A shocked gasp. “That isn’t fair!”
“Life seldom is.”
She dabbed his brow again. “Children should be given the same protection as adults, even more.”
Indeed. His churning power hammered his head like a barrage of daggers, looking for ways to escape. He longed for oblivion, but nothing worked, too aware of the female crouched near him, trying to patch him up.
He wanted to tell her not to bother. Once he Grounded his excess power, he’d be as good as new. But it had been millennia since he’d received such tender care, not since he was an adolescent. After his oldest brother’s banishment for the death of their sister, Daén became the heir and Aerén the spare, always guarded, while his family grew apart—
Gentle fingers, a little callused, stroked his cheek and down to the corner of his mouth. Her warm presence surrounded him, her touch calming the turmoil within a little, and it had him opening his eyes.
“I know this doesn’t help,” she murmured, frowning at the bloodied tissue in her hand. “But I don’t like seeing anyone hurt.”
He grasped her upper arms to tell her not to stop, but the words stuck in his throat, and she lowered her hands. Unable to let her go, needing the calm this feisty female unexpectedly brought to him, he slipped his palm to her nape, pulled her closer, and brushed his lips against hers.
She went dead still.
He half expected her to pull back and give him an earful, but she didn’t. Hell, maybe she felt sorry for him. He didn’t care. Nothing in his life gave him a modicum of peace unless he locked down on his emotions and his empathic side. Urias, he was tired of living the life of a fucking stone.
He pressed his mouth to hers once more. A soft intake of her breath was his undoing.
Don’t. She’s not a Chosen—
Fuck off!
He shut out the nagging voice and kissed her again.
Stars! Her taste. It reminded him of things long forgotten, of the first rains of spring as life bloomed, full of hope and sunlight. Before he could deepen the kiss, siphon from that oasis of sheer seduction, she pulled back. “No…”
Her whisper of denial tore at him.
He lowered his hand and shut his eyes, the back of his skull hitting the cave wall, her refusal like a kick to the gut. He let the pain consume him—better than following through with whatever this thing consuming him was, that had him wanting this tiny human.
* * *
Leya sat back on her heels, her stare fixed on Aerén’s bruised yet still gorgeous face, the feel of his warm lips imprinted on hers. Her burning lungs had her inhaling a harsh breath, and she pressed her fingertips to her tingling mouth.
She only meant to comfort him when he kissed her, not kiss him back and reveal her attraction.
She glanced at his side. The maroon t-shirt she tied around him glistened with blood. Shit. More blood seeped down the gash on his brow.
She swiped it off with her fingertips before it dripped into his eyes and wiped her hand on her jeans. His chin dipped to his chest. The wound there had stopped bleeding, so she left it alone.
She touched his hard biceps. “Aerén?”
No response.
“Aerén?” She shook him gently, trying not to jar him and cause him more agony. Still nothing. Even the rising and falling of his chest had slowed.
Oh, shit!Hastily, she eased him onto his back, careful not to bump his skull on the hard ground. She started CPR, praying she could remember the steps from the course she took in middle school. She pressed on his chest and counted to seven, then tipped his chin up and blew into his mouth.
“C’mon, c’mon, you have to wake up, please!” She breathed into his mouth again, pressed down on his chest… His heart had slowed, with huge pauses between beats.
No, no!She scrambled to her feet and darted to the cave entrance. The bone-chilling air stung her face, and she gasped, so sure her lungs would freeze.
Leya stared helplessly at the snow-covered landscape and shadowy mountains. In this desolate place, there was no help.
No, dammit!
