Dear gods, no!
Because in her heart, she knew that she’d never love anyone else. Not like this.
No other man could ever equal Valteri. Biting her lip, she watched as he doffed his mail and set about washing the grime and sweat from his faceand chest. A myriad of scars crossed his back, attesting to the brutality of his life. Yet he never spoke a word about it. Never complained or whined.
He endured. How many could do that with such grace and dignity?
Without hatred filling every bit of their hearts?
He was unique and kind. No one else would ever win her heart with the ease that he did.
Looking away, she longed for a way to take each and every deep, brutal mark away and to erase the memory he no doubt carried from the moments he’d received them.
Moments he’d never let steal his kindness or his humanity.
Even now, she wanted nothing more than the courage to bridge the distance between them and touch those rippling muscles of his back, to slide her fingers over the ridged planes of his stomach.
Every nerve in her body danced with desire, and a heated throb pounded in her blood, demanding she yield to its call.
How could she even think about leaving him?
Her unique gem?
He needed her, and though it pained her to admit it, she knew she needed his smile. His touch. It almost seemed worth the price of her soul to stay with him and make the most of the time they had together.
But that time would bring an even higher price.
His life.
She shivered. Nay, that price was far too dear.
Nothing was worth that. She could never be so selfish.
Rising from the bed, she retrieved a tunic for him from the chest by the window. He wiped his hands on a towel and his features softened as he took the tunic from her hands. “My thanks.” His rich voice stung her with regrets.
Ariel offered him a smile as Wace finished replacing their meal, hoping he couldn’t read the thoughts in her mind. Or see the sadness in her eyes.
He shrugged his tunic on and she clenched her fingers into a fist to keep them from reaching out for his comfort.
If she left him, he might yet survive this ill-begotten curse. But if she stayed and he died, then she would be every bit as much to blame as Belial and the crone.
She could never do that to someone who’d suffered as much as he had.
To someone she loved so dearly.
Desperate for another solution, Ariel touched his cheek, savoring the rough whiskers that scraped against her palm. He closed his eyes and she ached to make him believe the truth of their existence.
Too bad she didn’t have a way to expose Belial’s demonic form. If Valteri could see what he really looked like, then they’d know him for what he was.
Not only Valteri, but Belial’s pawns would recoil in horror of his true, hideous appearance and either forsake or fight him.
But as a beautiful man, his beauty deceived them. It weakened their resolve, and they listened to him. That was the worst part about his kind. They used their looks to make others more vulnerable to their guile.
Once they were sucked in, it was almost impossible to get them out from the demon’s glamour.
Many would kill themselves rather than admit they’d been duped. The weak-minded were such easy prey. And so hard to save.
She’d never been able to get them free.
