The Awakening Read Online Free Page B

.
                  It took her a moment, but once Thais finally managed to steady herself *an act accomplished only with a generous amount of help from Dominic and Vardra *, she tilted her head back that she might finally look upon his face.  He was a giant of a man who towered over her, and she found herself holding her breath as she took in the magnificence of him.  His hair was as black as the Darmouth Mountains back home, smooth and thick as it frame his face.  His features were strong and masculine, a firm mouth and full lips, and a visible shadow of beard that only seemed to enhance his appeal.  His eyes were a brilliant shade of blue that blazed with such intensity she felt the need to shade her own from their brightness, and it was only the effects of the wine that allowed her to endure his scrutiny without cowering away.  His chest was a broad expanse of muscle, his arms like massive columns and his legs corded steel, and the very air around him rippled with sexuality so raw and real that it threatened to rob the very breath from her lungs.
                  “My Lord,” Dominic said, and she could hear the smile in his voice as the world around her began to spin dangerously.  “Allow me to introduce Thais Mousa, daughter of the house of Thoran on the world of Kandar.  Long has her family served the ancients and their ways.”
                  “Thais,” Aramis said with a slight bow.  “A most beautiful name,” he purred, doing his best to appear charming and friendly.  Her eyes, almost as bright a blue as his own, grew round and wide with fear, and he thought her about to cry before she covered h er mouth and ran for the bushes.  She barely manag ed the indignant act of bending over a log before she began to empty the contents of her stomach with all the grace and charm of a sailor coming off a three day drinking binge.
                  Aramis turned to look at Dominic, unsure if he should be angry or amused.
                  “Make a note,” he said as Thais continued to wretch and heave, her small bottom bobbing up and down as she remained bent over.  He watched, definitely amused now as Vardra went to her aid.  It was a very nice bottom, he thought.
                  “What note is that, my Lord?”  Dominic asked, cringing a bit from the awful noise that managed to escape so small a person.
                  “No more wine for Thais.”
                  Dominic chuckled then as Aramis went forward, gathered Thais into his arms, and immediately faded into nothingness.
                  “I suppose this means our duty is done for the evening,” Dominic said as he turned to Vardra .  “It would be an honor if you would join me on the beach tonight,” he whispered as he suddenly pulled her up against him, Aramis and Thais quickly becoming forgotten for a time.  Her eyes were almost level with his and he found he liked the way the softness of her mixed with her strength to tease and confuse him into a mind-numbing state of arousal.
                  “The honor would be all mine, my Lord,” she answered back before sighing and losing herself to the addictive taste of his kiss.  If Aramis were a kind God at all, she thought in passing before Dominic’s hands began to enflame her need beyond reasonable thought, he would never allow this night to end.

~ III ~
     
                  Thais slowly opened her eyes, grateful to find her surroundings bathed in the muted colors of that ‘in-between’ time, though whether it was morning or night that waited on the other side, she wasn’t quite sure. Moaning quietly at the ache in her head, she eased into a sitting position, squinting against the soft glow of the fire that blazed in the hearth just beyond the bed where she now lay.  As her vision came into focus, s he could see that she was in a large, open room, the corners