Page 19 of Savage Knight
Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she smiled and nodded.“I’ll go clean the table and put things away.”
Before he could say anything else, she turned and quickly walked away.This life was so different from her old one.How stupid she’d been to not take the chance in her past life, but how could she have known?Fear was a tangible, breathing monster.
“What is going on in here?”
Lowen jumped and swung around.Scias glared as he glanced from her cutting vegetables to the cook.Dread filled her, causing her heart to thump painfully in her chest.Her breath grew shallow and her vision narrowed.
“You are my wife,” he snarled, grabbing her arm.
The knife she held slipped and cut his hand.Fury erupted over his face and he raised his fist and punched her in the nose.Agony exploded as blood gushed out of her broken nose and poured down her face.
“Lowen?”
She jumped and spun so fast, she lost her balance.Evren caught her before she could fall, and pulled her up against his body.Once more, like the night they met, she fell into the depths of his eyes.Electricity danced across her skin as an awareness took over, changing her rapidly beating heart from fear to something deeper.She suspected the tingling sensation in her belly was attraction, but couldn’t be sure because the only reference she had was through the romance books she’d read.She focused on his lips, wondering how it would feel to kiss him.Her first kiss had been at her wedding, when Scias slammed his mouth down onto hers, smashing her lips so hard her teeth cut the tender tissue inside.When he saw the blood, he smirked and wiped it away, licking his finger.
“Could you do me a favor?”
“Yes.”
“Would ...you kiss me?”
He didn’t say anything at first, just stared as if assessing if she was serious.Then slowly, he bent his head and placed his mouth on hers.It was the softest, gentlest caress she’d ever had.The complete opposite from her wedding kiss.Then he lifted his head, and they stared at one another.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“Giving me a better first kiss than my other first kiss.”
Lowen didn’t know if he believed her about her do-over, but at least he didn’t ridicule her or laugh in her face.Instead, he leaned his forehead against hers.
“Go rest.Let me start the dishwasher and then we can sit and talk.Okay?”
“What about your exercise?”she murmured.
“I think you’re more important right now,” he answered.
She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say, so she closed it and nodded.
“You want something to drink?”he asked.
“Sure,” she said, frowning.“Evren, I don’t want to disrupt your life.If you want to exercise—”
He placed a finger on her lips, silencing her.“You’re not disrupting me.At least, not in a bad way.Missing a day on the treadmill won’t hurt me, and I think it’s important for us to relax and talk.Okay?”
She searched his eyes, trying to detect any type of annoyance or anger, and found nothing but sincerity.So, she nodded.He smiled and then disappeared back into the kitchen.Lowen sat down on the couch and got enveloped with pillowy softness.When he joined her, he had a bottle of vodka clutched in one hand and two glasses in the other.Evren sat down next to her before he placed both glasses on the coffee table.He poured a generous helping into each and held one out for her.
“What should we toast to?”she asked, taking it.
“Shitty parents?”He clicked his glass with hers, and took a sip.“You know about the whole convoluted mess with my brothers.I’m pretty sure none of our parents actually divorced, so technically their marriages weren’t legal.But, us boys, we all stuck together.”
“I bet that made for some interesting Christmases.”He flashed a rueful smile.“We never celebrated holidays or birthdays.It was just too confusing since we were always shuffling between households.Jeremiah was the oldest and he took on the responsibility to feed and clothe us.”
“He protected you.”
Evren nodded.“He tried hard to stay aboveboard.It was Aera who used to beat up any bullies that tried to come after me or Saxon.Aera’s dad was a real piece of work.I can’t tell you how many times he whipped Aera with a leather belt.We were always slathering antibiotic ointment on the welts.Eventually, his father overdosed, and right after that, Aera took off.”
Sympathy filled her.She might not know Aera, but she knew what those beatings felt like.“And you?”
