Page 10

I was not looking at Dahr, I kept convincing myself throughout the quick dinner I shared with Karisha, through the journey back to the tent and especially, when Dahr himself entered his home, tired and sweaty after a long day of battle.

Unwilling to have any sort of discussion with him and determined to give my mind some time to rest, I turned to the side and faked being asleep, covering myself with the soft bed sheet that did nothing to offer coolness to my heated body.

It’s just the hot, sunny day, I told myself over and over, every time my heart jolted at the noise Dahr made around the tent, his steps heavy, yet lighter than his usual walk.

Was he trying not to make too much noise to let me sleep?

I was convinced I was either hormonal or suffering with heat-stroke, because there was no other logical explanation for my entire body to react this way.

Unable to sleep until I knew he was safe and sound, lying in his own bed, I listened to his movements around the tent, trying to guess what he was doing at every moment. Still, I was determined to nestle in my own bed and push my night into tomorrow.

That was, until I heard sounds of splashing and could not contain my curiosity. Knowing I had to look, I promised myself that I would allow a single gaze. Just a quick one. Only to make sure that he was uninjured and safe. I lifted my head from the pillow and faked shifting in bed, turning my head towards the side of the tent he was occupying.

My eyes caught the sight of Dahr’s naked body, the perfectly sculpted ass he displayed as a mockery to Michelangelo’s David and the way water danced down his body to sculpt small trails of golden skin underneath the grime and blood he was covered in. The starlight he’d permitted to shine through played around with his form and highlighted his features elegantly.

My pulse accelerated to a mile-high record, my heart wanting to flood my chest with urgency and push my muscles into a stance. I wanted nothing more than to go and wash that body myself, to trail my hands over those muscles and observe every twist and bump, every firm surface and connection.

I did not keep the promise I made to myself and watched him for longer than I should have, to the point of risking getting caught. I watched how he soaped his entire body and how he used a cloth by the small basin that must have been brought in for him before my arrival, how he shifted himself into positions to clean his skin and had my fill when he turned towards me, giving me an eye full of his…

I forced my head back onto the pillow and covered my face with the bed sheet, trying my absolute best to stifle whatever sensation had possessed my body.

I’ve always been attracted to art. That was all. That was all, I tried to settle myself. He was just a perfectly sculpted body, just the same as the work I was striving to create as an artist.

Many artists had been enthralled by their muses, had they not?

That was all this was. Nothing else.

Just an artist finding her muse.

That was all.

“I can’t believe it,”

Karisha said for what seemed like a thousandth time, when I finished yet another inventory grid.

“Glad I can help,”

I smiled and slid the journal across the table for her to double check and approve my calculations.

“You are literally saving me weeks!”

she explained again, her joy brimming on her delicate features.

“Do you know how much I struggled to multiply each area, every single time I did this?”

she sighed, probably remembering her struggles.

I could not blame her; this area was rough terrain and measuring it was not an easy task. Luckily, I took a statistics course at university, and we had to use the entire western region to calculate an average rock extraction to present our next semester’s materials to the faculty for approval.

Fortunately for Karisha, I had a good memory, and I had always been extra thorough with my studies, which was why I remembered most of the information she needed for her camp organisation and expense calculations.

Which was… a lot.

What surprised me the most, however, was that they were paying everything in solid gold rather than using local currencies. Which made sense, since, judging by what I had seen, they didn’t stay long in one place.

There was a long line of regions along the coast they had been travelling through and, from what I had seen on the reports, my guess had been correct. They were moving towards the North.

Slowly, surely, and undetected.

A knot twisted in my stomach at the thought that my hometown would be next. That, even though I knew about the upcoming invasion, there was nothing I could do to stop it.

It had become clear to me that the drake camp knew how to remain undetected, and they must have had guards and spies all around. There wasn’t a way for me to leave, move unnoticed or even send a message. The only thing I could do was to get closer to the people in command and, maybe, just maybe, try to dissuade them from their progression. Or at least, try to change their direction.

Damning another region to save the one I lived in wasn’t a better resolution, but it was the only option within my reach. If I could save the university, the market, my pupils and every mentor I ever had, the town square and the sports arena, the park above the hill where I used to study in the afternoon and the small coffee shop by the school I had started visiting every day, then I could at least do my best and try that.

“Is it just yourself that has to issue these reports or does Markos help too?”

I tried to pose another innocent question, disguised as a new way to gather information.

“Markos and Dahr go to the monthly meetings and receive new orders. Captain Xadom is the one who decides territory advancement, not them,”

Karisha was too experienced for her own good and saw right through me. Her hand travelled across the table to find mine and she squeezed my fingers slowly, as a silent apology.

I did not let go of the pencil and withdrew, deciding to focus on the reports. Her explanation, however, sparked another question.

“I thought Markos was the tribe lord,”

I lifted my gaze to find Karisha’s.

“Why does Dahr have to go too?”

I still didn’t understand Dahr’s status in the camp, how he was revered by everyone, yet he acted like another soldier. He had the central tent in the camp, three or four times the size of the tribe lord’s, yet he did not seem to share in any of the responsibilities of leading.

“Grannicus is also a leader of this camp,”

Karisha offered.

“though his responsibilities differ greatly from Markos’.”

I was surprised that she used Dahr’s formal title, which I had heard many others utter at some point, but by the way her lips pressed together, I knew this was the only information she was willing to share.

Our relationship was weird, to say the least. One minute Karisha chatted to me as though we’d been friends since birth and the next, she turned cold and fierce and spoke to me as one does a stranger.

I couldn’t blame her, really, since I probably presented a risk to be around. Yet, she had shown me nothing but kindness. She made sure I had a new change of clothes every day, even if they consisted of the krasta and srysha everyone else but her seemed to wear. I was starting to get used to the leather-made garments and the comfort they offered, and I knew I had drawn the long end of the stick by spending most of my day in Karisha’s tent, since I could make good use of her bathtub and her lavish soaps.

I had three meals a day, drinks and a friendly woman to talk to. I had earned enough confidence from my captor to be left to my own devices and had a comfortable bed to sleep in. As prisoner scenarios go, I wasn’t living the worst one. I was even appointed tasks and was becoming very good at them too.

“I insist we pause for the evening,”

Karisha said as she started pulling the notebook away to physically stop me from writing.

“It’s late! Your eyes are so droopy they’re going to fall asleep over the papers,”

she argued.

“You’ve been at it for over five hours,” the tribe lady said, this time softer.

“But there’s only a few hundred calculations left, I can finish them tonight,”

I protested, overwhelmed with the need to complete something. To tick an achievement off my list.

I had always been the studious type, the one that spent long hours into the night caught up in a project or an idea. I liked to get lost in a task and not stop until it was completed to perfection, so I was not too happy when Karisha insisted that I stop for the evening.

“The men will be returning from training soon,”

she pointed, waking me up from the trance I had let myself fall into.

Right… the last thing I wanted was for Markos to find me all cosied up with their camp reports. Karisha must have thought the same, because she looked at me apologetically. Even if I had earned her trust, I still had a lot to work on with her mate. If I ever got there at all…

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

I forced a smile and stood from the table where I had been perched over for the entire afternoon and hugged Karisha goodbye.

“Bright and early,”

she grabbed me in her arms and squeezed tightly. Tighter than the day before.

“I still need you to finish this so I can take all the credit,”

she giggled.

I hadn’t realised how tired I was until I started walking back to the main tent. I refused to call it Dahr’s tent, especially since my mind was still struggling to settle all the feelings and emotions that surged through me at the sight of him.

Today, however, they were all being put to an abrupt stop, because as soon as I saw the freshly made bed, I abandoned myself into its embrace and forgot about everything else but the need to rest.

It had been a while since I had to put all my energy into a project, and it seemed, doing the camp’s inventory took a heavier toll on me than expected. At least that night I wouldn’t have to worry about hiding from Dahr, I thought to myself as I let sleep cover my senses.

There was a low grunt that pierced my ears, forcing me to stop. It moved around the tent with a rhythmic stance, slashing and slithering through the air. My eyes shot open to observe the tendrils of the night that still lingered in the room. Chased by that sound, which spun all around.

“Dahr!”

I immediately jolted awake and rushed to the other side of the tent, where his bed was, terrified that he suffered another injury.

He started rustling against my touch, his skin warm. Warmer than usual, but not boiling hot, like it was a few nights ago. His head moved to the side, a rasp escaping from deep down his throat. His shoulder started twitching and I lowered my gaze to notice that his fists were clenching and unclenching, as though he was preparing to fight someone.

A low breath released itself from my throat. He was dreaming. He was alright.

“It’s okay…”

I said softly and, unable to control myself, I leaned in further to touch the side of his cheek.

“You are okay,”

I murmured as I gently caressed the side of his face in an attempt to calm him without waking him up.

A failed attempt, I might add.

As soon as my skin touched Dahr’s, his eyes shot open, inky darkness fixed on me. The warrior blinked once, eyes wide, their full attention focused entirely on me and the way I was towering over him, caressing him while he slept. In his own bed.

“You were having a nightmare,”

I immediately explained and shifted to remove my hand from his face and get away from him. Instead, I found myself pinned in place, his hand splayed over my thigh.

“Don’t go,”

he ordered, gentler than he had ever addressed me before. He blinked at me again with a pleading gaze, those long lashes fanning over his cheek, close to where my fingers had just touched.

“Stay here tonight,”

Dahr asked. All the while unhooking his hand from my touch. Setting me free to make my own decision.

“I can’t,”

I immediately shook my head and pushed my racing pulse towards a calmer level. I couldn’t, I kept telling myself, in those few seconds while our gazes remained interlocked to have their own silent conversation. Could I?

His eyes were a universe pleading to be uncovered and I suddenly felt like exploring.

My body language or the expression on my face must have announced my decision, because Dahr did not waste a moment to move over to the other side of the bed and make room for me, before I had a chance to change my mind.

I didn’t expect him to be anything but a savage, but when I saw that he grabbed a blanket from the other side of the room and splayed it open for me, I started relaxing. He pulled the sheet he had used to wrap his lower body with, both to give me enough space and to indirectly tell me that the only thing we would do that night, in that bed, was to share companionship. It was something I also craved, something that made it impossible for me to refuse.

Wordlessly, I leaned down and stretched over the exact part of the mattress he’d been sleeping on, which still held his warmth. I wrapped the memory of his body onto mine, while Dahr copied my position and stretched his back as well, carefully wrapped in his own covering.

We remained there for long seconds, lying down and gazing up at the painted ceiling, both of us keeping a massive space in the bed between us. I almost retracted my decision, the awkwardness of the situation making everything a thousand times worse, but fortunately, Dahr took the lead and broke the silence.

“Can I hold your hand?”

he asked without moving, without unpegging his attention from the point he was staring at on the ceiling.

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t need to.

I moved my right hand, which was still recovering from the binding, and stretched to find his own, letting them discover one another. It took us a good few minutes until we connected hands, his fingers and mine interlocking in a tight connection they were starting to enjoy a little too much.

“Good night…”

I said, my voice barely audible, the sensation of his skin on mine being all too much and at the same time, not enough.

“Good night, March,”

Dahr replied between even breaths, sleep catching up with him again.

I wasn’t as lucky and I laid there for what felt like an hour, clad in darkness and connected to his embrace. In the bed of my captor. Not knowing what would happen to me.

Scared of the days that would come.

And yet… feeling more protected than ever