Book Read Free

Her Reaper's Arms

Page 23

by Charlotte Boyett-Compo


  “Don’t dwell on it, girl,” Cornelia told her. “It’s over and done with.”

  “It hurts me that I was the cause of him suffering,” Lea said.

  Bevyn turned and gave his lady a comical look, crossing his eyes to make her laugh.

  Lea giggled and looked down at the shirt.

  “He reads minds, don’t he?” Cornelia asked.

  “Aye, he does,” Lea said with a sigh.

  “Not a good thing in a husband,” Cornelia said.

  Lea shook her head. Although they had made no formal vows, were not legally

  Joined, she thought of him as her husband and when he introduced her to people who

  did not know them, he introduced her as Lea Coure, a name she was very proud to

  bear.

  “What about that Amazing woman?” Cornelia inquired.

  “The Amazeen?” Lea corrected. “She stayed behind at the Citadel. The last I heard

  of her—the last I ever hope to hear of her—was that she would be helping train the

  marshals and sheriffs, the lawmen who help the Reapers in the territories. Lord Kheelan

  141

  Charlotte Boyett-Compo

  made her a captain in the security section and she is also in charge of punishments for

  the lawmen. She seemed content enough with her lot.”

  “She looks the sort to enjoy punishing a man,” Cornelia stated. “Reckon her people

  will ever come after her?”

  “If they do, they won’t get her,” Lea said. “Not out of the Citadel. The Shadowlords

  have some kind of defense thing that doesn’t allow entry by outsiders.” She looked up

  from the shirt to watch Bevyn as he swept his arm up and down over the boards, the

  muscles in his broad back flexing with each circuit. “Not unless the goddess allows it, I

  suppose.”

  Bevyn stooped over to put his paintbrush in the can then lifted his arm to wipe his

  forehead.

  “Your man looks hot,” Cornelia told her. “Best go take him some lemonade, I

  reckon.”

  Lea laid the shirt down on the table between the two rockers and got up. She went

  to the frosty pitcher of lemonade and stepped off Cornelia’s porch to the garden shed

  her Reaper and his friends had built for the black woman and were now painting.

  “The gods bless you, milady!” Burt said as he saw her coming.

  Bevyn turned around and smiled. “I’ve got her well trained, men.”

  “Humpf,” Lea snorted as she poured first Burt then Buford a glass, leaving her

  sweaty, grinning lover the last to receive the cold lemonade.

  “Remind me not to volunteer to build anything else,” Bevyn told her as he took the

  glass and rubbed it over his forehead.

  “Does your head hurt?” she asked, frowning. “Are you having one of your

  migraines?”

  “Nope,” he said. “Just hot.” He took a big swig of the lemonade, a bit of it trickling

  down his chin, and he tipped his head back to drink.

  “You sure?” she queried. He was prone to vicious headaches that sometimes

  resulted in her having to give him an extra dose of tenerse.

  “The only aching head I’ve got, wench, is between my legs,” he said with a feisty

  grin.

  “Way too much information,” Burt grumbled. “Didn’t need that image in my mind,

  Reaper.”

  Bevyn cracked ice between his strong white teeth, grinning like a little boy at Burt

  and the sheriff, wagging his brows at them.

  “Behave,” Lea told him as she turned to go back up to the porch and relative cool,

  but she gasped as her man snaked an arm around her waist and drew her to him,

  slamming her against his sweaty chest. “Bevyn!” she shrieked.

  The Reaper lowered his head and nuzzled her neck, whispered something in her

  ear before she slapped at his naked chest and pushed him away, him laughing

  142

  Her Reaper’s Arms

  uproariously at her red face. She took off as though the hounds of hell were nipping at

  her heels, looking over her shoulder at him as she hurried away.

  “What did you say to make her run off like that, Bev?” Buford asked.

  “And what’s she running over to your house for in such an all-fired hurry,

  Reaper?” Burt inquired.

  “I just reminded her how much sugar was in that pitcher of lemonade,” Bevyn said,

  pulling off his bandana and striding purposefully after his lady, a wide, wicked grin on

  his handsome face.

  143

  About the Author

  Charlee is the author of over thirty books. Married 40 years to her high school

  sweetheart, Tom, she is the mother of two grown sons, Pete and Mike, and the proud

  grandmother of Preston Alexander and Victoria Ashley. She is the willing house slave

  to five demanding felines who are holding her hostage in her home and only allowing

  her to leave in order to purchase food for them. A native of Sarasota, Florida, she grew

  up in Colquitt and Albany, Georgia and now lives in the Midwest.

  Charlee welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email

  address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

  Tell Us What You Think

  We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You can email us at

  Comments@EllorasCave.com.

  Also by Charlotte Boyett-Compo

  Ellora’s Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis IV anthology

  Ellora’s Cavemen: Legendary Tails I anthology

  Ellora’s Cavemen: Seasons of Seduction II anthology

  Fated Mates anthology

  Ghost Wind

  HardWind

  Journey of the Wind

  Passion’s Mistral

  Shades of the Wind

  WesternWind 1: WyndRiver Sinner

  WesternWind 2: Reaper’s Revenge

  WesternWind 3: Prime Reaper

  WesternWind 4: Tears of the Reaper

  WindVerse: Ardor’s Leveche

  WindVerse: Hunger’s Harmattan

  WindVerse: Phantom of the Wind

  WindVerse: Pleasure’s Foehn

  WindVerse: Prisoners of the Wind

  WindWorld: Desire’s Sirocco

  WindWorld: Longing’s Levant

  WindWorld: Lucien’s Khamsin

  WindWorld: Rapture’s Etesian

  And see Charlotte Boyett-Compo’s stories at Cerridwen Press

  (www.cerridwenpress.com):

  BlackWind: Sean and Bronwyn

  BlackWind: Viraiden and Bronwyn

  Desert Wind

  In the Wind’s Eye

  Taken By the Wind

  Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning

  publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC

  on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you

  breathless.

  www.ellorascave.com

 

 

 


‹ Prev