The Serpent in the Stone - By Nicki Greenwood Page 0,39
Well, it was a good thing he had. Whatever she was, whatever she did or could do, he wanted her too much.
He’d held on so long to the conviction that any telekinetic deserved his hatred. One of her kind had murdered his father, and his attraction to her should have been a betrayal of the worst order. Her kind. Like he’d been willing to lump her in with murderers, just because of something she was, something she couldn’t change.
That made him the monster.
He felt like the falcon, whirling first one way and then the other. Wanting her, not wanting her. One minute, he’d almost made up his mind to put her at arm’s length. In the next, he thought of her soft skin, her sigh of surrender when he’d touched his lips to her throat, her laugh, her smile...
“Hi.”
His eyes flew open. Sara stood over him, dimpling. The look sent him into a delirious tailspin.
“Is this a rest break?” She sat down beside him.
He found his tongue. “I’m sick of working today. The terns aren’t busy, I’ve written seven pages on plant life, and Horus is doing cartwheels for my amusement. Sit and watch.”
She lay down with a soft groan, then pillowed her head on her arms. “Let me just tell you how good a lukewarm camp shower feels after a day of dirt and grime. By the end of a project, I usually feel like I’ve been petrified in mud.”
The moment she stretched out beside him, Ian ceased to think rationally. If he rolled over, he would have been on top of her, feeling that incredible body underneath him. His hands itched to touch her and banish his inadequate memories of her skin with the feel of the real thing. He inhaled, almost disappointed when he couldn’t smell cinnamon on the air.
“I came to help you with the falcon project,” she said.
His heated thoughts shattered into pieces. He sat up.
She unfolded her arms and sat up, too. “What? Do you not want the help now?”
“No. Yes, I want the help. I just didn’t—”
“You thought I’d back out.”
He took her hand, surprising both of them. “I don’t want you to do it.”
“Why not?”
How could he tell her what she did to him? Where would he even start? “You don’t have to prove anything to me. And you don’t owe me anything. Besides, I don’t want you getting hurt doing this on my account.” He realized he still held her hand, and released it.
She stared at him for a moment. He couldn’t read anything in that whiskey-colored gaze. At last, she got to her feet. “Do you have a pair of heavy leather gloves?”
“On my trunk in the tent. Why?”
She started toward his tent. He stood up and jogged after her, catching up just as she went inside.
She picked up the right-handed glove and put it into his hand. “I know I don’t have to prove anything to you, but I think we need to do this. I am not dangerous to you. I might even be able to help you.”
He glanced down at the glove. When he looked up again, she’d already left the tent.
Outside, she waited beside one of his tarp-covered shipping crates. “What are you going to do?” he asked.
“How close can I get to Horus before he’ll attack me?”
He didn’t answer.
“Come on, how close? You’d better put that glove on. You’re going to need it.”
Uneasy with doubt, he shoved his hand into the glove. “Forty, fifty feet. But that’s as a human. Are you sure about this?”
“Sure, I’m sure.” She walked toward the cliff edge.
He followed. “Be careful about him. I don’t know what he’ll do if...”
She paused to look over her shoulder at him.
Ian cleared his throat and rubbed his gloved hand through his hair. “...if he thinks you’re just another female falcon.”
“Are you worried he’s going to flirt with me?”
Exactly how did a man get jealous of a bird? “Just be careful, all right?” he shot back.
She paced to the very threshold of the cliff and looked down. Wind swept her hair off her shoulders. He tensed, wanting to pull her back.
“Trust me,” she said, and stepped off the edge.
“Sara!” He lunged for her, but the hem of her shirt slipped out of his reach. His heart wedged in his throat. He dropped to his knees at the cliff edge. Strangling, he dug his fingers into the precipice and watched her fall in a graceful swan dive.