Stolen Lives (Blood Brothers Book 1) by Manda Mellett

Author:Manda Mellett [Mellett, Manda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Trish Haill Associates
Published: 2016-06-11T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Cara

I must have fallen asleep. Waking, I stretch lazily on the cushions, taking a second to remember where I am. Outside I can hear someone moving around; Nijad can’t be far away. A smile comes to my face and then disappears as I recall our conversation and reflect on what he told me. Should I worry about why he was banished to the desert? My gut feeling is that there’s something he isn’t telling me. I turn over on to my back. In reality he is little more than a stranger to me, yet over the past twenty-four hours I’ve come to feel closer to Nijad than I ever have to anyone, even, and I hate to admit it, my mother. Sometimes I wonder whether she regretted having me. I know she felt guilty, moving me around so often, from the way she looked at me sometimes when the teenage years hit. She was such a beauty, and I felt ashamed that I was a disappointment to her. With Nijad, there’s nothing to question in his expression when he looks at me, nothing to say he has to force himself to withhold any disgust or pity. Wiping my hands down my face, I don’t feel the scars in the way I used to, and my appearance has no adverse effects on my new husband, if the number of times he’s made love to me is any indication. I grimace as I change position; perhaps it’s been too many times, given that I was so recently a virgin. I don’t mind, though; he can take me as often as he desires! I never realised that I had such sensuality inside me, and an appetite to match his own.

I reflect on the day, on the words he spoke and the emotions he shared. Should I press for more details? Would that make me feel better or worse? Feeling determined, I decide to judge him as I find him. I’m a different person from the recluse locked up in command central; maybe the desert has changed him too. Whatever he’s done in the past doesn’t need to be a rock around his neck now. I’m not going to poke any more at what is obviously an open wound for him. Resolution made, I sit up and draw my clothes together.

Hearing the sound of jingling I realise Nijad must be tacking up the horses for the return journey, so I dress as fast as I can and hurry out of the tent to find him, and our mounts, ready and waiting. He’s sporting a broad grin and his eyes open in appreciation as I appear. I run my hand through my hair, which, as normal, is doing its own thing, having been left to dry by itself. I must look dreadful, but something in his expression tells me he thinks otherwise, and I feel myself glow.

“Your ride awaits, ma’am,” he jokes, after looking me up and down. “Literally.” His face drops as he sees me grimace when I take a step towards him.

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