Read Online The Gleaning by Heidi R. Kling - Free Book Online

everything but what he wanted to look at.
    My shoulders rounded, and I tipped my head to the side. “Chance said we only have five minutes, remember?”
    “Right.” He blinked again. “Right.”
    Approaching me slowly in the water, he stood in front of me, careful not to lean in so close that we’d touch. He cupped a handful of water in his large hands. Carefully, he poured it over my left shoulder. I shivered as it poured down my hair, over my chest, and down my stomach. “It’s not too hot?”
    “It’s perfect.” You’re perfect , I wanted to say.
    The next handful was over the right shoulder. Shivers.
    This went on until he finished the ninth handful. I somehow managed to stay perfectly still as his hard-muscled chest, ripe with ink, shifted inches away from my naked torso. And then, when he was finished, I reached out and held the sides of his hips. Only then, did he finally pull me into him.
     
    Logan
    Her lips tasted like saltwater taffy, the kind you could buy at the Boardwalk; and her hands and fingers were everywhere. He wished like hell that five minutes could turn into fifty, and they could dissolve into this pool. And he could show her how much he wanted her—that she was all he’d ever want.
     
    Lily
    My thumbs traced the outline of his hipbones as our mouths desperately took advantage of our remaining minutes. My bare breasts were pressed against his chest, and his ink was just aflame. Under my thumb, a fire surged, a deep and tangible burn that stopped me. I glanced down, and sure enough, there on his iliac crest was a black mark. The broken-rose moon.
    My warlock was my Rognaithe. My Logan was our Chosen.
     
    Logan
    Her eyes flew up to meet his. “Logan! The mark!” she whispered urgently.
    He looked down, stunned.
    “You’ve never seen it before?”
    He ran his thumb over the raised ink on his iliac crest bone. He couldn’t believe his eyes. “No.”
    “Incredible,” she murmured. “Logan?”
    “Yeah?”
    “You know what this means, right?”
    “Yeah,” he said. “It means everything.”
     
    Lily
    Afterwards, I did my best to blow the water off my skin (the fact that the boys forgot a towel reassured me they were just as male as human boys). I was surprised by the new warmth of my breath. The droplets blew off my shivery skin into the air, dancing like fireflies in the darkness.
    Logan opened the neck of my dress and swept it over my arms, pulling the waist down and kissing me gently. Then, without even asking if I wanted a ride, he swooped me into his arms and carried me out of the woods, back to where Chance was waiting. On the walk, I breathed in Logan’s sweet salty scent, savoring the feeling of my skin against his. I cradled my cheek into the concave dip in his neck, where his collarbone arched in a half moon, relishing the sensation of his heart beating against mine. For now he was okay, and he was mine, and I was his. We were together.
    I kept my eyes closed until a warm breeze and the scent of eucalyptus welcomed us back into the clearing. Back into the real world, where I’d be torn from him again.
    When he kissed me goodbye, I tried to memorize his image—his white-tank top now spotted with water from our bath; his damp hair grazing his strong shoulders—as if I’d never see him again like this. Alive, perfect…my Rognaithe.
     
    Logan
    “Hey,” Logan said, tilting Lily’s chin up to look into his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you soon.” He kissed her again, pulling her in close.
    “Are you going to tell anyone?” she asked, floral breath in his ear.
    “Other than Chance? No. I need to think about how I want to play this out. See how much Jacob knows, and what he has planned for me, so I’ll know how to duck around it.”
    She backed out of his arms and looked up at him. “I saw what he did to you in the clearing, Logan. He’s so powerful.”
    “Yeah, well. So am I. I wasn’t fighting back there, remember?”
    “Right,” she said, but there