Moonlight Kin 4: Tristan by Jordan Summers

not before he saw
her face blossom with color. “Sorry I woke you,” she said. “I
should’ve warned you that I have a lot of nightmares.”
    “It’s okay.” Tristan wished he could go into
her dreams and slay the monsters plaguing her, even if they looked
exactly like him. “You all right now?”
    She nodded.
    Tristan slowly released her and rose off the
bed. Before he took a step back, Isabel grabbed his wrist.
    “Don’t go,” she said, her panicked gaze
searching the darkness. “Not yet.”
    Tristan hesitated. She was awake now and
aware of her surroundings. He should just go back to the couch.
“I’ll be right over there.” He pointed.
    “Please,” she added. “Can you just stay for a
little while?”
    He sighed and put his knee back onto the bed,
then sank down beside her. “I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”
    “Thank you,” she said.
    Instead of turning her back to Tristan, she
cuddled up next to him. Isabel’s body fit perfectly against his
larger frame. He felt every curve, every indent beneath that thin
T-shirt.
    Tristan tried to relax, but it was impossible
lying next her. He remained rigid as she snuggled even closer and
her breathing evened out. He had no idea how much time had passed.
Tristan was about to slip off the bed and return to the couch when
he felt tears hit his forearm.
    Had he somehow woken her? It wasn’t until he
caught a glimpse of Isabel’s blotchy face that he realized she was
crying in her sleep.
    A crack formed in his icy exterior as her
tears fell. Tristan brushed her tangled hair back and made soothing
sounds. The kind of sounds he hadn’t made since childhood.
    He couldn’t bear to see Isabel like this. He
wanted her fighting, yelling at him, anything but scared. Until
this moment, Tristan had no idea she was in so much pain.
    More and more of him thawed as the minutes
ticked by. He continued to coo until her tears dried. As he stared
at her, Tristan’s control wavered.
    He shouldn’t touch her. It would only
complicate things. Isabel didn’t really want to be comforted by
him, but that didn’t stop him from pulling her into his arms. She
snuffled, let out a long sigh, and relaxed.
    Tristan held her tighter as something inside
him broke. The wave of emotion that struck would’ve knocked him off
his feet had he been standing. The emotion wasn’t anything as
superficial as lust. Though he definitely felt that, too. This was
deeper and more profound.
    Isabel’s warm scent tickled his nostrils.
Tristan waited for her breathing to even out, then he buried his
nose in her hair. There it was again. Honeysuckle. Just like the
night they’d met.
    He would never admit it, but Tristan loved
the scent. Loved that she smelled like summer and blooming flowers.
It reminded him of his childhood. His grip on her tightened, as he
wondered if she smelled like that everywhere .
    He forced himself to relax. He didn’t want to
accidentally hurt her. Isabel nestled closer, and her hand brushed
his shaft. Every muscle in Tristan’s body tensed, and he groaned.
She made it difficult to remain detached.
    Despite his resolve, Tristan felt a bond
forming between them. A bond that shouldn’t exist and would only
get in the way of his mission. His gaze shifted to the window. The
Darkling was hiding somewhere out there.
    Isabel was a distraction he could not afford.
Tristan would need all his wits if he were going to defeat his
enemy.
     
    * * * * *
     
    It had taken hours, but he’d eventually
picked up on the Sighted-One’s scent. The small cabin sat in the
middle of the swamp like a fat toad on a log. There was no light
shining from any of the windows, but she was in there.
    They both were.
    The wolf’s stench clogged his nostrils,
filling him with disgust. There was no way to get to her without
going through him.
    He circled the cabin, taking care to keep to
the shadows. It wasn’t hard given that he and the shadows were as
one. He thought about burning them out, but