Love's Call Read Online Free Page B

but not now. I want to bathe and get some sleep. I rode all night from Terraquist.”
    Both women nodded and took their leave.
    Ansley’s breath exited on a whoosh as she slipped into the water. The warmth enveloped her, and she sank against the side of the tub, arms resting on the edges. She let the warmth take the tension from her hard ride out of her muscles.
    Leargan.
    His handsome form danced into her mind. Ebony hair hung past his shoulders in soft waves she longed to touch. His eyes were the darkest brown she’d ever seen and always so warm.
    Like honey at midnight.
    His naturally golden skin, denoting that he was originally from the Province of Ascova, made her want to run her fingertips over every inch of it.
    Everything appealed; chiseled face, muscular body, height. Not as tall as her father or the king, but he was probably an inch or so past six feet. Perfect.
    Looks aside, he was every bit a knight. A wonderful, chivalrous, honorable warrior. And Ansley wanted him as much as she ever had.
    Her stomach flipped.
    A huge yawn and a wave of fatigue washed over her. She needed to wrap up her bath before the water cooled.
    She scrubbed her hair with sweet-smelling soap and rinsed it from her body.
    After drying off with a linen bath sheet, Ansley slipped into the soft chemise Daicy had left for her, caressing the diaphanous fabric as it settled over her body.
    Ali wuffed a complaint when Ansley shoved the wolf over so she could climb into the oversized bed, but she grinned and ignored her bond’s bluster.
    With another yawn she couldn’t hold back, Ansley yanked up the thick sleeping furs.
    So soft and warm.
    The she-wolf curled into Ansley’s body, as soon as they both settled.
    She glanced up at the carved decorative ceiling of her temporary quarters. Armored and mailed knights sat on powerful steeds, preparing for an unknown battle, flags waving.
    Perhaps she would dream of her own knight, Sir Leargan Tegran.
    “It wouldn’t matter anyway. Not yours,” Ansley whispered.
    Blessed Spirit, she was doomed .

Chapter Three
    Roduch’s visions had come to life. She lay peacefully on the bed that dwarfed her form. Memories of images teased his mind, the picture in his head so different from the woman in front of him. Even healed, her skin lacked the luster of happiness she’d always exuded when he’d dreamt of her.
    No matter what he tried, he couldn’t get the pictures out of his head that had woken him that morning. The vision rocked him with disturbing clarity, the girl’s smooth pale skin begging for a caress as she threw her head back and laughed at something he’d whispered in her ear.
    What he’d said was a mystery, but his eyes had been locked onto the hollow of her throat. He’d burned to kiss her there. And then he’d pressed a kiss to her lips.
    One kiss normally would lead to two, and…He’d done that, and much more in other visions.
    Tonight…he’d finally met her in reality.
    Beaten.
    Bruised and broken.
    Raped.
    Mixed emotions hit him in a wave, his stomach twisting, grinding his heart into pieces. The organ that should be in his chest had taken up residence in his gut from the moment he’d seen her in a tattered, damaged ball on the side of the road.
    This girl, beautiful enigma, was supposed to be his wife. His heart told him as much, though his visions had never confirmed it.
    She’d been in his visions—his cursed magic—since he was a lad, but he didn’t even know her name.
    Since he’d come to live in Greenwald—accepting the position as one of the Aldern personal guard the very moment Leargan had asked him—the visions had been much more frequent.
    He used to get a flash, a tease. The past several months had left him with whole scenes—as if he was reading a book, with occasional conversation, though he couldn’t always make it out. If they weren’t speaking, or she wasn’t laughing, Roduch would see them making love, her face flushed pink, her lithe body bared beneath