Braden by Allyson James

had three servants in the house plus Alonda, a
far cry from the twenty who’d waited on her at her mother’s house. Four
servants, to the Way of the Sky, was simplicity.
    Alonda gave her suspicious looks and offered to stay and
look after Elisa by herself, but Elisa remained resolute. The others were
overjoyed with the unexpected bonus, packed their bags and hurried off.
    “Call me if you need me, m’lady,” Alonda said before she
went. “I can be back here in an instant.”
    Elisa promised distractedly and sent her away.
    Elisa knew how to prepare her own meals and clean her
clothes—she’d learned self-sufficiency at the retreat center. Even if she
weren’t certain about her choice of celibacy and her spiritual convictions, she
was grateful for some of the lessons the Way of the Sky had taught her.
Self-discipline and independence weren’t bad things.
    She changed the code on her front and back door locks and
sent the codes to Braden. He didn’t answer the terminal—she left a message.
    Elisa spent the next three days trying to behave normally
and failing. She went to work each day, half expecting Braden to appear there.
She jumped every time the front door hissed open and every time anyone male
entered the library.
    Braden never came.
    She tried to call him on the evening of the second day, but
he didn’t answer. Elisa keyed off, leaving no message.
    On the third day, she had to stay late for a meeting of the
library board. The event with the art museum had gone off well, and the board
discussed what to do better next year. Tired after that, Elisa walked the few
blocks between library and home, hoping the cool night air would refresh her.
    It didn’t. She was sweating as she entered her house,
pulling off her robes down to her silk sheath. She unpinned her veils and let
her hair fall down her back while she searched the house for Braden.
    He wasn’t lurking in the sitting room or the hall, the
kitchen or the servant’s quarters. She checked every room, but Elisa was still
alone. Sighing, she ate a light supper, bathed and went to bed.
    In the middle of the night she woke, her heart racing.
    The air had changed, something subtly different.
    A warm hand on her wrist made her jump, and then the weight
of a hard body pressed her to the mattress. A padded manacle replaced the grip
on her wrist, snapping snugly in place.
    “My librarian.” Braden’s breath whispered on her cheek. “I’m
here to teach you so many bad things.”

Chapter Eight
     
    Elisa shivered, hard. “What things?”
    Braden pressed fingers to her lips. “No questions.” His
voice was stern. “You trust me, or I leave.”
    It wasn’t in Elisa’s nature to not ask questions. She drew
another breath, and his fingers grew heavy.
    “You trust me,” he said. “Do you?”
    Elisa waited, debating whether she did, then she nodded.
After all, she’d been the one who’d asked him to come.
    He lifted her unbound hand and kissed her palm, lips
scalding. “This hand stays free. You’ve never touched a man, am I right?”
    Elisa nodded again. Her heart danced in her chest, her
female places wetter than they’d ever been.
    “Touch me, Elisa. Get used to me.”
    In the darkness, he guided her hand to his shoulder. She
found bare skin, smooth and warm, no fabric in her way.
    She stopped. Was there no clothing all the way down? Goddess,
be with me. Elisa glided her fingertips down his back, over the curve of
his spine, down, down.
    Nothing stopped her. His breath was hot on her face, body
still, the muscles of his back sculpted from the best genetics in existence.
She stopped when she reached the firm cushion of his buttocks.
    Braden’s teeth flashed in the gloom. “Keep going,
sweetheart.”
    Elisa tentatively smoothed her fingers over his backside.
His skin was cooler there, even though he was hotter than a normal human. His
buttocks were smooth mounds, muscles tight. She wanted to stroke and squeeze
them.
    “Touch and learn.” He smiled