Dragan's Redemption Book One of the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy (15 page)

Sebastian listened as the two figures prayed together.  Hands clasped in front of him, he bowed his head, praying the words
just
as they did.
  Looking up, he saw what the two did not
,
and he smiled
as
a
soft glowing mist hovered over her burning body before gently encasing her in its healing
vapors
as the prayer was
being
recited
.  His compassion for the couple was strong.  He knew that he was treading on a very thin line of what was
acceptable
and what was not.
Elder would be furious with him
if he suspected what he had done and the risks that he was taking, but
Sebastian
knew that the grace he was being given by the Great One, was the only thing that truly mattered.  The confirmation was with her healing tonight.  He could deal with the Elder. 
Sebastian
felt probing eyes searching for him.  Startled, he made contact with
Dragan’s
and froze.  It took a moment for him to relax
knowing
that he was unseen. 
Sebastian raised a hand to the wolf,
motion
ing
for it to sit, which Shadow immediately did.
  Looking again to the bed
,
he watched as
the young woman
stilled
,
falling back to sleep.  Tomorrow was going to be a great day for them both.

Amira woke hearing the birds chirping outside of her window.   She loved waking to their musical choir.  Smiling to herself
,
she
stretched
her arms stilling when her hand hit a body.

Rolling over quickly
,
she started at Dragan who
lay,
sound asleep
,
next to her.  He was flat on his back
;
one
hand
resting
on his stomach while the other was thrown over his face covering his eyes.

Her mind raced trying to remember the past twenty
-
four hours, but it was a fog.  She knew she had been very sick.  Her heart swelled realizing that he must have stayed with her the whole
time. Amira
sat up smiling down at him.  She would be lying to herself if she did not
admit
that she had a bit of a crush on Dr. Reynolds.  He was like no one she had ever met before. 
Hugging her knees to her chest
,
her eyes roamed his body.  She was surprised to see that
he actually was wearing pajamas.  His tee shirt riding up gave her a view of
a
toned stomach
rippling with
muscles.
She may be inexperienced, but sh
e
knew yummy when she saw it, and this man was delicious
.  Sliding out of the bed, she
quietly
padded
barefoot
to the
kitchen
.  Feeling a wet nose bump her hand, she raised her finger to her lips
for him to
be quiet.  After putting the
teapot
on the stove to heat, she prepared two cups of tea.  Placing the breakfast items on a tray, she walked back to the bedroom. 
His arm was no longer covering his face, and his head had turned toward her side of the bed.  Unsure of whether or not to wake him, a memory flashed of him leaning over kissing her gently.  Raising her fingers to her lips
,
she frowned trying to figure out if that was something that really happened or part of her
illness
.
  Well, there was only one way to
find
out.  Amira slid back
o
nto the bed, then touching him softly on the cheek, leaned in while placing a soft kiss on his lips
to waken him
.
 
Feeling
him stir slightly
she p
ull
ed
back wait
ing
for his eyes to open.  When they didn’t, she leaned in again pressing her lips even harder against his.
  In the blink of an
eye,
she found herself on her back with him towering over her
.

Dragan
looked
confused for a moment
unsure of where he was
.  Holding back her laughter
,
her eyes smiled up at him.

“Good morning!  I made you some blackberry tea.”

A look of what could only be described as relief washed over him
seeing her back to normal, with no sign of a fever
.  Reaching up with her hands
,
she cupped his face as he continued to stare at her in disbelief.
 
In his
lifetime, he never felt a moment
as incredibly
intimate to him
as
that moment
.

Dragan heard a growl from the side of the bed
,
and both he and Amira turned to find Shadow in a guarded stance looking directly at Dragan.

“I think he thinks you are going to hurt me.”

Dragan looked back at Amira as her voice went down to a whisper.

“Are you?”

“Am I what?

“Going to hurt me
?
”

Slow
ly
lowering his head to hers
,
he spok
e in another language to Shadow. 
Amira felt
the wolf
stand down
but still eyeing them warily
.

“
Definitely
not.”

His lips grazed hers softly as she had done to him.  Lifting his head, dark eyes met emerald green
,
and he was lost.  Lowering his head again to her, he pressed harder with his lips gently coaxing her mouth open with his tongue. 
Easily
gaining access, he ran his tongue over hers.  Hesitating at first
,
Amira
shyly
touched her tongue to his.  Moaning he rolled onto his back, bringing her up to lie over his chest as his fingers slid through her hair keeping her
head
steady as he
ravaged
her mouth.  Amira felt her body
weaken at the assault.  Matching him, she could not get enough.  She
barely
felt him as his fingers unbuttoned the top
of
her nightgown giving his hand access to her breast.  Her blood roared through her at the
sensations
causing her to groan
aloud
.

Dragan pulled away from the kiss.  They were both breathing heavy
staring at each other
for several long moments
.
  Clearing his throat while
closing
the
front
of her nightgown to cover her nakedness
,
he struggled to find his voice.

“I am sorry.  That went a bit further than I had intended.”

Cocking her head to one side
,
she smiled at him. 
“
Sorry?
Really?  I am not sorry.”

Watching him ease off the bed, Amira’s face flushed at seeing how much of an
e
ffect she really had on him.

Dragan grinned at her
while
nodding towards
the tea on the table with skepticism.  “Did you really make me blackberry tea?”

“No
,
b
ut I was tempted. 
Taking
his
hand,
she led him to the table.  He sat while she poured.  Looking her over quickly
,
he realized that
there was no sign of any illness.
  It must have
broken
in the middle of
the night while they slept. 
Reaching
for h
er
wrist, he felt her pulse beating strong once again.

“I see you
are
feeling better
, Amira
.”

Nodding her
head,
she sat next to him.  “Told you I would be.”

“
You seem to know what it
i
s….do you mind sharing?”

Looking down at her cup, she hesitated, realizing that she really
did want
to share her secret but not wanting to spoil the morning.
“I want to tell you.”

“But…”

“But nothing, I really don’t want to ruin this moment.”

“Amira, you were really sick
last night
. 
It’s
not a joke to me.”

Amira’s eyes flashed.
 
“Oh, it is not a joke to me either
,
Dragan, trust me.  I am just not ready to share.”  She started to stand
,
but he grabbed her firmly around
her
wrist bringing her back down to the bench.

“Stay, drink your tea.  I did not mean to pry.”

“Yes you did.”  Amira took a sip turning so that she leaned against him
,
her back
pressed
against his chest.  Stiffening, he
seemed
surprised
at the relaxed position she was taking with him.
Amira
lowered her head so that her hair covered her face so he couldn’t see her smiling. 
She wanted to get to him one way or the other
,
and she had a feeling that it had been a long time since he had any closeness with the opposite sex. 
Hesitantly
, he took
one arm
placing
it around her
,
resting it on her stomach. 
Seizing the
moment,
she
entwined
her fingers within his
as if she did it everyday
. 
Dragan
swallowed hard as she rested her head under his chin.
  He was falling hard and fast for her.  This thought frightened him.

“Dragan.”

“Yes
,
Amira.”

“What is happening
between
us?”

So she wanted to talk about it.  Pausing
,
he played with her fingers for a few moments.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t?”

“Why?  Do you?”

He was laughing at her.

“Yes, actually I
think I
do.  We have only
known
each other for an extremely short time
,
and we are attracted to each other.  I think we should go for it.”

Shifting
uncomfortably,
he wished he could see her face.

“Go for what?”

“You know, live in the moment,
and get
to know each
other
.  I don’t want to get hung up by time or how long we have know
n
each other. 
Let us
just go with
our
feelings and what we think is right.  Not what others
might
think.”

“Well, Amira, that will be easy for me, because I
never
really care what other people think.  The
real
question is can you handle it?”

“
I can handle it, because it is on my bucket
list
.”

Dragan’s eyes widened
as he stared at the top of her head
.

“You have a bucket list?  Good grief
,
Amira – you
have to be what 24, 25?”

“27 actually.”

“Ok
ay
27.  What do you need with a bucket
list?
”

Turning in his
arms,
he caught that sadness again flash in her eyes.  “You just never know do you
,
what’s going to happen next.  I could get hit by a bus
tomorrow
,
and I certainly don’t want to die wishing I had done more
in my life
.”