Read Online Wild Embrace by Nalini Singh - Free Book Online

matter. The important work had been done this night.
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    Stefan woke to the scent of some kind of liniment. Glancing down, he realized immediately that someone had put it on his chest as well as on the shoulder he’d injured.
    Tazia.
    Regardless of his exhaustion, he’d have woken at any other touch. He didn’t trust anyone else that much, wasn’t physically comfortable so close to anyone but her; their time together here had erased any barriers he might’ve had. And when it came to Tazia, those barriers had always been thin at best.
    Rising on that thought, he glanced at his timepiece and saw he’dbeen out for ten hours. Better than he’d expected, especially since he’d come to within a hairbreadth of a true flameout. When he stepped out into the sunshine, he saw nothing to say that there’d been a second aftershock.
    Ten minutes later, he returned to work—after first consuming the fortified water and nutrition bars Tazia had left out for him. It was strange to know that someone who gained no current benefit from his abilities cared if he lived or died. He thought his mother must’ve truly cared because Stefan was her child, but after that, people had only cared because he was a Tk.
    As the people on Alaris cared—if something happened to him, there went their emergency escape hatch.
    However, out here, Tazia had no reason to care for him. He was doing nothing for her, and it wasn’t as if she was trapped. Emergency transports were going in and out now on a relatively regular basis, so she didn’t even need him to get her out of here. Her ticket back to the Alaris offices was also prepaid and in her possession.
    There was no reason for her to care for him enough to find the liniment and smooth it on his chest; no reason to care enough to make sure he ate. It was as if she cared . . . for him. For Stefan, the man aside from his gift. He hadn’t known that was possible.
    â€œSir.” One of the villagers came to stand near him.
    â€œYes?” he said, having stopped telling them to use his name. They were in awe of his ability and refused to treat him any other way.
    â€œThank you.” The man’s eyes burned with wetness before he blinked the tears away, his throat moving as he swallowed. “My daughter,” he said in what was clearly an unfamiliar language. “You save.” He waved at the rubble where the tunnel had been. “Thank you.”
    Stefan went to say it had been a group effort, then recalled Tazia’s words about being gracious. “Is she well?”
    â€œYes.” The man beamed. “Happy.”
    Stefan nodded, and that seemed to be enough.
    Later that night, as they lay in their tent, he told Tazia what had happened.
    She said, “They see you as a god. If you moved here, you could have your own fiefdom, complete with the requisite nubile virgins to attend to your every need.”
    Having witnessed such interaction between other members of the Alaris crew, including between Tazia and her friend Andres, he thought perhaps he was being teased. It was . . . welcome. No longer was he standing outside looking into Tazia’s complex, multihued world; she had invited him in.
    â€œI wouldn’t wish to rule,” he said seriously. “There is no privacy for those who rule.”
    â€œAnd you like yours.” Rustling sounds, as if she was shifting in her sleeping bag to face him. “How’s your chest, your shoulder?”
    â€œFine.”
    A sigh before she got up and flicked on a flashlight. “Let me see.”
    A week ago, he wouldn’t have cooperated, but tonight, he made no protest as she pointed the light at his bare skin. He’d peeled off his T-shirt before lying down on his sleeping bag to rest; he’d first asked Tazia if it was all right. She’d blushed under the warm dark honey of her skin but nodded. Now,