Threads of Desire by Eleri Stone Page B

the balcony and looking out over the twilit city. He turned and smiled as if he’d been waiting all day. As if it had been worth every second of the wait.
    “How did it go today?”
    “Well. Would you like to see?”
    “I’d love to.” He followed her inside and made all of the appropriate noises of appreciation. She watched him, entranced by the sleek masculine beauty of his profile. She considered asking him about his night then pushed the thought aside.
    “You went further than you’d planned.”
    She was startled. He’d been listening to her as she rattled on about her plans. She’d thought his attentiveness had been for show. Now he placed two fingers at the edge of the rug, the last thick band before the border.
    She shrugged when he looked to her for confirmation. “Sometimes, I get caught up in it.”
    True but not the whole truth.
    He frowned. “You must be exhausted.”
    Yes. It had been close. At the end there, when her control had wavered and the magic called to her so sweetly. “I’ll be fine. Are you staying in tonight?”
    “I’d hoped to spend the night with you. But if you—”
    “I’d like that.”
    She took his arm and allowed him to lead her into the hall, up the stairs and to his rooms. “You soak, I’ll speak to Rael about getting you some food. Knowing you, I imagine you skipped luncheon.” She didn’t deny it. “Is there anything you’d like?”
    “Some wine. Bread. Don’t put Jani to any trouble.”
    Kal’s cook was a magician, likely a true one but untrained and not quite powerful enough to get swooped up in the guild’s net. Jani’s bread could teach the guild lessons in artistry. Kal nodded and disappeared through the door. She almost grabbed his arm to tell him to forget about food, but he was gone and the bath was waiting. She let her clothes lay where they fell and sank into the steaming water. Another luxury she would miss.
    He returned shortly after she stepped from the bath and proceeded to pamper her, plying her with wine, massaging her with scented oils until her muscles were limp and perfectly useless. Then he sprawled beside her on the bed and told her all of his adventures of the night before, which were shockingly tame. But he made even the tedious state dinner sound entertaining with his tales of polite political infighting and the ridiculous foibles of the aristos.
    “Your world is very different from mine,” she told him.
    “It’s the same world, Ily. Just one.”
    It was an effort to curve her lips. Her eyes would not open, but the room was dark anyway. He’d long since snuffed the candles, only the glow from fire illuminated this sacred place.
    “Clearly, you have never burrowed into a refuse heap for warmth.”
    A fingertip slicked through the oil on her shoulder blade and goose bumps rose on her skin. He kissed the spot and settled beside her. “No. Can you take a break from your work tomorrow? There’s something I’d like to show you.”
    Something about his tone roused her, but it couldn’t counteract the weight that was dragging her down. She thought about finishing the rug, completing the work and leaving.
    “Yes,” she said. “A break would be good.”
    * * *
    She hadn’t known what to expect when Kal bid her dress after breakfast. Perhaps a trip to the market or a luncheon at the fountains of Risa. She hadn’t expected the dainty white mare, long-legged and graceful, that waited in the courtyard. She hadn’t expected the silk cloak Rael wrapped around her shoulders before he helped her to mount.
    Kal looked imposing on the great gray beast he sat atop...fully aristo, no sign of the gentle lover who’d woken her at dawn, coaxing her to open for him, loving her with a determined glint in his eyes. Her breasts were still scraped from the stubble on his jaw, but this man was a stranger.
    The slight nod he gave her was hardly encouraging. Rael handed her the reins. “You’re certain you can handle her?”
    “I rode often at