“Some girl – a rather beautiful one at that – told me that I needed a bath. She was quite insistent about it actually,” he explained.
Oh Goddess, she thought. She had no idea how to handle Wolf. He was walking sensuality, one of the things she used to hate the most about him. It was almost impossible not to get hot and bothered from looking at him when he was walking around without his shirt. She had seen that look on other girls, and knew she must have had the identical starry-eyed gaze on her own face at times, but she hoped she had hidden it better than they did. There was no hiding it now. Her mouth felt dry and her pulse raced. No matter what, she couldn’t bring herself to look away as he stripped off his riding pants and walked slowly towards her.
She watched as he got near enough to see her naked flesh in the water. It was the first time any man had ever seen her bare. His pupils dilated and she heard him inhale sharply. His eyes roamed each part of her body before stopping at her eyes.
“You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen,” he said softly.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Move forward.”
She did as she was told, while Wolf lowered himself into the water behind her. When he was fully submerged, he tugged her back so that she was flush against his chest. His muscled thighs rested on either side, trapping her. “Relax,” he whispered in her ear, trailing light kisses down her neck. With each kiss she found herself relaxing more, until her whole body melted into his, and her head fell back against his chest.
“That’s better,” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice.
“Do you always get your way?” she asked, laughing lightly.
“Not always,” he answered. “I didn’t get my way for a long time.” She turned her head so she could meet his eyes. He smiled at her as he drank in every inch of her face. “If you think I’m going to stay away from you now that you’re mine, you are sorely mistaken. I’ve had to sleep in that room with Logan, knowing you were in here, every night for years. I won’t do it anymore.”
“I doubt you were in that room every night,” she teased.
He gave her an admonishing smile. “Careful, my future wife, or you will force me to do this.” Without warning Elisa found herself dunked under the water, and came back up sputtering. Her wet hair stuck to her face. She parted it so that she could see properly as she turned to look at a cheeky Wolf.
“That was not nice!”
“Neither was your comment,” he said.
“Wipe that smile off your face, Wolf, or I swear to the Goddess it will be your last.” She fought back the smile trying to force its way out. After a moment they broke out into laughter. “You’re such a child,” she said, splashing him in the face. He grabbed her, pulling her back to him. She snuggled down into his arms again, deciding she liked being with him like this, even though she could feel certain parts of him that made her incredibly nervous. She fidgeted, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. Wolf’s hands landed on the top of her thighs, close to her hips. She froze her hands gripping his thighs beside her.
“I suggest you stop moving around if you want me to behave,” he said, his voice tight. He leaned his forehead against the side of her head, breathing deeply. “And please stop clutching my thighs, it’s distracting.”
Her hands flew off his as she muttered an apology.
“Why are you tense again?” he asked.
She shrugged, hiding her face behind her hair. “I’m a bit nervous I guess.”
His hands moved to grip her upper arms as he effectively turned her so her chest crushed against his. She looked up into his face, surprised.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, sweetheart, but you’re stuck with me so you had better get over this nervousness.”
“I just don’t want to disappoint you…”
He sighed, his breath fanning over her face. “Nothing outside of us matters. Not my past, and not yours. Whatever happens between us is going to be perfect because it’s just you and me. I could never, and would never, be disappointed with anything you do. To me, you’re perfect.” She smiled up at him, blinking back her tears. His thumb wiped one away as it trailed down her cheek. “Don’t you understand how hopelessly in love I am with you?”
She laughed, even as more tears fell from her eyes. “I love you too,” she said. Both of them moved at the same time, their mouths meeting. It started off as a gentle kiss, but quickly grew in intensity. As they pulled apart, both of them were breathing heavily, and she could feel his excitement against her stomach.
“Show me how much you love me,” she said, pushing against him. He hissed through his teeth, his eyes bright and fevered.
“No,” he answered, pushing her away from him slightly.
It felt like someone had dumped cold water over her head. Suddenly all the heat in the room evaporated, leaving nothing but a cold chill. “No?” she asked, her nails digging into her palm. He had the nerve to say how much he loved her, but he wouldn’t make love with her? She desperately wanted to hit him, but he still held her arms immobile.
“I want this to be proper with you, Elisa. You mean too much to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to wait…until we’re married.”
The coldness vanished, leaving a warm and fuzzy feeling. Part of her was still slightly disappointed. She was sure that a night of making love with Wolf would have left her happy and satisfied. But the other part was elated that he wanted to be traditional.
“You are constantly surprising me,” she said.
He chuckled. “Well I try.” He pulled her back close. “But don’t be too surprised. This just means we need to get married soon,” he said, letting his hands trail down her back stopping just at the dip in her spine. She arched into his touch. “Very soon.”
CHAPTER NINE
The door to Aiden’s room swung open, crashing into the wall with a resounding bang. Aiden and Moose’s heads snapped toward the opening in surprise.
“Ugh,” Logan groaned, dragging his feet into the room. “My room is soooo boring when I’m in there by myself.” He threw himself face down on the bed, his voice muffled against the mattress when he spoke again. “I can’t stand the silence.”
Moose looked at Aiden with raised eyebrows, a hint of laughter in his eyes. “You know what this means don’t you?” he asked Aiden, keeping a straight face.
“I’m afraid to even ask,” Aiden said.
“It means he’s going to be coming around here all the time while my brother shacks up with his woman.”
“Great.” Aiden sighed dramatically. Logan looked up from the mattress with a hurt expression.
“I’m sorry,” he said sarcastically, “am I interrupting your quality time?”
Aiden and Moose chuckled. “We’re joking, Logan, relax. You can hang out here all you want,” assured Aiden. The truth was he needed his friends to stick close to him as much as possible. If he were alone, all he’d do was dwell on Lily’s absence. The horrible thoughts of what might be happening to her never left his head. He hated not being able to just get her back right away. He hated all this waiting around. But having others helped make it bearable. He knew, realistically, it would take time to find her. Until then, he’d have to maintain his sanity and being around people like Moose and Logan helped. How his two friends would actually help his sanity was the question, especially watching them argue over who smelled the worst, as they were now.
“Enough,” he said, interrupting them. “Let’s head out to the tavern. I don’t want to be out all night, and it’s already late.”
“You think Wolf and Elisa are ready?” Moose said with a sceptical look.
“Maybe we should just go and they can meet us there,” Aiden suggested.
“Sometimes I wonder if it was better when they hated each other,” Logan said, pushing himself completely off the bed. He paused. “Yeah, never mind. Those days were horrible. I’ll take mushy, love-sick Wolf over brooding, angry Wolf an
y day.”
“I am not love-sick,” came Wolf’s response from the open doorway. His long hair was still wet, pulled back into a low ponytail at the base of his head. Elisa stood behind him, her tiny body blocked by his.
“Would you move!” she huffed, giving him a push. Wolf hardly budged, giving the boys a sly grin.
“Stop pestering me, woman,” he replied over his shoulder.
“You’re so annoying.” She sighed. Aiden couldn’t see her face, but he could imagine her rolling her eyes right about now. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t encourage him, Aiden.”
Aiden’s eyes widened. “How do you know it’s me laughing?”
“Because I recognize all of your stupid voices,” she said, peeking her head around Wolf’s torso.
Logan clapped his hands. “Since we’re all here, let’s go get some grub!”
The tavern they normally went to was packed full. There were considerably more soldiers in the city than normal, and the staff were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Aiden had never seen them so frazzled. Thankfully the northern men weren’t causing any problems, and for the most part people were treating them respectfully. There was still a clear segregation between the people, but no one was being openly rude, from what Aiden could see.
As he surveyed the room, his eyes fell on one soldier sitting with the north. Stefan’s eyes lifted and met his. He gave Aiden a slight nod in greeting. Aiden motioned for him to come join them. He saw the other man hesitate for only a second before standing up and walking toward their table. A number of people watched his journey with interest.
“Take a seat,” Aiden offered when he reached them. Stefan sat down, his posture slightly stiff and uncomfortable. “How are you enjoying the Capital so far?” he asked, leaning closer so he could be heard.
“It is very crowded,” the northerner answered. “The walls are very tall, and there are too many buildings. It makes me feel claustrophobic.”
“Not like the north then?”
Stefan shook his head. “We don’t have to be as closed off as this. Our terrain is hard enough to navigate, so not many people would be able to even make it to our city.”
Aiden could imagine. Even from a distance the mountains looked harsh and intimidating. He’d hate to think what it would be like to live there, especially in the winter.
“What are the women like?” Logan asked. Aiden hadn’t realized he was paying attention, although that happened often with Logan. Aiden suspected that Logan was more aware than everyone thought. It made people drop their guard around him. He was sure Logan used that to his advantage a lot of the time. The brunette sitting on his lip pouted as she realized she lost his attention now that he was fully turned toward them.
Stefan looked at him, his eyes briefly flickering to the girl, before landing back on Logan. “They wear more clothing,” he answered flatly. Logan burst out laughing. The girl looked slightly offended.
“Can I ask you something?” Aiden said, changing topics.
“Of course, warrior,” he replied.
“Uh, you can just call me Aiden,” he said. The other man shrugged.
“It is how we have referred to you, until now. It will take me some time to adjust.”
Aiden bit back a laugh at how formal he always sounded. He got the impression most of the northerners were like that. He couldn’t imagine living in a place where everyone was so serious all the time. How had Callum stood it? That being said, Aiden had to admit the Prince seemed much more serious than the King. Jameson would never have survived, but perhaps Callum was similar to men like Stefan.
“Right. Anyway, I was wondering, have you ever seen Aziz?” he asked. Aziz was a big mystery to Aiden. He felt like a fictional character. This person that was always hovering on the outside of things, but never actually seen in action. During all three battles Aiden had taken part in, Aziz was never there. As far as he knew, no one had seen the sorcerer in a long time. For some reason he was immensely curious about him. In some strange way, Aiden felt connected to the sorcerer, like their fates were somehow intertwined. He wanted to know more about his enemy, anything that would help finally defeat him.
Stefan nodded his head, his face growing even more serious, if possible. “I have,” he said. “He came to camp before that first battle at Emerald Fields. I only saw him briefly, and that was the first time in a long time. He has always been a strange man to me. One day Aziz simply showed up, asking for an audience with Brutus. After that he lived in the north for many years. Once Callum came, he only stayed for another five before leaving. We hadn’t seen him since until that night he showed up at camp.”
“Where did he go?” Aiden asked.
“I do not know,” he answered. “Some say he went to Elysium, but we don’t know that for sure. All I know is he left, and then the war began and his beasts showed up. They were just there one day. No one was leading them. They just knew where to go, and waited for us to move before they began following.” He took a quick look around, leaning in closer to Aiden. “They made me nervous,” he confided.
“The beasts?” Aiden asked.
Stefan nodded. “They made all of us nervous. They would watch us at night when we’d set up camp. They’d stay just outside our site, but we could see them all. Their eyes focused right on you when you looked at one. It was unnatural.” The man visibly shivered at the memory. “Many of us suspected they were communicating everything they saw and heard back to Aziz. His is a strange, black magic that reaches everywhere. I always got this strange feeling from those creatures. Now it is everywhere I go – even here. It’s as though his disease is infecting this whole land.”
When he stopped speaking, Aiden noticed the table had gone eerily quiet. He turned to see Moose and Logan now fully focused on the northerner, their faces pale. Could someone as powerful as Aziz be stopped by just ordinary men? A feeling of helplessness washed over Aiden.
“What is Elysium?” he asked, directing the question to all of them.
“It’s a kingdom that sits in the middle of the sea,” Moose answered.
“It is further south from Nysa,” Logan explained. “It would take ten days to reach it on a boat – if you managed to survive that long. The waters are dangerous. Few have made it there and back and lived to tell about it.”
“I’ve heard traders talk of a secret passage that is safer than most,” Stefan said. “But I don’t know if there is any truth to it.”
“Why would he have gone there?” Aiden looked to the northerner.
Stefan looked around nervously, leaning in closer. “My guess? He went for the Elite.”
“He wouldn’t dare,” Moose said with a snort. Stefan looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“I don’t think there is anything that Aziz wouldn’t dare,” he countered. “He has no qualms, no conscience. He would stop at nothing to get what he wants.”
Moose looked over at the other northerners with an unusually grave face. “How do they all feel about going after Aziz?” he asked.
Stefan shifted in his chair, relaxing a fraction. “None of the men are loyal to him, if that is what you are asking. He was never our ally. Most of us could not understand why Brutus joined forces with him, but we would have never spoken against our leader.”
“So they are willing to fight against him with us?” Logan said.
Stefan nodded. “As far as we’re concerned he has used us since the beginning. We want to see him destroyed just as much as you do.”
Logan smiled. “Right answer.” He lifted his drink in salute. “To ending this war – together.”
They all raised their cups in unison before drinking.
Aiden stepped out of the tavern, letting the cool, fresh air hit his face. It felt good after being inside with so many people. Wolf and Elisa had been dancing when he left. Logan and Moose were distracted by the opposite sex. No one seemed to be paying attention, so Aiden had slipped out without a word. His mind and body were exh
austed. They had kept up a hard pace, and he really hadn’t been able to get a good rest since the battle in the Avalon. Unfortunately sleep was going to have to wait a bit longer.
Heading in the direction of the palace, he started at a brisk walk against the cool breeze. The sound of footsteps came behind him, advancing quickly. He turned, taking a defensive stand, but relaxed as soon as he saw it was Stefan. The northerner gave him an apologetic smile.
“I didn’t mean to alarm you,” he said as he reached where Aiden stood.
Aiden shrugged casually. “It’s kind of habit now. What’s up?”
Stefan’s brows puckered in confusion before he looked up slowly. “I’m not sure what you mean,” he replied.
Aiden bit back a laugh. “Sorry, more habits of mine. What I meant is, why did you follow me out here?”
“I think I’ve had enough of the tavern for one night. Are you heading back to the dorm?”
The night was suddenly filled with the ringing of bells from the Sanctuary signalling the beginning of mass. Aiden looked up to see the blue dome shining in the moonlight.
“Not yet. I’m going to talk to the High Priest first,” he said.
“I will walk with you there then, and head back by myself.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine.”
“I’d like to,” he said, turning to walk. Aiden fell in step with him. He smiled to himself. Aiden had the sneaking suspicion the northerner was looking out for him. He wanted to invite him to stay while he spoke to Alistair, but he wasn’t ready for anyone else to hear his concerns.
They walked in companionable silence for a while before Aiden spoke. “What are the Elite? It’s been bothering me,” he asked.
Stefan shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants, his shoulders shivering against the cold. “They are a race that lives in Elysium. Much like the Forest People, the Elite are different than humans. Some say they are the half-children of Gods,” he explained. They rounded a corner, the Palace coming into view. The inner walls surrounding it loomed over them, casting the area into deeper shadows. The Sanctuary was located behind the Palace.
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