Siren & Scion (Mages of the Wheel Book 3) by J. D. Evans

Author:J. D. Evans [Evans, J. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Whippoorwill Press LLC
Published: 2020-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

FOUR NIGHTS AND THREE days. That was how long she and Cassian had avoided being alone together. So when he appeared in the doorway of her room as she prepared herself for that night’s trip to the senator’s estate, she was pleased and concerned. He leaned against the frame, watching her as she applied kohl to her eyelids. She glanced sidelong at him once as she set the pencil over the candle flame. She blew on it, exaggerating the action for his benefit, extinguishing the smoking ember on the tip of the pencil.

“Is it polite, in the Republic, for a man to linger in a woman’s private doorway while she dresses?” Amara rolled the pencil between her fingers, waiting for it to cool enough to use again.

“Have I misled you into thinking I’m polite?”

“No.” Amara bent toward her mirror once more, tracing the lid of her left eye. She did not actually want him to go. She was accustomed to attention from men. Amara enjoyed being appreciated. And Cassian had an especially nuanced way of looking at her. As though he could see more than she intended for him to. As though when he looked he was truly paying attention, not simply daydreaming about putting her on her back.

Being paid attention to was novel. Even the most considerate of lovers in her past had needed a great deal of coaching. Amara had a suspicion that might not be true of Cassian. The battle inside herself, between logic and desire, rose like a tide. She’d managed to quell it somewhat by avoiding him, but with him so close, she tried to convince herself, again, that it was not such a hard thing to tryst with someone and not care for them. She’d done it before.

“That doesn’t hurt?” he asked. The room behind him, where all of them spent most of their time at the Fountain House, was the quietest it had been since she’d brought the girls back from the Den. The men had gone to bathe, a group endeavor so that they could help Danel. Kiya had taken the girls down to the garden. Amara appreciated the quiet, and did not find Cassian’s company a detraction from it, but a pleasant bonus.

“Not unless I stick it in my eye because someone is distracting me.” She traced her lower lid then set the kohl stick down and examined her work in the mirror.

Cassian pushed away from the doorframe to stand beside her, surveying the items strewn about the little dressing table. An ivory comb, a scattering of bangles and earrings, boxes and pots of makeup. He picked one up and opened it, then replaced it, and did the same with others.

“You are hindering my preparation for tonight.” Amara tried to sound lighthearted, though she felt anything but. She’d refused to allow herself to be alone with him since cutting his hair. Though in the interim had convinced herself she had the self-control to leave him alone if she was forced into proximity.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.