Page 70 of Winter's Scorching Kisses
“Good.” Adorra faced her sister again. She smiled at Jasmine. “I need you to do me a favor.”
Jasmine cocked her head to the side. “What is it?”
“I need you to convince Dryden that I don’t need a guard.”
“But?”
“I need you to convince him that I won’t run away, because I won’t. As long as you are here, I have no intention of leaving you.”
“Because you think I’m being held captive.” Jasmine filled in.
“Yes.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes as she leaned back against the backboard of the bed as the wooden bed creaked with the movement. “What can we do to convince you otherwise?”
“Probably nothing,” Adorra admitted. “I don’t see why a human woman would want to remain here.”
“I’ve fallen in love.” Jasmine’s voice turned dreamy, and Adorra studied her closely. Her eyes had gone distant, and she got the feeling Jasmine was thinking of Dryden at that very moment.
“I’m happy for you.” Jasmine raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Seriously,” Adorra reached out and squeezed Jasmine’s hand, “I’m happy you’ve found love. I’m not trying to take that away from you. I just want to make sure this is your decision to stay here and not theirs. I also really need Mathar gone from my life.”
“Why?” Jasmine sat up. “Has he done something?”
“No,” Adorra shook her head. He’d done a lot, but nothing she hadn’t permitted him to do, “he’s been… fine. I just feel unnerved having him around.” More like she couldn’t trust her traitorous body around him, and she needed some space. But she wasn’t about to tell her younger sister such intimate details of her newly discovered love life.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t trust you not to escape,” Jasmine explained.
“We? Or him?” Adorra asked.
“We,” Jasmine emphasized. “I don’t want you to do anything that might threaten the life I’ve made here.” Jasmine sent her another smile. “I’m so happy here, and I’m about to start a family.” One of her hands caressed her bulging stomach, and Adorra experienced a brief pain.
She’d been hoping to start her own family with Edmund, but she hadn’t been allowed that chance, and she felt cheated.
Adorra couldn’t believe she was going to say this, but she had to get it out and off her chest. “You want to remain here with people who killed my husband.” And she waited for Jasmine to disagree.
Jasmine looked taken aback. Her mouth opened, and then she closed it. Then she opened it, and then she closed it. “I… I…” Jasmine stammered.
Adorra threw her hands up in the air as she rose off the edge of the bed and stormed off. She didn’t want to be lied to by her own sister. “Let me know when you’re ready to tell me the truth.”
As she exited Jasmine’s room, her shadow was quick to follow on her heels, and she huffed as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She blinked them back. She was a strong woman who’d been on her own since her parents died and left her with her younger sister. She wasn’t the type of woman who broke down in tears.
If she had to tolerate Mathar’s constant presence, then she would.
A hand landed on her shoulder, spinning her around.
“Are you doing alright?” Mathar’s finger came up to wipe away a stray tear that had managed to get past her defenses.
“Do I look alright?” Adorra growled at him, and for a split second, he looked shocked at her outburst. A burst of hurt disbelief entering his dark depths.
“No, you don’t.”
“Probably because I’ve been taken against my will, and I know in my heart that a giant killed my husband that night, but no one will just come clean about it. And now I’m being forced to live among you all.” Once she finished, she tore down the hall, eager to get away from him before all her emotions spewed out of her.
