The Unexpected Bonding Vow - Michelle Howard Page 0,25

and dunked his head beneath the light flow. It was tepid but enough to give his hair and face a brisk wash. As for the rest of him, Garik did what he could with swipes and splashes of his hands over his torso, aware of Saedra’s relentless stare during the entire process.

Who was he to argue if she wanted to watch?

Too tired to do more, he stumbled his way back to the mattress. A black pedal protruded from the bottom of the flattened square. Garik tapped it with the tip of his foot. The low hiss as it inflated was the only sound in the room until a tone chimed, signaling the process was complete. To Garik, the fluffed large square looked like paradise. “We should rest.”

“T-t-together?” she stuttered, breaking her silence.

He faced her with a hard look. “Yes.”

There was no way Garik would close his eyes and succumb to sleep while she was awake and wandering the room. His trust didn’t extend that far to anyone. In fact, so far, his every interaction with her was directly in contrast to how Garik interacting with others. Trust was a commodity he didn’t gamble with often. As evident by Dedrin’s actions.

Had to be the bond. His mother and father had described it but as he’d grown through the years, he’d taken those stories to be exaggerations to satisfy a young child’s whimsy.

“I see.”

He sighed. She didn’t see at all. Everything about her posture said the opposite. Her slim frame practically vibrated in place. She was scared. As she should be. She’d allowed herself to be trapped alone in a room with a stranger. An elite assassin.

Her fear gnawed at him. Words of comfort bubbled up inside of him but Garik choked them off at the last second. This was ridiculous. He was the last individual anyone should seek comfort from. Why had he ever agreed to give her his bonding vow?

She shivered and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. It was easy to see the tiny bumps dotting her arms and her nipples thrust promptly against her dress.

He didn’t feel any chill, but his body was also working overtime to heal his injuries, so there was a low-level burn he’d been fighting off for days now. “Are you cold?”

“Yes.” Her answer was slow in coming as if the realization of her position suddenly weighed on her.

Garik glanced around for a way to heat the room. Against one wall was a mounted heating unit. He crossed to it and studied the sensory panel and display of buttons. He selected the lowest setting to increase the temperature without roasting him in his sleep.

“This will make it more comfortable.”

Why he felt the need to say anything was beyond him. It had to be his injuries and extended stay in a dungeon taking him off his game. Caring about the elements was the least of his concern. Except, her comfort mattered to him. He barely restrained the urge to roll his eyes at the idea. He needed to find a way, and quickly, to get used to the bond creating all sorts of urges in him toward her.

To distract himself from that line of thinking and what it would mean for his future, Garik started removing his clothes—boots first, then his shirt. By the time he reached for the flap of his pants over his groin, she was on the opposite side of the mattress where the pile of blankets was stacked. She had to be tired too.

The itching in his right thigh let him know the wound was knitting together and he didn’t want her to see it and worry. One of Maurin’s guards had taken particular delight in stabbing him there and twisting the blade round and round. He decided to keep his pants on though their state wasn’t salvageable.

Garik lay on his side of the mattress facing her. He propped his elbow upright and cupped his jaw to watch as she chewed her bottom lip, indecision crossing her face. One look down the length of his body sent her gaze skittering away. Right now, she appeared more nervous than the rabische he’d compared her to. “Saedra?”

“Mmmh?” She stared at the ceiling and had her arms about her torso again.

Garik bit his inner cheek. He was aroused, his shaft thick and throbbing. He couldn’t help that but he also didn’t have any plans to do anything about it. “I won’t touch you. You have my promise that I will not