Well of Tears (Empath Book 3) by Dawn Peers

just walking away
from all of this. I'm not likely to inherit; why should I
care?"
    "You've always cared; it's one of the things
that first attracted me to you."
    “ I don ’t think I’ve
ever heard of a lady picking a man of Sevenspells for his dashing
personality before. I’m being serious, though. I would have gone
with you. In Sha’sek? If you’d have said to go, I would have done
it.”
    “And not anymore?”
    Eden’s silence was enough of an answer.
Quinn’s heart sank. Only one thing had changed between them since
Farn.
    “You can talk to me about it?” Quinn said
quietly. “that would be better, for both of us. We can’t hide our
feelings from each other anymore.”
    “That’s the problem. I’m not sure what my
feelings are , Quinn.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “Have you…your new ability. Have you used it
on me? Have you changed the way I’ve felt about something?”
    Here was the crux of the matter. Quinn could
see this conversation happening with every man she ever met in her
life; Ross was so determined that she’d meet another. The way this
relationship was going, Quinn wasn’t so sure she wanted to
fall in love with anyone else. “No, Eden. I haven’t changed your
emotions. Not towards me or anyone.”
    “But you could, if you wanted?”
    “I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to.”
    “And what about something I already felt?
Have you given my feelings more… fire? ”
    Quinn thought back to the night on the ship.
Yes. She had. Guilt flamed her cheeks. Could she lie to him, again?
No, she couldn’t. “Yes, I have.”
    Eden’s breathing sped up. He couldn’t hide
the reactions of his body to her words. Quinn didn’t cheat this
time. She wanted to listen to him and have a natural response to
their conversation. Her abilities were clouding everything, and
this had been the first thing in her life that was clear. Enough
was enough; she would never use her abilities on Eden again. “When
did you do it? When?”
    “On the crossing. After your fight with
Tarik. I was scared. I’m going to lose you Eden. I felt like we’ve
had everything, and nothing. You arrived in Everfell, and I’d never
met anyone like you. You wanted me—just me—and you were the first
person in my life that had ever made me feel alive. I fell for you
so hard, and then we were ripped apart. Then you came to Sha’sek,
and I thought that was for me, too, but it wasn’t. The part of you
that serves your father, helped make that decision. Now, you’re
going to be married off to some overdressed court-dweller, and I’ll
likely never see you again. So for that night, I just wanted to
know what it felt like to have all of you. I…I’m sorry.”
    “I understand, Quinn. I’m not saying I like
it, but I understand why you did it. I could feel it, you know?
There was a surge of emotion. I liked it. I didn’t resist it, and I
think I could have tried. And I’m glad you were honest.”
    “You were seeing if I’d tell you the
truth?”
    “ I was. ”
    “And if I’ d
lied? ”
    “I’d have probably asked you to leave,
now.”
    Quinn took a deep breath. She was glad for
once she’d followed her instincts. “We should probably go to sleep,
my love. It’s going to be another long ride tomorrow.”
    “ I don ’t mind
riding tired. There isn’t going to be a battle at the end of it.
Are you tired?”
    “No.”
    She could feel Eden grin at her response.
“Then why do you want to go to sleep?”
    Quinn shrugged within the confines of his
single-armed hug. “I thought it was the right thing to say. What’s
Sevenspells like?”
    Quinn yawned as she said this, and Eden’s
stroking resumed. She snuggled in closer to him. “You want me to
send you to sleep talking about my home?”
    Quinn nodded.
    “Okay then. It’s beautiful, Quinn. Everyone
hates Sevenspells. They think that, because we’re all brought up to
be stubborn, or fighters, that it’s a brutal place. They couldn’t
be more wrong. The city