“Do you think we’ve lost them?” I ask.
“I don’t know. I haven’t heard them since they disappeared—after you fell,” Pascha replies.
“Perhaps they’ve given up,” Ish adds hopefully.
“I doubt it. Remember what Bettrice said? That they’re trained to hunt men down.”
I shudder and look to the trees behind me. Pascha pulls me to him a little more.
“I need to pee,” Ish exclaims as he walks away from us.
“Too much information!” I say laughing.
“Well, I didn’t want you to think that I’d just disappeared,” he laughs back.
“A few minutes just for us,” Pascha says stroking my scarred cheek.
The shock of his touch makes me cringe a little and I pull away embarrassed.
“Hey, look at me,” he insists, “you’re beautiful.”
I shake my head.
“To me you are beautiful Meriall Beswice. You always have been.”
“I know. I get it,” I say trying to stop him talking. “Do you know which way we should go—to get back to the village?” I add, deflecting the conversation.
He ignores me.
“Last night Merry, well, last night was-.” He stops, unable to find the words he needs.
I hug myself tight, warding off the shame I feel stroking at me.
“It was the most incredible experience of my life,” he says, unembarrassed. “It was like … you know, when you see those damsel flies—the ones that are bright blue—and they’re like flying around together and you can’t see where one starts and the other one begins. That’s what it was like.”
I snort with embarrassed laughter. “That is a terrible image. Terrible, but beautiful too.”
“Hey, I’m not good with words. But you know what I mean—don’t you! You felt it too, didn’t you?”
“Yes, yes I did,” I admit. “I wanted to lay with you forever.”
“That’s what I mean,” he says and hugs me tighter. “I didn’t want the night to end.”
We sit together quiet for a few moments more before he adds, “I think you may have stolen my heart.”
I smile up at him and his lips press firmly on mine.
“Merry, I’ve been thinking. I need to say something.”
“Ok, I’m listening.”
“I think that you and me.” He stops again, struggling for words. “I think that you and me are meant to be together—always.”
“Yeh, I feel that too. I can’t imagine another second of my life without you.”
My heart is beating wildly in my chest and, as he pulls me to him, waves of desire spread through me. Not just desire for our bodies to meet again but for our souls to be joined together too. I twine my fingers through his and let the surge of passion overwhelm me as he kisses me again and again. He pulls away from me, tips my chin up and looks into my eyes. I feel consumed by the passion I see there.
“When we get north Merry, I want us to be married,” he says with determination.
I look at him, overcome by emotion, “I-”
Shouting breaks out behind us among the trees.
“What the-?”
Pascha is on his feet in an instant, eyes darting among the trees, trying to see where the noise came from. Three Enforcers charge at us from the woods. Pascha grabs my arm and yanks me forward. There is nowhere to go but towards the sheer drop of the waterfall. We are trapped.
“Across the river—get across the river,” Pascha shouts in desperation, pulling me forward.
The guards catch up with us as we near the middle. An arm loops around my waist and I am yanked back, kicking and screaming, but nothing releases the vice that holds me. I watch as Pascha is grappled to the ground. He manages to stand again and the guard throws a punch. Pascha dodges it but slips. The guard grabs hold of Pascha’s belt. They’re getting dangerously close to the edge. Pascha scrabbles to his feet and manages a kick at the guard. The guard staggers, still grasping Pascha’s belt, and lurches closer to the edge.
“Pascha!” I scream in horror, grabbing at him through the air, as he loses his balance and disappears over the edge.
Time freezes as I stare at the empty space, my arms outstretched, mouth open in silent desperation. The guard heaves me back to the shore and throws me to the ground, but the pain in my side from the rocks that thud against my flesh are nothing to the pain in my heart.
MERIALL’S STORY CONTINUES IN Book 3 of the Primitives Series, CHOSEN
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebecca Fernfield is the author of the Primitives series. You can find her online home at www.rebeccafernfield.com.
You can connect with Rebecca on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rebeccafernfield. She loves getting to know her readers and you should send her an email at [email protected] if the mood strikes you.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With enormous thanks to my amazing beta readers and launch team:
Su Zu Abd Rahman, Juli Baldwin, Linda Bradshaw Sunayana Clark, Cathy Clowes, Sarah Fengler, Lucy Fox, Katie Gannon, Tanisha Hakim, Sarah Hopper, Michaela Knight, Victoria Lofthouse, Claire Melvin, Margaret Ann Merrick, Andrea Moorcroft, Julie Neilson, Laura Nicol, Deborah Price, Diane Purdy, Sarah Robinson, Michele Church Ridland, Mhairi Roberts, Carolyn Savage, Kitty Florentia Schwichiski, Jenna Symons, Carrie Taylor, Emma Thorpe, Fiona Ward, Sue Wilsea, Jo Wilson.
COPYRIGHT
A Redbegga ebook.
First published in Great Britain in 2017 by REDBEGGA LIMITED
Ebook first published in 2017 by REDBEGGA LIMITED
Copyright REDBEGGA LIMITED
Cover design by Bukovero
The moral right of Rebecca Fernfield to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patens Act 1988.
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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Primitive (Dark Powers Rising Book 2) Page 14
