Capture of a Heart Read Free Page A

reminded him that the pollen would be ruined if the flower were forced too strongly.
    His success came after several lengthy minutes with Gavenas managing a tiny mound of pink dust flecked with gold, which he placed inside of a fire-hardened kettle. The other ingredients weren’t so complicated and were readily available in his stores. The only concentration they required was measurements before being added to his pot. Once all the ingredients were combined, he carried the kettle to the fire and suspended it over a mild flame. The antidote would take a few hours, but his guest was deep in her slumber, and the effects of the first dose were manifesting already.
    Gavenas took up a cloth and a pail of water, his hands shaking more than they had when they had been occupied with the more complicated task of potion preparation. Going to his knees before the short but broad pallet of furs, moss, and leaves, he set the bowl down and dipped the cloth into the cool water.
    So close to the woman he could catch the fullness of her earthy yet feminine scent, he forced himself not to watch the rise and fall of a bosom tightly bound by black leathers and gold clasps, or lower. She had shrugged a long, shapely brown leg outside of the furs. That too he had to look away from, with the distraction of an aching lip, which he had bitten down upon.
    Beads of glistening sweat were blossoming all along the smooth skin of her face—signs of the toxins being successfully expelled from her body. They required his immediate attention, he reminded himself as he brought the cloth to her forehead.
    Slowly and carefully, he wiped away the residue of poison from her, muttering incantations of calm. Not solely for her. Daubing the cloth over her chest, arms, and stomach and down the length of her legs to the soles of her feet required his mind to be occupied with prayer and spirit song throughout.
    While there was every bit of evidence that this female was as natural as the mountain she had doubtlessly come from, there was something else—supernatural almost—that even he couldn’t surmise.
    With the last swipe of the cloth against her foot, Gavenas rediscovered haste, snatching up the bowl and rising from the floor. He was on fire, as if he were the one who had been poisoned. His temperature was affecting his mind’s ability to recall even the simplest of functions. His ability to walk straight suffered, and all recollections of spells were vanishing as he took the bowl out of his den and into the storm.
    The winds still raged, the forest groaning under the weight of the stormy skies above. The tempest was losing strength, but thankfully the rain still descended. Outside, with his back resting against the walls of his earthen home, the bowl fell from his hold and onto the ground, but he had no thought for contamination. The soil around his home was blessed. He might have chosen a spot farther away to cast out the contents, but the desperation to feel the cool kiss of the rain against his flesh was a maddening need.
    He pulled at the stays of his robe. He yanked his long tunic up and over his head before releasing the ties that held his hair back from his face and stood naked beneath the showers. Only through closing his eyes and giving himself to the darkness, by capturing the aching weight of his cock in hand and holding tight, could Gavenas realize why the stranger in his bed had affected him so.
    As he ran his palm up and down his length, he envisioned what it might feel like to be engulfed. With his other hand, he caressed a path over hardened nipples, wondering how they would feel with the softness and warmth of full breasts pressed against them. Gavenas opened his lips to let raindrops course over them, sweet as the kisses from a soul mate could be.
    He felt humbled by his baser needs, triggered so intently by the mysterious woman. Imagining every raindrop as a caress from her fingertips, Gavenas attempted to question his sanity.
    His pulse