Page 48 of Sanctuary of the Shadow
All sorts of scenarios flashed through her anxious mind until she couldn’t stand the tension any longer. Throwing back the covers, she slipped out of bed, her toes landing on the cold floorboards. The noise of the bar was vastly subdued from earlier, but amazingly, it was still going. Did they ever shut for the night?
The low hum covered her footsteps as she crept across the room with a pounding heart. Outside the curtain, she hesitated, listening for any sounds within. She didn’t want to disturb Raith if he was actually in there, but it sounded empty.
Finally, she summoned up the courage to lift the edge of the curtain and peek in.
He was there, standing in front of the mirror with a towel around his hips, leaning in and staring at himself. Specifically, at his face. The blue glow of moonlight cast shadows across the ridges of muscle in his broad back. He didn’t seem to notice her at all.
She pulled the curtain back a little more.
At the sound of the fabric shifting, he spun around with a growl, flashing fangs and claws. She recoiled instinctively.
Seeing her, he quickly retracted his claws and turned away. But he didn’t face the mirror again, either, as if he couldn’t bear to see what was reflected in it.
“Raith?”
His gaze flicked to her, and she couldn’t help it—her heart skipped a beat in fear.
His eyes… They were the very same eyes from her dream. First, the eyes that had come to her in the silent depths, and second, in the gruesome memory that followed.
But she forgot all about that when she saw the tortured look in them.
“Are you okay?” She stepped closer. Any fear she had of what he might be was quickly overridden by the strange protectiveness he drew out of her.
He met her gaze again briefly before glancing away. “My eyes.”
“What about them?” He’d probably never looked into a mirror until now, she realized. She chanced another step. A few more and she’d be close enough to touch him.
“How do you know I’m not what Salizar thinks I am?”
“I just do. I know it to the bottom of my soul.”
“But I look…” His mouth twisted.
“You look like a wraith.” She couldn’t deny it any longer.
“What does it mean?”
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”
“What if Salizar is right?”
She took another step. “The fact that you’re asking that question proves he isn’t. Don’t you understand? Furie’s wraiths were mindless, soulless creatures. You’re not like that. You’ve been kind and sweet to me. You wanted to protect me from Salizar.” By killing him. But it was the thought that counted, right? “I trust you to keep me safe.”
And she did. She fully believed he would never hurt her. That was how she knew he wasn’t a wraith.
Without really being aware of it, she took that final step. She could see him better from this close. Water droplets clung to his bare chest, dripping from his hair and trailing over smooth skin. His cheekbones were so defined, tiny hollows formed beneath them. His mouth… Her mind blanked, unable to do anything except think of how kissing it had felt.
He lifted a hand and brushed a lock of her hair. Tingles erupted down her spine. She swayed into him.
“Raith, I—”
His fingers traveled to her jaw, featherlight touch tracing bone. Her face tipped up, exposing her throat, welcoming more of his caress. She didn’t know what he was or why he so closely resembled an evil being, but none of that mattered now. The connection between them was undeniable, and right now, it demanded acknowledgment.
She was powerless against it. She had no desire to fight it anyway.
He reached the edge of her jawbone and then trailed his fingers up the outside of her ear, pausing at the pointed tip. She couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran through her.
His hand slid into her hair, long fingers sifting through the tangled strands until he was cupping the back of her neck in his big palm. The breath gusted out of her. He was so close. So close she couldn’t think.
