Elise bit her bottom lip, but did not bother arguing with him. “The boy…” she breathed out, shivering. She pulled away, peering around Callum’s massive body, her eyes searching frantically for the child. Her gaze landed on his still body lying on the ground.
Her face blanched white. A small whimper escaped from her mouth, before she took control over herself, and plodded hastily towards the boy’s body, her wet shoes squelching on the grass.
“How is he?” she asked Aiden as she kneeled down beside the child, her worried eyes scanning his body, looking for any injuries.
“He’s not breathing. We’ve sent for a healer,” Aiden informed her.
Elise shooed Aiden aside with a wave, to make room for herself next to the boy. Placing her ear near the boy’s nose and mouth to check his breathing for herself, she then rested it against his chest to listen to his heartbeat.
Callum watched on, perplexed; wondering what she was doing as he saw her frown. Pulling herself up suddenly and rolling the boy over onto his side, Elise positioned the boy’s arms and legs carefully in a strange configuration Callum didn’t recognize. Opening his mouth, she swiped her finger inside, pulling out a small clot of algae.
Checking his mouth again, she seemed satisfied it was now clear. She rolled him onto his back again. Then, placing one hand on top of the other and interlocking her fingers together, she started giving the boy chest compressions, pumping her forearms up and down in a steady rhythm.
“What are you doing?” Callum was completely baffled by her actions as he appeared on the other side of the boy’s body.
“CPR,” was Elise’s terse answer, her mind focused completely on the task at hand. She paused and bent her head down towards the boy, pinched his nose, and covered his open lips with her mouth.
“What in Light’s name—” Wide-eyed and astounded, Callum watched as Elise puffed air into the boy’s mouth, then straightening up, began doing compressions on his chest again. She repeated three cycles of this, before the boy’s body jerked back to life, coughing and spluttering water out of his mouth!
Elise let out a small cry of relief, and she helped the boy roll sideways to stop him choking on the regurgitated water, and gave him a few light thumps on the back.
“Amazing…!” Callum uttered, awed by what he’d just witnessed. A movement caught the corner of his eye, and he looked up to see Darthum, the healer, just as he reached their side. “My Lord,” he greeted, giving Callum a small nod, before kneeling down on the grass and ministering to the boy.
“I am Darthum, my Lady. Please, allow me to examine the boy,” the healer said to Elise. When she didn’t move aside, he added, “don’t worry, I’ll be careful. He’s in good hands.”
Elise hesitated for a moment, her eyes darting between Darthum’s face and the boy, who was still spluttering and groaning on the ground. She must have made up her mind to trust the healer as she withdrew her hands from the boy’s body and sat back against her heels.
A few minutes passed before Darthum pronounced the boy was okay.
“What happened?” The boy finally managed to ask when his coughing had stopped, his voice hoarse. His eyes were slightly unsteady as they roved around, looking up at the faces around him. Darthum and Elise helped him to sit up.
Callum immediately crouched down and wrapped the boy with a thick blanket.
The other boy he’d noticed earlier with a face he didn’t recognize, crept quietly up to them, his cheeks wet with tears.
“Gideon!” he choked out, and fell to his knees, throwing his arms around his friend in a shaky hug.
“Careful Lance, you’re choking me…!” Gideon complained, trying feebly to pull away.
“Oh—sorry!” Lance exclaimed, withdrawing his arms and quickly releasing his friend. Gideon rubbed the base of his throat, trying to soothe away the gravelly feeling the almost-drowning had left.
“You had me so scared—” Lance cried, cutting off with a sob.
Gideon stopped rubbing his neck and leaned forward, trying to comfort his friend. He patted Lance on the back.
Callum sighed in relief as the two friends continued to talk about what had happened, their voices soon fading into the background as he glanced over at Elise.
Her blanket had slipped off her shoulders when she’d been tending to the young boy, and Callum bent down to adjust it, pulling it up and back over her shivering frame.
“Come,” he said gently. Crouching down next to her, he swept Elise’s small frame into his arms and lifted her up as he stood on his feet. “Let’s go inside and get you warmed up.”
“I can walk by myself, Callum…!” Elise protested, not wanting to be carried; gasping as she felt her wet body pressing up against his chest. But Callum cut her off with a stern look.
“You are in no shape to go trudging about in your current state. Be good, little one, and just let me take care of you.”
Elise shut her mouth, becoming silent, too exhausted from the harrowing swim in the cold, frigid waters and the stress of trying to save the young boy named Gideon, to argue any further.
Callum took Elise’s silence in stride and trudged towards the keep, his clothes dripping water all over the stone floors and leaving wet footmarks as he entered the garrison’s living quarters and took Elise up to her rooms.
There he lit a fire, stoking it to a roaring flame. He left Elise sitting in the armchair nearby, basking in its warmth, and went to order the servants to draw a hot bath and prepare some food for his wife—for she was now his wife, not just some random woman living underneath his roof.
The attendants were quick to follow his orders. Warm broth was brought up, and Callum placed the bowl into her cold, stiff hands, but not before clasping them within his own and rubbing them between his large palms to bring the blood flow back to Elise’s blue fingers.
She resisted at first, blushing at the intimate touch, but he would not allow her to reject his offer. No—he was in charge now, and her safety was his responsibility! And it was something he took very seriously!
Frostbite and pneumonia were not uncommon illnesses, and he’d seen many a soldier lose a limb or two before from it, or have their health permanently damaged by the wintry cold.
As he continued to rub Elise’s hands and then her bare feet, a set of dry clothes were brought in by Melody and placed inside the ensuite bathroom, ready for Elise to change into.
The sound of Melody running water into the bathtub drifted through the open door of the bathroom, and Elise brightened up, looking forward to submerging herself in the hot, relaxing waters and letting the warmth seep into her limbs. Suddenly, Elise was very conscious of Callum’s intense gaze on her.
Callum, on the otherhand, didn’t realize he was staring at her—not until he noticed Elise shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
Without any warning, an image of him helping Elise peel off her wet dress to reveal her bare, naked skin, flashed inside his mind; and in that moment, a part of him was sorely tempted to strip her down right there and then and accompany her into the bath…
“I should go and get changed,” Callum said reluctantly, as he stopped massaging her damp feet and stood up. Up to this point, he had completely ignored his own body’s need for warmth—his mind too preoccupied with the safety and comfort of his wife.
“The boy, Gideon…will he be alright?” Elise asked him softly, her eyes full of concern. Callum felt a momentary pang of jealousy that the young child—a complete stranger, could elicit such worry from his wife, while he stood there before her, cold and dripping wet after leaping into the lake and saving the boy!
He pressed his lips together grimly. She’d not once asked him how he was faring!
Even now, when the urge to remain with Elise and help her disrobe, and to bathe together with her, enjoying her slender, silky body in the comforting heated waters of the bath, called out strongly to him, Callum could do little else but bite down on his urge, wanting almost to groan aloud as he fought again
st his baser desires.
Elise was fortunate he was too much of a gentleman to force her to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with, or to be intimate with him before she was ready.
But it was proving more and more difficult to restrain himself and remain patient for her to come around than he’d originally anticipated—especially after seeing how tightly her wet clothes had clung to her fine form, showing off her ample bosom, round, luscious bottom, and her slender waist and beautiful, long legs.
His loins tightened with need as his cock pulsed beneath his breeches, straining against the fitted dark fabric. If it wasn’t for the length of his tunic covering past the area of his groin, Elise would surely have noticed his arousal aswell, and he was certain that she would have been mortified! She might even have tried to run away!
They had yet to consummate their marriage, and it played on Callum’s mind often throughout the day—more times than he’d care to admit…
“The boy is fine. If anything changes I’ll let you know,” he reassured Elise. “I’ll see you at dinner.” Callum gave her a curt nod, and turned to leave.
“Thank you,” Elise murmured, the sound so soft Callum barely caught the whisper. He hesitated, feeling something warring inside himself—his desire to comfort his wife, vied against the need to keep some distance from her at the moment, lest his restraint over himself crumbled, and he found himself unable to hold his desire for her back.
It’d been a very long time since he’d had––let alone wanted––a woman in his bed, and his self-control stopping him from taking Elise and slaking his desire with her body, was growing papery thin.
With stiff, square shoulders he strode out of the room without another backward glance. He prayed silently to the Light for patience and the strength to hold himself together.
CHAPTER SIX
Elise watched Callum’s strong, capable body from the back as he walked out of her bedroom without so much as a goodbye, leaving her worrying over whether she’d done something wrong…
She’d suddenly felt his attitude towards her turn as cold as frost, and it hadn’t escaped her notice he’d left with his hands bunched into tight fists at his sides.
She nibbled at her lip, wishing he would’ve told her off if he was angry with her, instead of keeping it all balled up inside! At least then, she could say something in her defense! But it was hard to fight against passive aggressive…
Elise sighed. It was obvious he was angry at her for diving into the lake by herself to save the young boy…Gideon—his friend had called him. But what did Callum expect? She couldn’t have just sat back and watched the young boy drown!
She’d been on the swimming team back in high school, and she still kept up her training every other weekend. In the split second she’d assessed the situation, she was confident she was a strong enough swimmer to save the boy…only she’d underestimated how heavy the fabric of the dress they’d made her wear would be in the water, and how freezing cold the temperature of the lake waters would be.
She was lucky Callum had come at the time he had—and even luckier still that he was a stronger swimmer than her. He’d ploughed through the water like a steel windmill; in fast, steady, rhythmic strokes, and even she’d been impressed by his capabilities!
The entire situation had been a bit surreal, with everything just happening so fast! She was so relieved when Callum had managed to drag Gideon out of the water and he’d choked up the water and come back to life after she’d administered CPR. It’d been a close call…if Gideon had stayed in the water for any much longer…
Elise shuddered, unable to bear thinking about the consequences.
“My Lady,” Melody’s voice called out softly, but clearly, bringing Elise back to the present. “Your bath is ready. Do you require any assistance?”
Elise looked at Melody, confused for a moment…then, her brows unscrunched and she blushed lightly. “No, errr…I’m alright to take a bath by myself. No need for you or, um, anyone else to help me.”
Melody gave her mistress a long look, eyeing her dishevelled form, but thankfully did not persist with her suggestion. “I’ll leave you and give you some privacy, then. If you need me, just call for me,” she said, curtsying and walking out, leaving Elise to herself.
Finally! Padding softly to the bathroom, Elise made sure to close and lock the door, before she dropped the wet blanket she had wrapped around her into a tall laundry basket near the bathtub. She peeled off her wet clothes and underwear, also putting them into the basket, leaving herself completely naked aside from the small necklace her father had gifted to her back in highschool.
She fiddled with the pendant—a small round disc set with a piece of luminous deep, blue-green abalone shell that refracted the light, that was surrounded on one side by a silver crescent moon. It was the most precious and meaningful thing her father had ever given her, and despite all his wrongs, she continued to treasure this gift from him. That’s why she never took it off.
Walking over to the bath, she tentatively dipped the tips of her toes into the steaming water. The warmth hit her immediately. She slid the rest of her leg in, almost shuddering in pleasure, before fully stepping into the bath, allowing her entire body to glide down against the slippery surface of the tub and beneath the water until she was submerged from the neck down. She let out a contented sigh…the temperature was just right!
Soon, the heat of the water chased away the biting chill in her skin and bones, and she leaned back against the bathtub, luxuriating in the scented water, oiled with lilac and lavender. On a small table within easy reaching distance to the bathtub, lay a bar of soap and some bottles which she suspected might be shampoo and conditioner.
She allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment, resting her head against the edge of the bath, letting the steam rise and swirl around her face. Her thoughts flitted back to moments before—when Callum had taken her cold, frozen hands and feet in his large palms, and rubbed them vigorously to bring the blood flowing back into her blue limbs to warm her extremities.
It had been an unexpected gesture of kindness, and Elise felt her face warm up as she remembered his rough calloused skin touching hers. It must be the heat from the bathwater, she reasoned with herself, not willing to admit the memory was making her blush.
For a bulky, muscular man who looked like he could bench press a car with his sheer strength, he could be surprisingly gentle. A warrior; Elise knew the sword he always wore swung at his side was not merely for show.
On a few occasions this week when she’d been taken by Aiden to walk around the back meadows to get some fresh air, she’d passed the training grounds and glimpsed him in action.
His mastery of the sword had been impressive—his movements swift and controlled. She could tell from those brief glimpses he was a dangerous warrior to contend with on the battlefield.
Despite her reservations and against her better judgement, she’d allowed herself to be entranced by his powerful, graceful movements, as she watched the bulging muscles on his arms glistening in the afternoon sunlight. The sight had caused a strange yearning to flutter inside her belly…
She hated to admit it, but the man was damn attractive—and it irked her to feel this way! Her female biology and hormones couldn’t deny it—did not want to deny it in fact!
“Ughh…” She slapped a wet hand against her forehead, trying to clear the lustful thoughts beginning to form in her mind. She was still a prisoner—his prisoner, she reminded herself, and it would serve her well not to forget that.
Taking the soap, which smelled of a light floral scent when she brought it to her nose; she began soaping herself up, enjoying the chore of scrubbing her skin clean with a loofah, and then washing her hair.
She made sure she’d washed off all the suds before stepping out of the bath and towelling herself dry. She then donned the dress Melody had left for her on a small table near the sink.
Bartered to the Fae Lord Page 5
