Beauty's Beast - By Jenna Kernan Page 0,57

sensation triggered another orgasm, this one a slow, steady roll of liquid pleasure, squeezing him and taking the last he had to offer for her own.

What was that?

She went limp then. Her eyes dropped closed and she breathed deeply of the cold, damp air. The wind still rushed through the treetops as the storm closed in. Yet she could not recall when she had felt more relaxed, content and replete. His warm body kept off the chill.

Something glowed above them. At first she thought it was blowing debris from the impending storm. But then her vision came into focus and she recognized her aura and Alon’s merging, her violet, brown and gold turning his gray into a rich maroon glow.

Cesar had been right. There was no denying it now. Her wild, wonderful tumble with Alon had not broken the connection. It had fused it. She stared up in horror at her soul mate and saw her horror reflected back in his eyes.

* * *

Alon rolled to his back beside her. She roused enough to reach for his hand. When she clasped it, a wave of anguish punched her in the gut. She released him and the feeling ebbed.

That was his emotion. He despaired over their joining, as if it were the most tragic occurrence in the world.

Was it? A mistake, surely. She blinked up at the angry sky. The treetops swayed and the cold wind held the scent of rain.

Their connection had increased. She saw it. But Alon felt it and it grieved him. She turned her worried eyes upon him.

“Do you know what could result from this union? You could be pregnant. Is the alliance really worth your death?” he asked in a flat, defeated tone that prickled a warning on her skin.

Of all the worries, that one had never crossed her mind. She feared the connection might grow stronger. She feared her parents might find out. But she had not thought of an unplanned pregnancy. Samantha recalled all that he had told her about how Naginoka were born, and a shiver shook her.

“It’s unlikely. And if it happens, I’m a healer. I’m a Halfling. Surely I can survive it.”

“A gamble, then. The alliance against the chance you might die. Is that how you framed it?” He lifted up on one elbow and scowled at her.

“I wasn’t thinking straight. I just wanted.”

“Yes. And you got it. Here in the woods where no one need know. Secret, private. Did I scratch that itch, Samantha, or only make it more insistent?”

She looked away.

He used both hands to sweep the hair from his face and then laced his fingers behind his head. The lust had cooled now and the regrets poured in, filling him up like a cistern.

Shame burned against the first icy drops of rain. “Do you know how it feels to know you slept with me only out of duty to your family and your alliance?”

Her hand slid away and she stared at him but not before he felt her self-reproach. Guilt, he felt the emotion flash from her to him. She’d sacrificed herself to the big bad wolf. There was some honor in that.

“I won’t tell anyone, Samantha. The truth is I already decided to fight Nagi. Fighting is the only way for my siblings to have any chance of peace. So it was all for nothing. You didn’t need to sleep with me. I should have told you instead of taking what you offered.”

Her eyes were wide and glassy, as if the truth might bring her to tears. His pride stung too much to comfort her, and he knew if he touched her now they might just do that again. He wanted to. Wanted her.

“I didn’t do it for the alliance. I mean, I want you to fight with us, but I did it because... Oh, Alon, I can see our auras. I can see them. And...and we’re soul mates.” She blew out a breath as if relieved to get the words out.

Was she crazy? He stared in silence, waiting for the punch line, for surely this must be some kind of joke. But she said nothing more. The droplets pattered on her dark head and washed the tears from her cheeks. To the north a heavy curtain of rain approached.

He drew her up and led her to the relative shelter of the trees as the sky opened and water poured down.

Alon stopped under the outstretched branches of a large cedar tree and turned to Samantha. She trembled