Raintree: Oracle (Raintree 4)

Rye cupped Echo’s cheek in his hand. “You cannot stay here, not forever.”

“I know that. This is not my home.”

“No, it’s not. And I suspect some of the people here will not make the coming days easy for you.”

Her expression was relaxed now, soft and tempting. “My life has never been easy, either.”

Easy. Who had an easy life? Not him, not his daughter...not the woman who stood before him. Life was not meant to be easy. “You should probably leave tomorrow.”

“I probably should.” She drifted closer to him, rested her cheek against his chest. “But easy or not, I’m not finished here. I know it to the depths of my soul.”

He threaded his fingers through her hair, held her close.

No, she was not finished with him, and like it or not he was not finished with her.

Chapter 10

The kiss was not like the first. It was deeper, more profound. It was a kiss to wipe away the rest of the world. While Duncan held her, while he pressed his lips to hers, Echo didn’t think about being a poor excuse for a prophet, stolen memories, villagers who didn’t want her here, magic.

This was real. She wanted Duncan and he wanted her. His arms encircled her and held her close, so close she could feel the evidence of his arousal pressing against her. If the kiss didn’t tell her well enough that he wanted her, that did.

She wanted him here...now. On the bar, on a table, on the floor...

“No,” he whispered as he pulled his mouth from hers.

No? No? Not the word she wanted to hear.

“Not here,” he whispered.

Not here was not the same as a flat out no. Not here she could accept. “You’ve been peeking into my head again,” she said without anger.

“Sometimes I can’t help but see.” He kissed her again, quickly. Urgently. “Please tell me you’re...”

She didn’t give him time to finish. “On the pill. Yes.” Not that she’d had any need for birth control in a very long time. Two things kept her taking the pill. One, she was optimistic. She wanted a man in her life, and if the right one fell into her lap—so to speak—she wanted to be prepared. Two, she didn’t want children. Not ever. Any child of hers would be Raintree. Any child she brought into this world would have some kind of ability. Maybe it would be something lovely and manageable, a true gift. Then again, maybe a child of hers would be tortured, as she had been.

Duncan swept her off her feet. It wasn’t the first time he’d carried her. It wasn’t even the second time. This was, however, by far the most pleasant. She draped her arms around his neck as he carried her to the back of the room and up the stairs. Quickly. With purpose.

“I think I wanted you the first time I walked into your pub,” she said. “I didn’t want to want you. You were so annoying.” She did something she’d wanted to do since that first day. She ran her fingers through his hair. “You were annoying and prickly,” she said without heat.

“While you have always been a ray of sunshine,” he countered with humor.

It was a valid argument, but at this moment she really didn’t want to discuss her persistent distress.

“Why did we wait so long?” she asked. So many wasted days, so many lonely nights, when she could’ve been, should’ve been, here.

He carried her into his dark bedroom. Moonlight streamed through the window, lighting it just enough.

When Duncan put Echo on her feet he did so gently, as if he was afraid she might break. She was no sooner standing on her own than he began to undress her. Shirt over her head, bra unsnapped and discarded with a flick of his hand. That done, he stopped to lavish attention on her breasts, touching, kissing, sucking, until her knees went weak.

She loved the way he touched her, the way he made her feel a part of something more. Something better than she’d realized was possible.

Enough, she thought. I will come before either of us is completely undressed.

And this is bad because...

“Get out of my head,” she said without anger. “I want tonight to be...” What she’d always wanted, what she’d craved all her life. “Ordinary. Normal. Just your body and mine.”

He didn’t whisper in her ear or in her mind. Instead, he finished the job of undressing her, placed her in the center of his bed and very quickly removed his own clothing.