Deidre's Death (#2, Rhyn Eternal) Read Online Free PDF Page A

up until she was able to see the roughness
of his calloused palm. She traced her fingertips over his wide
palm. It was almost twice the size of hers.
    He lowered his hand, resting it possessively
on her upper thigh. Desire stirred within her, along with some
confusion. He’d never touched her without permission. He seemed at
ease with himself, another thing she didn’t remember about him.
    “Don’t take this the wrong way,” he started,
studying her. “Who the fuck are you?”
    Her jaw dropped.
    “It’s okay. Whatever happened … There’s
nothing to stress about,” he added when she was silent. “But you’re
not exactly the same woman I saw here last night.”
    Deidre’s careful story didn’t even make it
to her tongue. She simply gazed at him. He definitely never
would’ve spoken to her like this, as if …
    …as if he was Death and
she was not. She never stopped to consider what it would be like if
he became the person she had been. If their roles were completely
reversed. In her mind, she saw only them being happy, finally,
after an eternity of struggling to understand one another. She once
thought the problem was him, because he was of human origin. Many
years ago, she figured out the opposite was true: they had issues,
because she wasn’t human.
    Changing that, then, was the only thing that
lay between her and her love.
    Except, something still wasn’t right.
What?
    Deidre pushed herself up carefully, unable
to take her eyes off of Gabriel. His hand fell from her leg,
breaking her trance enough that she looked away. She pulled her
knees to her chest and leaned against the backboard.
    He was waiting. The Gabriel she remembered
would’ve dropped it and left. This Gabriel wasn’t going
anywhere.
    “I am me,” she said at last.
    He raised an eyebrow. Her face felt warm.
She wasn’t certain why.
    “I made a deal with Darkyn.” She paused,
trying to figure out what to tell him.
    “Don’t stop there,” he said grimly.
    “I’m what’s …left of the two of us,” she
said and stopped. Lying was hard as a mortal. It didn’t feel good.
She touched her neck and felt the scars. Was human-Deidre going
through the same pain many times a day at Darkyn’s hands?
    “Are you in pain?” Gabriel’s voice softened.
He reached out to her again and pulled her hand away, placing his
against her neck. She shivered at the odd connection, the heat and
warmth. The fact he touched her without hesitation. Did she like
that or not? She debated.
    She never offered to heal him, either, when
she had been Death and he was her servant. She didn’t understand
what pain was at that point. Her greatest warrior, Gabriel had
experienced his fair share of battle wounds. The idea he’d gone
through something like this, and she didn’t know to help him made
her sad.
    She never wanted him to suffer.
    “No pain,” she murmured, pulling her
attention back to him.
    “So you just made a random deal with
Darkyn.” His thumb brushed her jaw line. Back and forth, back and
forth, in a way that left her skin tingling and her feeling as if
she was falling under some sort of spell.
    “Sort of,” she replied. “You didn’t used to
…touch me without asking.”
    “You didn’t seem to mind me holding you for
hours last night on the beach.”
    “I don’t mind. I …” She shook her head. “I
can’t think when you do.”
    “Tell me what happened,” he said and dropped
his hand. “I’ll wait to touch you until after.” He was amused.
    Deidre’s brow furrowed. He
didn’t say he’d ask to touch her. Just said that he would.
    “I made him a deal to take the tumor out. He
made the two of us one,” she said slowly. It wasn’t coming out the
way she practiced it, maybe because Gabriel was sitting close
enough that she wanted to lean against him instead of the bed and
place his large hands on the parts of her body hidden by
clothes.
    “You are past-Death and … Deidre?” Gabriel
asked.
    “I’m both Deidres,” she