Desert Fire (Legend and Lore Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Khatlah’s head to the side, taking the kiss deeper.
    They were pressed together, no space between them, and they seemed to get even more entwined as the kiss continued. Khatlah’s arms slid around Brand’s torso, one gripping his shoulder still, the other traveling up to tangle in his hair. Brand kept his own arm firmly around Khatlah, the other crept up to cup the back of his neck, the soft feel of the head-cloth under his fingers instead of the hair he really wanted to feel.
    This is it , he thought, dazed.   This is what I’ve been looking for .  
    “Khatlah!”
    Brand broke away from the kiss at the angry voice, and he watched as Khatlah ran the back of his hand over his lips, almost guiltily, before looking up, dread in his eyes. Brand followed his gaze and watched as Kamoor stalked towards them, his eyes burning in anger.  
    “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” he snapped, shoving Khatlah away from Brand and into the wall next to the door. “Helping yourself to the handsome stranger, huh?”  
    “You have no right,” Khatlah forced out through clenched teeth. “No right to interfere in my life! You gave me up a long time ago and you cannot be mad at me for moving on!”  
    Brand took a step back and found himself with his back flush up against his door. He stared hard at the ground, wishing suddenly that they would just have their argument in their own tongue, instead of keeping to the custom of speaking a language everyone present could understand. He felt like an interloper, no matter that Khatlah had kissed him back because Brand had kissed him first. And apparently he had had some relationship with the Commander in the past, and Brand had thoroughly pissed off the man who had asked for his help, the man who held Brand’s fate in his hands. Because a lot could happen on the mountain, and no one could argue if he had been killed in a so-called accident... or if they said he really had been out to get their dragons. No matter what he chose to say, the people would believe it and there was nothing Brand could do about it.  
    Kamoor kept Khatlah pinned, eyes still burning in anger and his breathing slightly sped up, but he eventually let Khatlah go with a snort of contempt then turned to face Brand. Brand did not back down from that cold stare, because he could not show any weakness in front of Kamoor—that would certainly be the death of him.  
    “The scout patrol is back. We leave at dawn.”  
    It took a few moments for the words to make sense, for the surprise at not being yelled at or beaten to register. Brand nodded, his gut clenching painfully at the various scenarios of the trip running through his mind.  
    “What?” Khatlah’s head moved from Brand to Kamoor and back to Brand again. “What is going on? Where are you going?”  
    “He will be helping us for a little while,” Kamoor told him coldly. “If he wants to come back after... that is up to him. It would not be for you though, that much I can assure you.” With that, Kamoor turned and walked off, not looking back once.  
    Brand looked at Khatlah, who seemed stricken. He had a hard time catching his breath, and his eyes were filling up. If that had been someone back home, Brand would not have a single care, but it was Khatlah... the only one to be nice to him, and whom he had just kissed, for some reason he did not want to dwell upon.  
    “Come on.” Brand wrapped an arm around Khatlah’s shoulder and guided him into Brand’s room. Khatlah’s breathing became worse, and he bent over when Brand let go of him to close the door, gasping for breath. “Breathe,” Brand told him, going over to him and kneeling on the floor so that he could see Khatlah’s tear-stained face. “Come on, just breathe. Calm and steady.”  
    Khatlah’s eyes locked on his and he did as Brand told him, taking first a shaky breath, then another until he had calmed down. The tears however, did not want to stop and they started trickling