AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fuck. What was I thinking?
Pointedly looking away, I cleared my throat and lowered her to the ground. “You were falling off your horse,” I tried to explain why I was holding her in the first place.
She sucked in a pained intake as her sandals sank into the sand. No doubt every muscle on her was sore from riding all night. But instead of complaining or even mentioning it, she merely smiled up at me as she wobbled a moment, steadying herself. Then she straightened and rolled her shoulders to work out the kinks. “Thank you. For saving me.”
I grunted in reply and began to take a step back, pulling my hands from her waist as I went, but she reached out for me, placing a warm palm against my cheek.
“Farrow?”
Dooming myself, I glanced at her face. Her eyes were so large and guileless that it upset my already swirling stomach with even more remorse.
Her brow knit with worry. “I’m so confused. I don’t understand this feeling you’re experiencing.”
“Feeling?” I asked distractedly, wondering what her kiss would feel like in between berating myself for even looking at her mouth.
“Yes.” She tipped her face to the side, trying to figure me out. “You want me. That’s apparent.” Her lips tightened into a smile as she said that, only to fall again when she added, “Yet that’s clouded by something dark and tight. And ugly. Hatred maybe, but not directed outward. It’s toward yourself,” she realized a moment later. “But why does the idea of being close to me make you upset? You’re so conflicted; it’s as if you’re…” Her lips parted when she realized something. “My God, you’re guilty. But why ever would you feel guilty with me?”
I sniffed bitterly. “Yes, why ever indeed?” I couldn’t help but mutter. “Let’s see, princess, shall I count the ways? I just took you from the only home you’ve ever known, marched you through a desert all night without pausing for respite, and all with the sole intent to hustle you into a kingdom where they’d just as soon as kill you than look at you if they ever caught sight of that tattoo on your face, much less learned who you really are. But truly, it’s such a puzzle why I’d experience even a smidgeon of regret.”
Instead of growing concerned right along with me, however, the lunatic princess relaxed her expression in a relieved smile. “You worry for me. That’s so sweet.” She began to stroke my jaw, but I pulled away.
Did she not even have an ounce of self-preservation in her at all? I was dangerous. Maybe the most dangerous foe she’d ever encountered.
Yet she seemed more intent on soothing my guilt than running away, like she bloody well should.
“All we have to do is trust in our love,” she tried to explain, “And everything will be fine. I know it.”
Jesus, this girl was way too innocent and sheltered to even step outside her bedchamber unescorted. How the hell had she landed in my care? I was going to lead her straight to her destruction.
“There.” She pointed at me as if she’d just caught me in the act of treason. “You’re feeling it again. It’s such a sudden, bright flare of shame too. I don’t understand it at all.”
I frowned at her, abruptly realizing she really did know what I was experiencing. Hedging a step back, I sent her a mistrustful squint. “I thought you said you didn’t possess any magic?”
She shook her head. “I don’t.”
Still leery, I reversed another step. “Then how are you reading my mind?” And what else was she seeing in me?
Nicolette laughed. “I can’t read your mind, silly. I’m reading your emotions.”
Like there was a difference? I cocked up one eyebrow. “Without magic?”
“It’s because of the mark,” she explained. “Which, okay…” She flushed on a guilty cringe. “I guess that took magic to get, but that was before I went strictly anti-magic. Anyway, whenever you get a mark, you become an empath, but only towards your true love. I can’t read anyone else’s emotions. Just yours.”
I paused, truly lost now. “Wait. What?” Why did she keep talking about some mark?
She tilted her head as if she were as baffled as I was. “Did you not know that about the mark?”
“What mark?” I cried.
“This mark,” she said slowly, pointing at her temple and watching me curiously as if trying to figure me out. “What exactly do you know about love marks?”
I blinked. “You mean the High Cliff tattoo you have? I know nothing about their meaning. I always figured they held some sort of religious significance for High Clifters. And then I assumed Donnelleans got them to honor your alliance.” Then I crinkled my brow. “Are you saying they’re really just some romantic symbol?”
“Symbol? I…” Her mouth fell open as she lost her words. “But…” She started again, only to shake her head. “No. You have to know about them. Otherwise…” Visually baffled, she glanced around the sky, only to return her gaze to me. “You honestly have no idea what the marks mean at all?”
“I know they’re a High Cliff thing,” I repeated. “It’s how to spot their kind in a crowd. Other than that…” I sniffed. “I never really cared.”
“But…” She set a hand to her temple. “Oh Lord.” She turned in a circle as if seeking answers from the terrain, but the only thing she found around us was sand.
