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2024-10-29 19:42:56Even Yesande recoiled at her shriek.
“Still think I won’t kill her?” he asked savagely, trying not retch at her gasping sobs. She deserved better than this.
Yesande took a step back, pallor leaching her already pale skin. “Father’s madness,” she whispered with horror. “It did carry to you.”
He allowed his eyes to gleam golden. This
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The Charmer 60
Jayems winced, remembering his cousin’s reaction to that bit of news. Mathin would be lucky if Keilor didn’t break every bone in his body when next he saw him. “She was alive. Raziel and Isfael are with them.”“Small comfort,” Keilor answered morosely. He looked at but did not see Jasmine’s lemon tree.Jayems froze. “You don’t think she would betray you?” he asked in amazement. “She’s not the kind of woman to take her promises lightly, and despite the ugly rumors, I don’t belie
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No amount of grueling exercise could take her mind off of her husband for long, though. With every day that went by her longing grew, until she dared not think of him while riding lest her seat on the saddle—usually behind Mathin or Raziel—become an aching torture.Oddly enough, none of her companions seemed to be affected by the increased levels of pheromone she knew she emitted at those times. Wondering if her marriage had something to do with it, she finally asked Mathin about it.He snorted with ill humor. “Isfael merely remains in Haunt, where one never feels the desire to mate, and he can still scent danger. As for Raziel and I…” He scowled. “We’ve been taking a sinus block
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Mathin’s rough voice was glacial. “She was dying, maggot brain. Had I not ‘caused trouble’ you wouldn’t be holding her now.”Worried, Jasmine’s gaze swung between the two men. “What’s wrong? It didn’t hurt me, Keilor.”“You’ve done nothing, love. Be still,” Keilor told her, and said to Mathin with barely restrained violence, “She would not have been in that condition if you hadn’t botched your job in the first place. What kind of savage are you?”Mathin’s eyes ignited gold and he leaned towards Keilor with a curl to his lip. “I am not invincible, any more than you are,” he said
The Charmer 63
Since he could never tell her his thoughts, he showed her instead. With infinite tenderness he kissed her and carried her to the bed, showing her with his body how much he cherished her and the gift of her fidelity. Hearts and souls communed through hands and lips, speaking of a connection that was more than skin deep. It was a beautiful moment, and when he finally took her body, they truly became one.A long while and much loving later, Jasmine snuggled with sleepy satisfaction against her husband, reveling in the feeling of being held. Her languidly stroking hand encountered her dragonfly pendant, and she smiled, fingering it. Sighing with pleasure, she told him, “You sure know how to spoil a girl, honey.”Keilor chuckled and hugged her in response. &ldqu
The Charmer 64
Jasmine stared out her window, watching the sunset gloss the sky over the sea with bright fuchsia and gold. Her room had been thoroughly cleaned and Keilor’s stuff transferred back to his old quarters. The door was locked, and she was in the mood to reinforce her solitude with charmer commands, if necessary.She would not be the one rejected this time.What a shame she hadn’t figured out Keilor’s game before she submitted to a “marriage” with him. Nice and tight, legal and binding, at least here, or so he’d led her to believe. Thanks to a little investigation, she’d discovered that wasn’t true. The bond they’d created could be severed with about a year’s worth of abstinence.
The Charmer 65
All her life she’d wanted something of her own, something good she’d created that no one else could ever take away. Her logical mind began to nag at her that Keilor and her marriage was that something good, a creation worth saving, but her emotional self refused that logic, bringing the image to her again and again of Keilor’s face when he’d asked if the symbiont could be removed. He doesn’t want you, that other self whispered.Rejection. Humiliation. Old foes with heavy chains bound her. Days went by as she let them torture her, wallowing in emotional filth until she couldn’t remember what it was like to feel clean and bright and full of hope. Nausea began to plague her, and she didn’t want to eat. The exercise she forced on herself in her attempts to forget Keilor wore on her, and she took to sleepi
The Charmer 66
He sighed. “We’ll put it down to pregnancy. Breeding woman are known to do all manor of odd things.” She scowled at him, and he smiled, glad to see a return of her spirit.He stood up and carried her to the bed, laying her on top of the quilt and arranging the light blanket folded at the bottom over her. “Rest for a little while. I’ll be back to join you very soon, but first I have to speak to Jayems.” He kissed her. “I won’t be long.”***“I won’t allow harm to come to them.”
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Jasmine scowled and pushed him back. “Are you saying women aren’t taught trades?” she asked, indignant.Sighing, he propped his head on his arm and answered, “Women may learn whatever they choose and are encouraged to do so. It is only that many marry and begin families of their own, and it’s difficult to care for children and work at a trade, too.”“Hmm.” She pursed her lips in thought, and Keilor leaned over to take advantage of her momentary quiet, but she beat him to the punch. “If the baby’s a boy, I suppose you’ll want to stick a sword in his hand and throw him up on a stag as soon as he can walk, huh?”Slightly exaspe
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The Charmer 87
Keilor entered the rooms he shared with Jasmine, careful to do so silently. If she were sleeping he didn’t want to wake her. She didn’t need to see him as he cleansed away the blood of battle. It would only upset her.He eased the door quietly shut and paused a moment, listening. Her respiration remained steady and deep, unmistakably that of deep slumber. Satisfaction brought a smile to his face. It pleased him greatly that she would trust him so well.She’d left a light on for him. It was a sweet gesture, and wholly human, for no Haunt would ever stumble in the shadows. Still, the thoughtfulness warmed him. He had a very good wife.It was just as he was finishing his bath that
The Charmer 86
Wounded, she answered, “I said I would, didn’t I?”“Yes.” He kissed her lightly. He lingered, teasing her lips. “You did,” he murmured, distracted.She pulled away, a bit breathless, and demanded, “What about Yesande?”“We will take care of Yesande when she comes,” he reassured her, meaning his warriors and himself, but avoiding an argument by letting her think she would be included. When she still looked troubled, he led her to the couch, sitting down and arranging her on his lap. “I assure you I won’t be taken unawares twice. You’ll be as safe as the Master of the Hunt and a citadel full of soldiers can make yo
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Jasmine winced. Close friendships had their drawbacks.“You don’t take those kind of risks with a baby, Jas, ever.”“I wasn’t thinking of it like that; not then. It was only yesterday that I finally realized that I wasn’t just pregnant, I was carrying a baby.”Rihlia stared at her. “I just know I’m going to be fascinated by this explanation.”Jasmine leaned forward. “The day before last I had a condition. Yesterday it finally dawned on me that my condition was a baby.”Rihlia b
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Not a bit reassured, Jasmine peered at the huge creature that watched her with smirking and far too-intelligent amusement. “Uh, what happened to Raziel and Isfael, and the rest of the bodyguard?” she croaked through a dry throat. “They were doing a pretty good job, I thought.”His eyes cooled. “Terza has offered to take their place. They will no longer be needed.”Terza yawned, exposing a mouthful of fangs, and licked her chops. She closed her jaws shut with a snap and a small snarl. Her intelligent eyes mocked her new charge’s fear.Jasmine swallowed. They understood each other.
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Jasmine’s eyes got big at that pronouncement. “In that case...”“Done!” Leo answered, and indeed they were swooping back to the roof of the citadel and a pale bunch of men and Haunt.Keilor was one of them.For long seconds he said nothing, simply looked her over, seeking injuries. Finding none, he took her arm in a firm grasp, saying nothing as he ushered her to the lift. His trembling hand said it all.Jasmine cringed and dragged her heels. Opening her mouth seemed like a supremely foolish thing to do at that moment.
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A slight smile tugged at Jasmine’s mouth. “Who are you calling kid, old lady? Surely you’re not ready for the old folk’s home just yet.”Rihlia frowned with mock severity. “I will be if you don’t stop scaring the crap out of me.”“Aw, you’re just feeling feeble from lying around in bed all the time. Why don’t you get up and take a walk with me? It’ll do you good.”Rihlia’s smile faded to seriousness, and she let go of Jasmine’s hand. “I can’t. I’m paralyzed from the waist down.”“What!” Jasmine sta
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It must have been a doozy of a talk, because when Jasmine next saw Leo, she was not happy. In fact, she was quietly simmering. She tried to discuss it with Keilor, but he had concerns of his own.“Whether she goes or stays matters little at this point,” he said, leveling a stare at his wife across the dining table in their new suite of rooms. “What I want to know is when are you going to start visiting Rihlia again? It’s been weeks, and still you two don’t speak unless thrown together.”All appetite abruptly fled. Jasmine twiddled her spoon as if fascinated with the play of light. “She hasn’t been feeling well.”“All the more reason to
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The one walk through the marketplace was Leo’s last. Her presence had been scented and witnessed, and now all they had to do was wait.“Seventeen days there, seventeen days back,” Jasmine said, shaking her head. “Unless Yesande has taken up residence in the neighborhood, or unless she’s got someone closer to home keeping an eye on things, you’re going to have to purge the charmer thing, Leo.”Jasmine picked up one of the long sticks that speared the marinated meats and vegetables on the tray nearest her. She moved from the table to the bonfire Keilor had built in the fire pit. The fire was the only light in the darkened and deceptively unprotected garden. Fireflies dance
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“Enough! Jasmine, stop making trouble; Mathin, behave,” Jayems ordered. “You don’t have to worry about any of us making use of the information, Jackson. Yesande is the only one who would desire an army of lust crazed fools.”Mathin glowered at him and slid his gaze back to Leo.Unnerved, her eyes flickered away and settled with determination on her brother. “Do you have a better way to end this, brother? Who will it be next time, your wife, our little sister?”“Uh, Leo,” Jasmine interrupted. “Just so you know, you’re letting yourself in for a pack of trouble with this charmer thing. I do hope you can turn it off as easily as you t
