From New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling Author, Rebecca York
They were friends as children, she from the master race, he born to servants on her father's estate. But in the bloody rebellion that followed, his people were the victors. Now he's home, reaping the spoils of war. But both of them have been chewed up and spit out by what happened to them in the conflict.
Can they heal each other's wounds and find the love both of them have always craved?
Link has lost most of one leg, and there's still poison in the stump. He's ashamed of his mangled body and hates having Kassie see it.
EXCERPT:
He must have slept. The next thing he knew, he was awake and listening to stealthy feet moving in the darkness. His hand shot to the gun. The intruder was quicker, surer. He heard the weapon clank onto the stand beside the bed.
"It's all right," Kasimanda whispered.
Some of the tension went out of him. In the semi-darkness, he could see her only in outline. When he remembered she could see him a lot better, his stomach knotted. "What're you doing here?" he growled, trying to pull the bedding over the stump of his right leg.
Her hand covered his. "Lie still."
He felt the mattress shift as she came down beside him. "I'm going to take care of the wound."
"No." He tried to slide away, but one of her hands gripped his shoulder, stilling him. When the other hand touched his ruined flesh, he went rigid. "Don't."
"It's all right," she answered, a quaver in her voice. "I understand."
He uttered a short, humorless laugh. "Yeah? And how in Atherdan's name could you understand? What have you lost?" The instant the words left his mouth, he regretted them. Consumed by pain and humiliation, he'd forgotten what she'd told him only a short time ago--that, indeed, she'd lost everything.
She didn't reply, only stared at him. He couldn't hold her gaze, had to look away.
For several more moments, silence hung in the darkness between them. Then her fingers flattened against his hot skin.
"Let me see if this salve works," she whispered. "I want it to work. I want to give you that. Maybe it's all I can give you."