A Kiss of Fire (A Kiss of Magic #2)(76)

Not that she thought she belonged as part of that kind of relationship. She had made it clear to him that she was nothing of the kind. Hadn’t she?

She couldn’t have it both ways, she scolded herself. She couldn’t demand he trust her and yet know she would betray him given half a chance.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“Are you hungry? Can I get you something to eat?” Fatima asked him.

There’s too much pain for anything to be palatable,” Sin said grimly. “I’m afraid I would be sick.”

“It’s all right,” Aria assured his mother at her wrinkled brow of concern, “We had a very large breakfast. That was only a few hours ago.”

“Very well,” Fatima relented. “But you will see that he eats regularly?”

“I will insist upon it.”

Fatima looked at her, caught her gaze with a grateful expression. Ariana smiled at the other woman. She would have taken care of her son regardless of her request. But she knew there was no way for Fatima to know that. As far as Fatima was concerned, Ariana wanted out of Kilt as swiftly as possible. Even if it meant leaving her son with no one to care for him. Once again she found herself torn. If the opportunity presented itself, would she leave him here, in his sickbed, with no one but his mother to be trusted to care for him? To protect him from his brother’s greed?

Ariana was discomfited by the fact that she didn’t give a resounding yes to herself. It shouldn’t matter to her what she would be leaving behind her. All that should matter to her was what was in front of herself. What her responsibilities were in Saren.

It didn’t matter, she told herself with a sigh. No such opportunity promised to present itself any time soon. Even if it did the weather was completely atrocious. There was no escaping until spring and warmer weather presented itself.

Sin groaned and all thoughts of escape fled from her mind. She reached out and gripped his hand, squeezing it in comfort. He turned his head and beckoned her for a kiss.

She gave it gladly.





Chapter Twenty-One


The next two weeks dragged by with interminable slowness for Sin. He hated being stuck in bed. It felt lazy and self-indulgent, two things he was not known for being comfortable doing. The only things that made it bearable was Ariana’s presence, and the ledgers she brought him to help occupy his mind and help him feel as though he were doing something to run his country.

He felt bad for keeping her in by his side the whole time. She did leave from time to time, but for the most part she stayed with him, keeping him company. She either climbed into bed with him or sat in a chair by the bed. They took every meal together.

The pain of the injury subsided over time, but he was black and blue and sore for the better part of those two weeks. He was just beginning to get out of bed—despite protests from both Ariana and his mother—and sitting up in a chair for an hour here or there.

For Arianna’s part, she was surprised to realize she was enjoying her time with Sin. She got to know him better with every passing day. The intimacy that grew between them would have been disconcerting to the Ariana who had first come to live in the Kiltian court. But this had grown on her so naturally that she felt no upset or discomfiture. She enjoyed her discoveries about him as he relaxed his guard and truly opened up to her. He did not bring up their relationship, avoiding the topic studiously, knowing it would only make them quarrel or retreat to lick their wounds in opposite corners. They simply treated one another like lovers and spoke nothing about their feelings.

She found out he had a sense of humor. He found out that she was doggedly loyal to a friend. She found out that he could be trusted with deep secrets, he found out that she was able to tell a good joke. They were both well-read, further dispelling her image of him being an uncouth and uneducated barbarian. In fact, she hadn’t thought that about him in a very long time it seemed.

Ariana was sitting beside him in bed one morning, going over some governing papers with him when she suddenly became aware of the fact that he was staring at her. He did this often, so she ought to have been used to it, but she blushed under his regard all the same and poked his arm.

“You’re doing it again,” she said accusingly.

He knew exactly what he was doing and he smiled at her.

“I cannot help it. Become less beautiful and less fascinating and I promise you I will stop staring at you. Since you become more of each with every passing day, I fear it would be a lost cause for you to try. Your only recourse it would seem would be to learn to live with my gawking at you at odd periods of the day.”

“I could put blinders on you. Perhaps a mask where no light can penetrate? You could stare into blackness then.”

“Ah, but that would only force me to use my other senses to see you. For instance, my hands…”

Sin reached out and stroked warm fingers down the slope of her breast, his nails scraping across the silk covering her nipple briefly before falling away. Ariana flushed immediately hot all over her exposed skin and she was forced to clear the catch from her throat before speaking.

“Don’t tempt me,” she said with a smile.

“Tempting you is exactly what I wish to do. Ariana…I have been without your touch for much too long.”

“What are you talking about? I touch you all of the time,” she said, being purposely obtuse. She had been putting off his attentions for his own well-being for over a week. Ever since he had begun feeling well enough to get out of bed.