Read Online The Impatient Lord by Michelle M. Pillow - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michelle M. Pillow
Tags: Romance, paranormal romance, Love Story, science fiction romance, shifters, shapeshifters, shapeshifter, dragon shifter, Paranormal Science Fiction Romance
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* * *
Mirek jerked awake and leapt out of bed. He was completely shifted into dragon form by the time his feet hit the ground. He followed the sound of the scream, ignoring the stone steps leading down to the main level of his home as he jumped over the curving metal rail to land on the floor below. His shifted legs absorbed the fall easily. He kept running. Riona’s screams only grew louder.
At the far end of his home, h e slid to a stop and pressed his taloned fingers into the door sensor. It scanned his biometric signature. The privacy setting was activated on the door so he couldn’t see inside. He kept it that way to give his wife privacy when visitors came to his home. The screams blasted now that the isolation room was opened.
“ Riona,” Mirek said, hurrying inside. He knew she wouldn’t hear him. She never had in all the months she’d been in the isolation room he’d built for her. Still, he kept talking. “It will be over in a moment.”
He grabbed the handheld medic unit and went to her side. The sight of her red skin blistered and peeling still alarmed him every time he saw it. The Medical Alliance doctors had likened it to being thrown into a fire that never completely snuffed.
He ’d only spoken to his wife while she was conscious for a short time at their wedding ceremony, but he could well remember what she looked like without the wounds. When he closed his eyes, the rush he felt upon first seeing her, his life mate, came over him anew. He tried to hold on to that moment, those few words spoken. It was hard in light of her screaming in agony.
Mirek held the unit against her arm and pressed a button. Medicine was injected into her. The screams fell into moans filled with pain. The medicine was working. He couldn’t touch her, couldn’t hold her. If he tried to physically comfort her it would only hurt her more. Helpless, all he could do was wait and pray to his gods that her illness would end soon, or that he may take it from her. Mirek would give anything to take her place so her suffering would stop. Months might have passed, but it felt like a lifetime. At first, she’d been deathlike, a limp doll in his arms. Then the screaming had started. It was becoming worse and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He stood over her , watching until she settled into a dreamless sleep. Taking her arm that had fallen aside, he gingerly lifted it and placed it next to her. His touch made her groan in protest. Her position on the bed was off center, but he decided not to try to move her.
When the moans finally stopped, he hoped she couldn’t feel what was happening to her. He had a lot of time to think about it and knew this punishment should have been his. He was the one who’d defied the gods and taken her before the council so that they may marry without spending the traditional night in the marriage tent. It was his haste to be married, his vanity and pride, that had brought this upon her. What other explanation was there? He should have waited a year for the next ceremony. The gods had revealed her after the ceremony, they’d wanted to give him hope for the coming year, but he’d failed their test and claimed her early. This was a steep price to pay for his impatience.
“ I’m sorry, Riona,” he whispered, sinking to the floor. The cold metal of the isolation room stung his naked flesh, but he didn’t care. Why should he be comfortable when his wife was in so much pain? “This is not how it should be.”
Mirek remained well past the m oment the cold chilled his flesh and the hard floor caused his body to ache. He wanted to suffer. He deserved to suffer. Yet for all the physical discomfort, the worst part was watching his sick, unmoving bride. He stared at her chest, counting her breaths, desperate for the moment her anguish would end.
* * *
Watching Lady Clara of the Redding reunite with her parents was painfully awkward to behold. The visiting nobleman, the
* * *
Mirek jerked awake and leapt out of bed. He was completely shifted into dragon form by the time his feet hit the ground. He followed the sound of the scream, ignoring the stone steps leading down to the main level of his home as he jumped over the curving metal rail to land on the floor below. His shifted legs absorbed the fall easily. He kept running. Riona’s screams only grew louder.
At the far end of his home, h e slid to a stop and pressed his taloned fingers into the door sensor. It scanned his biometric signature. The privacy setting was activated on the door so he couldn’t see inside. He kept it that way to give his wife privacy when visitors came to his home. The screams blasted now that the isolation room was opened.
“ Riona,” Mirek said, hurrying inside. He knew she wouldn’t hear him. She never had in all the months she’d been in the isolation room he’d built for her. Still, he kept talking. “It will be over in a moment.”
He grabbed the handheld medic unit and went to her side. The sight of her red skin blistered and peeling still alarmed him every time he saw it. The Medical Alliance doctors had likened it to being thrown into a fire that never completely snuffed.
He ’d only spoken to his wife while she was conscious for a short time at their wedding ceremony, but he could well remember what she looked like without the wounds. When he closed his eyes, the rush he felt upon first seeing her, his life mate, came over him anew. He tried to hold on to that moment, those few words spoken. It was hard in light of her screaming in agony.
Mirek held the unit against her arm and pressed a button. Medicine was injected into her. The screams fell into moans filled with pain. The medicine was working. He couldn’t touch her, couldn’t hold her. If he tried to physically comfort her it would only hurt her more. Helpless, all he could do was wait and pray to his gods that her illness would end soon, or that he may take it from her. Mirek would give anything to take her place so her suffering would stop. Months might have passed, but it felt like a lifetime. At first, she’d been deathlike, a limp doll in his arms. Then the screaming had started. It was becoming worse and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He stood over her , watching until she settled into a dreamless sleep. Taking her arm that had fallen aside, he gingerly lifted it and placed it next to her. His touch made her groan in protest. Her position on the bed was off center, but he decided not to try to move her.
When the moans finally stopped, he hoped she couldn’t feel what was happening to her. He had a lot of time to think about it and knew this punishment should have been his. He was the one who’d defied the gods and taken her before the council so that they may marry without spending the traditional night in the marriage tent. It was his haste to be married, his vanity and pride, that had brought this upon her. What other explanation was there? He should have waited a year for the next ceremony. The gods had revealed her after the ceremony, they’d wanted to give him hope for the coming year, but he’d failed their test and claimed her early. This was a steep price to pay for his impatience.
“ I’m sorry, Riona,” he whispered, sinking to the floor. The cold metal of the isolation room stung his naked flesh, but he didn’t care. Why should he be comfortable when his wife was in so much pain? “This is not how it should be.”
Mirek remained well past the m oment the cold chilled his flesh and the hard floor caused his body to ache. He wanted to suffer. He deserved to suffer. Yet for all the physical discomfort, the worst part was watching his sick, unmoving bride. He stared at her chest, counting her breaths, desperate for the moment her anguish would end.
* * *
Watching Lady Clara of the Redding reunite with her parents was painfully awkward to behold. The visiting nobleman, the
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