One Battle Lord’s Fate Read Online Free PDF Page A

face. He tried to hide the smile that threatened to break out over his face.
    She gave a halfhearted shrug. “Both.”
    “What happened, Atty?”
    Blue-gray eyes swung up to meet his. “Yulen kissed me good morning. And...and it was like this giant forest fire was burning me alive inside. We...he and I...” She bit her trembling lower lip. “Is it too soon, Liam? I need to know.”
    “Have you had your flow yet?”
    “Yeah.”
    “When?”
    “Last week.”
    Liam nodded. “Well, then, it sounds to me like your body is back on track.”
    Atty stared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    Unable to hide his happiness any longer, he chuckled. “I don’t need to check you out, Atty. Thanks to your Mutah metabolism, the stitches in your abdomen have long healed. Just take it easy at first, and don’t—”
     
    * * *
     
    He started to say more, but she was off the examination table and out the door before he could finish. A broad grin creased his face as he left the room and headed for his own apartments at the back of the office. The patients up front could wait a little while longer. He needed to let Madigan know that Yulen and Atty were about to conquer their last obstacle.
    Life had finally come full circle.
     
     
    Chapter Four
    Passion
     
     
    Atty wasn’t at their lodge. Neither was she at the main lodge. Questioning a couple of soldiers yielded no clue as to where she’d gone, although Yulen would swear she was still within the compound.
    Paxton had seen Tory with Mattox over at the soldiers’ barracks where Fortune was visiting with some of the men, but none of the troopers he questioned knew where she was at the moment.
    Yulen thanked them, perturbed but not alarmed. If his wife needed him or his help, she would let him know. No, he shook his head. Her departure from the practice field probably had to do with something that happened in the compound and it needed her attention. Like a scuffle between neighbors or some-such incident that called for her intervention, now that she’d taken over the informal duties of running the compound’s interior.
    Turning around, Yulen headed back for his own lodge. The swordplay had left him hot and sweaty from the humidity and heat. It would soon be time to eat. A nice cool bath and a fresh change of clothes would feel wonderful.
    Walking through the front door, he was surprised to hear a low voice order him, “Lock the door.”
    He paused, finally obeying by lowering the bar. And waited. The interior was dark except for whatever sunlight was coming through the large multi-paned window upstairs, and a faint flickering from the hearth in the living area. “Where are you?”
    To his astonishment, one of the chairs by the fireplace moved slightly as Atty rose to her feet and slowly walked around to face him. She was totally nude. Her skin was flushed, and her eyes were bright. Dark blue hair framed her face and shoulders in a silken curtain as she advanced toward him like a forest spirit.
    Yulen felt his knees go weak as his eyes caressed her, reveling at the sight of her in her most breathtaking glory—her fuller breasts, her rounded hips, her long tapered legs and thighs. The thin scar visible on her lower abdomen was the only testimony of when Liam had been forced to perform the emergency C-Section on her to save her life and Mattox’s.
    Atty had extinguished every lantern and light in the house except for the fireplace, and in its dim glow she was a pale wraith promising exquisite delight as she glided toward him.
    As she grew nearer, he could feel his body responding to her, his erection hardening and lengthening in preparation for what he knew was to come. And when her hand reached under his shirt to weave her fingers in the soft amber-red hairs on his chest, he closed his eyes and groaned. Taking a deep breath was difficult. It was like taking in a lungful of heady sexual heat. Heat from a female in full rutting mode, ready to fulfill his every lusty