Rise of the Phoenix (Return To Avalore #2) by Elianne Adams

responsibilities. Take the pleasure the sweet sensation promised, and keep it for herself. Forget her promise—her oath.
    She gave herself a mental shake, forcibly tearing her gaze from his. No, she couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t. When she had first come to the Dark Lands and agreed to help the Erritrols, it hadn’t been a purely selfless act. She had been running away from the madness threatening to take her into the darkness, from the suffocating pain when Evan did the unthinkable and refused to be joined. Keeping their people safe and helping Evan in the process was an incidental benefit. Now that she had seen the goodness in the new order of Erritrols, she not only wanted to help them, she had to.
    Her arms were leaden, and her eyelids drooped. Maybe he was right. Maybe they should rest and continue with the other healing a little later. “Is there another bedroll over there?” She didn’t remember seeing one, but then, she hadn’t been looking for another.
    “I wasn’t expecting guests, I only brought the one.” He scooted over, grunting with the effort, and patted the roll beside him. “There’s plenty of room. Come lie down.”
    As tempting as it was, she was used to sleeping on cold, hard surfaces. “You need it more than I do.” She couldn’t contain a small groan as she stretched and her aching muscles screamed at the movement.
    “I’m too tired to bite. Come, I won’t let you lie on the hard stone, and I don’t have the energy to argue.” As though to punctuate his point, Evan turned away from her and onto his side.
    The rocky floor dug into her knees where she remained kneeling next to the bedroll. What harm could come of it? The area was narrow, but with him on his side, there was more than enough room for her to stretch out for a few minutes. Once he dozed, she would move away to sleep.
    Brienne hadn’t moved in the last few minutes. She had been exhausted, so he wasn’t surprised that she’d drifted off so quickly. What surprised him was that she had agreed to lie so close to him. He had expected an argument, or a flat out refusal, but after a moment’s hesitation, she had slid onto the bedroll next to him. She was careful not to touch him, but his skin prickled in a delicious way as her energy mingled with his.
    Whatever had possessed him to bring her with him? It wasn’t as if he had any delusion of her pining to be with him. She’d walked away and never looked back, so why now was she there and helping him? Guilt maybe?
    Turning to face her took more effort than he would have liked. The pain in his leg and spine would have brought him to his knees when they had escaped the Erritrol camp had it not been for his fierce desire to keep her safe. The phoenix had risen, pushing the pain aside to allow them to get away, but now that they were safe, it had gone back to slumber, leaving him to deal with the agony on his own.
    Holding his breath, he watched her as she slept. A soft sigh drifted past her parted lips and she turned toward him. He half expected her eyes to pop open and to see accusation shining in their whiskey-colored depths. Though what she would accuse him of, he had no idea. Her sweet scent surrounded him, teasing, tempting.
    Up until then, he hadn’t dared scrutinize her too much. Stolen glances when she hadn’t been looking had revealed much. For one thing, she had not been to Avalore in a long time. Her eyes were sunken and had lost some of their sparkle. Not that they weren’t mesmerizing, but she needed time in Avalore to replenish her light and make them shine again. A person couldn’t live in darkness indefinitely and not have some negative backlash.
    His memory of her long locks of auburn hair from his first encounter with her in this Goddess-forsaken place didn’t do it justice. Strands of its silky length had come loose from her plait as they had made their escape, and she hadn’t bothered to fix it. He had to fight the urge to reach over and brush them