Trust In Love: A Love Mark Romance

by Linda Kage

  “For you, my lord.”

  Before I could even mumble an awkward thank you, the woman went back to passing out breakfast to others, neither speaking to nor looking at anyone else.

  I shuddered, not certain why such a small encounter left me rattled. Maybe because the only other person to ever call me my lord had been the soothsayer, Roloff, after he’d discovered who I was. Or maybe because she’d spoken to me and looked me in the eye when she hadn’t done so for anyone else.

  Telling myself I was paranoid, I shrugged it off as nothing, even as I glanced back over my shoulder at her. I frowned, watching her pass out more trays, and then I shook my head, turning away again.

  Suddenly, I couldn’t help but wonder who, from all these people, now thought of me as the Bastard Betrayer.

  “This seems like a good place to eat, don’t you think?”

  “Hmm?” I focused on Nicolette, realizing she’d paused in a sunny patch by a pair of tree stumps. “Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Yes, that’s fine. Whatever you like.”

  She sat, and I settled myself, facing her as I placed my plate on my lap. After taking a long gulp of the brew, I sighed. But mmm, hot cinnamon cider. It was spiced and strong with just the kick I needed to stop my mind from spiraling like it had been these past few minutes.

  “These people have been quite welcoming, you know,” Nicolette observed thoughtfully.

  I grunted without replying.

  “Especially upon learning I’m royalty from an enemy land,” she went on, keeping her voice low as she glanced around to make sure I was the only ears hearing her. “Is it bad if all their kindness makes me uneasily suspicious?”

  I smiled at her. “I’d say it makes you smart, princess. For I feel exactly the same way.”

  “Really?” She smiled, comforted. “Thank you. I’m much relieved to hear that.”

  The glance we shared lingered a moment longer. Then, we both returned our attention to our plates and finished our breakfast.

  Mydera approached just as I was biting into the last slice of hot bread I had left.

  “Good news. You’re all set and ready to depart, my little lovers,” she announced with a proud smile, holding up the sack I’d brought to her earlier. When the golden wrist guards inside clinked together, I shot Nicolette a worried look, hoping she didn’t figure out what contents it held. But she merely tipped her head curiously, her gaze telling me she couldn’t suss out the mystery.

  I nodded to Mydera and took the bag.

  “We have your horses packed and waiting in the clearing just over there,” she told me.

  “Thank you,” I said. “No matter your motives, we appreciate your help and generosity.”

  Her eyes glittered with amusement, but she inclined her head graciously before she turned to address Nicolette who was handing her empty breakfast tray over to a waiting servant and pushing to her feet.

  “I echo Farrow’s sentiment,” Nicolette said. “Thank you for taking us under your care. It was a recuperation I greatly needed.”

  She opened her arms to the tall woman, and Mydera obligingly leaned down to hug her.

  “It was our pleasure, princess. You’re the first royalty we’ve ever had in our ranks. It was an enlightening experience, one we’d like to repeat. And I hope my assistance in your endeavor to win over your true love goes accordingly.”

  “Your…?” Nicolette’s brow knit in confusion. “Your assistance?” she echoed slowly. “But I didn’t get any—”

  Mydera had already turned away, facing me, however. “Enjoy your apple juice, boy.”

  My eyes met hers over the tipped bottom of the cup I still held to my mouth as I swallowed the last drop.

  With a wink, the giant mage strolled away.

  But what—?

  I didn’t even get a full moment to wonder what any of that had meant before Nicolette was gasping, “Oh my God,” and lunging toward me to smack the cup from my hand.

  My fingers were still raised in shock as the empty container went flying off, only to land somewhere in a pile of damp, molding leaves. I blinked slowly at the fallen mug, then turned to gape up at the woman gawking back at me.

  “What the hell?” I said.

  She merely reached for my arm and hauled me upright, causing the plate on my lap to upend and topple toward the ground. “I think that bitch put something in your drink. Do you feel okay?”

  “Of course. I—whoa.” I clutched her arm as dizziness swamped me. My vision blurred and the world seemed to tilt one way before spilling the other.

  “Farrow?” Nicolette shrieked in my ear. It sounded very loud and very shrill.

  I winced at the volume and lifted a hand. Why was everything so fucking loud? “I’m fine,” I assured her, still trying to squint my surroundings back into focus. “Just stood up too fast. Though…” I swung out my arm slowly, like a blind man feeling out his way. “Everything’s still awfully blurry.” With unspeakably amplified sound.

  “Mydera had something put in your drink,” Nicolette told me, sounding certain this time. “Here.” She gripped my arm hard. “Follow my lead. We’re leaving. Now.”

  I couldn’t think up a single reason to disobey, so I clutched her arm and walked wherever she directed, surprisingly not too concerned about the fact that my vision had suddenly failed me.

  Hmm. Curious that.

  Next to me, Nicolette growled savage curses, all of them aimed at Mydera. “I’d hunt her down right now and demand an anecdote. But the foul woman would probably only give us something worse. Dammit, I can’t believe she betrayed us like this. Here are the horses, my love. How’re you feeling?”

  “I feel fine,” I answered, completely unconcerned. Honestly, I couldn’t remember feeling better. Energy flowed through my veins, making me want to move and experience every drop life had to offer. But even as I spoke, my hand went to my constricting collar, only to find the top two buttons already undone. “Say, isn’t it remarkably warm this morning?”

  “No,” Nicolette snapped. “It’s decidedly chillier than it’s been during our entire trip. Take hold of Mint. Do you think you can put your foot in the stirrup, grab hold of the horn, and hoist yourself up without assistance?”

  Straightening with indignation, I cast an offended scowl in her general direction. “Of course,” I said, only to pause and remember— “Hey, where’s my sack?”

  I began to search my surroundings, even though all I could make out was blurry colors of light and dark.

  Nicolette gripped my shoulders, halting me. “What sack?”

  “The one…” I tried to explain the very important sack Mydera had given me. But that seemed like too many words to bother with. So I just sniffed in frustration, wondering what had happened with—

  “Oh!” My hand fisted reflexively, making the items in the sack jangle, reminding me I’d been holding the woolen bag the entire time I’d been looking for it. Grinning, I held it up. “Say, here it is!”

  Nicolette gave a rather desperate-sounding moan. “What the hell did she give you? A silly potion?”

  “Are we quite certain she gave me anything?” I asked as Nicolette placed the palms of her hands against my backside and propelled me forward when I started to mount, only for me to pause halfway up, confused why we were in such a hurry. “I feel fine.” Stumbling into the saddle as she nudged me again, I straightened and slurred, “Say, where’re we going, anyway?”

  “Away from here, dammit. And stop starting so many sentences with say. You’re Farrow. You never begin sentences with say. It’s making my worries mount.”

  Well.

  She was certainly in a snit.

  “As you wish, my lady,” I told her. Whatever floated her boat. Then, I couldn’t help but whisper, “Say, you’re quite moody just now.”

  When she growled, I snorted out a laugh. Ha! What fun this was. Everyone should be as happy as I felt.

  Happy was nice.

  “Are you sure it’s not warm today?” I added
a moment later. “I feel especially warm.”

  As I fumbled to undo the next few buttons on my tunic, Nicolette ran around to the other side of Mint and manually slotted my foot into that stirrup.

  “It can’t be a mortal elixir,” she mumbled to herself. “If she wanted us dead, we’d both be dead. So all we have to do is get as far away from these people as we can, then wait for whatever this is to wear off, and we’ll be fine. That’s all. Everything will be—Farrow! Put your tunic back on! What are you doing?”

  “I’m hot,” I whined, whipping the restricting clothing off and over my head, relieved to have it gone, away from my skin.

  Nicolette’s hand immediately pressed to my forearm. “But you don’t have a fever at all, darling.”

  God, her fingers felt good against my heated flesh. “Call me darling again,” I begged as I slid off the horse to get closer to her.

  “What’re you doing? Farrow! Don’t get off the—” she started, only to gasp in surprise when I hugged her and leaned against her touch, burying my nose against her neck. Her scent swirled up my nostrils, and I wanted more of it.

  “You smell so good,” I said. “You always smell so good. Like honey and flowers. I wish I could swim in your scent and let it flow through my fingers.”

  I stroked her hair, running that through my fingers. Her mane felt silkier than anything to ever caress my palm before. My hands sank deeper, needing more.

  “Farrow,” Nicolette yelled, her voice lifted and desperate as if this wasn’t the first time she’d said it. Then she clapped sharply in front of my face. “Focus.”

  I blinked, and suddenly I did focus. Everything aligned into brilliant, wonderful detail. She came into detail. Standing in front of me, she looked amazing and real.

  “Thank you,” I said. “I think I needed that.”

  She drew out a relieved breath. “Good. Now get back on your horse before your head goes haywire again. We’re getting the hell out of here.”

  I nodded, thinking that was a wise idea indeed. “As you wish, my lady.”

  Nicolette took my sack and discarded tunic and shoved them into my saddle bags while I swung myself up onto Mint. But the moment I peered down at her, I realized how ungentlemanly it had been for me to mount my horse before she had hers.

  “Shit, I should help you onto your—”

  “No!” She dove forward, clutching my thigh to keep me seated. When I followed her order and remained where I was, she blew out a relieved breath and asked, “Do you feel secure up there?”

  I sent her a loopy grin. “Quite.”

  That was good enough for her. She raced to Caramel and scrambled into her own saddle before taking the reins of both our horses and trotting us out of the clearing and away from the mages of Dimway Forest.

  And I just sat there, watching her, rather stupidly, grinning as I admired her managing way. She’d taken care of us both most suitably. Pride swelled in my chest. Of course she had. My woman was accomplished in all things.

  Yes, she was my woman, wasn’t she? For once, I didn’t shirk from that mental admission.

  That innermost place inside me rumbled mine when I looked at her, and I was completely okay with that.

  My lashes swooped as dizziness assailed me. I watched her drowsily as she swept us along, forcing the horses to gallop as she tried to protect me from what she perceived was our main threat. It was adorable, really. Sweet. Completely noble. And all wrong, because I was her main threat.

  But I shrugged loosely; none of that seemed to matter at the moment. We belonged to each other. That’s all I could focus on.

  And she looked damn fine with her backside hopping up and down in that saddle. I could think of something else she could ride like that.

  With a groan, I shifted as my cock swelled and bollocks tightened.

  Envisioning myself climbing onto Caramel behind her, I entertained the mental picture of pressing up close to her backside in the saddle and gathering the back of her skirts until nothing but her smooth rounded bare ass was on display. Then, I’d bend her forward over the horse’s neck until her gleaming, wet entrance came into view, and I’d thrust into her tight heat, fucking her with a savage thirst.

  When I made another aching sound deep in my throat, Nicolette cast me a worried glance.

  “Farrow?”

  Gritting my teeth hard, I closed my eyes and bowed my head. “Ah, fuck.”

  I’d just figured out what kind of potion Mydera had fed me.

  20

  Nicolette

  Farrow had grown silent and he’d drawn tightly within himself. Over an hour had passed since we’d left the mage’s camp, and the pleasantly loopy man he’d been when I’d shoved him onto his horse was no more.

  Now, he had his hands buried in Mint’s mane, and his fists were clenched so hard that his knuckles turned white.

  He gave me a sharp “no” every time I questioned him, asking if he was in pain, but how could I believe he wasn’t? Sweat coursed down his face and bare chest in rivulets, and he panted as if he couldn’t catch any air. His skin was flushed and eyes dazed as he glanced around himself with a drugged kind of agony.

  The man was most certainly tormented.

  I don’t know why he was being so stubborn and denying it.

  My first instinct was to just kiss him and end his ailments, but since Mydera knew he was my true love, I had a bad feeling she’d instilled some kind of counteractive magic to prevent me from healing whatever this was.

  What if kissing him made things worse? I didn’t want to antagonize the situation, so I kept my mouth away.

  “What can I get you?” I finally asked.

  “Nothing,” he gritted out, barely glancing at me before closing his eyes and turning his face away. “I’m fine.”

  Oh, for the love of God.

  “You are most definitely not fine,” I snapped, having had enough of this nonsense. “It’s obvious you’re the furthest thing from fine that I’ve ever seen anyone from being. So just tell me—”

  “Stop,” he barked, lifting a hand to halt me. “Please stop talking. Your voice...”

  I stopped. Stopped talking. Stopped riding. Stopped breathing.

  Only allowing myself to blink, I barely managed to keep from asking what was wrong with my voice.

  He whimpered again, his knee bobbing through whatever anguish was gripping him.

  “Shit,” he rumbled, his hands groping blindly as he fumbled his way off Mint.

  “Farrow?” I hurried off Caramel as well and rushed toward him. “What’s wrong? What can I—”

  He held up his hand, staving me off. “No! Stay back. If you ever do anything for me, just—please—keep your distance right now. I’ve got this. I swear. I just…” He shook his head in a desperate manner. Sweat dripped from the ends of his soaked hair. The man looked a mess. “Give me a minute here. I’ll be fine. I just need to—I need to relieve myself.”

  “Oh.” Flushing, I swallowed and held back as he spun away and lumbered off into the trees.

  If he merely needed to use the chamber pot, he could’ve just said so. All his if you ever do anything for me dramatics had been a bit over the top, if you wanted my opinion.

  Sighing to myself as I waited for him to finish his business, I saw to the horses, watering and finding a snack for them to munch on, then getting one for myself.

  By the time I was finished, however, Farrow still hadn’t returned. I cringed. Poor guy. Just how much had the potion loosened his bowels?

  Hopefully he wasn’t so sick that—

  I bit my lip uneasily and glanced in the direction he’d gone. Next to me, the horses nickered and shifted restlessly, but I heard nothing from Farrow.

  Mydera wouldn’t give him something that would endanger his life, would she? What would be the point? I could see why she’d drug him with something that would make him as happy and compliant as he’d been before. She’d outright told me she’d assisted in helping me win him over. So a loopy po
tion made sense. But to actually poison him?

  I couldn’t believe it.

  Except this was Farrow’s life I was betting on. I wasn’t willing to take chances.

  Unable to keep my patience a moment longer, I hurried off to find him, deciding privacy be damned. I had to make sure he was okay.

  “Farrow?” I called.

  When he didn’t respond, my worry spiked.

  “Farrow!”

  He had better speak soon, or I’d—

  When I spotted him up ahead, sitting upright with his back against a tree and his legs splayed in front of him, eyes closed, and head tipped drunkenly to the side, I cried, “No!” and raced forward.

  “No, no, no, no, no!” I skidded to my knees at his side, clutching his face in my hands. “Farrow. Please answer me. Oh God.” He was so pale—deathly pale. He’d stopped sweating, yet his hair and bare chest were still drenched with it. Plus, the ties at his waist to hold his britches up were undone and opened.

  When I sobbed and began to pet his wet hair, hoping he hadn’t suffered too greatly, his lashes flickered apart. Bleary eyes focused on me.

  “I told you…” he rasped from dry, cracked lips. It seemed to take all the energy he had to barely speak the words. “To stay back.”

  I released a relieved lungful. “Heaven help me,” I growled, jostling his shoulder. “Don’t ever do that to me again. I thought you were dead.”

  “I wanted to die for a minute there,” he uttered, letting his eyes fall closed once more as if keeping them open took too much effort. His throat worked as he gave a rough swallow.

  “Is it over, then?” I asked. “Whatever was in the potion? Has it passed through your system now?”

  His head lolled back and forth against the tree as he winced. “Lord, I hope so.”

  My sympathies rose. “You poor man, you. I can’t believe that wretched woman put you through all this.” I stroked his hair some more, patting down the unruly parts that were sticking up in all directions. “And to think, I actually felt indebted to her for taking us in for a day. No wonder why she never passed a purity test.”

  Farrow let out a grateful sigh and nuzzled his face toward my hand. “Damn, your touch feels good.”