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Mathin’s rough voice was glacial. “She was dying, maggot brain. Had I not ‘caused trouble’ you wouldn’t be holding her now.”
Worried, Jasmine’s gaze swung between the two men. “What’s wrong? It didn’t hurt me, Keilor.”
“You’ve done nothing, love. Be still,” Keilor told her, and said to Mathin with barely restrained violence, “She would not have been in that condition if you hadn’t botched your job in the first place. What kind of savage are you?”
Mathin’s eyes ignited gold and he leaned towards Keilor with a curl to his lip. “I am not invincible, any more than you are,” he said
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The Charmer 63
Since he could never tell her his thoughts, he showed her instead. With infinite tenderness he kissed her and carried her to the bed, showing her with his body how much he cherished her and the gift of her fidelity. Hearts and souls communed through hands and lips, speaking of a connection that was more than skin deep. It was a beautiful moment, and when he finally took her body, they truly became one.A long while and much loving later, Jasmine snuggled with sleepy satisfaction against her husband, reveling in the feeling of being held. Her languidly stroking hand encountered her dragonfly pendant, and she smiled, fingering it. Sighing with pleasure, she told him, “You sure know how to spoil a girl, honey.”Keilor chuckled and hugged her in response. &ldqu
The Charmer 64
Jasmine stared out her window, watching the sunset gloss the sky over the sea with bright fuchsia and gold. Her room had been thoroughly cleaned and Keilor’s stuff transferred back to his old quarters. The door was locked, and she was in the mood to reinforce her solitude with charmer commands, if necessary.She would not be the one rejected this time.What a shame she hadn’t figured out Keilor’s game before she submitted to a “marriage” with him. Nice and tight, legal and binding, at least here, or so he’d led her to believe. Thanks to a little investigation, she’d discovered that wasn’t true. The bond they’d created could be severed with about a year’s worth of abstinence.
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All her life she’d wanted something of her own, something good she’d created that no one else could ever take away. Her logical mind began to nag at her that Keilor and her marriage was that something good, a creation worth saving, but her emotional self refused that logic, bringing the image to her again and again of Keilor’s face when he’d asked if the symbiont could be removed. He doesn’t want you, that other self whispered.Rejection. Humiliation. Old foes with heavy chains bound her. Days went by as she let them torture her, wallowing in emotional filth until she couldn’t remember what it was like to feel clean and bright and full of hope. Nausea began to plague her, and she didn’t want to eat. The exercise she forced on herself in her attempts to forget Keilor wore on her, and she took to sleepi
The Charmer 66
He sighed. “We’ll put it down to pregnancy. Breeding woman are known to do all manor of odd things.” She scowled at him, and he smiled, glad to see a return of her spirit.He stood up and carried her to the bed, laying her on top of the quilt and arranging the light blanket folded at the bottom over her. “Rest for a little while. I’ll be back to join you very soon, but first I have to speak to Jayems.” He kissed her. “I won’t be long.”***“I won’t allow harm to come to them.”
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Jasmine scowled and pushed him back. “Are you saying women aren’t taught trades?” she asked, indignant.Sighing, he propped his head on his arm and answered, “Women may learn whatever they choose and are encouraged to do so. It is only that many marry and begin families of their own, and it’s difficult to care for children and work at a trade, too.”“Hmm.” She pursed her lips in thought, and Keilor leaned over to take advantage of her momentary quiet, but she beat him to the punch. “If the baby’s a boy, I suppose you’ll want to stick a sword in his hand and throw him up on a stag as soon as he can walk, huh?”Slightly exaspe
The Charmer 68
By the time they’d watched a weaver working on a tapestry, seen a glassblower create a rose and green swirled goblet, and witnessed a potter at her wheel, Keilor was looking rather peaked, though he never said a word. Taking pity on him, Jasmine suggested, “Why don’t we take a break? I’m starving.”Visibly relieved, Keilor took her hand and led her through the crowd. He chose a restaurant with wide windows and a pleasant odor of sweetness and steaming seafood. Mouth watering, she surveyed the buffet. Mounds of snowy shellfish, swimming with vegetables, orange crustaceans arranged on leaves of kale, and seafood salads in bright red and white radicchio bowls tempted her as breakfast hadn’t. Avoiding the tentacled dish and what looked suspiciously like jellyfish, Jasmine loaded a plate with moist baked fish sm
The Charmer 69
Keilor sat in the chair next to his wife’s bed with his hands steepled against his chin, his eyes closed. They burned from staring at the slow rise and fall of Jasmine’s chest.There wasn’t anything the Haunt medics could do. The symbiont flowed like water through the fingers and instruments that tried to remove it from Jasmine’s arms, and Jasmine thrashed in delirious panic whenever it had been attempted. Finally Keilor had ordered them to stop trying.Rihlia was not much better. Although Jasmine had managed to save her baby, possibly at the risk of her own, she had been badly beaten, and even the natural resilience and speedy healing of her Haunt body could only do so much against loosened teeth, cracked bones and bleeding organs. Jayems stood
The Charmer 70
Jackson did not hesitate, but his answering nod was noticeably curt. In light of that, Jasmine kept her hands to herself, but her circling inspection was no less thorough.“Nice,” she pronounced with approval and then, “How fast does it go?” with a gleam in her eye.“Don’t even think it,” Keilor growled, taking her by the shoulders and steering her away from temptation. “This is Jackson,” he said, planting her firmly in front of the man she had pushed and ignored in favor of his symbiont. “His symbiont saved your life.”Rattled at her lack of memory, Jasmine frowned and unthinkingly asked, “Why?” Keilor’s fingers
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