Page 22

Chapter Twenty

Caivid

A s the carriage with her father disappeared behind a bend in the path, I finally took a deep breath.

And then Susara squeezed my hand in hers and I lost it again.

“That was. . .” She exhaled long and heavy with a shake of her head.

“Pure madness,” I finished, and a smile lit her face.

“Exactly. Fades, I knew people were being less than welcoming toward you warriors, but I had no idea they would believe you’d actually stolen me from my bed,” she said as we began to walk along the path. I felt like I was floating. The sunshine was brighter, and the air held less chill .

“I would like to say that this is the last time something like this will happen.” Her voice was tense, and she gave my hand another squeeze. “But you saw the way Waston looked, right? She looked. . .”

“I know,” I said softly. “I think she must have something planned.”

“But what?” Susara shook her head. “What could she possibly gain from stirring up tension between our communities?”

“I know not, but I suspect the truth will reveal itself soon enough. Regardless of what comes, Susara, I vow to protect you through it. You and your father both.”

She looked up at me with sparkling blue eyes and gave me a smile that had me melting for her all over again. “And I will take care of you. Just like I promised.” Her brow knitted, and she reached up to touch my cheek. “Does it hurt where he hit you?”

I snorted with amusement and leaned into her touch. “If I say yes, will you mend me?”

She smiled mischievously. “Lean down here and let me take a look. ”

I did so without hesitation, and she pressed her cool lips to my hot skin. The touch was so wonderfully tender it made my eyes shutter.

She trailed kisses all the way to my mouth, and I captured her lips with mine. She tasted so good and her rosemary scent engulfed me. I parted my lips to deepen the kiss.

And then something pushed right into my back.

Susara gasped as I broke off the kiss and whirled around.

Only to find a sheep behind me. A black one.

Midnight.

Suddenly, two hands of sheep burst out of the woods and rushed toward us. They circled around Susara, bleating loudly.

“Wool and wails, you broke out of your pens again! You really couldn’t wait just a little longer for your grain?” Susara looked a perfect mix between shocked and amused as she rapped her crook on the ground. “And you’re filthy! What in all Faeda have you been getting up to?”

“They don’t look too bad off.” I patted Midnight’s black head, and she stopped next to me. I scratched under her chin and found her beard was orange. “Is this. . . carrot juice?”

Susara’s eyes grew huge, and she checked the other sheep.

“It is! Where have you sheep been getting carrots? Do you think someone has been feeding them? Or are they getting into one of the orc’s gardens?

” She sighed. “I can’t imagine he fed my sheep a bundle of carrots willingly .

They probably stole them. I’ll have to give him a few sacks of wool to make up for it. ”

I snorted with amusement. “I suppose I’ll have my hands full guarding this mischievous flock.”

Susara stood back up and came to my side and I gulped at the glint I saw in her eye. She touched the middle of my chest with her soft, warm hand. “I’ll show you real mischief tonight.”

I used my thumb to push up her chin and leaned down over her in that odd way that made her breath catch, her heart hammer, and the scent of her arousal bloom. “I’ll be there.”

I kissed her with all the passion I could muster and she melted against me, so boneless that I had to hold her up.

When she slanted her mouth to deepen the kiss, I forced myself to pull back. Fades, resisting her was getting more and more difficult by the moment, but it had to be done. “ We need to get back before your father sends another mob after us.”

She laughed and took my hand as we began to walk. “It’s been a day, hasn’t it? We’ll have breakfast with Father and then take the ewes to the east pastures. They’re nice and open, so it’s easy to keep them all in view. We’ll be able to rest in the sun and gather energy for tonight.”

My blood heated at the thought.

As we walked, Susara continued to tell me of all the problems her herd often caused. She outlined the daily routines and explained how to care for the sheep. The longer I listened, the more content I grew. I could already imagine the long days spent herding together.

I couldn’t wait.

The walls of her village were in sight, and she mused. “I suppose the sheep wouldn’t be so eager to get out if their pen wasn’t so cramped. But there’s nowhere for it to be expanded out. We can’t even keep more than twelve at a time because of how little space we have to keep them in.”

I raised my brows. “Do you. . . want me to build them a pen outside the walls?”

She looked up at me with her huge, beautiful eyes. “What?”

“Wouldn’t be hard,” I said. “I could build a proper shelter for us next to it, where we could rest overnight to keep watch. On the nights your father doesn’t need you home, of course.”

Her lips parted as she looked up at me. “You’d. . . really do that for me? For the flock.”

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, sunshine.” I stroked her golden hair away from her face. “You are my priority now. I plan to protect you for the rest of our days.”

Her eyes went wistful and huge in a way that melted my heart. “That sounds good to me.”

Fades, was it possible to feel more joy than this? I couldn’t imagine it. I leaned down and kissed her hard, drinking her up. She melted into me, fitting so well it was like fate. For the first time in my life, I felt like I truly belonged.

I’d never thought the storm would be finished with me.

But it was. I’d found my sunshine, and these woods were where I would stay.

Stay.

Forever.

With her.

The End