Read Her Warriors for Free Online Page B

small comfort as she leaned against his
chest and cried silent tears of despair. Beau rocked her gently in
his arms until she calmed, but she didn’t move away. There was
something so strong and safe about Beau’s muscular arms around her.
She felt protected in a way that wasn’t threatening to her
independence. She felt cherished. Almost…loved?
    She looked up at him as the thought crossed
her mind and was caught by his golden gaze. Time seemed to stand
still as his head dipped, his mouth drawing slowly closer to
hers.
    And then he kissed her. Time stilled as the
most gentle and respectful of kisses touched her lips. His warm,
piney scent engulfed her, sparking something inside her that had
lain dormant for a very long time. And then he rumbled against her.
She broke the kiss, startled. Had he just…purred?
    Jacki didn’t know a lot about tigers, but
she knew that if a lion shifter did that kind of thing—purring in
human form—the consequences were pretty profound. As in mating profound.
    Jacki couldn’t handle this. She stepped away
from Beau and headed for the door at a fast pace. She was thankful
when he didn’t follow. She was just a little too distraught right
now to deal with any other majorly life changing experiences.
    She fled through the house and found herself
back in the large kitchen. Geir was still there, but she didn’t
really want to see anyone right now. The door to the back garden
beckoned, but she couldn’t be rude to her host.
    He must’ve seen something in her expression
because he stood and immediately came to her. He stood close and
something within her wanted to lean on his strength. Surely someone
who was a Master had enough inner peace to go around. She
needed some of that right now.
    “What’s wrong?” His strong hands were gentle
on her shoulders as he touched her. He was warm and comforting
rather than intimidating, which was odd considering he was such a
badass sensei. “Is it your brother?”
    Mutely, she nodded, breaking down again. It
was too much to bear. Tom had always been her rock, her solid
ground. The one who bandaged her skinned knees and let her tag
along on his adventures in the ocean and out of it. They’d been
inseparable as children and had even maintained a reasonably close
relationship during their rough teen years. Tom was older, but he
never got too impatient with her hanging around, and she had
idolized her brother most of their lives.
    “I knew when I saw him get out of the van
that something was very wrong with him,” Geir admitted, rubbing her
shoulders with a light touch. “Can anything be done?”
    “I don’t know. It’s a magical injury, not a
physical one. I’m hoping that when Bettina gets here, she’ll be
able to help him. Have you heard from her at all?” Somehow, Jacki’s
hands were placed flat against Geir’s chest and she felt the
reassuring beat of his heart. She didn’t remove her hands, even
after she realized the intimacy of the pose she had unconsciously
adopted.
    “No word yet, but Ria told me to expect her
sometime today. Surely the High Priestess will be able to help
him.”
    She knew Geir was trying to sound positive
for her sake, but she heard the thread of doubt in his voice, no
matter how hard he tried to hide it. She felt the same way and it
all just became too much. She slid her hands up around his neck and
rested her ear against the comforting beat of his heart, glad when
his arms came around her somewhat hesitantly.
    “I know what it’s like,” he said softly,
surprising her.
    “What what’s like?” she whispered, not
moving her head from his chest.
    “To lose a brother by magical means,” he
replied, shocking her a bit. “I left Iceland because my older
brother was killed by a mage. I don’t think I ever want to go back
to that cold, depressing country. Losing Thorson was almost more
than I could stand.”
    She heard the deep, heart wrenching emotion
in his voice, even though he spoke in tones hardly above