by T. A. White
Shea planned to stay with the group who were walking. She had no desire to rush back to camp. The walk would do her good and give her a way to work through some of her restlessness. She didn’t know how she was going to explain that to Fallon though.
Under normal circumstances she’d just inform him of what she planned to do then do it regardless of his objections. With the general and his men here, none of whom were familiar with her, she didn’t want to start something that might have consequences for herself and Fallon later.
He caught the reins someone tossed him and gestured for her to mount. She sighed. She should have broached this subject with him while they were talking earlier. Now she had to make a stand in front of these people while making it look like she hadn’t challenged his authority.
She stepped up to him, placing one hand on the horse’s neck. “I need to stay here.”
Fallon was quiet as he studied her with an implacable impression, the mask she associated with the warlord falling into place.
“You need, or you want?”
“Both.” Lying wouldn’t help her cause and he knew her well enough by now to understand her tells.
“Explain.” She could tell by the set cant of his mouth that he wasn’t happy with her choice. She was surprised he hadn’t already tried to order her on the horse. He was the warlord, more comfortable with orders than listening.
She petted the mane of the horse trying to find the right words for what she needed.
“I left Eamon and Buck behind so I could find you.” She didn’t look up at him as she made that statement. “They knew there was no other choice if I was going to reach you in time, but I can’t leave without at least trying to find them.”
“How do you plan to do that?”
She shrugged. To tell the truth, she hadn’t gotten that far. She just knew she wasn’t ready to go back to camp and looking for Eamon and Buck was as good an excuse as any. More so because it was true.
It felt wrong to leave them behind without at least trying to look for them, even if she had little hope of finding them.
“You’re not going back into the mist.” The words were an order, an implacable will behind them, letting her know that he wasn’t going to even consider that option.
Her eyes rose to his in surprise. He didn’t look expressionless now, his face filled with anger and a stubbornness that would outlast even hers. The part that caught her and made her unable to respond in a manner she normally would have was the glimpse of fear behind it all. A fear that reached out and struck her in the chest, leaving her with an inescapable feeling of doom.
“I didn’t plan to,” she said honestly. If they were in the mist, there wasn’t anything she could do for them. She was close with Eamon and Buck, but they didn’t have the depth of connection that she had with Fallon. There would be no following that connection to them.
His shoulders loosened and relaxed, as if a great weight had been removed from them. Her hand covered his. She knew he had a problem with the idea of her in danger. It was the biggest source of disagreement in their relationship and one they had made no headway in solving, since neither of them were willing to bend or compromise. A small part of Shea feared what would happen if they didn’t find a middle ground.
“If that’s not the case, why stay behind? You’ve already said that we came out of the mist in a different part of the forest. They could have as well.”
That was true. It didn’t stop her from worrying though. It was a feeling that would stick with her until she had proof they’d survived and made it out of the mist. She went back to petting the horse.
He waited a moment before asking, “Were they able to keep hold of their horses?”
She nodded. Yes, Eamon had gotten the last one on the lead before the mist descended.
“If they came out of it, they would head straight to camp knowing that they would have difficulty finding us out here.”
He didn’t say anything else, just leaving it at that.
Shea felt an irrational sense of annoyance. He was so certain that she would come to the conclusion he wanted. The worst part was that he was right. If she was truly worried about Eamon, Buck and the others, the best thing she could do would be to head to camp. She knew Eamon. If he’d managed to come out, he would have ordered his people home so they could warn others and put together a large search party if Fallon and Shea failed to make it back.
“Fine,” she gritted out.
Fallon’s lips moved just the slightest bit, enough to let Shea know he was fighting a smile at her expense. She reached over, pinching his side in retaliation. His hand covered hers and pressed it into his side, the thumb caressing the inside of her wrist. Tingles shot down her arm.
“Ride with me?”
She stepped closer and laid her head on his bicep. “I still want to walk back.”
“Of course you do, but I haven’t seen you in several months.”
She lifted her head and glared at him.
“You don’t fight fair.”
Amusement was alive in his eyes as he released her hand.
“Of course not. I am a warlord after all.”
Shea’s sigh was heavy and loud. “You’re not going to win every battle.”
He swung onto the horse before reaching down to help Shea swing up in front of him. He whispered into her ear in a husky voice, “Is that a challenge?”
She fought against a smile, losing the battle as he kicked the horse to set it into motion. Those with horses followed him as he took the lead. The rest would make their way at a slower pace until mounts could be sent back to them.
CHAPTER FIVE
THEY RODE into camp with little fanfare, moving at a fast pace past the outer perimeter and onto the lanes formed by the military lines the Trateri had arranged the tents by. The path was a little more jagged given the obstacles of the soul trees, but they were as straight as possible. Fallon didn’t stop until he was in front of his tent, a structure easily twice the size of anything near it.
It had its own personal bathing area, a luxury only available in the highest ranks. The rest of the army used one of the communal bathing tents that were set up at each camp.
Two Anateri guarded the entrance, snapping sharp salutes when Fallon reined to a halt in front of them. Fallon dismounted, helping Shea down, as the rest of his men rode into the open space in front of his tent. One of the Anateri took his reins and led the horse away.
Shea followed Fallon toward his tent.
“Send for Darius and Henry,” he ordered the other Anateri.
The general and a few of his men dismounted, handing their reins off to others in their party before heading for Fallon’s tent. Shea had really hoped the general would elect to stay behind with those walking, but she wasn’t that lucky.
“Braden, send several of your men to obtain mounts for the ones we left behind.”
Braden gestured and one of his men nodded and left the tent.
Darius came in at a run. His eyes immediately went to Fallon, relief the emotion most present in them. He had the look of a man with the weight of an entire world on him, totally at odds with the easy-going nature he normally presented. He was a tall man with high cheekbones and a broad nose. His light blue eyes were startling against skin several shades darker than most Lowlanders. He was a close friend to Fallon, and one of his most trusted, having grown up beside him. Fallon often left Darius in charge when he had duties elsewhere.
He was also the man responsible for capturing her all those months ago at the village of Goodwin of Ria. Darius had arrived to collect the tithe the villagers owed—wheat and several of their strongest men. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, the villagers had made a deal with the elders from the village Shea served, convincing them to betray their own people and send a select few from Birdon Leaf who could stand as tithe in the villagers’ place. Darius, having recognized her from when she’d saved Fallon, had known how important she would end up being to his warlord.
Fallon and Darius clasped hands, pulling each other into a back-thumping hug.
“We were getting worried,” Darius said, after he’d stepped back. “You’ve been missing for weeks.”
Shea stepped forward. “Have Eamon and his men made it back?”
Darius looked at Shea and nodded. “Yes, they arrived about a week after you left, telling strange stories about a mist capable of whisking people off. We thought they’d gone crazy at first until we lost three patrols under similar circumstances.”
Shea let out a deep breath. That was one weight off her back.
“They’re not stories,” Braden said, his eyes serious as he poured himself a cup of ale from the carafe on the table.
Darius looked over at him. “Braden, I see he finally convinced you to come back. Thought you’d never leave the Outlands again.”
“He can be persuasive when he has a mind for it,” Braden said, with a wry smile aimed in Fallon’s direction.
Fallon raised one eyebrow. “I didn’t have to twist your arm too hard to get you here.”
Braden chuckled. “If I’d known how interesting things were in the Lowlands I would have come much sooner. Who knew there was such danger given its people are so weak?”
Darius clapped him on the shoulder. “Whatever the reason, I’m glad Fallon could lure you from the Outlands. Your leadership will be appreciated given recent events.”
Shea shifted in her seat, wondering if they’d notice if she left. Knowing Eamon and the rest had made it home safely had lifted that sick feeling from her stomach but had also left her exhausted. It had been a long day—one that evidently spanned weeks.
The time jump was a concern. She didn’t think she’d ever lost that much time in the mist before. She would have to think on this. It made her wish that she still had access to the Wayfarer’s Keep, the stronghold of the pathfinder’s guild and where all pathfinders were trained. More specifically, she wished she had access to the library at the Keep. It might have some information that could help her understand what was happening.
She blinked, and her head nodded forward as exhaustion caught up to her. Using her abilities in the mist always took it out of her. This time was no different.
The voices of Fallon and his men were faint as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She didn’t want to show weakness in front of the general. Not when he’d already made it clear what he thought of her.
Fallon, noticing the tiredness tugging at Shea, straightened and turned to his men. Darius was in the middle of briefing him about what had happened when Eamon had returned with no Shea and no Fallon. It had evidently caused quite an uproar. With several patrols missing, Darius had made the decision to recall anybody in the outlying areas until they could get a handle on what was happening. It was a decision Fallon agreed with.
“Braden has sent men to recover those we left behind,” Fallon told Darius. “I want my top advisors here tomorrow morning so we can discuss this new obstacle.”
Darius caught sight of Shea slumped over the table and nodded, understanding why Fallon had called the meeting short.
“Understood.”
Braden opened his mouth to object, but at a sharp look from Darius, closed it and gave a gruff nod.
Fallon waited until the two men had departed before he made his way over to where Shea was tilting in her seat. He caught her and then picked her up and carried her to the partitioned area that hid their bed chamber.
She woke as soon as he swung her into his arms. Her eyes blinking up at his, her face sleep-softened and without the normal shields she hid behind.
“Fallon.”
“I’m here, Shea.”
“I was so scared that I wouldn’t be able to find you.”
His arms tightened around her. It was a fear he reciprocated. They’d been in there longer than Shea had even guessed. Long enough that he had nearly given up hope. It was a feeling he was not accustomed to, having spent his entire life raging against the odds and coming out victorious in the end.
“I know. Me too.”
He set her on the bed and began to disrobe, pulling his shirt off as she watched him with shadowed eyes. As he unveiled a body defined by rigorous training and a lifetime spent at war, Shea took a deep breath. The smile that curved his mouth was pure sin. He recognized that sound, it was one he never got tired of.
He pulled her hips to the edge of the bed and grasped the bottom of the shirt she wore, slowly drawing it up to reveal soft skin stretched tight over lithe muscles. When he pulled the shirt over her head, she stared up at him with a yearning that matched his own.
He’d missed her more than he ever thought possible. This last month had been hard. Every day had been a battle to accomplish what needed to be done instead of saddling his horse and taking the shortest path back to her. If his men ever guessed how difficult he found it to be parted from her, they would write stories of how the great warlord had been ensnared by a beautiful pathfinder from the Highlands.
He ran the tips of his fingers over one smooth shoulder, relishing in the shiver that shook her. She tilted her head back, her eyes steady on his, demanding a kiss. One they both knew wouldn’t end with just that. As soon as they started they would catch fire, consumed by a raging inferno of desire that would burn until two people became one, just to start all over again.
It was always like this. He kept thinking it would eventually abate. That this need inside him would fade, leaving him able to think and reason again. So far it only seemed to grow.
He leaned forward taking her lips in a hard kiss, one that was met with an equal ferocity of her own. She gave as good as she got. Always. It was one of the things he loved best about her. Even before he knew who she was. She’d never bow just because of his position.
He tumbled her into their bed, wedging one leg between hers and pressing it hard against the apex of her thighs. She broke away from the kiss, panting as her hands roamed over his back with just the hint of her nails skating against his skin.
Fallon buried his head in the crook of her neck. She writhed under him, the rough sensation of his unshaven cheek against her sensitive skin driving her crazy. His chuckle was gruff and raspy. He pressed a kiss against her shoulder, one hand going to unlace her trousers. He barely touched her as he ran his fingers delicately over the skin revealed beneath.
She panted and arched up. He parted her folds, dipping into them before withdrawing. He stood, helping her yank off her trousers before doing the same with his own. Both of them bare to each other, he paused to look down at her, burning this memory into his mind, her hair spread across his bed and desire in her eyes.
Sometimes it scared him—the depth of feeling he had for this woman. He didn’t know what he would do if he ever lost her. If the world thought him a monster now, it had better pray that she outlived him.
He crawled onto the bed taking a place between Shea’s legs as he pressed his full body against hers, claiming her lips again for a deep kiss that held a fraction of his feelings. Breaking apart, he pressed a kiss to the side of her mouth, then her chin, her nose and both eyes. The feel of her lips tilting up in a smile softened that hard feeling in his stomach, the one that burned with conquest. She was his greatest challenge, a wild and untamed wind that defied every attempt to master it. He looked forward to the attempt despite the knowledge of his likely failure.
He kissed his way down her body, stopping to pay tribute to both breasts. He pulled one nipple deep into his mouth, biting down lightly as she made a sound in the back of her throat.
Fallon’s fingers circled the folds between her legs, brushing against her clit before sinking inside her. Her stomach stiffened and then loosened. He thrust his fingers in once and then again before withdrawing them to circle that small bud of nerves.
He kissed his way further down her body, pausing when she jerked or shivered to investigate all of her sensitive spots. It was a game he enjoyed, seeing how far he could tease her before she lost patien
ce with him. He blew against her wet curls and smiled as she twisted and turned in his hold.
A glance up her body revealed her bare breasts and a blue-eyed glare that told him she was about at that point where she would try to take matters into her own hands. His eyes were filled with a dark challenge as he pressed a kiss to either side of the spot she most wanted his mouth.
Shea panted as Fallon took his sweet time exploring her body. Need quaked through her as he pressed another kiss against a spot below her belly button before nibbling at the skin beneath. The look in his eyes was intimate, almost more than she could bear, and full of knowledge of the torture he was inflicting on her.
Shea’s eyes flared and she grabbed a handful of hair, tightening her grip until it was just this side of painful. Firm, but not so tight that it would hurt him.
His chuckle was full of naughty things. He knew exactly what he was doing to her. He enjoyed it.
She arched as he speared two fingers into her. A mewl escaped her as he pressed an open-mouthed kiss against her, his tongue stabbing at that bundle of nerves before he began to suck. She moaned, her legs tightening around his head, as desire spiraled inside her. Each wave pushing her closer and closer to the edge, drawing her nerves tighter and tighter. He flicked his fingers up, finding a spot inside that threw her over that edge.
She came with a long moan. The feeling almost too much, as she both wanted to press closer and move away, trying to escape as it threatened to burn her alive.
Finally, when he had wrung every drop of sensation, he rose above her, need and desperation on his face. He pulled her legs up and pressed her knees to her chest before fisting himself in one hand, pumping once then twice. Fallon guided himself inside her, filling her up until she was almost too full.
His gaze was too intimate like this. It made Shea feel like he saw inside her in a way nobody had before. Like he could reach out and touch her inner most self.
He began moving in her, each thrust sending need spiking through her. Her head fell back as it threatened to send her crashing back into the deeps. He grabbed her chin, pulling it down and meeting her eyes with his own. His hand was a searing brand against her skin. It slid down until it lightly circled her neck before coming to rest on her chest. He tweaked one of her nipples and added a twist to his thrust, reaching a new spot inside her.
