Read Avow for Free Online

her throat. “I don’t want to wake up next to a corpse, so, like…scram.”
    “No.”
    She moved to push him out the door—on the off chance that she’d suddenly obtained superhuman strength and would be able to move his big body—but he reflexively drew back from her hands, keeping himself from her reach.
    He froze for a moment and stared at her hands in a weird way.
    “What?” She suddenly felt nervous and dropped her arms.
    His lips parted in awe as he tilted his head to the side and looked her over.
    Happiness. Relief. Wonder… His emotions were all warm and fuzzy.
    “Tristan, why are you—”
    “I don’t have to keep away from you anymore,” he said in realization. “My touch no longer hurts you.”
    His eyes traced back down her neck and he reached his hand out.
    Oh crap.
    Scarlet opened her mouth to protest, but his soft fingertips stroked along her jaw and she forgot what speaking was. Liquid warmth slid into her skin beneath his hand, swirling into her stomach and drying out her throat, and Scarlet had never felt anything so amazing.
    His fingers trailed down her neck and softly stroked up and down her throat, his eyes watching the movement in complete fascination. She absently lifted her chin, giving his fingers more room to roam as her eyes fluttered with the curse-granted pleasure his touch brought.
    “This,” he moved his hand to her mouth and ran his thumb across her lower lip, “doesn’t hurt you.” He spoke softly and every fiber in Scarlet’s body tightened with desire. “My touch isn’t dangerous anymore.”
    Oh, his touch was dangerous. Very, very dangerous.
    He could die.
    Scarlet’s eyes fell shut as his hand trailed down to the collar of the shirt that smelled like him and drew a hot line along the exposed bit of her collarbone.
    “You have no idea how wonderful it is to be able to touch you without hurting you.” The pads of his fingers moved back up her throat.
    She was starting to sink into a deep and dreamy pleasure…
    He could die .
    With a strangled inhale, Scarlet opened her eyes. “Stop,” she commanded. “You could die.”
    His fingers halted their traveling and he slowly drew his hand away. Scarlet willed her body to calm down as Tristan continued to stare at her in wonderment.
    “So, yeah.” She swallowed. “Why don’t you back up like two hundred feet and go sleep in your own bed, and I’ll stay here.” And try to get my heart under control.
    He took one step back—not two hundred—and frowned at her, all wonderment gone from his face as he shook his head. “The pain is worse at night, Scar. If I stay with you, you won’t hurt so much and you’ll be able to sleep.”
    “If you stay with me, you’ll get sick.” She shooed him away with her hand, growing irritated. “Quit trying to die. I can handle pain.”
    “I know you can, but I don’t want you to.”
    She sighed. “Your bedroom is right next door. I’ll be fine. Go.”
    He didn’t move.
    “Tristan. Come on.”
    He hesitated, looking her over. Fear, concern, love, frustration.
    “Fine,” he finally said and turned to leave the room. At the doorway, he stopped. “But I swear to God, Scar. If I hear you in here crying or something, I will break down your door and tie you to my body.”
    Her cheeks flushed again.
    “Thanks for the warning.” She smiled tightly. “Now, get out.”
    Scarlet locked the door behind him before crawling into the big, white guest bed, images of being tied to Tristan’s body floating through her head.
    Damn him.
    She wrapped herself under the plush comforter, but knew it was useless. She wouldn’t be sleeping.
    Too much had happened. Too much was yet to come.
    With a heavy sigh, she stared at the ceiling and tried to figure out what she was going to do about the fountain. She stared and thought and stared and thought. She shifted uncomfortably as pain slid up and down her body like a slab of cheese on a grater , growing more intense by the minute.
    She stared