Silver Silence Read Online Free PDF Page A

neared, the scent of roses wafting before her. He could not suppress the wholly inappropriate hardening of his cock.
    She stood beside him, just visible in his peripheral vision, hesitant, shivering. His first instinct was to pull her into his arms and warm her. But because he had some measure of honor left, he did not.
    “Why are you here?” Her teeth chattered a little. She rubbed her arms. “The whole village is asleep.”
    “You are not.”
    She did not answer. He did not rise, nor did she move to sit. He glanced up at her, but could not discern her expression in the darkness.
    “But you should be asleep,” he said. “Did you follow me, Bree?”
    “Yes,” she confessed. “I woke and…I needed air. I opened my shutters, and saw you leave Trevor’s roundhouse. When you did not return…”
    “You should not have come after me. You should be in bed.”
    She hugged herself more tightly. “I…have not been able to sleep much of late.”
    He caught the tremor of fear in her voice. “The silver visions?” he asked sharply. “Have they returned?”
    “Yes, the visions…” She blew out a white plume of breath. “But that is not all. You were gone so long. Even Gwen was frightened for you. As for me…I think of you often, Rhys. Especially at night, when I…” Her voice faltered.
    Dear gods in Annwyn! He did not want to hear this.She stood so close now, her skirt brushed his knee. Exactly when she’d moved, he did not know.
    She sat down beside him. He fought the urge to put his arm around her. Or get up and run. He wasn’t sure which he wanted to do more.
    “The ground is wet,” he said.
    “I don’t care.”
    A heavy silence fell between them. It lengthened into awkwardness. The night seemed to contract around him, until the darkness contained nothing but the lap of water on the shore, the shush of Breena’s breathing, and his own pounding heart.
    He inhaled her scent. She must have put rose oil in her bathwater. It was a Roman fragrance, very much prized by wealthy women. The aroma seemed to draw a thin, straight line between them. He did not try to cross it. He knew better.
    Unfortunately, she did not. “Will you stay the winter in Avalon? I…I do hope so. Everyone has missed you.” She paused. “I have missed you.”
    He was ashamed at how fiercely he drank in those four words. She had missed him. His cock responded, even as he fought to remain detached from a rush of tangled emotions. In the grand scheme of things, it did not matter that Breena missed him.
    “I’ll stay perhaps a sennight,” he said. “Until the harvest feast. After that…I must go.”
    She uttered a sound of dismay. “But that is hardly any time at all! Gwen will not have it, Rhys, I am telling you that right now. She will not allow you to—”
    “My sister has no authority over my comings and goings.” The words were harsher than he’d intended.
    Breena sucked in a breath. “I…I didn’t mean to imply that she did. Only…only that she loves you. She misses you dreadfully when you’re gone.”
    “No one should miss me. I am not a part of Avalon.”
    “How can you say that? Why, you’re the most important part of us! Without you, the sacred isle would be all but deserted. Most of us are here only because you brought us.”
    It was true. Of Cyric’s original small band of Druids, only Mared and Padrig remained. And Gwen, of course. All the others…dead. Or lost.
    As Rhys was.
    “I’m used to wandering,” he told her. “I am more comfortable on the road.”
    “What nonsense! You could not possibly be.”
    He made no reply.
    “Mared says in the past, when Cyric was alive, you visited far more often, and stayed longer. But now that your grandfather is dead, and your freedom greater, you stay away. Rhys, is it…is it because of me? Do you…do you hate me so much?”
    He turned so abruptly she lurched backward. He grabbed her arm to steady her. He released her an instant later, as if he’d touched a hot