Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 114917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Heat struck him as soon as he had her in his arms. She had a fever and that was not good. He got her to the bed and stripped the shirt off her and left the blanket off as well. In one of the foreign lands he had traveled, they treated fever differently. They kept the person cool and made sure the person drank frequently. It worked more than it had failed, and he hoped it would not fail Bliss.
He hurried to fill the bucket with fresh water and bathed her face with a cool cloth, then he bathed the rest of her body as well, his only thought ridding her of the fever. Even though she shivered, he would not cover her.
A shudder woke her, and she whispered, “Cold.”
“Aye, and you will stay that way until the fever breaks,” he ordered.
She struggled to get out, “Brew.”
“Aye, I will fix one for you.”
She sighed, shivered, and reached out her hand to him.
He took it and she wrapped her slim fingers around his. “Trust you.”
The oaths that had been lingering on the tip of his tongue fell loose, though quietly so she did not hear. He did not want her to trust him. No one trusted him, not any longer, especially since his return. He had lost all of his humanity while he’d been on foreign soil, though he had hoped, and prayed—not that his prayers were answered—for death. Death would end the curse for his family, for there would be no heir for the curse to cling to.
“Keep hold of my hand, please,” she pleaded.
Her hand barely had any strength to it and yet she kept hold of his. He spoke without thinking. “I will not let you go, Bliss. I will see you kept safe.”
“Promise,” she murmured.
“Aye, Bliss, you have my word.” He scowled. How did he, a cursed and evil man, keep her safe?
CHAPTER 5
Rannick split the thick log in one swing of the axe. He had cut down a tree and split it into logs and was now splitting those logs into firewood all since early this morning. He had to do something to combat the frustration building in him in the last six days.
He had managed to get Bliss’s fever down after spending the remainder of that day bathing her with cool, wet cloths and having her drink the brew he had made following her instructions. By evening the fever had left her. He had placed a light blanket over her, and she had slept peacefully. Not so he. He had barely slept sitting braced against the end of the hearth, his concern for her keeping him awake.
Another crack of wood rang through the brisk air.
He had two wives he had coupled with, and several willing women years afterwards, but never had he felt the intimacy he had felt while caring for Bliss. There was not a part of her naked body he had not touched with the wet cloth, or his fingers had grazed in the process and not once had she protested. She had laid there trusting him and had thanked him repeatedly for his help.
He swung the axe again and with such force, the log split, and the two pieces went flying.
Rannick snarled. If Bliss only knew what he had been thinking at times. He truly was evil, having thought, much too often, how he would like to do more than cool her body down with a cloth. He wanted to heat it to a feverish pitch until she begged…
“Rannick.”
“What?” he snapped without turning, his lascivious thoughts having turned his shaft hard against his plaid, not something he wanted Bliss to see. “And what are you doing out of bed?”
“I am feeling better.”
“Good, drink some more of the brew and get back in bed,” he ordered.
“I drank much of the brew already and—”
“Drink more. Now let me be,” he said with an angry snarl.
“I truly am sorry to bother you, but I need to…”
“Say no more,” he ordered and smacked the axe into the top of a log. His anger had managed to shrink his shaft, so his arousal wasn’t obvious—to his relief—and he turned to face her.
He did not think oaths would ever stop falling from his lips with Bliss around. She stood in the doorway wearing his shirt. that fell past her knees, and her boots, worn as they were. Her shiny brown hair hung loose, the sides tucked behind her ears and her cheeks glowed pink as they always did when she had to let him know she needed to see to her private needs.
The first few times she was too weak to walk, and he had carried her into the woods. She had refused to let him help her and had insisted he brace her against a tree and give her a moment of privacy. The last two days she had managed, with his help, to walk into the woods and he would wait patiently for her while she saw to her needs.