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An Excerpt From: SHADOWLORD
Copyright © CHARLOTTE BOYETT-COMPO, 2006.
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
“You would repay my kindness by imprisoning me,”
she said, refusing to allow her pity for the man to show on her face.
“I could make you come with me against your will and you
would never realize what was happening. I could make you so hot with
passion you would be hard put to keep your hands off me.”
“Oh for the love of Aluvial! You have a high opinion of
your appeal, don’t you?”
“I sent you here to this cave and told you not to be
concerned when I arrived. You never once questioned my appearance, did
you?”
Unease flitted through Aradia. She tucked her lower lips
between her teeth. “A…a storm was coming…the caves were handy. Any fool
would’ve had sense to come in out of bad weather. As for being unconcerned
when you showed up, I knew you were behind me. I figured you’d catch up
sooner or later.”
Jaelan did not deign to refute her words. “Believe what
you will.”
“So why not order me to do what you want? Wouldn’t that
make things easier for you?”
“That would be cheating. I want you to come to me of
your own free will, not because I have mentally ordered you.”
“Yet you would blackmail me into having no choice in the
matter.”
Jaelan shrugged. “Every compromise has its drawbacks,
wench. I needed leverage, and your sister’s freedom is it.”
“You may not like cheating, but you don’t play fair
either!”
He raised his other knee and encircled his legs within
the parameters of his arms, one hand gripping the wrist of the other. “I’m
allowing you to make the choice. If you tell me you’re not interested, you
can go on your way. Should you attempt to enter Abaddon though, I’ll have
no choice but to arrest you and bring you to the convent at Raven’s Hill.
At least there I’d know you’d be safe, for the Sisters of Peace are well
protected by the Ben-Alkazar family.” He arched a thick brow. “What’s it to
be, Aradia?”
Her name on his tongue sent shivers of pleasure down her
spine. From the first moment she had seen him at the mine, she had felt
drawn to him, linked by a cosmic bond she could not explain. When she had
touched his arm at the inn, she had felt the urge to know the tactile
strength in those powerful arms, to experience the touch of his strong
hands upon her. Every sense she possessed strained to know this commanding
warrior, yet she knew such feelings were dangerous.
“I would give you the protection of my name and my
honor,” he told her, easily reading her mental confusion. “I would offer my
companionship, my worldly goods and the fidelity you are due.”
“You almost make it sound like we will be Joined.”
“We would.”
She blinked. “Legally?”
“As legally as a Temple Magistrate can make our union.”
Her womb did a funny little jump and she pressed a hand
to her belly. “But why would you want to make it legal? You can have the
milk but not have to purchase the cow, warrior.”
Jaelan winced. “If I simply wanted milk, wench, I’d keep
the cow I have.”
Jealousy stabbed through Aradia’s heart. She narrowed
her eyes. “You already have a woman? What do you need with another?”
He shook his head. “She’s not my woman. She’s a
mean-spirited, evil-tempered, black-hearted witch who comes reluctantly to
my bed to relieve me once a fortnight because she’s paid to do so. Neither
she nor I like the arrangement, but my king thought I needed the pleasure
of a woman’s body and ordered her whoremaster to see to it. The king said I
was getting unbearable and needed the calming of a gentler hand.” He
snorted. “As though Saahira had anything gentle about her. The woman is
deadlier than an asp and hates me as much as I hate her.”
“Then why not send her on her way?”
“You do not throw the king’s gift in his face unless you
have a prophet-be-damned good reason to do so.”
“I see. Joining would be a good enough reason,” she said
dryly.
He cocked a shoulder. “I’ve thought of strangling the
bitch and being done with it, but with my luck, he’d send one even
worse—like her sister Heqet—and I’d be right back where I started.”
“So you’re offering me the job of being the one to
relieve you,” she said with a grunt of disgust.
“Tell me you don’t want it,” he said, holding her gaze.
Aradia said nothing. She stared into his golden eyes,
once more mesmerized by the reflection of the leaping flames, lost in the
tawny depths that caused her lower belly to quiver again.
“Tell me you don’t want me,” he said in a throaty
whisper that sent shivers down her arms.
She fought the urge to throw herself on him, pummel his
chest and demand he release her from the supernatural hold he may well have
cast over her. No mortal man could cause the conflicting emotions churning
in her breast. Her skin felt hot, though she sat far enough away from the
fire. Her knees trembled as though she had run a marathon, yet she felt
calmer than she had any right to feel. Her heartbeat had slowed but still
thudded against her rib cage. She felt an ache in her loins she thought
she’d never experience again, and that longing drew her to him like a moth
to a flame.
“Let’s just say, for argument’s sake, I agree. How do I
know you will be good to me, warrior?”
“On my honor, I swear I would never hurt you. Nor would
I let anyone else hurt you. I would give my life for you, if need be.”
His words made her quiver, but before she gave into
him—as she knew she would—she wanted to define the boundaries of their
bargain. “You promise to set Orithia free?”
“I vow I will see it done.”
“You will not hand me over to either the convent
or the seraglio?”
“You have my oath. I would die before I’d allow you to
be interned inside either.”
“You will not turn me out or give me to another.”
“The only man who’ll ever possess you is the one you now
look upon. It will be to my quarters you go and to no other’s. And as I
stated, I’d rather have my skin flayed from my bones than have you know a
moment’s pain, milady.”
Aradia looked at her hands, opening and closing her
fists, wondering if she were doing the right thing. It was a decision she
understood would last a lifetime and not one to be made lightly. “What if
something should happen to you?”
“I’ll make provisions that you are to be returned to
Amazeen should there ever come a time when I can not uphold my end of our
bargain. I’ll instruct my friend Aluino to see that my wishes are carried
out. He’s a good man and as honorable as they come.”
There was one last area to discuss and Aradia felt too
afraid to broach the subject.
He, however, was not. “Should there be children from our
union, they will be given a child’s portion of my estate as befitting their
position in the birth cycle, with the most going to the eldest son, my
heir.”
“And if there are no sons?” she asked, concerned.
“Females cannot inherit under Rysalian law but a dowry
will be set aside for each girl-child. If she would rather leave and make
her home in Amazeen, I’ll see that she has that option when she reaches her
majority. She need not stay in Rysalia and be compelled to marry if that is
not her wish. Her portion of the estate however will be forfeit if she
leaves.”
“Because?”
“Because her grandmother the Amazeen queen will provide
for her.”
Aradia drew in her breath. “You knew who I was all
along.”
“I know everything about you, Aradia Lykopis.”
“But how?”
He smiled, but the emotion never reached his tawny eyes.
“When the smithy finished cutting away the iron bands from my wrists, the
chief guard told me all I wished to know, though he will not have remembered
doing so.”
Aradia blushed. “Then you knew I belonged to…” She could
not say his name no matter how hard she tried. “The prince?”
Jaelan’s jaw tightened. “I knew.”
“And you still want me?”
A severe look passed over Jaelan Ben-Ashaman’s face. “As
I have never wanted another woman.”
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