Excerpt:
Valerius’
eyes were immediately drawn to the feminine outline behind the curtains.
Contrary
to his training and protocol, he barely registered the surrounding area, the
ornate yet elegant furniture, the walls covered entirely with natural scenery
that looked just as real and alive as the scrolls in the outer passageway, the
whimsical splattering of multi-colored round paper lanterns across the ceiling,
giving the chamber a cheerful glow.
To
his utter confusion and dismay, his heart doubled its tempo, and every nerve in
his body became overwhelmingly sensitized.
He suddenly felt drugged by the faint, elusive fragrance of lilies and
jasmine, and in reaction, blood rushed to his groin, hardening him in an
instant. His neck and face got what was
left as he flushed deeply in mortification and anger at his total loss of
discipline.
In
his two thousand plus years of existence as a Pure One, he had never, never,
lost control. Why his self-restraint
deserted him now he couldn’t begin to fathom and didn’t have the luxury to even
try, for he suddenly found himself not two feet before the Healer, sitting
above him on the dais on a soft pedestal of pillows. He executed a bow by rote, as if his body had
developed a mind of its own.
Valerius
stopped short of raising his gaze to meet hers, however. He knew that keeping his eyes lowered was a
sign of submission which he’d never before allowed in himself, no matter the
odds he faced. But he swallowed his
pride and locked his jaw, because somehow, somewhere deep within, he knew that
meeting her gaze would change his world forever.
Instead,
he peered through the filter of his lashes at the shape of her chin, and the
enigmatic, fleeting smile that tilted the corners of her full, sensuous
mouth.
“Warrior,”
she greeted him softly, pausing a heavy beat after greeting Sophia and
Ayelet.
When
he continued to withhold his gaze, the corners of her lips tilted ever so
slightly more, as if she were amused by his reticence.
But
it wasn’t shyness that kept Valerius’ eyes lowered; it was self-preservation.
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