care anymore as long as I have you.” He groaned softly, pulling me closer to him. He nuzzled his face into my neck and breathed deeply, sending goose bumps up my flesh. I could feel his hand along my waist pulling me closer. “Why couldn’t I have met you a year ago?”
“You still would have hated me. Nothing would have changed; you would have just disliked me sooner.”
Xander sighed. “So much could have happened in a year. We may have actually learned to get along.” His lips moved along my neck as he spoke, each word like a soft kiss.
“Maybe,” I laughed. “Or at least tolerate each other’s presence.”
“Yes, eventually I would have chipped away at your icy exterior with my charm.”
“You? Charm?” I laughed out loud. “I would at least have pretended indifference as you bungled your way through courting me.”
“You love my charisma.”
“You called me a witch and an old hag the first night we met and again a few minutes ago.”
“Only because you are a trying woman, and you know how to wear my patience thin. For that I am sorry.” He kissed my chin. “See, there’s something about us that we can’t deny. I was drawn to you ever since I first laid eyes on you, and I’ve been fighting that pull since day one. You were the one who ran from me.”
“I thought you were a married man.”
“I was—to you.”
“But you didn’t know that at the time,” I said, aghast, my hand pressed against his chest.
His mouth curled up into a devilish smile. “You can tell yourself whatever you want to believe.” Xander smirked. “But even without seeing you, you’ve drawn me like a beacon on a watchtower. You’re a light in the darkness, and I have forever been searching for you. Now, I’m done playing the gentleman. I’m going to kiss my wife.”
His eyes glowed in the lamplight. My heart pounded as he leaned in close, his hand raising my chin so I was staring into warm amber pools filled with desire. His lips brushed across mine ever so softly before nudging them, asking for permission. Meeting his lips, I answered his longing with my own. I didn’t know it, but ever since our wedding night, our first kiss, I had been slowly drowning, wanting more. Needing to be saved from the desire Xander had started.
“Douse the flame,” I whispered huskily, breaking our kiss.
Xander groaned. “The lamp is all the way across the stall, hanging on the wall.”
“Fine.” I smiled. “I’ll do it.” With a snap of my fingers, I snuffed out the lamp. But in the dark, our fiery passion could not be so easily extinguished.
I sighed in happiness. A feeling that I had never truly understood before. Until now.
Shivering, I rolled over, pulling the wool blanket closer to my chin to stave off the cold. A prickling against my nose irritated me, and I opened my eyes to gaze at the offending piece of straw. Sitting up, I realized I was alone in the stall as darkness surrounded me.
Where is Xander?
A loud commotion came from the yard, and I heard voices raised in anger. Tipper was there, gripping the uniform of one of the soldiers and lifting him into the air, his face inches from the other man’s as he berated him mercilessly. It seemed the night was not over.
I rushed out into the yard.
“You were lax in your duty!” Tipper yelled.
“No, sir, I wasn’t!” the young man said. He couldn’t have been much older than eighteen seasons. “I swear the beast didn’t come near the house.”
“You were stationed on the far side. You were the one closest to the back door. If anyone saw the beast or heard someone cry out, it was you.”
The beast must have come back in the night. Death always created a spectacle.
I scanned the crowd, looking for Xander, but couldn’t find him among the group.
“I’m telling you, I didn’t see anything,” the soldier whined, the tips of his boots scraping the gravel as he struggled to find purchase.
Tossing the wool blanket to the side, I only then became aware of the dried rust color across my feet.
Blood.
I became light-headed and crumpled to the ground.
No! Did it happen again? Did I sleepwalk? Have I done something to Xander? Is it his blood? Did I kill him?
Maybe I was wrong about everything, and my own paranoia deceived me.
My mouth was dry as cotton, and a bitter taste filled it as my worst fears came to light—me covered in