Free Taken by Storm (ROMANTIC REALMS COLLECTION) by M.J. Schiller Page A

his arms loosely around the pair’s shoulders, leaning in to talk to them privately. “Since I went to the trouble of creating a lie to keep your identities a secret, the least you could do is act the part. Take your betrothed’s arm, you idiot.” Unseen by their host, he thwacked Tahj on the head. Tahj stuck his arm out begrudgingly and Bashea put her arm through it, equally unhappy. Radeem, for his part, seemed to be enjoying the fact that he was making them both uncomfortable.
    Jessmyn sauntered in front of Tahj and Bashea, swishing her hips temptingly and glancing over her shoulder with a giggle now and then. Bashea looked at Tahj, but he wasn’t watching the girl; he seemed to be stewing over something. “Here’s your room.” The obviously infatuated girl gave a wink, which was lost on Tahj.
    When the door closed behind her, Tahj gave Bashea’s arm an absentminded pat and withdrew his hand. It was suddenly very quiet. The room was tiny, with a double bed that took up most of one side, a small window at the head of the bed, and a fireplace on the adjacent wall. Tahj stepped up to put his hand on the mantle, staring into the barren depths of the fireplace beneath without speaking.
    After standing just inside the doorway for several minutes feeling awkward, Bashea crossed to the window. Forgetting about her shoulder, she reached to move aside the curtain, sucking in her breath in pain. Tahj looked up, seeming immediately concerned.
    “Let me look at that.”
    “No, I’m fine.”
    “Don’t be foolish. I should check it. Come here.” He sat on the bed and gestured for her to sit down next to him. When she hesitated he snapped at her, “Come here. I’m not going to do anything to you, for Arishtat’s sake.”
    Bashea marched over, giving Tahj a cool stare, and sat down with her back to him. Slowly she moved her hair out of the way, looping it over her other shoulder.
    The movement struck Tahj as very sensual, and the smell of her hair about drove him over the edge. Unsteadily he reached out and untucked the edge of the bandage and began to pull it off little by little. When it fell away, Tahj saw the blood had only gone through two layers, and he took that as a good sign. He pressed around the area gently.
    “Does it hurt?”
    “A little.”
    “I need to pull the fabric away to get a good look at it and make sure the edges are clean and sealed.”
    She nodded, but said nothing. Tahj put a hand on her shoulder, and his heart started to beat quicker. Chastising himself for being foolish, he carefully slid the fabric down off her shoulder, but the move was incredibly erotic, and when he saw the smooth skin of her neck and the top of her shoulder he fought an urge to sink his teeth into it, or, at the very least, brush his lips across the creamy expanse. He closed his eyes.
    “So, how is it?”
    “Oh!” he said, surprised by the sound of her voice. “Fine, fine. It looks fine.”
    His answer must not have been too convincing, as she jumped up to check herself in a large, rectangular mirror which had once been in a frame but now stood leaning against the wall. There was a long crack in it, and the glass was murky with age, but Bashea turned to look at her bare shoulder in its reflection speculatively. Since the wound was indeed clean, and looked like it was beginning to heal, she looked at Tahj quizzically.
    The door opened a crack. “I’ve got…oh!” Seeing Bashea’s top halfway off her shoulder and Tahj sitting on the bed behind her, Radeem commented suggestively, “Am I interrupting something?”
    “No.” Bashea bit off the word angrily, moving to the window and pulling her sleeve up.
    Radeem winked at Tahj with a sly look, but, getting no smile in response, he continued. “I got you guys some clothes, if you want them,” he added with a cheesy grin. He handed Tahj a stack of clothes, and Bashea turned and then rushed over to pull hers off the top. It was a beautiful piece, and she ran her hand