Page 34 of High Stakes and Soulmates (Fanged Mistakes #3)

EZIO

Past

When I ride my horse back toward the barn, I see Arturo sitting outside. He’s leaning against the hitching post, book in hand, but his eyes are already on me.

“Does he ever do anything but read and stare at you with adoration?” Lorenzo teases.

“It sounds like you’re jealous.”

“Maybe I am. I haven’t been allowed to see my wife in nearly a year. Haven’t even met my daughter. She’s four months old now. Four months and I haven’t even seen her.”

“Join me in being done with this. After this, I’m requesting to leave.”

“You think they’ll let you go that easily?” Lorenzo asks, obviously not believing they would.

“I really don’t know,” I admit. “But it’s worth a try.”

I stop my horse in front of Arturo. “Well, hello there, stranger,” I say.

He looks up and grins at me and the smile is enough to make me beam at him. Even with Lorenzo giving me a look, I can’t stop it.

“Stranger?” he asks. “It’s been two days. And I told you it would be two days because we’re having a fancy party in a few days.”

“Yeah? Only rich men allowed, then?” I ask.

“The richest. They’ll come in and take a sip of the wine and go, ‘Just delectable’ before turning to their spouse and bitching the moment Louis is out of earshot.

‘Could he really not afford something finer? Look at this place. He could sell one of those gaudy chandeliers and import the finest wines, I say!’”

“I take it they’re obnoxious.”

“To the extreme,” he says. “So I wanted to sneak by and see you for a moment before I won’t be able to see you for a few more days.”

Arturo pokes my mare’s nose, and Valley wiggles her lip around to see if he has anything for her to eat.

“Want to go for a ride?” I ask.

“Sure,” he says, so I hold my hand down.

The moment he takes it, I draw him onto the back of the horse so he can sit right behind the saddle.

He wraps his arms around me while I turn Valley and direct her out into the trees.

As soon as we’re out of sight of the townspeople, he sets his head against my back.

“I wish we could do this every day,” he murmurs when I slow Valley to a walk, wanting to enjoy every second of the ride and make it last as long as possible. I know I’ll have to get him back before dark, but until then, he’s all mine.

“We could,” I say, even though I know it’s not that simple.

“Hmm…”

“I could just keep going. Valley would take us quite far. We could run and run. I could find us a boat. We could go to another country. We could run and hide, and no one would ever find us.”

Arturo is quiet as he squeezes me tighter. “Not now. Not yet.”

“Yet?” I ask. It’s the first time it hasn’t been a definite no. It’s the first time he’s allowed me the smallest sliver of hope.

“Not yet,” he repeats.

“But someday?”

“That’s my dream. Do you really want to risk it all? You could be risking your very life just for another moment with me.”

“I will,” I say. “I don’t like this life. The only joy I have in my existence is you. Before you, I didn’t even know how much longer I could stand the life I was caught in.”

“You have your brother.”

“I love Lorenzo, but some days I fear he’ll become more and more like my father… and I can never love my father. He’s tied me to this world where I have to kill people, and every person I kill, I feel like I lose a part of myself. I’m so tired of all of the death. I’m tired of so much.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to get you killed,” Arturo admits as his hold on me tightens.

“I’ve… I’ve discreetly inquired about a passage out of here…

but I’m afraid. There’s a man who will be coming this weekend…

he has promised me freedom in the past, but I’ve never had a reason to take it like I do now. ”

“This weekend?” I ask in surprise.

“Yes. I will talk to him. But no more. Not yet. It could be months or years. You’ll wait that long?”

“I’ll wait as long as it takes,” I promise as I stop Valley next to a pond. Arturo swings off and I drop down beside him.

“Okay. Let’s allow ourselves to dream, then.” He gives me a smile that reminds me why I would wait years for him. “So please be careful. I don’t trust Louis. Do not ever go anywhere alone with him again.”

“I know. I’ve promised you and I will not break that promise. It’s been a while since I’ve even had contact with him.”

“Good. Want to go for a swim?” he asks, pulling off his shirt.

“You… really think you could flash me skin like that, and I wouldn’t follow you wherever you want to go?”

He laughs as he turns around and pushes his pants down. “Yeah? You’d follow this?”

I grin at him while my eyes flicker down to his bare ass. “I sure would. I also wish you’d take a bit longer to get into the water.”

“But it’s so close,” he says as he kicks his underwear off so he’s standing naked.

“I actually think you’re supposed to stand naked for at least five minutes before getting into the water or you’ll sink. My momma told me that.”

“Did she? That’s what she said to all of the attractive men?” he teases.

“My father’s not worth looking at, so she had to get what she could,” I say as I pull Valley’s saddle and bridle off.

I put hobbles on her because though she’s a rather trustworthy horse in battle, she’s also the type of horse that will wander off for the greenest grass, leaving me to hunt for her while the rest of my unit laughs and laughs.

The hobbles limit her movement, but she’s become an expert at using them to shuffle her way off to the lush grass beyond the pond.

Arturo sinks back into the water while grinning at me. “Now you are just taking far too long.”

“I had the horse to deal with! I was trying to move quickly, but she’s a tricky one.”

“I already can’t see her. All of that work and she’s already gone.”

I look over and see that all that’s left of her is a swish of the tail as she shuffles off.

“I’d hate to see how fast she leaves without the hobbles.”

“She’s a bit difficult,” I say. “But there’s no steadier horse in battle. I swear that horse has a heart of gold. She will do what it takes to get you through the toughest situations.”

“She’s a damn nice horse, then,” Arturo comments. “If you can find her, that is.”

I laugh. “Right?”

I step into the water and wince. “This is frigid and you’re floating off like it’s luxurious!”

“Maybe I’m just tougher than you?” he says with a playful grin. I mean… how can I not suffer for that grin?

I wade in until it’s up to my chest, but I’m still not deep enough to reach him. “My balls have crawled back into my body, it’s so damn cold.”

“Oh, it’s not that cold! Do you need a big, tough man to rescue you?” he teases as he swims over to me. “Must I save you from the cold?”

“I sure would appreciate it.”

He wraps his arms around me, squeezing me to him. “Think you’re going to make it now?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure yet. My lips are pretty cold.”

“Oh yeah? I think I can fix that,” he says before giving me a soft kiss. “How about now? Did that save you from this icy torture?”

“It’s debatable. My ass cheeks are cold.”

Arturo laughs as he pinches my ass. “Surely that helped.”

“It sure did,” I joke.

I wrap him up and kiss the side of his head, loving every minute of this. “What book did you bring today?”

“It’s a good one.”

“Do you want to go read it so we don’t freeze to death? I’m questioning whether I have legs or not, they’re so cold.”

He pats my thigh. “Oh look. I think you do. I didn’t know you didn’t like the cold so much.”

“Does anyone like this?” I ask, not sure it’s possible.

Arturo grins as he flips onto his back and starts floating toward the shore. “I happen to think it’s rather nice.”

“I happen to think you’re lying. No one could possibly think this is nice.”

He reaches for me. “Allow me to save you, my dear.”

“Thank you. I had crystalized and couldn’t move my limbs.”

“I know the perfect thing to warm you up.”

“Yeah?” I ask, interest piqued.

“A good book.”

I laugh while I let him pull me to shore.

At least the sun is warm, so after finally drying off and laying the saddle pad down, we use it to sit on and Arturo starts reading a section from the book to me.

I love hearing him read. I don’t even care what he’s reading, I could listen to it for hours just so I could hear his voice and simply be with him.

I sink down until my head is on his lap and lie there with my eyes closed as I listen.

He sets the book on my forehead after a bit.

“Am I a book stand now?”

“My hand was getting tired and your forehead looked like the perfect place.”

“Anything for you,” I say.

“If you could turn the pages as well, that’d be fantastic.”

“I can’t even see the pages! I can see nothing but the cover quite closely.”

“I’ll just poke you every time I need one turned.” Arturo demonstrates this by poking me in the side, leaving me to fumble to turn a page I can’t even see.

“If you have the ability to poke me, you have the ability to turn them yourself!”

He laughs and starts reading again, but he doesn’t move the book. Apparently… this is now his favorite book stand. But I put up with it because he’s cute and I’m too in love to complain.

“‘He snatched up the amulet and dashed for the stairs just as…’” He trails off, and I open my eyes. The book slides off my face, and I look at Arturo who is staring off into the trees. I can feel the tension in his body.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Nothing. Sorry. I have to go. I won’t be able to see you for a few days because of the party. Please be careful. I love you,” he says before he jumps up and just runs into the trees without another word.

“I can give you a ride back?” I call after him, but he never replies. He didn’t even take his book with him. It still lies by my side, pages splayed open. The way he adores his books, he’d normally never let the pages get bent like this.