Read Online Broken Heart 07 Cross Your Heart by Michele Bardsley - Free Book Online

a woman adored.
    Maybe I was just unused to the concept of someone caring about me in a wholehearted way. I very much wanted to experience what other couples, especially the ones who’d fallen in love in Broken Heart, felt for each other. I don’t know if it was part and parcel of immortal connections, or just incredible luck, but I’d never seen such solidarity between lovers. What would it be like to feel absolute trust? To know your best friend was also the person who drove you sexually wild? To never doubt for even a nanosecond that your husband would fight for you, rescue you, love you no matter what?
    Maybe I’d read too many romance novels. It was probably coloring my perceptions of my friends’ relationships. And it was certainly contributing to my rose-colored thoughts about Tez and our potential as a couple.
    Well, then. First things first. I went into the bathroom and brushed my hair, fixed my makeup. Then I changed into black capris and a red sleeveless top. I also changed into a pair of black stilettos—which immediately made me feel better. Who needed prescription drugs when there were shoe stores?
    When I got back upstairs, I found Tez waiting for me in the kitchen. He led me into the parlor and had me sit at the table. Then he sat down across from me and pointed to the cup of tea, jasmine by the scent.
    “You were pretty shook up. Thought some tea might soothe your nerves.”
    “You’re not having any?”
    “Coffee’s more my style.”
    I could almost hear the “not sissy tea” tacked on to the end of his sentence. I doubted a cuppa could do much to alleviate my fears. But it was a nice gesture all the same. A jar of honey sat nearby. I picked up the teaspoon sitting inside it and stirred the sweet substance into the tea.
    “This was very kind of you,” I said, “but Queen Patricia is waiting for our arrival.” I hated to be late to any appointment, and was especially respectful of the queen’s time. She was a very busy woman—ruling two different species and raising triplets.
    “Oh, don’t worry about her. She’s comin’ here.”
    Startled, I dropped the spoon on the table. The honey splattered on the white tablecloth. I stared at the glistening gold drops, then lifted my gaze to Tez. “Why?”
    “Your iPhone accidentally slipped out of your purse and dialed her number.”
    He said it so casually that I didn’t quite register the words for a moment. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend I could take a long, deep inhalation. I missed not being able to inflate my lungs to create some inner calm.
    “Let’s be clear. You took my cell from my purse, snooped through my contact list, called Queen Patricia, and invited her for a visit?”
    “Icicles are hanging from your words.”
    The whisper of humor in his tone angered me.
    “You had no right.”
    “No, I didn’t.”
    His admission stalled my response. So did his steadfast gaze; I supposed this might be his “cop” stare. Or maybe I’d just seen too many episodes of Law & Order.
    “Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission, I suppose.” I finished sweetening my tea and sipped on it.
    “Bullshit. I violated your privacy to do what I thought was best for you.”
    Carefully, I put down the china cup. The ritual of tea wasn’t calming me any better than pretend breathing. He’d done it again—made my control vanish. “Ah. You know what’s best for me,” I repeated.
    “Rewind, princess. I said ‘thought,’ not ‘knew’.”
    He took my hand and turned it over, then traced the lines on my palm. The light touches sent shivers right up my arm. He stared at my hand for so long that I cleared my throat and whispered, “What?”
    “Everything in me wants to claim you. Protect you. Take you.” He snared my gaze again. I saw his vulnerability and confusion. He believed in what he was saying, and, my goodness, I believed it, too. My undead heart went ba-da-bump.
    “I don’t mistake your sympathy, or your perception of me