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Rowena fumed as the bulky sword mage glided along next to her, not taking any notice of her anger. She couldn’t believe he was here. After twelve years! And he thought they could start up again where they’d left off? Not in this lifetime, Kael.

Her traitorous body wasn’t cooperating very well, though. She was so needy, so weak-kneed as his scent filled her, she could barely walk straight. He had changed some over the years. His frame filled out with thick cords of muscles. His jaw was harder, more sharply defined, and faint creases framed his beautiful green eyes and firm mouth. But his face was still stunningly gorgeous, maybe more so now, with the hard cut of life etched into it. And his more mature, thickly muscled body did outrageous things to her libido. She tried to blame her earlier dream for the frantic pull of lust, but she knew better. Like it or not, deny it or not, Kael was her raynei and her body wanted his.

Her heart, on the other hand, was still too bruised from his rejection twelve years ago. She wasn’t about to risk that pain again.

She forced herself to study the trail, her surroundings. They needed a place to rest. And she needed some space.

The appearance of the mercenaries so early in her journey only proved how determined Dorjan was to keep the Valen horse clan’s oracle. The poor oracle had probably told him a sword sworn was on the way. It didn’t matter. Rowena knew her approach wouldn’t be a surprise.

She also knew she couldn’t fight Dorjan’s wizard. The priestesses had given her as much protection as they could. But it wouldn’t be enough. On missions like this, she envied her mother the mage sword, Ba’nari. Ba’nari blocked magic. With Ba’nari in Rowena’s hands, nothing the wizard threw at her would matter. But Ba’nari refused to leave Kellyn until Kellyn’s death, and because Rowena loved her mother, she was happy Ba’nari was still in her possession.

She sighed and studied the scarce trees lining the rutted road. Not much cover, but the night was clear, the stars bright. Anywhere would be as good as anywhere else. She was tired now. The rush of adrenaline from the fight, the sudden appearance of her erstwhile raynei, the loss of sleep over the past week left a toll on her body. She needed rest. When they neared a grassy clump, she stopped.

“I’ll bed down here. Feel free to go somewhere else. In fact, please go somewhere else.” She ignored Kael’s raised brow, his sardonic expression. She dropped her pack on the grass and pulled out her bedroll and blanket. When the pallet was made, she hit the release on her chest for the strap holding her scabbard across her back, set scabbard and sword next to her makeshift bed and crawled under the blanket. She wrapped a hand around the hilt of her sword, letting its familiar touch give her comfort. Then she closed her eyes, trying her best to ignore the still looming Heron.

And because of her exhaustion, she succeeded in ignoring him for all of three seconds. Then he moved, sitting on the grass next to her. A moment later, she felt the heat of a fire. She frowned, glanced at the glowing ball hovering just in front of Kael. With a grunt that could have been interpreted as a thank you if he were feeling generous, she turned her back on him and his magical fire and shut her eyes.

She had to suppress a moan when he stretched out behind her and spooned up against her back. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, but her voice sounded breathy, not dismissive as she’d intended.

“Keeping you warm.” His hot breath brushed across her neck, making her shiver.

“I’m not cold.”

“You’re trembling.”

Damn. How did she explain the trembling without admitting her desire? “I can’t sleep like this,” she said instead.

“Then we’ll find something else to do to pass the night.”

His hand slid across her waist. The feel of his big palm spanning her stomach, his thumb nearly touching the underside of one breast, made her entire body flush with hot need. Gods, he felt fantastic.

“Rowena,” he groaned into her hair, and the hand on her stomach flexed, inching lower.

Oh no. She lurched up and scrambled a few feet from the pallet. This was not going to happen. Not now. Not ever. She’d rather die a virgin. Even if the very idea pissed her off as much as anything else Kael had ever done. “I told you no,” she hissed, backing farther away as he eased into a sitting position. “I don’t want you.”

“Liar.”

She spun around and stalked off into the trees. She hadn’t gotten more than a few feet before she remembered her sword. Still cursing she returned to the bed roll, snatched up her weapon and stomped away again, ignoring the look in Kael’s beautiful green eyes—a combination of amusement, confusion and hurt she didn’t care to know about.

She strapped her scabbard onto her back absently as she wandered in the dark. She kept near the road, using the dusty track to avoid getting lost. She could feel Kael anyway, so she wasn’t worried about going too far. Her biggest worry was going back.

Years of hurt welled up and clogged her throat. Twelve years! She’d been young when they met, only fourteen, but she’d been positive Kael was her raynei. At the time, she couldn’t have been happier. He was tall, handsome, a gifted smith of the famous sword mages, the Heron, he was nice and sexy. And he gave her a sense of safety. Like nothing in the world would ever hurt her so long as he was near.

So much for that fantasy.

She rubbed a spot on her chest beneath the cross strap of her scabbard. She hadn’t been prepared to see him again. Now her emotions were all over the place. She didn’t know how to deal with his presence. Especially when she had a mission. A woman’s life, an oracle’s life, depended on her. And like it or not, to save the woman Rowena needed the blasted Heron’s help. But how could she spend the next few weeks of travel with him when she could barely stand to be around him for a few minutes?