Read Online Aris: A Sexy Romance Novel (Thief of Hearts Series Book 1) by Elody Knight - Free Book Online

of grass behind the vendor’s stall.  The bread was soft and fresh.  Saoirse pulled at it with her fingers.  She put her finger in a little bit of the stuff that Mata had poured on the food.  Olive oil maybe?  Saoirse had no problems recognizing the taste of the onion and garlic bits that had been in the bottles of oil.  She pulled a chunk of the meat out of the bread tasting it gingerly.  It wasn’t something she had had before. 
    She sat in the grass pulling at the food.  It was very good.  She was looking across at the trees and the scenery when she felt something drop in her lap.  She yelped a little bit making Mata laugh.  Seer looked down to see a little girl sitting in her lap.  She was all of, maybe three.  Saoirse looked around for the child’s mother.  Mata shrugged as the little girl leaned forward to take a bite of Saoirse’s food. 
    She didn’t know what to think, but the little girl was adorable.  She pulled the bread apart to give her in small pieces.  Saoirse pulled at the meat giving it to her in little pieces as well.  The little girl kept taking it off Saoirse’s fingers with her mouth rather than her hands.  Saoirse laughed at the little one as she put her hand up to her mouth chewing a piece of the bread that wouldn’t seem to stay in her mouth. 
    “Mata.  What is the meat?”
    Mata smiled,  “Koyn.” 
    “It’s lamb.”  Aris appeared behind her.  “I have been looking all over for you.”  he knelt down kissing her forehead as he brushed the hair out of her face.  “I see you have made friends,”  he said referring to the little girl in her lap,  “And finished the shopping with Mata.”  he dropped down on to the grass beside them. 
    The little woman smiled at them both.  He laughed with Mata about something but it wasn’t in English.  There were moments when he appeared to be the most easy going, handsome man she’d ever seen.  He reclined in the grass resting on his forearm making Mata laugh.  Saoirse felt like she wanted to touch his face, like she should be sharing the food in her hands with him.  The more she looked at him, the more she wanted to be in his arms, but the louder and more insistent the little voice became that it was all a lie.  This wasn’t what he was really like.  This wasn’t his world.  The pictures began to flash through her mind with the voice of the agent from years ago.  ‘Responsible for terrorist acts like these....’
    Saoirse pulled her attention back to the little girl in her lap.  She was the prettiest little thing, with dark curls surrounding enormous blue eyes that only babies seem to have.  She ate a piece of garlic clove off of Saoirse’s finger as if it were something she did all the time.  She brushed the little girl’s curls out of her eyes as the little one chewed on more bread.  Her nerves told her that Aris and Mata were staring at her but she tried not to notice.  They were still talking to each other in something other than English.
    “That’s the woman from seven years ago that I remember Mata.  That’s the woman I want with me.  I would give anything to have her holding my children.  I just don’t know how to reach her.  It feels like the harder I try to reach out to her the more wrong everything becomes.”  Aris said.
    “You have to learn patience.  She’s a woman, not one of your objectives on a job.  You can’t expect to dump your entire life on her in a few days without some nerves and fear.  She doesn’t know anything about you.  I grew up with my husband.  We lived in the same village all our lives!  When he first came to my father for permission to court me, I was nervous as if I had no idea who he was.  You forget too, to some people what you do is wicked.  She was there when you robbed the bank.  She may not be able to understand that men can do bad things and still be good men.” Mata looked at him as she put the last bite of her food in her mouth.
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