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She shivered at the memory, but Herrick must’ve felt her because he shifted slightly behind her. Maude smirked and decided to see how far she could push him. She arched her back a bit and rolled her neck, her hood pulled tight against her head so Herrick got no ideas about bringing his mouth anywhere near herneck again.

She let out a small sound when she relaxed from her stretch, and she felt Herrick’s chest rumble behind her, sending shockwaves down her nervous system and into her core, heating it.

“You okay back there?” Maude asked innocently.

“Never better,” Herrick forced out, breathing through the minor rocking. Maude might have been exaggerating as her hips moved with the horse's movements.

“You seem bothered,” Maude pointed out, twisting a bit and arching her back again in the same movement. She felt Herrick’s hand move to her thigh again and tighten.

“I know what you’re doing,” he said, low and accusatory.

Maude’s voice took on a smoky tone that was foreign, even to her, “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She faced the woods again as Herrick's fingers painted small circles on her leg that drifted ever closer to where she wanted his hands more than the breath in her lungs. Just as she thought he would graze the hard seam of her pants that ran over the softest part of her, his fingers withdrew, and she blew out the breath she was holding.

“I think you know exactly what you’re doing,” Herrick said to her as his fingers resumed their swirling pattern, running them up and down the inside of her thigh.

“It wouldn’t matter anyway; you’re too nice.”

Herrick’s fingers stopped their teasing, and Maude wondered if she had said the wrong thing, their game over before it had even started.

His callused hands drifted up her arm, leaving that stream of ice water in its wake that seemed to cool her raging fire into a molten, slow-burning heat. His right hand made it to her shoulder, while the left, holding the reins to the horse, stayed planted on her thigh in plain sight of those traveling with them.

“Too nice?” Herrick’s voice rumbled with his unchecked arousal, and Maude knew she had said exactly the right thing.

His hand, quick as lightning, wrapped around her throat and pulled her back so she was flush with his body. The angle of his hand forced her to look up at the canopy, and she became a bit breathless at the dominance in his grip.

Maude could feel his hard length at her back, telling her exactly how affected he was by the position as well. Her center pulsed in an aching rhythm— she could feel herself soaking through her underthings.

A small gasp escaped from her lips, the sound involuntary as Herrick held her in place. His grip was firm but not constricting, and she knew that if they ever acted on their impulses, they would tear each other apart. He leaned into her and breathed in her scent, the low cut of her shirt exposing how hard she was breathing.

“Is thisnice,minn eldr?” Herrick’s voice was a whisper that dragged over the sensitive skin of her chest.

She had kept her hands firmly wrapped around the bow that was in her lap, refusing to touch him, but the leash on her control slipped. Throwing restraint aside, she moved her hand behind her and ran her palm down his impressive bulge. Herrick bucked his hips slightly at her touch, letting out a groan, and she grinned at her triumph.

“I am not a fragile maiden who needs to be wooed by pretty words and declarations of love,” Maude purred, unveiling the Helcat that prowled beneath her skin just enough for him to sense. “If I wanted to, I would have you on this forest floor. I want actions from you, Herrick. I don’t need soft words; I need the truth.”

She released him and snaked her hands back to the bow. Herrick gripped her by the neck for a moment longer before he released her in turn. Her chin dipped as she caught her breath, her heart pounding so fastfrom her arousal that she thought the others might hear it. Herrick was quiet for some time before he finally spoke to Maude, his voice barely hiding the desire laced in his words.

“When I make you mine,minn eldr, there will be nothing soft about it. I will have you screaming my name through the night, and every time you move, you’ll be reminded of when I was inside you. You’ll beg me for more.”

He placed his hand on her inner thigh again and wrapped his other arm around her waist, bringing her closer to him as he spoke. His dark hair had fallen forward a bit and was tickling her still-sensitive skin from their standoff, but the heat she had been feeling banked a bit at his possessive words.

“I belong to no one but myself,” Maude said quietly. Her mother’s words echoed again in her mind.

Love, like the ones in the stories, does not have a place in your reality.

Herrick ran his thumb over the inside of her leg absentmindedly for the rest of their ride to Veter while Maude tried and failed to push the feeling of his hands on her skin out of her mind. She had decided that once they were settled in for the night somewhere, she would take him to her bed.

She had always thought that their undeniable physical attraction to each other would fade if they just gave in to their passion once or ignored it long enough. The latter didn't seem to be working, so she decided she was going to clear him out of her system.

His touch had never faded from her skin, and she was burning alive from the inside with desire for this charming and exasperating man. She could still feel his hand on her throat, tight and immovable. Maude blew out her breath as she shook the feeling from her mind.

The ride to the bridge that separated the woods from Veter was generally uneventful. The trees all looked the same, and the green never varied in shade, so Maude found it just as repetitive as the dunes of the desert could become.

She had always preferred the warm beauty of the desert when the sun was setting and the sands reflected all shades of reds and oranges. The green blended into a blur that had Maude convinced she was losing her sight.

Maude could feel it when they crossed an invisible threshold into the Kingdom of Rivers. The air became heavier with humidity, the earth taking on the same intoxicating rain-soaked scent that Herrick had. Rather than the humidity reaching for them, Maude felt like they had passed through a solid wall of moisture.