“Valiant?”
“Never in a million years would I think you had that in you.”
“Had what?”
His head lifted and his eyes locked on mine. “You fought alongside me and Salem. No hesitation. Quick reflexes, brilliant instincts. You did not recoil. You did not become hysterical. You were no burden. You were a boon. Had it only been me and Salem, they may have taken me or they may have harmed him.”
I felt something squishy in my belly at his words but also felt the need to point out, “You’re pretty good with a sword yourself, big guy.”
He grinned at me. “I’ve had plenty of practice. You, my love, as far as I know, have never wielded a dagger.” His fingers tensed in mine. “Your strokes were awkward, uneconomical, you expended more energy than you needed. You lashed out, were reactionary rather than tactical.”
Well!
“Nevertheless,” he went on, “you instinctively protected my weak flank and our mount.” He gave me another finger squeeze. “You did well, sweets.”
My belly was even squishier when I whispered, “Uh… thanks.”
He grinned at me and dipped his head yet again to brush his lips against mine.
Damn, but I liked it when he did that.
He lifted his head and I saw his eyes were smiling. “Now, as brilliant as it is to have your soft body under mine in an actual bed, my love, I need to drag you out of it, feed you and we need to be on our way.”
What?
“We do?”
“I’ve given Salem his oats, he’s rested, we have to press on.”
“Press on to where?”
“My castle.”
Oh. Wow.
“Seriously?” I asked, wanting, despite myself, to see his castle.
“Yes, Cora.”
My eyeballs moved around the room then back to him. “But, if this is safe –?”
“It is safe but it’s rustic, one room and there’s no tree cover. The cottage is sacred ground, the land around it isn’t. You or I leave the house, we could be spotted. My castle, and the land around it, is bigger, more comfortable and all of it is off-limits thus it’s safer.”
“Oh.”
This made sense.
“Now kiss me quickly, make it good, earn your breakfast and we’ll be away.”
Uh. What?
“Are you joking?” I asked.
He grinned and answered, “Not even a little bit.”
The squishiness in my belly and the excitement at seeing his castle disappeared and I glared at him.
“So we’re back to that?”
“We never left it.”
“You let me have a bath, clothes and dinner without earning it,” I reminded him.
“You cleaned my cave,” he informed me.
Ugh!
“Why is it when I think I can start liking you, you remind me why I don’t?” I asked and that earned me another insolent grin but no response.
Drat the man!
“I think I should get a pass considering I helped you hold back the vickrants and put up with your foul temper in the church,” I informed him.
The grin faded and the amusement in his eyes died but still he said, “And I think you should stop talking and earn your breakfast so we can be on our way.”
I tried to unlace my fingers from his (and failed, by the way) so I scowled up at him. “You forget, I’ve decided to go it alone.”
“And you forget that you foolishly left me, taking my horse while doing it. It’s my duty to protect you, you put yourself in danger and doing this, you negated anything you might have earned in our fight and enduring my foul temper in the church.”
“That doesn’t add up!” I snapped.
“It certainly does,” he returned.
“It doesn’t!” I shot back and his fingers tensed and stayed tensed in mine.
“The curse has just begun. The Shrew cannot complete it unless she has a half of both the souls. She gets you, and it’s highly likely, you go on alone, wherever the bloody hell you think you’re going, she’ll get you. That means my land, my people, will live under that curse in all its fullness until the next divided souls blissfully wed. My people, as yet, are unaware of what has befallen them. They are experiencing unpredictable weather patterns but, as far as I can tell, nothing more. As the curse has not descended for millennia, there is no known record of what to expect except whatever it will be will likely mean floods, droughts, crops failing, plague, famine and the only hope would be to endure, for a shred of humanity to hold on as the decades pass until the new souls are united in matrimony. You endangered that, again, my love, and for that we return to our terms and you earn your keep.”
Oh dear. I didn’t know any of that. I’d fucked up again. Royally (in my case, seeing as I was a princess, that was weirdly literal).
Shit.
“Then I’m not hungry,” I decided. “We can just go.”
“You’ll eat and you’ll earn it.”
“Nope, I’m fine. Thanks for your concern but I’m good.”
“Did you eat yesterday?”
No, I did not and, incidentally, I was starved.
I didn’t tell him that.
“Cora, you can earn it or I can take it from you.”
I blinked up at him. “What?”
“You kiss me or I kiss you. Those are your choices. You have two seconds to decide.”
“Don’t you dare kiss –”
“One.”
“Noctorno, you kiss me, I’ll –”
“Two,” he muttered, his eyes dropping to my mouth then his lips dropped there.
Hells bells.
I fought it, I did. Seriously. And I worked hard at it. And it seemed I was winning.
I kept my mouth resolutely closed no matter how he coaxed (and he coaxed) with lips and tongue to get it open.
I was feeling pretty pleased with myself when his free hand suddenly cupped my breast and his thumb, with pinpoint accuracy, swept over my nipple.
Holy crap.
My mouth opened at the shock of pleasure that shot through my system and his tongue swept inside.
Oh shit. I forgot just how stinking much I loved how he tasted and how much more I loved how he kissed.
My body gave in before my mind, my arm curving around his broad shoulders then my back arched to fit my breast more firmly in his hand.
He groaned in my mouth and I loved that too. So much, that was when my mind gave in and he had all of me.
He deepened the kiss and my fingers glided into his hair to hold him to me as his thumb stopped sweeping my nipple, his hand went up, tugged the fabric down then he went back to my nipple, thumb and finger this time, rolling and squeezing.
Oh my. Nice.
My hips surged up, my fingers still laced in his hand held on tighter and I moaned my pleasure in his mouth.
His lips left mine and I moaned again because I didn’t want them to go.
But they didn’t go. They just moved to relocate. His hand cupped my breast, lifting it, his body angled down then my nipple was in his mouth and he instantly started sucking even as his tongue swirled.
Oh my God. That felt freaking great.
My fingers still in his hair fisted and I breathed, “Tor.”
His lips left my breast, his hand cupping it warmly again, just cupping it this time as his mouth came back to mine.
My eyes opened and they stared into the heated depths of his.
“Don’t stop,” I begged, arching into him again.
“Why do you burn so hot now, sweets, when we must go?” he muttered, his mutter husky with want at the same time I sensed frustration.
“We can delay,” I whispered, my hand leaving his hair to cover his at my breast and my other hand squeezing his insistently.
“We can’t,” he denied.
“Ten minutes,” I pushed and watched the desire in his eyes war with amusement.
“My love, what I intend to get from you will take far, far longer
than ten minutes to get.”
Oh boy.
I liked the sound of that.
His hand moved from my breast and he pulled up the material.
Drat!
I couldn’t help it; I felt my mouth twist into a pout.
His eyes dropped to it, he stared at my mouth for a scant second and then he burst out laughing, throwing his head back and everything to do it.
It totally sucked that he looked gorgeous all the time and laughing was no exception.
“Get off me,” I snapped. “I’m hungry.”
His laughter turned to chuckles and he dropped his chin to catch my eyes. “I’ll give you what you’re hungry for, in my soft bed, in my big castle, I promise you that, Cora.” His voice dropped sexy, husky deep when he finished, “And I’ll take my time doing it.”
“I was talking about breakfast,” I informed him briskly.
“Right,” he murmured, smiling down at me.
“Hello? Noctorno? Aren’t we in a big hurry?” I called.
This earned me another blasted chuckle but he knifed away from me never letting go of my hand therefore he used it to pull me out of bed with him. And he rested me on my feet half an inch from his body, let go of my hand but crushed me to his body with both arms.
I tipped my head back to look up at him. “What are you doing now?” I snapped.
His eyes searched my face and they did this for a long time, so long, the scrutiny so intense, I started to feel funny but I didn’t know if it was a good funny or a bad one.
“Noctorno?” I finally said.
“I prefer you calling me Tor.”
I didn’t answer.
One of his hands slid up my spine and started to play with the ends of my hair.
Oh dear. I liked that too.
“My wife is exquisite,” he said softly and I felt my body still as I felt my lips part. “That, I always knew. But she’s also brave, defiant, clever and amusing. That, my sweet, I did not know.”
Holy crap!
“Tor,” I whispered but didn’t say anymore because I didn’t know what to say and because his head dropped down so he could again brush his lips tenderly against mine.
“Now I need to feed you,” he murmured against my lips, I sighed against his, his eyes, which were all I could see, lit with a light that I liked way too much then he let me go, took my hand and led me to the table.
Chapter Eleven
Sharing
Salem was clip clopping under us at a sedate canter as the magnificent countryside passed us by.
The clouds had shifted so now the sun shone and the view as far as the eye could see (and the stretch of what we’d already passed) was extraordinary.
Every inch of it.
I had, that day, learned two things.
One, a horse could look contrite. I discovered this when I walked outside and glared my displeasure at Salem. He gave me a look and if he could bite his lip, I knew he would. Instead, he ducked his head.
I let him suffer for about two seconds then I gave in, stroked his long, glossy nose and muttered, “I forgive you and anyway, you did the right thing, taking care of me and obeying your master at the same time. You’re a good horse.”
He blew in my neck.
Two, my husband could cook – on an old, iron wood-burning stove, no less. He made me eggs, bacon and thick slices of toast slathered in creamy, melty fresh butter. The food was awesome and not just because I hadn’t had anything to eat since the stew at Liza and Rory’s pub but because Tor could seriously cook. It was just eggs, bacon and toast but somehow he made it delicious.
After breakfast, we both mounted Salem even though there was another horse there (the one Tor used to track us). He left it saying he’d have his “people” deal with it just as they would deal with the dirty dishes we left.
It, obviously, was good being the future king.
I didn’t understand why we wouldn’t take the horse. I figured we could go much further much faster if we both had our own mounts but he disagreed. He told me if we were attacked, he could guard me much easier if I was close. Considering my inexperience as a horsewoman and warrior princess, I agreed.
As much as I hated it, I had to admit that I liked sitting in the sunshine atop Salem, feeling Tor’s big, strong body surrounding me, making me feel safe. Yesterday had been overcast and chilly, I felt the need to be constantly vigilant and I wasn’t a brilliant rider, only having been on a horse a handful of times in my life. Salem luckily knew what he was doing but riding was difficult, jarring, exhausting and it was nice to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Which, watching the splendiferous countryside pass us by as the sun warmed our bodies and Tor held me close, I was doing.
I relaxed further into him and asked, “How long before we get to your castle?”
“If we were able to take the main road, which we cannot for Minerva’s beings will be watching it, a day. The route we have to take, likely three,” Tor answered and I straightened, twisted and looked up at him.
“Three?”
“Yes, love, three.”
Holy crap. That was a serious detour.
I turned back and fell silent. In the distance I saw a bunch of deer lift their heads in our direction, sensing us. Then as a group they took off, gracefully running up a hill into a forest.
I’d never seen that many deer in my life. A few here and there, but there had to be thirty, maybe even forty of them.
Outstanding.
My eyes slid across the landscape, experiencing greens greener than I’d ever seen before, wildflowers running riot in the fields around Salem’s legs and beyond, a faraway body of water that was the blue of Tor’s eyes. In fact, it seemed strangely the very air sparkled like it had tiny pieces of near invisible glitter floating in it.
It was magical.
I sighed.
Then I decided to take a chance and rested my hand on Tor’s arm at my belly.
“Can I tell you something?” I asked.
“Anything, sweets,” he mumbled and I felt his chin come to rest where my neck met my shoulder.
Oh boy. That felt nice.
“Can you promise me something before I tell you?” I went on.
“Ask me and we’ll see,” he replied gently.
Well, that wasn’t a yes but it wasn’t a no and it was a maybe said in a tone I liked so I sallied forth.
“Okay, I want to talk about something you don’t believe and won’t like. But can you just pretend you believe or, I don’t know, just keep silent?”
I received no response for some time then his arm around me gave me a squeeze and he answered, “I can do that, Cora.”
“Really?” I whispered to the landscape.
“Really, love, what do you want to talk about?”
I pulled in a deep breath and then shared what had been niggling me deep in the back of my head for awhile.
“I’m not going home,” I said softly, his arm squeezed me again and I went on quickly. “No, don’t say anything. I know you think I am home but I’m not. And every time I go to sleep, I expect to wake up back in my apartment, in my life. But I’m not doing that. And as the days pass by, I’m wondering if I ever will. And there are a couple things about this that are nagging me.”
He didn’t lift his chin from my shoulder when he prompted, “And those are?”
“Well,” I started, “if I’m here, that means the other Cora is there. And if she’s like you say she is… um, I don’t think that’s good. See, my job is in danger. I’ve been there years and I make okay money but they’re looking for reasons to get rid of people. If she doesn’t figure out she has to work for a living, or decides not to, or figures it out, goes in and doesn’t know what she’s doing, which, by the way, in my world she can’t possibly know, or by some miracle, pulls that off but pisses someone –”
“I get it, love,” he cut me off quietly.
I sucked in breath. Then I said, “I can’t lose my job, Tor. And Lord only k
nows what else she might get up to and the longer I’m here, the more time she has to get up to it.”
“This is true, the gods only know what the other Cora would get up to,” he agreed and I didn’t know if it was actual agreement or him humoring me but I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to know if was the latter (though I figured it was).
“This is important,” I told him, “and it’s kind of freaking me out.”
“Freaking you out?”
“Worrying me,” I explained.
He lifted his chin and ordered, “Look at me, Cora.” I did, twisting to look up at him to see his eyes tipped down to me. “You have no control over that. Let it go.”
“But –”
“Let it go.”
“I can’t!” I exclaimed.
“I can understand this but do you know how to get back there?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Do you know how you got here?” he went on.
“No,” I repeated.
“Then you have no control over it. If you go back,” he stated and my heart somersaulted at the same time it clenched, “you’ll be forced to deal with it then. Since you have no way of knowing what you’ll face, you have no way of strategizing your response. So you simply have to wait and deal with it if it occurs.”
He was right. This was logical and wise.
“That’s logical and wise,” I told him.
He grinned at me.
“I’m still going to worry,” I admitted and he chuckled.
I smiled at him because it felt good to unload that, even if I didn’t have any firm answers, and I turned to face forward.
We fell silent for awhile before I broke it.
“There’s something else.”
“Yes?”
I stared at the scenery. Then I swallowed.
Then I shared on a whisper, “I don’t know if I want to go back.”
Tor’s body went completely solid behind me and even Salem missed a step before righting himself.
“Pardon?” Tor asked.
I pulled in my lips and bit them. Then for some wild, crazy, insane reason, I kept right on talking.
“It’s beautiful here. Horses communicate with you. Birds talk to you. It’s unpolluted. Life is simple. I would never, not in my life, have guessed that I wouldn’t miss cars, cell phones, microwaves, martinis and high-heeled shoes. If you told me I would come to a place such as this but if I did I’d have to stay, I’d say no way. But now that I’m here, I want to explore. Every sight I see, I like. Every village. Every flower. Every beast. Every blade of grass. Sure, a curse is pending, but you’ve got that under control, right?”
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