Page 56 of Bad Blood

He set down his knife, that deep voice carrying easily as he asked, “Ready to go to the river?”

My heart began thumping hard for a different reason now. I would get another chance to leave, since I’d forgotten the first time.

I glanced down at my ankle, wondering if I’d be able to run on it yet.

“I can carry you again, if you want.”

He’d misinterpreted why I was looking at my foot, but that was fine. No, that was good. Because that meant he didn’t think I’d try to run away.

I brought my gaze back to his, then got distracted by the pink on his prominent cheekbones.

He really was very nice to look at. I hadn’t seen a lot of pretty things in my life, but he was without a doubt the prettiest.

His eyebrows were a bit thin, with a nice arch, and the lashes on his eyes were really thick. I let my gaze trail over his slightly upturned, very straight nose, down to his lips. His bottom lip was quite…fatcompared to the top one. I stared at it, wondering why it was such a different size. Did my lips look like that? I brought my fingers to my mouth only to be stopped by the muzzle.

Oh. I’d forgotten about that for a moment.

Disappointment rolled through me. I couldn’t tell, and now I really wanted to know.

“Do I have a fat lip?”

His eyes darted to my mouth, then back up to mine, confusion swimming in those dark depths. “What?”

I pointed at his mouth. “Your bottom lip is really fat.”

“Fat…?”

I nodded.

His brows scrunched together, and he touched his lips. He looked a little…sad? Embarrassed? I wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. He wasn’t smiling.

Had I said something wrong?

“I like it,” I said, hoping that would make it better.

His gaze locked onto mine, and he slowly lowered his hand as his eyes simultaneously drifted down to my lips.

I wanted him to touch them.Iwanted to touch them. And while I was eager to let him take these things off me, part of me thought it was better if I kept wearing the muzzle and collar.

I was a bloodhound, after all. Just an animal.

Maybe I should leave them on. Tell him I’d changed my mind.

“Um…” His face had darkened to a deep red, and he scratched at his head, then stood up, avoiding my eyes. “We should…we should get going before it gets dark.”

Was he upset? I didn’t want him to be upset. Had I said something wrong?

I glanced over at Cain, who was putting the new arrows he’d made into a long bag of some kind, the hunting bow right next to it.

“Okay.” His bow was so big, almost as tall as I was. He’d explained to me all about what it was and what it did, and I was so curious to see it in action. To see him use it.

I wanted to learn how to use it. I wanted him to teach me.

“Okay,” he said, with a hesitant smile. He slung the bag of arrows across his back, and then the bow.

He looked even bigger, somehow.

“Want me to carry you?”