"Same thing," he insisted with a smile.
And after that, we were quiet for a while, waiting for the others to call us into the house. But I was thinking how it was really cute the way Torrie and most of the other girls had gone out and gotten tattoos to match their boyfriends' runes. And I was even considering doing the same myself if Force didn't mind. (I was pretty sure Darryl wouldn't even notice.) Anyhow, I was looking for a way to bring up the subject without sounding too territorial.
"So, what's next?" he asked before I could figure out how to get started.
"You mean what's next, now that we have the happy ending out of the way?"
"I guess so," he answered on a rumble of laughter.
"I don't know," I said with a short sigh. "But before I met you I was focused on getting to college and getting a good job."
"What kind of job?"
"I don't know," I answered. "The kind that pays lots of money."
"Why is money so important?"
"Are you serious?" I snorted.
But I could tell that he was. "In my time," he mused, "people were happy just to have enough. What would you want to be if money wasn't an issue?"
Morris had recently asked me the same question, and I hadn't known how to answer it. Now I thought I knew what I might like to do. "I think maybe I'd like to be a lawyer."
"Lawyers make a lot of money?" he asked.
"Most of them do. But that's not the reason I want to go to law school."
"Why do you want to go?"
"Because I think I'd like to help people…people who can't afford help."
"Then that's what you should be," he murmured. "That's what you should study."
"Yeah, but—"
"Chasing riches will never make you happy. You're better off chasing dreams."
"Yeah, but law school costs a lot and my college fund currently stands at zero."
He'd already heard the story of how Eli and his trolls had ripped me off and I'd made him promise he wouldn't try to track them down and get it back. Because that would be dangerous and, besides, I was sure the money was gone by now.
"I'll help," he offered.
"You'll help me realize my dreams?" I questioned, wondering how that was gonna work because—even though he was no longer homeless—I was pretty sure he was still moneyless. I mean, I knew the pack had a little side business building bows but that was meant to support them and I'd never ask them to donate to the let's-put-Camie-through-college cause.
And no, I WASN'T going to let Force sell his sword. That was not an option.
"Can't promise to help you realize your dreams," he answered with a snicker. "But I'll help you chase them."
"Who are you to preach about dreams?" I asked, giving him a soft punch on the shoulder. "You never realized your dream of becoming a warrior."
"My dreams have changed," he said. "Significantly." He pulled his scruffy leather pouch from his back pocket and opened it, spilling several old silver coins into his hand. "My dreams are wrapped around you now."
Pretty good for a guy with a limited romantic vocabulary, huh? I leaned over his hand and peered at the old coins, which were probably worth a lot of money.
But the best was yet to come.
"I thought I had a gold piece in here," he murmured, giving the pouch another shake.
And guess what? He did have a gold coin in there, and I'm sure it was worth a fortune.
"Will that help you go to law school?" he asked, smiling at me.
"But…what about you?" I argued.
"What about me?"
"Don't you want to do something with this money?"
"Aye. I want to make sure you go to school and study law."
"Well, okay," I gave in. "But I'm not going to school without you."
Force pushed out a deep sigh. "Camie, I can't even read."
"We can fix that," I told him very definitely. "You've shown me how quickly you can learn. And you can easily learn to read over the next two years."
"Don't…you need a high school education to get into college?"
I leaned over and touched his lips with mine. "We'll figure it out," I told him. "Together."
He grabbed my waist and pulled me beneath him on the warm stone step. "You love me," he said.
"Uh-huh," I admitted with a sigh. "A little."
His eyes were laughing. "Liar."
I nodded.
"You love me a lot," he whispered against my ear.
"Yeah," I agreed quietly.
"I love you too," he murmured.
I was surprised. Oh, not because he'd just told me he loved me. I was surprised because he said it so often. Like it was one of his favorite things to do…even though he was one-hundred-percent pure beef. How did I ever get so lucky?
I grinned up at him. "Thought you didn't believe in love."
"I don't believe in romance," he agreed. "But I believe in love."
"Really?"
"Aye."
Then he kissed me (of course) but this time it was different. Because in the middle of the kiss he yanked away from me and jumped to his feet, looking ridiculously alarmed and grinding his fist into his palm.
"What's that?" I exclaimed, levering myself up onto my elbows and pointing at the blue stuff running down through his fingers and dripping onto the wide stone step.
"Something I haven't told you about," he answered.
I hopped up to my feet and propped my hands on my hips, getting ready to get mad. "There's more stuff you haven't told me about?"
"Maybe a few more things," he admitted.
"Okay, so start talking. Why is venom pouring from your talons?"
"Because I kissed you," he answered, closing his eyes in an apparent attempt to will the venom to stop.
"But you've kissed me before and this didn't happen. Not before today."
"That's because I was…sorta drained," he explained with a grimace.
"Force, what the hell's going on?"
"I'll explain, lass. I promise. But there's something I must ask you before I start."
"What's that?" I asked, giving him a wary look, wondering what he was gonna spring on me this time.
His expression was anxious as he looked down into my eyes and squeezed his knuckles in his hand. Whatever he was going to say next, I knew he couldn't face rejection. So I was prepared to say yes to whatever he asked. But I didn't know I was going to get exactly what I wanted.
"How would you feel about wearing my rune?" he asked.
###
About the Author
Hi! I'm Taylor Longford and I live with my family in Colorado. I don't have red hair like my heroine, MacKenzie Campbell, but I do drive an old Jeep Cherokee with 325,000 miles on it. I've rolled it once and it looks like crap but it still goes fast! If I can make a living as a writer, I’ll buy something a bit nicer and write some more stories.
You can find Taylor at:
Website: www.taylorlongford.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Taylor-Longford
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