worry about that.” I wave my hand in dismissal while trying to pull my leg from his hold. It doesn’t work. Again. “I’m fully capable, and it’s such a small thing.”
“Eskath gala kaxis reh?1”
I squint at him, but he doesn’t look at me. Instead he applies a soothing ointment to my inflamed skin. The coolness immediately takes away the throb and sting, and I briefly close my eyes. It doesn’t matter what he said. As long as he takes me where I need to go and doesn’t harm me, Bravik can complain or whatever all he wants.
The temptation to reach out and stroke one of his horns while he ministers to my wound is great, but I don’t want to insult him. So I clasp my hands in my lap and only allow myself to look at him. He works swiftly and in complete silence, and once the bandage is secure, he releases me.
“How do you feel?” He pins me to the bed with his gaze, and I have to fight the urge to squirm. “Are you experiencing any pain?”
I shake my head. “It’s fine. Thank you.”
Whether he intends to or not, he leans closer. So much so that my knees almost touch his chest. “What about lethargy?” When I make a face, he tries again. “Are you feeling tired or…drained?”
“No,” I whisper. My voice is almost inaudible, but given his proximity, I know he heard me. “Do I look that bad?”
As soon as the words pass my lips, I want to recall them. It doesn’t matter what he thinks of me or my appearance, so why did I ask? Maybe it’s because he’s probably been with a number of beautiful women, and if he thinks I’m exhausted, then I must look really awful in comparison. Or it could be that I’m just being insecure and want him to reassure me.
Either way, it’s stupid.
“Don’t answer that.” I sigh and paste a smile on my lips. “Actually, I am tired, but I’ve felt this way every day for the last three weeks working for Emji. He turned me into his maid, and the job was never-ending.”
A low growl fills the air, and my eyes widen at Bravik. The rumble within his chest has him vibrating, or it could be a physical manifestation of his anger. Either way, he looks like a bomb about to explode.
I retract my legs and scramble backward on the bed until my spine hits the wall. With nowhere else to retreat, I wait with my breaths stilled in my lungs, making them ache. Right now I’m not sure how I was able to lie to myself about him being less of a danger than he truly is.
His gaze, bright with fury, meets mine. There’s a subtle shift, a softening of sorts, and it happens so quickly that my mind spins. The threatening sound from him vanishes, and then Bravik scrapes a hand down his face.
“I did not mean to frighten you. However, the thought of you being another’s slave is…” He pauses for a moment, his gaze taking on a clouded look before becoming clear. When he returns his focus to me, there’s an air about him that’s different. “Ella, you must never underestimate how appealing you are, especially to someone like me.”
I blink at him, trying to make sense of his words. “Like you?”
“Yes.” His mouth tilts up at one side. “A warrior hell-bent on redemption.”
1 Are all human females so stubborn and beautiful?
Ella
It takes me several seconds to draw in a breath again, but even then my lungs burn. In that time, Bravik straightens and then plants his hands on either side of my hips, leaning toward me. His gaze is full of things I’d rather not acknowledge. However, my need to understand him and his enigmatic thoughts has me parting my lips.
“What did you do that requires you to seek out redemption?”
He closes his eyes briefly as though the subject pains him. “In my arrogance I thought I was invincible.”
I wait, still unsure of what he really means. That statement could entail a lot of things, and I’ve learned it’s not wise to assume. And sometimes that even applies to believing the best of people. Not everyone is good.
I hope that doesn’t pertain to the male not more than an inch from me.
“Because of me, others have been cursed with an affliction I hadn’t thought real,” he says quietly. “Now we are doomed to suffer if we do not find a benediction that will remove