Pharis was sweating already, and the morning sun glistened on his skin.
It was probably imagination or a phantom memory, but I felt like I could smell him from here, and the scent pouring from his pores was even more alluring than ever.
A bizarre thought popped into my head—I wondered what that gleaming skin would taste like.
What was wrong with me? Who even wondered abouttastinganother person?
The simple truth was, Pharis was a beautiful man. I wasn’t crazy—everyone thought so.
But not everyone had seen him the way I had just a short time ago.
Not everyone had experienced the tenderness he’d displayed, comforting me in my distress, corralling my runaway emotions when I’d lost all ability to do it for myself.
His consoling touch had felt so good, my skin had literally drunk it in like saol water. That deep voice crooning softly in my ears had been even more delicious.
And the stricken look on his face when he’d first realized I was crying…
I blew out a breath, attempting to settle my rampaging heart.
Pharis must have heard it somehow because he stopped in mid-swing and spun around to face me.
Chapter15
Lost
Pharis—a few minutes earlier
If the palace blacksmith could see me now, he’d have a fit.
No doubt this activity was hell on my blade, but I had to dosomething.
My insides were so turbulent and charged it felt as if my body would fly apart like the trees exploding under my sword.
It wasn’t what Raewyn said that upset me—I knew she was speaking from grief. I’d been there. And Iwasa monster, though not in the way she’d meant it.
No, my current turmoil wasn’t a result of hurt feelings but of toomuchfeeling altogether.
Seeing her cry like that had done something to me.
I’d felt so helpless. I’d never been the guy people turned to when they were looking for softness and sympathy.
In fact, as Raewyn fell apart in my arms, I’d realized it was the first time in my life a woman had entrusted me with her naked pain.
That had caused all sorts of troubling emotions to bubble up past my internal barriers—they werestillsurfacing.
Which was why I was clear-cutting this patch of wilderness as if my life depended on it.
Raewyn’s breakdown had not only surprised me, it had literally hurt me. Ifelther pain.
The matchmaker’s glamour hadn’t warned me aboutthat.
And then when she’d clung to me and let herself go completely…
The poor saplings still standing within reach separated from their lower trunks with a crack and a shower of wood chips.
A sound from behind me broke through the mental and emotional firestorm. I spun, holding the sword out in front of me on instinct.
When I saw Raewyn, I dropped it immediately to my side.
