Surrender (THE DRAGONFLY CHRONICLES) Read Online Free Page A

heavens,” she murmured and concentrated on her thumping heart until it calmed slightly. Stars sparked in her periphery and she fought to control the desperate need to suck in air. “It’s like a bloody tomb.”
    She grabbed a blanket roll from the end of the netting-draped cot. She’d brush her hair and rub the dust off her teeth outside. They’d disembark in the morning and she would refresh herself at the hotel in Luxor where she planned to buy clothing suitable for expedition.
    Kailin turned and gasped, the air catching in her throat. The porcelain pitcher in the bowl near the small porthole rattled. Jackson Black’s imposing, mountain of a body blocked the doorway. Trapped!
    His head nearly brushed the ceiling. He stared with a lopsided grin at her full arms. “Vacating? It’s customary to wait until the boat stops moving, preferably at a dock, before disembarking,” he drawled.
    Kailin cleared her throat and tipped her nose higher. “I dislike these accommodations. Until another room can be found, I will wait on deck.”
    “There are no other accommodations.”
    They stared at each other for a long moment. “You may have these,” Kailin offered. “I prefer the outside anyway.”
    She stepped closer to him, which would force polite company to move aside. Apparently Jackson Black wasn’t polite company. He didn’t even twitch as she walked up to him, invading his space. He grinned, a cocky tilt to his head.
    Kailin frowned up at him. “Excuse me.” Her shoulders tightened and she breathed deeply. The room crowded her from behind and Jackson blocked her forward escape. In and out she breathed. “I…I need some air.” The porcelain pitcher rattled in its basin behind her again, but Jackson didn’t break the stare.
    His grin faded to stone lines. “You’re pale.” Without further explanation, Jackson grabbed her valise and moved aside. His empty hand slid along the curve of Kailin’s back to usher her out. She could feel the heat through her gown. Her heart leapt at the contact. Very few people had ever dared to touch her, dared to even meet the sharp glint she’d perfected.
    Kailin’s control slipped. She stopped mid-stride on the narrow line of the corridor. Jackson stopped with her, waiting. Kailin’s gaze strayed to the paintings lining the short walls on either side of them. Her heart flew, her breathing hitched in and out, not smooth at all. Yet…the paintings hung, un-abused, un-rattled. As if only air wafted around them, not insanely unchecked magic.
    “Shall I carry you?” Jackson’s breath brushed against her ear where her hair cinched back into a tight bun.
    “Out,” she hissed and half expected the roof of the small boat to shatter upward into the night sky. But nothing happened. Only her own hyperventilating echoed in the silence around them. “I must get out.” Kailin jerked forward and Jackson’s hand fell away as she sprinted toward the steep steps leading to freedom and the promise of fresh air.
    “Damn,” Jackson swore on an exhale behind her. The sound of paintings jumping from their nails and clattering against the hard floor punctuated the curse. But Kailin didn’t care. She reached the top of the steps and flew to the railing. She gripped the wooden rail as hard as she tried to grip her power. Like a fish fighting against the line, Kailin fought to reel herself back in.
    She breathed and imagined a bright blue sky, open and free, white puffy clouds high above. Her eyes closed as she imagined Tuto soaring up and through the azure with a gentle breeze. In and out. Gentle, open, and free. And little by little Kailin spooled in her magic, funneling it into the current surrounding the boat to speed it once more toward Luxor.
    After several minutes she blinked open to reality, the deep blue-black shade of night across the desert. The splash of the water under her propulsion continued a constant lap and gurgle that melted into the background. In and out, she breathed and