by J. E. Taylor
His fingers threaded into my hair as he guided me. His grip tightened, and I met his gaze. He stepped back, away from me, his entire body trembling. I stayed on my knees, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
His chin dipped to his chest, and his fists clenched as tight as his eyes. He took deep breaths, and when his eyelids flew open, I knew he’d lost the battle.
He pushed me back in the sand, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. This time, he slid inside me with care, his eyes rolling back as he went.
I winced when his entire length filled me, and he stilled, searching my eyes. I was still sore from what Marigold had made him do to me, but I wanted this. I wanted him.
“My god, you are heaven,” he whispered, and kissed me again, remaining still until I grinded my hips to his. He moved slowly, savoring the burn, and I focused on the tingling pleasure every time our hips met.
This was the opposite of our frantic first time; it was sweet and gentle and made me forget about the aching soreness. By the time he was ready, so was I, and our cadence sped up until we both cried out, our names echoing in the chamber.
He rolled off me and stared at the ceiling. “Your father is going to kill me,” he said and covered his face.
I glanced over at him. “It’s not like you could have told him we didn’t sleep together before this,” I said, flashing a smile.
“True.” He lowered his arms and took my hand in his, his gaze on the ceiling. “You still want to marry me after a week in my company?”
“Only if you want to still marry me.”
He turned his head, and the most glorious smile spread across his lips. “I could spend a hundred lifetimes with you, and it still wouldn’t be enough.” He climbed to his feet. “We should be heading back.”
Before getting dressed, we washed the sand off each other. Aiden gathered what little belongings he had. It all fit in a satchel he had stowed in the corner, and he slung it over his shoulder.
I hand combed my wet locks and scooped up my hunting clothes before we headed out the way we had come. This time, we were both more surefooted, and we stepped out of the woods to a stunning sunset.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I have enough energy to go around this time,” Aiden said as Shadow danced around our feet.
I stared at Stonehenge. A dark shiver ran down my spine. The shortest route was right through the thing, but I did not want to step inside the rocks. “As long as we go around the rocks to the south, I’m fine.”
He nodded, understanding. The north side was where my father had beaten Marigold, and going near where she was killed felt too much like tempting fate.
EVERY MUSCLE FELT LIKE putty by the time we got to the castle. Aiden looked every bit as exhausted as I felt. The only one of us that seemed to exude energy was Shadow.
My stomach growled loud enough for Aiden to glance at me.
“I could eat an entire deer right now,” he said.
“You and me both.”
“Where have you been?”
My mother’s voice cut through the courtyard, making me jump.
We both turned towards her.
“We went to pick up my things,” Aiden said. “It took us longer than expected. I’m sorry if we worried you, my lady,” he said with a sweeping bow. He stood and gave her a crooked smile of apology.
She wrung her hands together, and her gaze bounced between us. “There is still food in the dining hall.” She waved towards the great hall. “Your father has been waiting for your return.”
I blinked the exhaustion away and handed my clothes to the nearest servant. We followed my mother into the dining hall to get some much-needed food.
My father sat at the center of the table with his arms crossed and only a wineglass in front of him. Most of the food had been removed, but it looked like a meat pie and some fruits remained.
I crossed to the food. Aiden followed me, and we piled our plates high with whatever was left. When we were done serving ourselves, there were only crumbs left on the serving platters.
I nearly fell into the closest seat. Aiden collapsed next to me. I was too tired and hungry to mind my manners, and I stuffed a large piece of meat into my mouth just as my father spoke.
“Where have you been?”
Aiden also had a mouthful, so I put my finger up, asking for another minute before answering.
“They went to get Aiden’s belongings,” my mother said for me.
I nodded, still chewing.
My father sipped his wine, studying us as we ate. I knew I was eating at a speed that wasn’t normal, and when I finished everything on my plate, I leaned back and belched.
“Sorry, but the walk took every ounce of energy from both of us,” I said as I wiped my lips.
Aiden showed more restraint, finishing a few minutes after I did, and he sat back in the chair, closing his eyes. “Thank you for the delicious meal,” he said, like he had each night he’d joined us for dinner.
“Tomorrow, we hunt,” my father said.
Aiden opened his eyes and stared at him. “You want me to hunt with you?”
“Yes. I want to see how good you are with a bow and arrow.”
I studied my father, gauging whether this was some sort of trap. “What are you hunting?”
“It seems there has been another bear sighting.” My father glared at me for a moment before refocusing on Aiden.
Aiden’s smile faded. “An arrow is just going to piss a bear off.”
“Then you better have good aim.”
“I have impeccable aim, but a bear’s hide is thick. The only time an arrow is successful is from close proximity.” Aiden shifted in his seat and glanced at me. “I’m not sure I’m in the most optimal health to take on a bear.” His cheeks turned red.
“Father,” I started, but he raised his hand.
“No arguments. He is going, or he is leaving this province for good,” he said.
I balked.
“I would be honored, Your Highness,” Aiden said.
Even though Aiden’s answer lacked sincerity, my father nodded and raised his glass. “To success.”
Aiden and I raised our glasses as well.
“Aiden will stay in my room tonight,” I said.
My father spit his wine out. Aiden choked on his wine, coughing and sputtering as he looked at me with wide eyes. My mother’s jaw hung open.
“Over my dead body,” my father answered and wiped his chin.
“If you insist on bringing him on this fool’s errand, I would at least like to know what it feels like to lay in his arms.” I tilted my head as if I had just asked for honey in my tea instead of calling my father out on his outrageous idea.
“May,” Aiden wheezed. “Please don’t make a scene. I will be fine.” He tried to take my hand.
I yanked it away from him. “We barely survived today’s walk without collapsing. How are you going to be sharp enough to kill a bear?” I glared at him. “The last time you went up against a full-grown grizzly, you were a bear and you were almost killed. Am I supposed to smile and wave good luck to you when I know you are walking into a death trap?” I spun on my father. “And you, you were almost annihilated by that bear too. How do you expect to survive with someone so weak at your side?”
My father placed his cup on the table and met my glare.
“I am not weak,” Aiden said from behind me, his voice full of steel and fire.
I turned to him and put my hand on top of his clenched fist. “Normally, you are not. But you are still recovering from the transfusion. You were the one who told me it would take a couple of months before either of us was at full strength. And you need to be at full strength to go after a bear.”
My father crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair while my mother busied herself by smoothing out the folds of her dress.
I glanced at all three of them. Neither my father nor Aiden budged in their commitment.
“Well, then, if you go, I go
,” I said.
Both Aiden and my father’s expressions mirrored each other’s. The first thing to fade was the anger and then their eyes widened. Before either of them spoke, their heads shook. As one, they said, “No.”
“You will stay in bed and rest,” Aiden said. “And I will not be joining you in your room tonight, regardless of what you want. This is your father’s house. His roof, his rules.”
“Then it is settled,” my father said and stood, taking his leave with my mother.
“Aiden.” I turned to him.
He pressed his fingers to my lips. “Stop. I promise, I will be fine.” He leaned close and gave me a light kiss. “I will see you tomorrow when I return from the hunt.”
I watched him go with my stomach in knots.
Chapter 12
Sunlight streamed through my window. I blinked, disoriented. I didn’t think sleep would ever come, but it had and deep enough for me to miss seeing the hunt off.
The shuffle of fabric made me jump. I snapped my head to my dressing table. My mother sat in the seat watching me with a hint of a smile on her face.
She stood, crossed to the bed, and took a seat on the edge. “Your father will make sure nothing happens to Aiden. He actually has grown fond of him but needs to test where his loyalties lie.”
“By going after a bear?” I said and sat up. A deep ache in my muscles reminded me of our activities yesterday.
“No, by protecting his king.”
I cocked my head.
“I don’t understand it either. I told him it was foolish, but they won’t be the only ones out there. Samuel and Edward are going with them.”
I relaxed a fraction. Both Samuel and Edward were accomplished with a bow and arrow, as well as a sword. They had to be as my father’s closest guards. But the gnawing worry persisted in my belly.
I slipped out of bed, wincing at the tightness in my derriere. I limped to my wardrobe and pulled out a proper dress for the day. What I really wanted to do was put my hunting clothing on and go after him, but I knew Aiden would be aggravated with me. Besides, how far would I really get with the state of my body?
After I dressed, my mother brushed my hair, and I closed my eyes, taken back to when I was little and she would spend hours brushing my hair until it had shone in the candlelight. Her soft touch relaxed me. When she set the brush down, I met her gaze.
“Your father sees how happy this man makes you, and wants to be sure his motives are pure.”
“Aiden’s motives are pure.”
Her smile seemed strained, but she nodded and helped me down to the sitting room to wait for the men to arrive home. I paced while she patiently sewed.
Finally, she put her embroidery on the table. “May, sit down. You are making me just as jumpy as you are.”
The sun had passed beyond midday, and while I knew the men wouldn’t be back until dusk, I still had an unsettledness that I couldn’t calm.
“I can’t. Not until Aiden is back safe.”
My mother shifted and glanced out the window. The worry lines around her mouth grew deeper, and she shook her head, replacing them with a smile instead. But the glimpse of her unease was enough for me to take a seat and still my restlessness.
Moments later, commotion filled the castle, followed by the shattering of stoneware. My mother and I both stood and ran in the direction of the great hall. I stopped at the door, trying to reconcile what I was seeing. The dishes and candles for the feast had been carelessly swept from the table, and my father lay on the wood plank with his leg drenched with blood.
Aiden’s shirt was streaked red.
My heart plummeted.
Aiden turned in my direction. “Get bandages and wine now!”
My feet wouldn’t move. The side of his face bled from claw marks, but he didn’t seem to notice. My mother disappeared from my side.
Aiden looked at Samuel on the other side of the table. “Go put the blade of your sword in the kitchen kiln until the handle is almost too hot to hold and then bring it back.”
Samuel limped away, leaving Aiden alone with Edward and my father.
“You will need to hold him still when Samuel comes back, understand?” Aiden barked at Edward.
Edward nodded.
Aiden tore the splint off my father’s leg and tossed it aside. He ripped the wet fabric of my father’s pant leg.
I gasped. My father’s eyes dulled enough to jump start my heart and I raced to his side.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Your betrothed saved my life,” my father said, his voice laced with agony.
“I haven’t saved you yet,” Aiden said, tightening a belt around my father’s thigh.
His lower leg looked like the bear had used it as a scratching post. His skin was torn to the bone, and one of the bones poked out of the skin.
Samuel came back in the room with his sword glowing red, and my mother came in with an armful of bandages.
“Move his good leg,” Aiden said and took the sword from Samuel. “And give him something to bite down on.”
“What are you doing?” My father’s eyes widened, making his features much paler.
Aiden glanced at him. “Your leg or your life. That’s the choice.”
“Just bandage it up,” my father insisted.
Aiden glanced at Edward. “Put your belt in his mouth,” he said.
Edward slid his belt off, doubled it and shoved it between my father’s teeth. Then he pulled my father’s good leg far enough away to not get hit with the glowing blade in Aiden’s hands.
He lined up the blade and looked at my mother.
“Don’t you dare,” my father growled around the leather.
“He won’t make it,” Aiden said softly.
My mother nodded. “Take his leg,” she ordered.
Without hesitation, Aiden brought the sword down, yelling with the force of it. Skin sizzled. The blade embedded in the wood below my father’s leg.
My father screamed despite still clamping down on the belt.
Aiden turned to me. “Get me honey.”
I turned and ran into the kitchen. When I came back, Aiden was sewing a patch of skin he had ripped from my father’s discarded appendage onto the blunt end of my father’s leg while my mother poured wine over the wound. My father had already passed out.
As soon as he was done stitching skin to skin, he dried the leg with one of the bandages and threw it on the floor. Then he turned to me with his hand out.
“Honey,” he said, and this time his voice sounded a little weaker.
I poured it into his hand, and he slathered it on the wound before wrapping my father’s leg.
When he finished, he wiped his hands and took a seat. “You can take him up to his bed. We will need to change that daily until it heals,” he said to my mother.
She nodded. Edward and Samuel helped carry my father as my mother led the way.
I picked up a clean bandage and doused it with wine. Stepping closer to Aiden, I tilted his chin up so I could see his wounds better. I dabbed the cuts. He didn’t even wince. Instead, he gave me a tired smile.
“I couldn’t get to him before the bear did.” He brought his hand to his face. When he pulled his fingers away, wine and blood covered them. “But I did take that bastard down.” He stared at his hand. “How bad is it?”
“Not bad,” I said and smoothed a thin layer of honey over the cuts. None of them were deep enough for me to stitch, but they would leave a scar. I glanced at the table and the wood still smoking from the hot sword. “Where did you learn that?”
“Same place I learned about transfusions,” he said and wiped his face.
“Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.” I helped him to his feet and let him use me for support.
Now that his adrenaline had faded, his steps were unsteady. I took him to the bathing area and stripped him of the soiled clothing, inspecting every inch of him to make sure there weren’t any more wounds. After my thorough once-o
ver, I helped him into the iron tub.
“It isn’t the hot springs.” I handed him a washcloth and proceeded to pour warm pots of water over him until the water ran clear down his chest.
He scrubbed his hands as I cleaned his hair and shoulders with a second cloth. When he was done, he leaned back in the tub and just stared at me.
“Did your father say betrothed?” he asked, his sleepy eyes searching mine.
“Yes.”
Aiden smiled and climbed to his feet, drying off with a towel I handed him. The wardrobe in the bath had a few extra pair of clothes, and I handed some to him. I didn’t think my father would mind.
Aiden pulled on the clothes, and then I led him to my room and made him sit at my vanity while I spread another thin layer of honey on the cuts. Then, I made him lie down under the covers in my bed. Before I finished tucking him in, he had fallen asleep.
Instead of climbing in with him like every fiber of me wanted to, I went to my parents’ room and stepped inside. My father lay under the covers and my mother gently swiped his forehead with a cloth. She looked up at me, her smile tense.
“Thank Aiden for me,” she said. “If your father pulls through this fever, he won’t be happy with the choice I made, but he will adjust.” She wiped his forehead again.
“If?” I blinked and stared at my father looking so meek and sickly in the bed.
My mother raised her gaze and nodded.
I came to her side and reached for my father’s hand. “Father, please fight this. I want you to walk me down the aisle. I want you there to celebrate and drink wine until you say something incredibly sappy and sweet. I need you to be there, so please, fight this fever and come back to Mother and me.” I squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek before I gave my mother a hug. While I wanted to stay and carry on the vigil with her, I knew she wanted this time with my father.
“Let me know if anything changes,” I said and headed back to my room. I stripped my clothing and pulled on a night shirt, climbed under the covers, and snuggled next to Aiden.
He rolled, wrapping his arms around me, and pulled me tight to his chest. The cadence of his breathing smoothed out again.
With his arms around me, he soothed all my worries of what was to come. I didn’t know if tonight would change my father’s acceptance of Aiden, or if he would default to exiling him out of anger for his own situation.
