Read Online Rising Covenant (Living Covenant Trilogy Book 1) by Amanda M. Lee - Free Book Online
Authors: Amanda M. Lee
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workers. They were almost done.
“She tipped us off, Aric,” I pressed. “Now we know the threat is out there and we have what they want. That puts us ahead of the game. That has to count for something.”
“Zoe, the only reason she’s still alive is because you don’t have a scratch on you,” Aric replied. “If you had been hurt … .”
“I wasn’t.”
“You could’ve been.”
“But I wasn’t,” I reminded him. “She was taken because of me once. Don’t forget that. I owe her this. We have to help.”
Aric didn’t respond, but I could feel the emanating from him.
“I love you more than I ever thought possible, Aric,” I said. “Please don’t ask me to abandon her.”
“If I asked you to abandon her, would you?”
It was a pointed question. “I … yes.”
Aric sighed and ran a hand through his sleep-tousled hair. “Then I won’t ask you to abandon her,” he said. “You’re not to go anywhere alone with her, though. She’s going to follow my rules while she’s under this roof.”
“Okay.”
“I can’t believe you’re not going to argue with me about this,” Aric muttered.
“Maybe tomorrow,” I said. “I was thinking that tonight I could distract you with nudity and make us both feel better.”
Aric arched an eyebrow, his eyes glinting under the filtered moonlight. “How much distraction are we talking about here?”
“Come back to bed and find out.”
W HEN I woke again I found Aric’s side of the bed empty. I knew darned well I’d tired him out the night before, the sound of his heavy breathing lulling me to sleep as his mouth pressed against my ear and his body melded to mine from behind.
Where the heck was he? Please tell me he didn’t sneak out of bed to murder Paris.
I heard a low voice in the bathroom and swung my legs over the side of the mattress, reaching down and searching for something to throw over my head and cover my nudity before investigating the noise. When I found the floor bare, I remembered we’d stripped in the bathroom and not bothered to put anything on before going to bed.
I moved to the bathroom door quietly and pressed my ear to it. Yes, eavesdropping is wrong. If he didn’t want me to do it, though, he should’ve called whomever he was calling from a different room. I can’t be blamed for my curiosity.
“Thanks for sending the team,” Aric said. “They worked late. The yard is completely bare this morning. I’m going to go outside and double check as soon as Zoe is up, but it looks good.”
Aric pleasantly conversed with his father. That wasn’t nearly as exciting as I thought it would be.
“She was impressive,” Aric said. I knew he was talking about me. “She could have easily killed all of them on her own. She was upset after it was all over, but I think some of that was dealing with the knowledge that Paris left her there to die.”
Sometimes I think Aric fancies himself an amateur psychologist.
“We talked about it a little bit,” Aric said. “I didn’t ask her too many questions, and she didn’t volunteer a lot of information. In the immediate aftermath … I think she was in shock. She focused on me and let the rest of it go until she got a hold of herself.”
There was a pause as Aric listened to his father talk.
“I’m not doing that, Dad,” Aric said. “She kicked some major ass. I’m not going to try to train her again. I don’t care what you say. She doesn’t like it and it makes her unhappy. That makes me unhappy. Her body and powers seem to know exactly how to work in a crisis. You can’t fight genetics.”
I wrinkled my nose. If James Winters thought I was going through training again, he was crazy.
“I am not whipped,” Aric snapped, causing me to smile. “Fine. Go ahead and call me that all you want. If loving Zoe and wanting her to be happy makes me whipped, then I guess I’m whipped. Oh, whatever … you’re more whipped where Mom is concerned than I am.”
He was so cute
“She tipped us off, Aric,” I pressed. “Now we know the threat is out there and we have what they want. That puts us ahead of the game. That has to count for something.”
“Zoe, the only reason she’s still alive is because you don’t have a scratch on you,” Aric replied. “If you had been hurt … .”
“I wasn’t.”
“You could’ve been.”
“But I wasn’t,” I reminded him. “She was taken because of me once. Don’t forget that. I owe her this. We have to help.”
Aric didn’t respond, but I could feel the emanating from him.
“I love you more than I ever thought possible, Aric,” I said. “Please don’t ask me to abandon her.”
“If I asked you to abandon her, would you?”
It was a pointed question. “I … yes.”
Aric sighed and ran a hand through his sleep-tousled hair. “Then I won’t ask you to abandon her,” he said. “You’re not to go anywhere alone with her, though. She’s going to follow my rules while she’s under this roof.”
“Okay.”
“I can’t believe you’re not going to argue with me about this,” Aric muttered.
“Maybe tomorrow,” I said. “I was thinking that tonight I could distract you with nudity and make us both feel better.”
Aric arched an eyebrow, his eyes glinting under the filtered moonlight. “How much distraction are we talking about here?”
“Come back to bed and find out.”
W HEN I woke again I found Aric’s side of the bed empty. I knew darned well I’d tired him out the night before, the sound of his heavy breathing lulling me to sleep as his mouth pressed against my ear and his body melded to mine from behind.
Where the heck was he? Please tell me he didn’t sneak out of bed to murder Paris.
I heard a low voice in the bathroom and swung my legs over the side of the mattress, reaching down and searching for something to throw over my head and cover my nudity before investigating the noise. When I found the floor bare, I remembered we’d stripped in the bathroom and not bothered to put anything on before going to bed.
I moved to the bathroom door quietly and pressed my ear to it. Yes, eavesdropping is wrong. If he didn’t want me to do it, though, he should’ve called whomever he was calling from a different room. I can’t be blamed for my curiosity.
“Thanks for sending the team,” Aric said. “They worked late. The yard is completely bare this morning. I’m going to go outside and double check as soon as Zoe is up, but it looks good.”
Aric pleasantly conversed with his father. That wasn’t nearly as exciting as I thought it would be.
“She was impressive,” Aric said. I knew he was talking about me. “She could have easily killed all of them on her own. She was upset after it was all over, but I think some of that was dealing with the knowledge that Paris left her there to die.”
Sometimes I think Aric fancies himself an amateur psychologist.
“We talked about it a little bit,” Aric said. “I didn’t ask her too many questions, and she didn’t volunteer a lot of information. In the immediate aftermath … I think she was in shock. She focused on me and let the rest of it go until she got a hold of herself.”
There was a pause as Aric listened to his father talk.
“I’m not doing that, Dad,” Aric said. “She kicked some major ass. I’m not going to try to train her again. I don’t care what you say. She doesn’t like it and it makes her unhappy. That makes me unhappy. Her body and powers seem to know exactly how to work in a crisis. You can’t fight genetics.”
I wrinkled my nose. If James Winters thought I was going through training again, he was crazy.
“I am not whipped,” Aric snapped, causing me to smile. “Fine. Go ahead and call me that all you want. If loving Zoe and wanting her to be happy makes me whipped, then I guess I’m whipped. Oh, whatever … you’re more whipped where Mom is concerned than I am.”
He was so cute
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