“I need rest.”
The words came low, controlled, but beneath them lay something strained.
“Let me ease it before you lie down,” Bria said, her voice soft and calm as she reached toward him. “It will help settle?—”
“NAY!”
The force of it stilled her hand before it reached him.
Silence settled between them tight and heavy.
Kaelan drew a slow breath, as if mastering something unseen.
Then, more measured, though no less firm, he ordered, “Leave.”
Bria studied him, concern rising stronger now than any offense.
“You would send away the very thing that would bring you relief?” she asked, searching his face.
“I would be left alone.”
His gaze met hers then and, for the first time, something in it made her hesitate.
It was not anger nor simple impatience. It was something held too tightly beneath the surface, something that flickered there for only a moment before it was forced back.
But she had seen it, and it unsettled her.
“You will only make it worse if you fight it,” she said gently, though she could not say what it was she spoke of.
A shadow crossed his features, quick and sharp.
“I will manage,” he said.
The words were steady, but the effort behind them was not.
Bria remained where she was a moment longer, uncertain now, though not of her skill, but of him. There was something more at work here. Something she did not understand. Something she could not reach.
She inclined her head slightly. “Very well.”
Turning, she made her way to the door, her hand resting briefly against the wood before she opened it.
“If you need me?—”
“I will not,” he snapped, cutting her off.
The answer came too quickly, too sharply, as if given before the thought could be reconsidered.
Bria stepped outside without replying, pulling the door closed behind her.
Kaelan sat on the bed and closed his eyes against the pain. He expected it, but not so soon, though he hadn’t expected Bria. She was more than he could have imagined. Soft blue eyes. Warm brown hair that fell well past her shoulders. A lovely face that one would never grow tired of looking at. But more importantly… her touch. It said everything and more and he knew she felt it too.
He shook his head. Now was not the time. He needed to do what must be done. He couldn’t let anything interfere with it, but he also could not ignore what had passed between Bria and him.
Another pain struck and he winced. This was not the time to think about such matters. He had a mission to accomplish and that came first, for now.
Kaelan stood and went to the door. He had no time to waste.
The cool airbrushed softly against her skin as Bria made her way toward her own cottage, her thoughts anything but quiet.
