing.” The steadiness of his gaze unnerved me. “Rest while you can.”

Crooking an arm around my shoulders, he drew me close, and I nestled my face into his neck. “Only if you will.”

I shoved him. “Must everything be a negotiation with you?”

He rested his chin atop my head. “Must everything be a battle with you?”

“I have learned to fight for what I want.” It was how I had survived on my own.

“Even if what you desire would be freely given?”

“Especially then. Being offered things of value at no cost is when you should be wariest.”

“So rather than accept an offer, you think it best to force others into making the same deal?”

I huffed. “I was bargaining in terms you understood.”

“Huh.” He rubbed his bite marks. “So that’s what you were doing.”

“Yes.” I pulled at his hand. “The bite was incidental.”

“Was it?” He traced my lips with his fingertip.

I resisted the urge to nip him. He might like it too much. “It got your attention, didn’t it?”

“Yes.” His voice went husky. “It did.”

“You liked it.” My eyes widened. “You actually want me to do it again.”

His grin was at once roguish and shy. I’m not sure how he managed the combination.

“You did say if I hurried you would bite me again.” He paused. “I hurried.”

I thumped his chin. “You are incorrigible.”

“Where you’re concerned, yes.” He cupped my neck in his palm. “I possessed some sense of self-preservation before we met. After…” His thumb stroked my pulse. “I’ve been more reckless this week than I have in all of my life. I haven’t been the same since the night you stabbed me.”

“You had to remind me.” I groaned and put my face in my hands.

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