Faith Revisited Read Online Free PDF Page A

fact. Even better than with the woman he had loved. That thought jolted him, and Bale wondered what it was about this female that affected him so.
    Realizing she was no longer conscious, Bale eased her off him and onto the bed. He propped up on his elbow and leaned over her, gently caressing the length of her jaw with his fingers. She really was beautiful. Her hair, a riot of fat curls, fanned out around her head and onto both their pillows. Sprinkled across her nose was a trail of freckles that stopped just short of invading her high cheekbones. Her fair coloring only served to enhance the pink of her lush lips, and he had to stop himself from leaning over to taste them.

    12
    Madelyn Ford

    Shaking his head in frustration, Bale rolled onto his back. With his hands behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling for several long minutes. He figured he would be far better off if he had just taken Remy up on his suggestion to move the female to Arak's infirmary, even if the thought had him clenching his fists with the need to hit something—or someone. It was frustrating as all hell, because he didn't want her, but then, he didn't want anyone else to have her either.
    Knowing there wasn't a chance in hell of getting back to sleep, Bale forced himself from the bed. He showered away all traces of blood and semen before tugging on a pair of black leather pants and a black T-shirt. A second trip to the bathroom had him returning with a damp cloth, which he used to clean Faith up and ensure she would sleep more comfortably before tossing it on the bathroom floor and heading for the door.
    Pausing just as he was about to slip quietly from the room, he cursed softly. A bra and pair of panties would do little to ward off the chill prone to linger in the abbey. One of his old T-shirts he found stuffed in the back of a drawer would have to do.
    Faith didn't wake while Bale struggled to get her into the clean clothing. She remained little more than dead, much to his great relief, allowing him to sneak out from his room like a thief in the night. Then, with boots in hand, he found himself standing outside Arak's door, and sighing, he opened it and stepped into the room.
    As if sensing the disturbance, Arak was immediately alert. “Hey,” he greeted Bale, his voice rough with sleep. Sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he paused to rub a hand over his face. “What's up? Is your Faith awake?”
    Bale did not even bother refuting Arak's claim that Faith was his. He knew the denial would only fall on deaf ears. “She was.”
    Arak reached for a pair of jeans that lay at the end of the bed and encased his long, muscular legs in them before he rose to his feet. He crossed the room and grabbed a T-shirt from the dresser drawer, looking back to ask, “Has she fed yet?”
    “Yeah,” Bale replied, shifting his gaze away from Arak. Even though only Zeke possessed the power to ferret out the truth in spoken words, his other brothers had the uncanny ability of sometimes seeing too much, and he didn't want to risk Arak reading what had transpired with Faith from his face.
    Arak watched him silently for a moment, taking his eyes off Bale only when the shirt he was putting on obscured his vision. “That's a good sign, Bale,” he finally stated. “The sister had a broken wrist, which I was able to fix with no problems. But I had a difficult time getting her to sleep. I finally had to put her under. She was so worried about Faith.” Arak was referring to his ability to put one into a deep, healing sleep, similar to a coma, in which they rested until he saw fit to wake them. “Maybe if I can bring her some good news, she won't resist so hard.”
    Bale nodded in silent agreement, only his thoughts strayed to how his own mind would rest once he knew Faith was out of danger. He followed Arak into the hallway, stopping short when Arak tripped, a string of curses escaping his lips.
    “Why in the hell are your boots out here?”