Fragile Eternity
Page 38

I could help. He looked embarrassed as he gestured at her stomach. I wouldve before, but I know how you are about yourspaceespecially since
She plucked at her shirt. It wasnt her bloodied one. How did I get this on then?
Siobhan. She changed your blouse after I checked your wound. She was here, thoughwhen I checked it. She stayed here.
Aislinn took his hand in hers and squeezed. I trust you, Keenan. Even if you hadshe blushedchanged my clothes.
And it was true. She might feel uncomfortable with their closeness and be discomforted with his attentiveness, but she didnt think hed maneuver her into anything she didnt want or violate her. Shed thought that of him when she didnt know him, but in her heart of hearts she believed differently now.Donia was wrong.
So how? she prompted.
Just sunlight. Like what youve done for me, butmore. Itll heal almost as slowly as if you were His voice faded at the word.
Mortal. Its okay to say it. I know what I am, Keenan. She realized they were still holding hands and squeezed his again. If I were mortal, Id be dead right now.
If you were mortal, she wouldnt have struck you.
Im not so sure. If you cared about the Summer Girls likethis, would she have hurt them? Aislinn hadnt thought Donia so cruel, but as she lay in Keenans bed with four icy cuts in her, it was hard to hold on to that belief.
At first, Keenan didnt answer. Instead he stared beyond her at the Cup of Gold vine that was twined around the posts of the bed. Blossoms opened up, revealing deep purple star-lines, and tendrils stretched toward him.
Keenan? she prompted.
I dont know. It doesnt matter, though. Not right now.
What does matter?
That she struck my queen. Something new shimmered in the depths of his eyes: swords wavered and flashed.
Perhaps it should frighten her, that glimpse of rage in her kings eyes, but it comforted her. The other emotions she thought she also saw there, the possessiveness and fear and longing, those were the frightening ones. But you came for me. Ill heal.
He pulled his hand away from hers, tentative now. Can I make you well?
Yes. She didnt ask what he needed to do; that would be a type of doubt, and right now neither of them wanted that doubt in the room. They were friends. They were partners. They could figure the rest out. They had to.
He is why Im alive right now.
The ice inside would have kept her wound from healing if he hadnt removed it. In time, the loss of blood wouldve killed her.
Keenan folded back the heavy comforter, taking the decadently soft sheet with it.
She was injured, but still, she felt the awkward tension building. She had an uneasy suspicion that the discomfort wasnt going to be one of pain, but of pleasure.
Can you lift up your shirt? I need to see the cuts. His voice was shaky, either from fear or something she didnt want to think about.
The door to the rest of the loft was open. They didnt have closed-door privacy, but no one would come near the room with them in it. Their court would accept their not-dating if they continued this way, but it wasnt the preference. That was no secret.
Silently, she lifted the edge of her shirt so her stomach was laid bare to him. White gauze covered the place where the cuts were. This too?
He nodded, but he didnt offer to help. He had his hands clasped together, and he refused to look directly at her.
She peeled back the tape and bandage. Dark plum bruises surrounded the red centers of four cuts. They werent much more than an inch wide, but they went deep into her. Donia had widened and extended the ice on her fingertips as she drove it into Aislinns skin.
This wont hurt, Keenan murmured, but I suspect itll beuncomfortable in another way.
She blushed brighter this time. I trust you.
Without another word he pressed his palm over the frostbitten cuts. The touch of his skin to hers was electric. In his eyes, waves crashed against a deserted beach under a perfect sunrise.
She felt the jolt of pleasure and drew her breath in sharply.
He didnt look away as the sunlight soaked into her body through those tiny incisions; he held her gaze and told her, You healed Beiras frost with a kiss. I could heal you faster that way, but I cantnot like this. I want to, Ash. I want to use the excuse to kiss you herehe glanced at her bare stomachI want to take this trust youre giving me right now and use it to get lost in each other, but I cant. Not with you being mine-but-not-mine. Healing this way is slower, but better. For you andeveryone.
Thats probably wise. She took a shaky breath. Her heart was beating out a dangerous rhythm; tiny bits of bliss surged through her entire body as the sunlight melted away whatever cold had lingered. And all the while, he watched her with awe in his eyes. It was a look she usually ran from, but in that moment, there was nowhere to run.
Look away.She couldnt. All she could do was stare at him.
The sunlight grew stronger. She gripped his wrist and shivered, not with cold but with bliss at the electricity zinging in her skin and bones. There was no way to deny that it was sexual. The only touch was his hand on her bare stomach, but it was almost as sexual as what she shared with Seth.
Keenan drew in deep breaths, a steady rhythm that she tried to use as a meditative focus.
You should stop
Should?
Yes, she whispered, but she didnt pull his hand away, didnt let go of his wrist. Her skin was alive with sunlight.His sunlight. Our sunlight. A sigh slipped from between her lips as a pulse of sunlight stronger than all the rest combined slid from his palm to her skin. Her eyes fluttered closed as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her body.