Lord of the Runes Read Online Free PDF Page B

her neck, the touch like a feather on her skin. No violence, no anger.
    She dared to look at him. His eyes were distant again, as though what he saw did not lie in this world. He touched her lips with the tip of his finger. “Can you ever forgive me for what I did?”
    She had to answer that. No doubt his wife and he had had a fight at some point. Or he had strayed. He was a man, after all. “Of course I forgive you. Now, let me bathe you and cool you off. Then you must sleep more.”
    He smiled. His face softened and she could only stare at him. The grim line of his mouth was gone. He was beautiful. Perhaps that wasn’t the right word to use for a man, but it was the only word that fit him. Surely, in spite of being married, he had broken hearts from here to the Volga river.
    His hand had loosened, allowing her to pull her braid through his grasp. But he tightened his fist around the end of it again. Though she was still tethered to him, at least she could sit back now. She wrung out the cloth and ran it over his forehead again, pushing his hair back. Someone would have to comb it out in the morning. It was so long and thick. What would it feel like?
    She touched it and it was as soft as her own. Turning his face into her hand, he nuzzled it, sighing. Her breath came light and swift as she held still. His blue eyes opened again, filled with such longing, it captured her as no hold on her hair could. What would it be like to have a man such as he truly look at her that way, not just in a fever-dream? When he didn’t think she was someone else. She’d never considered it, never wanted it.
    The scent of yarrow took her gaze from his. The infusion was ready. She’d have to touch him again. Run her hands over him. Her stomach knotted, but it was a different sensation from what she had known in the past. Not a blade of fear cutting through her, but a warm tightening, as though she craved a food she had never tasted.
    Taking a deep breath, she reached for the bowl and the cup. She poured some of the infusion into the cup and set it aside to mix with the honey. Dipping the cloth into the hot yarrow-laced water, she allowed it to steep and warm for a few moments. She wouldn’t look at him again. Just do what she had to in order to make him well.
    She washed his face, wrists and neck, even his ankles, any place his blood ran close to his skin so it could carry the herb inside his body. He kept his eyes closed, but still held on to her braid. Its length was so great, it didn’t impede her, so she worked until the water was gone.
    She stirred the mixture in the cup with her finger and tasted it. Even with the honey, it was still bitter, but he would have to drink it regardless.
    â€œLift your head for me now so you can take this.” She slid her hand beneath him. He tried, but he was still too weak. He was a large man. She would never be able to make him sit up, so she shifted him until his head rested on her lap.
    Tipping the cup to his mouth, she said, “Drink.” He sipped until the cup was empty.
    â€œYarrow.” He fell back with a smile. “It will help.”
    Did he know herbs? If he was a rune master, it was possible. Perhaps he was better already. His skin wasn’t as flushed and hot, and he had quieted. She had done all she could for now, so she eased his head off her thighs and pulled the furs back up over him.
    The fire burned lower and she set more wood on it. When she tried to rise, he still held her braid.
    â€œI—I need to leave. You must let me go.”
    He opened his eyes, but didn’t focus on her. “No. I let you go once and I never thought to be with you again. I don’t know how you’re with me now, but you cannot leave me.”
    He tried to sit up, then collapsed, breathing hard, and clutched her braid to his chest. She brushed back his hair. He needed to rest.
    â€œI’ll stay. I’ll stay this night with you. Please sleep