A soldier placed a metal spike over his wrist and held it there as another drew back a heavy iron hammer. The Roman guard brought it down on the spike…Amanda came awake screaming as she felt the nail piercing her arm. Sitting up, she grabbed her wrist to make sure it had just been a dream.
She rubbed her arm, staring at it. She was just as she had always been and yet… The dream had been real. She knew it. Driven by a force she didn't understand, she left her room to find Kyrian. She ran through the dark house, just after dawn, up the mahogany staircase and down a long hallway. She followed her instincts to a set of doors on the west side of the house.
Without hesitating, she threw open the double doors to a bedroom twice the size of her own. A single candle burned next to an old-fashioned, curtained bed, casting shadows against the far wall. The gold and brown curtains were pulled back and fastened to the posts while cream-colored sheers shielded the bed. Even so, she could see her Hunter writhing on the rust-colored sheets as if caught in the midst of the same nightmare she had seen.
Her heart hammering, she ran to the bed. Kyrian woke up from his nightmare the very instant he felt Amanda's cool, gentle hand on his chest. He opened his eyes to find her sitting by his side, her gaze dark with horror, her brows knitted as she examined him.
He frowned while her hands roamed all over his chest. It was as if she didn't really see him at all, as if she were in some kind of strange trance. He lay in complete silence, stunned by her presence.
She pulled back the silk sheet and touched the scar on his stomach, just to the left of his navel. "He drove the knife in here," she whispered, stroking the narrow scar. Then she grabbed his wrist and tenderly traced the scars there. "They hammered the spikes in here and here."
Next she went to his hand and rubbed the pad of her thumb over his fingertips. "They pulled your fingernails off."
She reached up and cupped his stubbled cheek in her palm. Her eyes held a thousand emotions and the sight of those crystal-blue depths stole the breath from him. No woman had ever given him such a look.
"My poor Hunter," she whispered. Tears streamed down her face and before he knew what she was doing, she pulled the sheet away from him, baring his entire body to her questing gaze. He hardened instantly, his body throbbing at the sight of her concern for him. She touched his scarred thigh where Valerius had once placed a hot brand to it.
"Oh God," she gasped, her fingers brushing his puckered skin. "It was real. They really did that to you…"
She looked up at him, her eyes swimming in tears. "I saw you. I felt you." Kyrian frowned even more. Was that possible? He'd been dreaming of his execution when she woke him. Could their powers have combined to allow him to reach out to her even while he slept?
It was a terrifying thought. If it were true, then it meant they were bonded together on a much higher level than the physical.
It meant…He didn't finish that thought. There was no such thing as a soul mate, especially when one of them no longer had a soul. It just wasn't possible. As Amanda stared at him, she ached all the way to her heart for the man before her. How had he borne such torture and betrayal?
He had carried it with him through the centuries. Alone. Always alone. Always hurting and wanting, with no relief. No hope. "So much pain," she whispered.
How she wanted Theone's head for what she'd done to him. But most of all, she wanted to soothe Hunter. Wanted to ease the torment in his heart. Erase the pain of his past. She wanted to give him something to hope for.
She wanted to give him his dream of children and of a woman who could love him. God have mercy on her, but she wanted to be that woman. Before she could stop herself, she leaned down and captured his lips with her own. He moaned at the contact and cupped her face in his hands while he returned her kiss.
Amanda tasted him in a way she'd never tasted any man before. As their tongues danced, she could feel him all the way to her soul. She'd never in her life been bold in bed. But then she'd never wanted a man like this.
With the whole of her.
Tears welled in Amanda's eyes as she buried her lips against his collarbone, over the scar where Valerius had dragged his ring and left it bloody. Such strength. Such love. She would give anything to have a man love her the way he had loved his wife.
More to the point, she wanted Hunter to love her. She wanted his heart. She wanted this man who knew what love was, who understood commitment and compassion.
Whether he would admit it or not, he needed her. No man should walk eternity alone. No one should ever be hurt the way he'd been hurt. Not when his only crime was loving someone more than he had loved himself.
Her breath mixed with his as she climbed up his body and straddled his waist.