Page 29

Ruugar

D eep blue night still clung to the sky when my eyes opened. Quiet lay over the camp, the firepit's faint embers flickering across the front tent canvas and breeze rustling the fabric. Inside the tent, the air hung still and warm, scented with evergreen and her .

Beth lay curled on her side, her breathing even, her lips parted in sleep. Soft strands of hair had escaped her braid, and they framed her face in golden wisps. In sleep, she showed no tension, no wariness. This was her, open and unguarded.

My chest clenched tight.

She was beautiful. Not in a grand, breathtaking way, but in the way she existed. Fierce, stubborn, and determined. The way she smiled when she forgot to guard herself. The way she looked at me sometimes, curious and confused, as if she didn’t quite know what I could mean to her.

The longing in me sharpened, tangling with things I wasn’t able to speak out loud. Instinct demanded I trace my fingers across her cheek, feel the warmth of her skin beneath my hand. But I didn’t. I couldn’t . Not yet, not until I’d finished showing her how much she meant to me.

Grinding my teeth, I forced myself to move, slipping from the tent.

The cold air sent a shiver across my skin, but it was welcome, necessary.

Anything to steady the storm churning its way through me.

I could swallow this hunger, bury it beneath duty and reason, but it would not die.

It gnawed on my insides, demanding I let it free.

It tore up the edges of my control with each beat of my heart.

Soon. Soon I could let it go free. Once she realized how much she meant to me.

The sky was burning copper at the edges as I settled into making breakfast. My hands worked without thought, cracking chumble eggs into a bowl to whip, cutting slabs of bread thick enough to hold any hunger at bay.

It was a simple meal, meant to fuel today’s journey, and it would be ready the moment everyone wanted to eat.

But my mind wasn’t on food.

Beth. Was. Everything. I had more plans to win her for the day. Would she understand why I wanted her close? She was so determined to be independent, and I wouldn’t change that about her.

Cleaning up the campsite helped keep my brain occupied. I stocked the shed and started packing the bags we'd take with us.

Nothing about her was mine, yet hope had made my heart start whispering otherwise.

The sorhoxes stirred as I approached, snorting and rising to their feet. Ebar nudged my shoulder as I gave him a quick grooming, the beast sensing the turmoil inside me.

The others were groomed and saddled with quick efficiency, their harnesses secured.

I left Barg as a pack animal, no saddle or harness needed for Beth.

A flicker of movement caught my eye.

Beth moved up behind me, studying the animals. Confusion crossed her face before she glanced at me. “Should I get Barg ready?” Her voice, still soft from sleep, did things to my belly I wished it wouldn’t.

I shook my head and kept my voice firm, allowing no room for question. “You’re riding with me.”

Her breath sucked in fast before she let out a quiet, “Oh.” Her wide eyes sought mine, and I found uncertainty there but not irritation. Every taut thing inside me demanded I say something else, soften the command, offer her a choice. But if I spoke now, my voice would betray me.

Heat coiled low in my gut.

Before she could question me, before I could foolishly say something I shouldn’t, I turned on my heel and strode toward the cooking gazebo, my muscles tight with anticipation. It was a coward’s retreat. I was hiding before she could ask questions.

The others emerged from their tents, stretching and rubbing sleep-heavy eyes.

After they'd taken turns in the bathroom, Pete scratched at his beard as he shuffled toward the gazebo, Carol yawning beside him.

Joel and Mary followed, their fingers loosely entwined.

Beth joined us too, sitting across from me at the table.

The meal passed in a blur. I ate quickly, more out of habit than hunger, the food tasteless despite my best efforts in cooking it.

My focus was on the journey ahead, on the excuses I would give Beth for keeping her close, on the way her bare ankle peeked from beneath her rolled pant leg as her foot tapped idly on the packed earth while I secured the last packs on the cart hitched to Barg.

After we'd cleaned up the last of the dishes and secured everything inside the shed, we joined everyone near the empty firepit. I cleared my throat. “We leave shortly. Can everyone be ready?”

Mary clapped her hands and sang. “Back in the saddle, again. Got it.”

They followed me to the waiting sorhoxes, Beth staying close to me, and to my lonely heart, it meant everything.

Stopping beside Ebar, I grasped her waist, my fingers fitting too naturally around her.

The warmth of her skin burned through the thin fabric of her shirt.

She appeared blissfully unaware of the havoc she wrecked on me.

I lifted her, an excuse to hold her for a bit longer, and settled her onto Ebar’s broad back.

Her hands flew to grip the beast’s spine spike. Before she could say a thing, I mounted behind her in a single leap and tucked her close against me, encircling her waist with one arm.

Mary grinned and Carol nudged Pete's side before they all mounted their own beasts, spouses helping their mates.

We started riding, me taking the lead. That's when I noticed my abdomen pressing against her back and how the sorhox's natural movement made her body shift and rub against mine.

Heat. Softness. Her . This was a torment. One I would endure as best I could.

Beth tensed, adjusting her balance. Each tiny move pushed something unbearable through me. Pressure built under my skin, twisting hard at the base of my spine, shoving itself into the spaces where my restraint barely held on. I was already in trouble.

Chatter from the others blended with the rustling of leaves as we rode slowly toward the foothills of the distant mountains.

No one looked our way or appeared to notice how she fit against me too perfectly, how my thighs bracketed hers, how her breath sucked in whenever Ebar’s gait bounced us closer.

She was tiny. And her ass fit perfectly against my groin.

My cock was on fire, and there was no denying how stiff it was in my pants.

It throbbed, pressing against her ass, the coorails humming.

If only we wore nothing. If only she wanted me as much as I craved her.

My grip on her waist tightened and it was all I could do not to tug her even nearer .

I needed to find a river and leap into the frigid water.

I swore she wiggled her ass, pressing it against my cock, testing me. She must realize what the thick thing between us was.

Her next shift wasn’t innocent. It wasn’t accidental. The friction stole the breath from my lungs and sent something sharp and dark spiraling through my body. A growl scraped up my throat. My self-control would soon lay in the ground in shreds.

I leaned close and whispered in her ear. “Stop moving or you'll only make it worse.”

I expected her to freeze. To apologize. To move away as much as our situation allowed.

She tilted her head, and her voice came out soft, teasing, and with an edge of something dangerous. “Maybe I want to make it worse. Maybe I want you to do whatever you please with it, Ruugar.”