Winning the Legend Read Online Free PDF Page A

you both to your rooms.”
    Arianna turned back to look outside the
door. There would be more coming, but she didn’t see any at the
moment. Even without turning around Arianna sensed the stare of
Rhys’ retainer. The older man watched Arianna as she exited the
entryway and turned to go down the opposite hallway. It was creepy
to be watched, but she knew that it would be her life while all the
men arrived and gawked at her. Arianna easily followed the thread
binding her to Andrew and found him waiting in the hall. He
wordlessly took her hand and led her to her own rooms.
    ‘I don’t know if I can do
this,’ Arianna said as soon as their hands
made contact. Everything about Andrew felt right, and touching his
skin calmed her excessively beating heart. Rhys and his retainer
made it all more real. She needed to protect her people, but this
was going to be the hardest thing she even could imagine
doing.
    ‘Trust that Thomas is
right,’ Andrew replied. ‘He would have never let you come here if the
odds were not in your favor.’
    ‘I just hoped that no one
would show up.’ Arianna was disappointed.
Andrew snaked his hand from hers and around her waist. She needed
more comfort.
    ‘With a prize like you on
the line?’ Andrew raised an eyebrow as he
opened the doorway. ‘I doubt we’ll be able
to keep any of them away.’
    Andrew pulled her through a sitting room
filled with couches and chairs that faced the roaring fireplace.
The side room had a lush king-size bed in the middle of the room.
Everything was tinted in deep blues and purples, and they were
surrounded with an abundance of luxury textures. Again Arianna
began to miss her home. She wanted her old, ratty comforter. That
was soothing, not this. This was odd and nothing was natural here.
Andrew drew Arianna with him as he sat down on the bed.
    ‘You look so tired.’ He brushed a few stray hairs off her
face.
    ‘You’re just trying to get
me into bed with you,’ she protested, as
he pulled her down next to him.
    ‘ And why not?’ Andrew smirked. Arianna playfully batted his arm.
Andrew knew how to distract her, and was trying his best to do
it. ‘Yes, I am.’ He smiled at her and winked. ‘So
that you can get some sleep before this all begins. You need your
strength.’ They had traveled the whole
daylight hours they normally slept.
    ‘I need more than
strength.’ Arianna snuggled up to his
chest and pulled at the buttons on his shirt so that she could
touch the smooth skin beneath her hands. ‘I’m going to need some luck, too.’
    ‘That’s why I’m
here,’ Andrew replied as she closed her
eyes. ‘I’ll provide all the luck you
need.’
    ‘Mmm hmm,’ Arianna nuzzled close and was immediately to
sleep.
    * * * * *
    Arianna didn’t sleep as long as she wanted,
but there was nothing she could do about that. The rest of the
competitors had arrived as one large group, chasing the scent of
Turner. It was easier to sleep with one strange scent in the house,
but when she was bombarded by multiple new people at once, she
begrudgingly had to wake up. Her defensive response kicked in the
moment they all entered the house. Andrew was beneath her, still
awake when she opened her eyes and smiled at him. He had also
sensed all the people that arrived. His smile was a little more
forced with the strain of everyone in the house. Arianna climbed up
so that she was nose to nose with him and softly kissed him without
saying a word. Andrew relaxed a little and pulled her closer to
him.
    Alone time was rare these days. With
training and running around, she was only alone with Andrew when
she was sleeping. Now adding twenty or more people to the estate,
she wouldn’t be alone outside her room. Andrew slid his hands down
her arms leaving goose bumps in their wake. Arianna shivered a bit
at his touch.
    “Um,” a male voiced coughed from the corner
of the room. “I’m not sure we have time for that right now.”
    Arianna’s head snapped up defensively