What he read must not have been proof enough for him to act on his interest. What had he read? I thought I was being so careful. I never said we were or weren’t married or much else on the topic. I stuck to the facts in case we had reason to return to Erania as husband and wife. Was that the tip-off?
Had he expected me to praise the man he thought was my husband in some softhearted fashion?
“Old Father said only that the heart of the female who last used the item might yet be won.”
“My heart is not a prize.” I shoved him again, harder. “Love is a gift. Not a trinket.”
He put a hand at my hip to prevent me from pushing him away.
“I don’t know what this is, but it’s not a game.” He stroked my side. “Not to me.”
Heat spread through me at his touch. “Please tell me he didn’t convince you we were fated.”
“On the contrary, he said my soul is tainted. Whatever he might have gleaned from me is gone.” He stared at my mouth. “He said the same for you, that your heart was too well hidden from him.”
“Or perhaps it is the bond of matrimony that conceals the inner workings of my heart.”
“Don’t torment me.” He bent his head. “I have to know, for my own peace of mind. It’s not that I believe in fated mates. I don’t believe anyone is entitled to love, but I do believe there is something to be said for the power of spirit walkers. I have witnessed the power of my own clan’s maven often enough, and Maven Mana was Old Father’s apprentice. Her powers must stem from his teachings.”
I put a hand to his chest, above his racing heart. “Until we crossed the veil, you were indifferent to me. Are you sure this sudden swell of affection isn’t due to a sense of misplaced obligation?”
His head snapped back. “Is that what you think?”
“You glared at me the whole way,” I reminded him, “and barely saw fit to converse with me.”
“I thought you were Edan’s wife.” He shoved from the tree and turned. “I was showing him the proper respect by avoiding your company whenever possible so as to resist temptation.”
“I don’t believe you.” I scowled. “Your actions might have roots in some sense of propriety, but I saw the way you looked at me. It was not covetous or desirous. It was furious, disgusted or worse.”
Asher spun around. “Can you blame me if I was afraid of my attraction?”
His meaning struck me mute for a moment. “You thought I had beguiled you.”
He flung out his arm. “I thought all your kind were capable of such manipulation.”
My kind. Imagine what he would think if he had been cognizant enough to remember how a few notes of my accidental song appeared to have broken Idra’s spell. “I told you I had no such talent.”
His arm dropped. “I didn’t believe you until I saw how you were…after Edan.”
“Ah.” I tapped a finger to my lips. “I was a heartless monster who preys on innocent males until you saw how the loss of one has broken me.”
He jabbed a finger at me. “I didn’t mean that.”
“You are so set on proving to yourself that your attraction to me is of your own doing—and not mine—that you are overlooking whether or not I am attracted to you at all. It’s not the matter of my marriage to Edan, or whether we were married at all that you seek to disprove. You want to have me so that you can say to yourself, ‘That proves it. My attraction is real because I couldn’t possibly—’”
Asher closed the distance between us, fury crackling in every step. He cupped my face between his hands and pressed his lips to mine. His were soft and tasted sweetly of the blueberry wine he had been drinking, and I wanted to kiss him back. More than anything, I wanted to kiss him back.
So I smashed my knee into his groin and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
He grunted and sank to the ground.
I stepped over his legs. “Never touch me again in such an intimate way without asking permission.”
I ignored his garbled plea to stay and let him explain. I had heard enough. I went inside and left him to his moaning.
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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Misery Loves Company
Copyright © 2015 by Tracey Martin
ISBN: 978-1-61922-499-5
Edited by Sasha Knight
Cover by Kanaxa
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First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: January 2015
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