Free In Other Worlds by Sherrilyn Kenyon Page A

damp with sweat, and she saw the whiteness of his lips as he struggled with his pain while he leaned heavily on his cane.
    â€œI’m sorry,” he said, his voice tense. “I know you were just trying to help. But I passed the point of help a long time ago.” He shifted his weight and winced. “Look, I know about your people and customs, and I know you were raised inside a cage. The last thing you need is to be saddled with a man who can barely walk. Why don’t you just go and get your own place and live? I’ll be happy to put you on all my accounts. You’ll never want for anything.”
    It was a generous offer he made. But she couldn’t accept it. “I can’t do that.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause I love you.”

FOUR
    Adron couldn’t have been more stunned if Livia had reached up and slapped him. “You don’t even know me.”
    â€œYes, I do. You try to hide what you are, but I see it. It shines through your bitterness with a brightness not even you can extinguish.”
    He scowled at her. “And what am I?”
    â€œYou’re kind and decent. You have a good heart.”
    He snorted at her infantile naïveté. “I have no heart at all. What I have is a mechanical substitute that pumps blood though a broken body, and half the time it malfunctions.”
    She rose from the couch.
    Adron flinched as she touched him. God, how he wanted to kiss her.
    No, he wanted to slide himself deep inside her until he was lost. Until he forgot everything except the peace he’d found there that one night they’d spent together. Was that too much to ask?
    She took him by the hand and led him into his media room. “Zarina said that it’s painful at times for you to sit, so I thought I’d make a few modifications for you.”
    He stared at the new sofa. It was twice the size of his old one and looked more like a small bed. She’d piled pillows up all over it. Girlie pillows that looked out of place with his dark, masculine tones.
    Biting back a nasty comment over that, Adron sat down and leaned against the pillows, amazed at just how good it did feel.
    Until Livia sat down next to him. His body reacted instantly to her nearness. “You’re killing me.”
    â€œI don’t want to kill you.” She leaned forward and captured his lips with hers.
    Closing his eyes, he savored the taste of her. Over the last month he’d done little except dream of her kiss. Dream of touching her again.
    She ran her hands over his body, making him burn even more.
    And when she touched his cock through his pants, he cursed. “Livia, stop. I can’t make love to you.”
    She smiled patiently at him. “That’s okay. I’m making love to you.”
    He frowned as she started unbuttoning his shirt.
    Adron opened his mouth to protest, but then she dipped her head to his neck. He sucked his breath in as her tongue gently laved his skin. And as she nibbled and licked his flesh, she unbuttoned his pants, slid her hand down, and took his swollen cock into her hand.
    His head light, he couldn’t speak while she caressed him. Couldn’t move. All he could do was feel her making love to him . . .
    He trembled as she blazed a scorching trail down his chest with her mouth. Slowly, carefully. Her touch blistered him and went so much deeper than his skin.
    It touched his soul.
    His eyes shuttered, he watched her while she licked and nibbled the flesh of his stomach, and when she took him into her mouth, he thought he’d die from the pleasure of it.
    Her dark hair fanned out across his lap as he buried his hand in her soft curls and watched her teasing him.
    Adron ground his teeth as her tongue and mouth massaged him from base to tip. She was relentless in her tasting. Never had he felt anything like it. Her actions were so selfless, so kind.
    Why would she care?
    Why would she do this for him?
    I love you.
    Her