Heart of the Guardians: Adoring Destiny by Adrianna Adore (best books to read for self improvement txt) 📕

“No.” Dimitri said. “That wasn’t… you misunderstand.”

He took the offered chain mail and turned away to pull it over his head, muttering Russian curses under his breath.

“I know you.” Dana said to the now shirtless Frank. “You were the driver at my apartment. You came to get James.”

“Um, yes, milady,” he said as he tried to hide the sword behind his back.

“What are you guys doing here? Is this some kind of renaissance festival thing? What’s going on in the lake?”

“Nothing.” Dimitri said a little sulkily. The woman wasn’t interested in his perfect physique or his chiseled abs. She hadn’t even glanced down at his dangling manhood and he’d been told by more than a few that it was impressive.

“They were swimming.” Frank said smoothly “It is customary in Galador to swim the length of the lake as a test of manhood. Dimitri got into a little trouble and we had to help him out.”

Dimitri scowled. He didn’t like the story, not one bit, but knew better than to correct it.

“But I thought we saw a bear. And a wolf.” Dana said. “What happened to them?”

“I didn’t see any bears or wolves.” Frank said smoothly. “Are you sure? Maybe it was Dimitri, he’s rather hairy.”

“Um, maybe.” Dana said, confused. “It all happened so fast. I guess he does look a little like an animal.”

“I’m going back to get my clothes.” Dimitri said sullenly and stomped off towards the forest.

“Sorry.” Dana called after him. “I didn’t mean it like that!”

Dimitri ignored her, still muttering under his breath. Frank and Dana turned to look at the lovers still holding each other close, still talking low into each other’s ears.

“How did you find him?” Frank asked, “I thought I did a pretty good job setting up the fade credentials and identity. Nothing linked James Gardner to Stephen von Galador.”

“You suck,” Dana said, “once I started looking it was easy. Ever heard of reverse image search?”

The shirtless man frowned. It was hard to stay abreast with the all the new technology that kept popping up. Nothing much had changed in thousands of years, then almost overnight, everyone had near mythical abilities at their fingertips.

“As you can imagine, James has been very busy but in his quiet moments, I know he regretted the way he left. That was my fault, I insisted he make a clean break with his life in the States. I hadn’t realized he’d found someone so special.”

“Well, he did and you were a jerk.” Dana replied, but said it with a smile as they watched to two start walking back to the picnic basket on the shoreline.

“I tricked Claire into coming,” she admitted. “She was so depressed and acting strange, she actually slapped a guy. I’ve never seen her do anything like that so I sold the BMW and bought plane tickets.”

“It looks like you made the right choice, milady.” Frank said, and offered her his arm.

“What’s with the sword?” she asked as they started back to join the other two.

“Tradition,” Frank said, “we have many ancient traditions here in Galador.”

“I’ll just go clean up the mess.” Dimitri yelled in annoyance as he watched the couples drift back to the food laid out on a blanket.

“Don’t mind me,” he said, hoping for an invite to eat, he was hungry.

They ignored him.

When Frank and Dana approached the pair sitting on the blanket, James was holding Claire’s face in his hands as they stared into each other’s eyes. Adoration was on both their faces.

“Perhaps we should give them a moment,” Frank said, “I recognize Madame Stalimanzer’s blanket and basket, may I escort you back to the hostel?”

Dana smiled and laid her other hand on his arm. It had been a while since she’d been in the company of a true gentleman and she enjoyed the easy way he had about him. He wasn’t in perfect shape, he didn’t have the body of an athlete or the defined muscles of a body builder but he wore the extra weight well. She wanted to hear more about the traditions of Galador.

“You may,” she said, “and perhaps you could join me for lunch.”

8

Truths

“Can you ever forgive me?” James asked as he stared into her shining emerald eyes, cupped her face in his hands and tried to still his hammering heart.

She pushed a strand of lake wet hair out of his eyes and searched them for the truth. Her very soul seemed to ache for him but she didn’t know if she could face the pain if she let herself go, if she let herself fall back into his embrace and he walked away again.

“James,” she whispered, “I know why you left. I understand duty but I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me, didn’t give me a chance. If I can’t be a part of your world, if being with someone like me, someone not royal, please tell me now before this goes any farther.”

James opened his mouth to speak but she placed a finger over it.

“Let me say this now before I lose my nerve. Before I lose myself in you again,” she continued, “I understand if you can’t be with a commoner. If you have to be with some other royal princess now that you are the King, but please, James, please tell me now so I don’t believe in something that cannot be. I will always love you but I can’t let down the walls I have started building around my heart. I can take anything, any truth you tell me, but if you lie to me again, it might break me.”

His eyes glistened as they bore into hers and he felt the intense sorrow he’d caused her. He had missed her, longed for her, but his world had been nearly nonstop chaos since the moment Frank had shown up on his doorstep. Only moments ago the mad rush to defend the realm and the world of the unclean ended. There was still much to do. Stig and the other shifters