The Priestess and the Thief Kindred Tales 30 - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,43

bad, sweetheart.” Roke’s heart was breaking for her as he held her close and caressed her back soothingly. “It’s not bad to have sexual desires—it’s normal, natural. The Goddess herself built us to have desires.”

“She did?” Ellilah looked up at him with wet eyes. “But why would she do that?”

“So we would reproduce and have children,” Roke said reasonably. “Otherwise, the first generation of Kindred would have been the last.”

Ellilah sniffed and swiped at her eyes.

“I…I never thought of it like that.” She shook her head. “But only males are supposed to have desires—not females.”

“Says who?” Roke demanded.

“My stepmother.” Ellilah looked up at him. “She said that females are meant to be a receptacle for a male’s pleasure and that females aren’t meant to feel anything at all.”

“The same way females aren’t supposed to tame and train zorels?” Roke asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

“Exactly.” She nodded. “It makes a girl unladylike to train zorels and to want to…you know…have pleasure.” She glanced at him shyly.

“Let me ask you something,” Roke said. “Did you feel like this before your stepmother came into your life?”

“Well…no,” Ellilah admitted. “But I grew up in a houseful of males so nobody ever talked to me about this kind of thing before she came.”

“So you were fine and free and happy before she came along and the minute she appears in your life she starts filling you with guilt,” Roke growled.

He wished he could meet Ellilah’s stepmother. He would never hurt a female physically, but he would certainly give the evil stepmother a piece of his mind. Imagine making the poor little female in his lap feel so bad and shameful about perfectly normal desires! She had poisoned Ellilah’s pleasure with guilt and driven her into the priestess-hood where, in Roke’s opinion, she did not belong.

Some people just weren’t meant to take a vow of chastity. And from the hot-blooded way the little priestess had reacted to his kisses and caresses, Roke was fairly certain that Ellilah was one of them.

“I just…don’t want to be bad anymore,” Ellilah whispered. She seemed all cried out now, for she rested tiredly against his chest like a weary child.

“Poor little sweetheart,” Roke murmured, stroking her shining hair. “You’re not bad. I don’t care what your wicked stepmother told you—having sexual desires and pleasure is not bad. The Goddess made your body to enjoy sex—to take pleasure in your own touch and the touch of another.”

“In…in my own touch?” This idea seemed to upset Ellilah all over again. She shook her head and pushed herself out of Roke’s lap, though he would have been happy to hold her all night. “No, I…I don’t believe that.”

Roke sighed and rubbed his eyes. Clearly he wasn’t going to convince her of her own innocence all at once.

“It’s late. Maybe we ought to get sleep and worry about this tomorrow,” he suggested.

“All right.” Ellilah swiped at her eyes again. “Um, I think the seamstress left me some night clothes.”

“I have some sleep trousers myself,” Roke said. “Do you want to change out here or take the fresher?”

“I’ll take the fresher,” she said at once and went to get the pile of clothing the Tenebrian seamstress had left in their room. She turned towards the small room at the far end of the bedchamber—then turned back again. “Roke,” she said, looking up at him with wide, wet eyes.

“Yes, sweetheart?” Roke asked gently. His heart fisted in his chest as he saw the uncertainty on her lovely face.

“Thank you for…for comforting me,” Ellilah said. She nibbled her lush lower lip, which made him think of kissing her all over again.

“Any time,” he murmured. “Now go get changed for bed. It’s been a fucking long day and tomorrow is going to be even longer, I’m sure.”

“You’re probably right.” She turned again and went for the fresher. Roke watched her, his heart still fisted at her pain. Gods, how he wished he could ease the ache of guilt she seemed to feel so strongly and help her understand that what she’d been taught was all wrong!

But he didn’t know if that was possible.

Twenty-Three

Stop tossing and turning! What’s wrong with you—are you claustrophobic?”

Roke’s deep voice was sleepy and irritated. Clearly he was trying to sleep and Elli’s movements were keeping him from it.

I should be sleeping too. I’ll need to be well rested before I go in the training ring with Demon tomorrow, Elli lectured herself. But the problem was, she couldn’t sleep—not the way she felt right