Free Hearts of Ishira (Hearts of Ishira Saga) by Bethany Aan

so,” she murmured, forgetting that he couldn’t understand her. Clenching her teeth at the various aches and sharp pains stabbing at her, she sent him the thought, along with a bit of the pain she was in. As he strode toward his riding beast, she closed her eyes and tried her mantra one more time.
    Center. Open. Flow. Wait . One one-thousand …
    This time, though, instead of having to wait for the power to come welling up from within her, it came from without, encompassing her, filling her with warmth, wonder, and brightness. Sucking in a breath, she looked up, met Hunter’s intense gaze. He had felt her trying to control the pain. When she opened herself to her own power, he’d been able to add to it from his considerable well of energy.
    For what seemed like eternity, he fed her his strength, took as much pain as he could from her, and shared his unexpected joy of their mingled essences. Ri had tears in her eyes by the time he was done. His energy was so very… warm, reassuring, bright. She wanted to remain where she was, joined with him, and just drink him in until she could take no more. Lost in wonder, she raised a shaking hand to his face and traced his lips with a delicate touch.
    “Thank you,” she whispered reverently. As though he’d known her for years instead of just under an hour, he kissed her fingertip, nodded his understanding. A little smile kicked up the corner of his mouth and he sent her a wave of admiration and encouragement. He inserted an image into her mind, of her dressed in warrior’s garb of a thigh-length tunic and leather cross-garters over her chest, black leather pants and knee-high leather boots. A gleaming sword was held tightly in her hand as she stood guard over the young women, protecting them as fiercely as any general or mother would. He stood beside her in the mental image, helping her, his gaze proud as he looked down at his ‘little warrior’.
    Arianna stared up at him in utter disbelief.
    A warrior? Her? Where in the world had he gotten that impression?

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    Hunter called another set of orders to his men then strode to his mount and quickly gained the saddle without the use of his hands or any other assistance. Arianna was stunned. She wasn’t the thinnest woman in the world. Not the fattest, either, but she wasn’t a light-weight, for all her short stature. Yet he carried her as though she weighed no more than a child. Perhaps because he was so very tall. And muscular. His arms, when he wrapped them around her to take up the reigns, were corded with muscle. His bare chest was hard and smooth beneath leather bands that crossed his body and held his sword’s sheath in place on his back.
    He was very careful with her as he arranged her so that her cheek was against his chest, her head nestled firmly against his upper arm as he wrapped it around her shoulders to keep her from moving too much. She sighed at the warmth rolling off of his skin. The cloak he had wrapped securely around them both was also warm and infused with his scent. She breathed it in, startled that it was a clean, very exotic but distinctly masculine aroma. Smoky, woodsy, and with a bit of musk that was alien but enticing, it did things to her that, had she not been so weak and in such pain, might have led to some interesting moments on the ride back to the compound. When the beast beneath them started moving, she moaned in renewed pain and wrapped her arm around his narrow waist.
    Her fingers encountered sleek fur. She had already put the furry backs of his men out of her mind. Now, she took the opportunity to tentatively explore that aspect of his alieness, for just a moment. Her fingers slid through the fur, soft and warm but just as sleek and thick as a cat’s.
    When she felt his sigh, Arianna looked up at him. He was watching her warily, waiting for her reaction, in case she decided to try to fight and run. As if she could. She met his gaze and offered a