Page 26 of Quest for her Knights (The Lost Souls of Dyconia #5)

Chapter twenty

Arrow

T he past five days have been tense as hell. Not only is Ranger broody and silent, but Elora has been keeping her distance from all of us.

Even at night, she’s started moving away from Blaze and me, preferring to sleep on her own. But I know she isn’t sleeping well; the dark circles under her eyes are a dead giveaway, not that it’s easy to notice with her always avoiding my gaze.

I hate seeing her like this. Upset and hiding herself from us.

What happened after she jumped off the waterfall was something none of us saw coming. When Ranger suggested spanking her as discipline, I wanted to argue. Hitting a woman is never okay .

But when he reminded us she’d actually brought it up weeks before, saying something about how she enjoyed it, I kept my mouth shut, curious to see where it would go.

Then, when he pulled her over his knees, the sight of her in that position did something to me. Not only is she the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, but seeing her so submissive, trusting Ranger not to hurt her, made my cock harden with need.

And when he started spanking her, making her let out those little moans of approval… I felt like I was seconds away from coming in my pants. Watching her body tremble as she climaxed from being spanked? Fuck.

I was this close to pulling her off Ranger’s lap and kissing the living hell out of her. I imagined dragging her into my arms and letting her rub her hot little pussy against my cock until she came again.

But Ranger’s abrupt shift in mood snapped me out of it. Despite what happened, she’s still the princess, and we’re still her knights.

I’m not entirely sure why Ranger is brooding, but I imagine he’s embarrassed or mad at himself for pushing her to that point. He believes that kind of connection is off-limits.

“Are you sure?” Blaze’s voice pulls me back to the present. He’s peering through the carriage door at Elora, frowning.

I can’t hear what she says, but whatever it is, Blaze doesn’t like it. He nods slowly, face tightening as he turns away .

“What was that about?” I ask quietly as he passes me.

“I asked if she wanted to ride with me. She said no.”

“She’s been in that damn carriage for five days,” I growl, frowning in her direction.

“I know.”

I can’t take it anymore. I clench my fists in frustration, take a deep breath, stomp over to the carriage, and yank the door open.

Elora gasps. “Arrow! What are you doing?!”

“I’m tired of this. I can’t handle your silence any longer.”

“What?” she stammers as I reach inside, grab her by the waist, and lift her out.

She doesn’t protest as I carry her over to my horse and lift her up. “Up you go.”

She hesitates but swings a leg over the saddle and settles in. Thank the gods she didn’t fight me on this.

I climb up behind her and take the reins. I don’t wrap my arm around her just yet as I don’t want to startle her.

My heels nudge Charlie’s sides, and we move forward. Draven raises an eyebrow as he gets into the front of the carriage with Blaze.

Ranger watches silently, his narrowed gaze bouncing between Elora and me before calling out,

“Arrow, you’re between me and the carriage.”

Elora stays quiet for the next hour. I let her be, at first. But eventually, I can’t take the silence anymore. I gently wrap one arm around her waist. She tenses but slowly relaxes into me.

“Princess, I hate seeing you so quiet and upset,” I say, keeping my voice low so the others won’t hear.

She doesn’t respond.

“You shouldn’t be embarrassed or upset about what happened.”

She stiffens again so I stroke my thumb along her waist. “I know it was unexpected for all of us. But from my perspective, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Seeing you like that? It was hot as hell. If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s me.”

“Why would you be embarrassed?”

Her voice, it’s like air in my lungs again.

“Because after watching you come like that, I had to go into the woods to take care of myself.”

After a few moments of silence, she finally responds, “Oh.”

Not sure I should keep going, I switch the subject.

“Have I ever told you about my first time riding Charlie?”

“Your horse? No, why?” she asks, the edge in her voice fading.

“Well… I was so cocky about getting my own horse that I forgot to latch the saddle properly. Ended up on the ground within seconds.”

Elora laughs as I tell her the story and by the time we stop for the night, she seems much more like herself again.

When we eat dinner, she doesn’t hide behind her hair and actually participates in a conversation with Blaze and I.

Ranger is still brooding, and Draven is his usual quiet self around her, but it’s a start .

While she’s getting changed for bed, I start laying out blankets.

“What are you doing?” Blaze asks when he sees what I’m doing.

“I know she hasn’t been sleeping well, so tonight, we’re not taking no for an answer. She’s gonna lie with us so she can actually get some sleep.”

Normally, Blaze and I take opposite shifts, so there's always one of us with her. He's also willing to let me have the first shift tonight, not wanting to argue with her about it.

Fine with me. I see the dark spots under her eyes, and they’re a reminder that we’ve been failing at taking care of her, and it ends tonight.

“Arrow?” I turn my head at the sound of her voice and she’s eyeing the blankets nervously.

“Did you brush your teeth?” I ask, and she nods, still looking unsure.

I pat the middle and offer up a small smile. “Come on, in you get.”

“But—”

“Nope,” I say, cutting her off. “You need to get some real sleep tonight. Blaze and I will take turns lying beside you. Now come on, come lie down.” I gesture again to the blankets. She bites her lip nervously before finally stepping forward and sinking down into our makeshift bed .

I pull a blanket back as she gets comfortable then pull it up to her shoulders.

“I’ll be right back, I’m just going to get ready for bed.”

I’m rummaging through my own bag when Ranger approaches.

“How is she?” he asks quietly.

“She’s embarrassed. But I got her talking today, and I’m going to make sure she gets some sleep tonight.”

When he doesn’t say anything I stand up and look at him. He’s clenching his jaw as he stares off blankly into the forest.

“Ranger?” His eyes dart to mine. “You need to let it go.”

“I crossed a line.” I let out a deep breath and push my hand through my hair. I knew this conversation was coming. I’ve tried to get him to talk ever since it happened.

“You didn’t know that was going to happen.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m supposed to be protecting her. I’m her knight. Her guard. I’m here to help her find her husbands. Getting close to her will just make it that much harder.”

“Harder for her, or harder for you?” I ask, making him frown. “You can admit you have feelings for her, Ranger.”

He shakes his head. “I can’t. It’s not right.”

“And you think forcing her to marry a group of lords that are more interested in her title than her, is?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not our call to make. The kings and Queen have spoken. ”

He turns to leave, but I grab his arm, pulling him back. “Wait. Forget all that for right now. Elora is embarrassed about what happened with you, and I think you running away and refusing to talk to her has exacerbated it.”

His eyes narrow at me in confusion. “I didn’t run away.”

“That’s exactly what you did. You all but threw her off your lap and haven’t spoken to her since.

After what happened, how do you think that would make her feel?

” I grind my teeth, realizing this is probably the real reason for her silent behavior.

She thinks he was upset by what happened. Upset at her .

“Shit. I made it worse, didn’t I?”

I sigh, nodding as I glance at where she’s lying down by the fire. “Yeah, I think you did.”

“How do I fix it?” The fact that my older brother is asking me for advice is hard to comprehend. He’s always been the wiser one, the one I’d go to for guidance. Never before has he wanted my opinion.

“I don’t think you should bring it up, but you need to start treating her as you did before it happened. Be her knight, her friend.”

He presses his lips together tightly before nodding at me once, then walking away to get ready for bed. Draven and Blaze will take first watch tonight.

When I’m ready, I climb in beside Elora.

She’s lying on her side, facing the fire.

I can tell based on her breathing that she's still awake.

After about twenty minutes of hearing her lying there, wide awake, I scoot closer, wrapping myself around her back.

My arm drapes over her waist until I find her hand and I cover it with mine, giving it a soft squeeze.

She gives it a small squeeze in return, a silent acceptance of this position.

After a few minutes, her breathing finally slows as she falls asleep.

Knowing she’s going to actually sleep for once allows me to relax and fall asleep with her in my arms. As I start to drift off, I start to imagine what it would be like to sleep like this every night, and to be able to wake up with her in my arms and call her mine.