Tamed Read Online Free

suffering he’d endured, although now he was happily mated and seemed to have found peace. Lily smiled. “Your brother put Caleb in charge of deciding who will attend.”
    While the prophets would lead the talks, the king had a say in the proceedings.
    Jase eyed her. “My brother listens to you.”
    “Maybe.” Lily scooted closer to the door just as it opened.
    Caleb grasped her hips and set her on the ground, his warm palms leaving heated imprints on her skin. The scents of pine trees and male surrounded her. “Wear this.” He plopped a hard hat on her head.
    She frowned and squinted up at him as one of her dangling earrings caught. “You’re not wearing one.”
    “My head is harder than yours.” He held out his hand. “Earrings.”
    Frowning, she handed them over, surprised when he drew a box from his back pocket. “For you.”
    She blinked. Her heart leaped to her throat. She flipped open the lid to reveal stunning solitaire diamonds. “I don’t understand.”
    He shrugged. “I saw them, and they reminded me of you. Beautiful, elegant, and simple. Please wear them.”
    She blinked and inserted the diamonds as if in a dream. Heat rose into her face. Was Caleb trying to court her? “Thank you, Caleb.”
    He nodded. “I meant to attend the surprise party for your birthday last month but got caught in a fight in Iceland.”
    Oh. So they were a birthday present. Even so, he’d spent time choosing them—just for her. “It was no big deal, just a little get-together. But as a prophet, you should spend more time counseling and mediating situations than fighting, don’t you think?”
    “Absolutely not. I’m meant to fight, not to compromise.”
    “Then why are you here? These are going to be peace talks.” Couldn’t he at least hope for peace? She fingered the solid stone in her ear.
    “I’m here to protect the king and Janie in what is sure to be a battle.”
    “Not little old me?” she asked with what felt like a flirty smile.
    “I’ve told the king that you are too much of a security risk, considering the Kurjans have been after you for years.” His jaw seemed to harden.
    “I’m attending the talks—we need to find peace.” The man wasn’t going to keep her from doing her job.
    He shook his head. “There will be no peace.”
    Sorrow filled Lily for the briefest of moments. How could he live every day and not even think there was a chance for peace?
    His gaze swept her from head to toe. “You couldn’t wear jeans even to head into the bowels of the earth?”
    She glanced down at her deep green skirt and matching blouse. “This is fine for mine shafts.” They might be heading into the earth, but she was on duty and at work. “You could look more like a prophet.” Though the man looked beyond good.
    His faded jeans covered muscled thighs, and the worn T-shirt spread across his broad chest hugged impressive strength. “I’m a soldier, not a prophet.”
    Actually, he was both. Lily nodded toward the gaping opening in the rock, set into looming mountains so tall snow had already dusted the peaks. Farther down the hillside, where she stood, fall had turned the leaves brilliant colors of red, gold, and orange. The month of change was a perfect time for peace talks. “I take it we’re at the north entrance?”
    “Yes.” Caleb pressed a hand to her lower back in a touch that was both reassuring and possessive. “The Realm will have all control of the northern entrance, while the Kurjans control the south, the demons the east, and the witches the west.”
    Lily nodded and stepped lightly over a pile of rocks, glad she’d worn her boots. “How far down are we going?”
    “The mine was deserted years ago, and after our alterations, reaches about five thousand feet down, made possible by a blend of string theory and quantum physics— magic, in other words. It’s an impossible depth, and we’re combining some dangerous science to pull it off. Are you claustrophobic?”
    “No.” But