Read Online Templar's Destiny (9780545415095) by Kat Black - Free Book Online

Gently, her arm lifted and I felt the trace of her fingers on my face. I closed my eyes to rest, yet it was as if a trail of fire sparked along my jaw. With it, a wash of memory slid through me. Moments we had spent alone, just like this. Aine was remembering and I, in my exhaustion, was reading her. I felt her breath fan softly across my lips, and all but the need to kiss her emptied from my mind. Gently, I pressed my lips to hers. I had forgotten how soft they were, how incredible the sensation of her closeness was.
    Aine reached out and cupped my face, holding me still while her mouth explored the edges of my own. There was no fear in her now, no nervousness. She rolled to her back, and I moved with her, our bodies pressed close. It felt good, right, as if we were two halves to a whole.
    â€œTormod?” Hesitation colored her tone.
    â€œAye?” I said.
    â€œHave ye seen that vision before?”
    It took a moment for me to understand which vision she was talking about. It was the girl I had seen when we crossed the river. Something large seemed to weigh on the answer I would give.
    â€œNo. ’Twas fair odd, eh? No’ something I should think would be part o’ anything coming to me.”
    â€œAye,” she said softly, fumbling with the coverlet. “Comely, she was, don’t ye think?”
    I was so tired I barely attended her words. “Aye. Beautiful,” I replied absently.
    â€œI wouldn’t say that exactly,” she said, “but no’ plain.”
    â€œAye.”
    Her arms circled my back, and I buried my face in her neck, feeling the pulse of her blood roar beneath my face. I love ye, Tormod. Aine’s words brushed my mind. And everything within me stilled. She hadn’t meant for me to hear. I was linked to her. Suddenly, I thought of the Templars and the life I had always wanted to lead, a life that did not include women, a life without Aine.
    I felt the shock run through her, the hurt and disbelief. Immediately, I drew up the shielding around me, severing my thoughts from hers, but the damage had already been done. She had pulled away from me, backed as far away on the pallet as she could manage, like a frightened animal.
    I wanted to draw her back into my arms, to explain that Templar life had been all I had ever thought of, it had always been my only desire. I didn’t know what I wanted anymore.
    I drew myself from the pallet and turned away into the cold of the room. Her shields were still low, and I could feel her hurt and confusion. “Close yer eyes,” I whispered. “Get some sleep.”
    I heard the rustle as she turned onto her side, and in moments I was no longer privy to her thoughts or feelings. Aine had shut me out. A ripple of pain squeezed my heart. I forced myself to move away — to take the stool once more. I drew my dagger and held it loosely, facing the door. What good I might have been if Gaylen or some other threat had burst through, we were lucky enough not to know.

Aine woke early and didn’t speak a word to me as she washed her face and hands in a basin by the door. I moved to the pallet in her place and closed my eyes. The coverlet was warm with the heat of her body and smelled faintly of her hair. My insides were twisted with the oddness that now lay between us. I heard her moving about the room but did not dare lift an eyelid to see what she was about.
    The door opened and closed. I cast a glance toward it. Though I worried briefly about where she had gone and what trouble she might get into, I closed my eyes and welcomed sleep.

    Men in shadow, clustered together. Flickering candlelight. “His name is Beaton. Wasn’t that the name linked to Alexander Sinclair and the boy?”

    I jerked awake with a bolt of panic. The voice was that of the Templar trainee, the older of the three working with de Nogaret and Gaylen.
    Bertrand was discovered or would be soon. I rose quickly and threw our packs together,