Rise Read Online Free Page B

said roughly. “There is nothing I want so much as you.”
    She reached for him, and Barrow pulled her into his arms, but when Ember tried to kiss him, he turned his face from her.
    “This isn’t the time for us, Ember,” he told her. “Not here.”
    Ember laughed. “Do you honestly believe I’m still attached to the thought of making love only in a feather bed? I’m not a spoiled noblewoman, Barrow. You know that.”
    “That’s not it,” Barrow said. “I would make love to you here, in a bed, in a river. No place would thwart my desire for you.”
    “Good.” Ember moved to kiss him again. This time his lips lingered against hers, but not for long.
    “The only thing that could stop me is putting you at risk.” Barrow held her slightly apart, his hands strong on her shoulders.
    “What risk?” Ember frowned, her body thrumming from his touch and her frustration growing from being kept at bay.
    “That you could conceive,” Barrow said quietly.
    Silence filled the small space between them. For a time, Ember could hear only the rapid beating of her heart.
    Finally Barrow said, “To father your child would be a great honor, Ember. But this is a dangerous time. If you were to become pregnant, you might fall ill as some women do. And you must be strong now, ready to fight.”
    “I know,” Ember answered. She couldn’t imagine carrying a child in her belly. Not now. Perhaps not ever.
    When Barrow’s fingers lightly touched her cheek, she covered his hand with hers.
    “Does that mean… I can’t be with you?” Ember asked, not sure she had the will to keep her distance from him.
    “No,” Barrow said quickly, with a forced laugh. “Merciful God, no.”
    “But—”
    Barrow laughed again, pulling her against him. “You don’t remember?”
    “Remember what?”
    “You asked me once if members of the Guard ever took lovers.”
    Heat rushed into Ember’s cheeks as she recalled the conversation, the confusion she’d felt that day, and how much had changed since.
    Barrow continued, “I told you to seek advice from Sorcha about getting herbs that would allow you to make your choices without risk of a child.”
    “I never—I didn’t—” Ember spluttered. Barrow was the only man she’d wanted in this way. When he’d passed her training to Sorcha and kept himself distant, Ember had assumed that he held her in disdain. A child with a misguided infatuation. Only when he’d drawn her into his arms amid a downpour, beneath the shelter of a great oak, had she learned that he returned her feelings.
    “Sorcha and I never talked of these things,” Ember finished awkwardly.
    “Mmmmm.” Barrow made a sound that blended frustration and disbelief. “When you asked me if any of the guard took lovers, I thought you might have sought a companion for your bed.”
    Ember nearly choked on her own breath. Fortunately Barrow continued speaking, sparing her the embarrassment of an attempt at spluttering a response.
    “And it was that day”—Barrow paused, holding Ember in his gaze—“that I was forced to admit my jealousy. Though I thought I could fight my own desires, I learned quickly that my only choice was to keep myself away from you.”
    “I thought you despised me,” Ember said.
    “Despised you?” Barrow said. “How could you think—”
    “You left me,” she answered sharply. “You were my teacher, my friend, and then you were gone. What else was I to think?”
    “I thought you would take me to be a brute no different from Alistair,” Barrow continued, “who tried to force his way into your bed.”
    “You are nothing like Alistair. I longed for you to come to me.” Ember leaned toward him, her pulse thrumming with the boldness of her words.
    “I still feared you,” Barrow told her. “What would happen if I…”
    He rested his hand on her knee. Very slowly, Barrow’s touch moved up her thigh, following the curve of her hip and finally resting on her waist. He spread his fingers wide,