Rule (Roam Series, Book Five)

by Stedronsky, Kimberly

  Curling my fingers over fistfuls of hay, I pulled my leg away from his hands. “Let’s get some sleep, okay?”

  He watched me carefully, nodding. We were given two blankets, and though the air inside the barn was not as cold with the absence of wind, I was shivering within minutes. A low bray of a mule startled me, and I giggled. “Oh, yeah, we’re in a barn.”

  He smiled, spreading one blanket over the hay-covered floor and reserving one to cover us with. I squirmed uncomfortably as I sat on the ground, waiting for him to prepare our bed. “Do you need to relieve yourself?”

  “Yes. How rude do you think it’d be to pee over there behind that hay?”

  “Very. However, I am not lowering the ladder again this night, so do as you must. I’ll follow you when you’re through.”

  “I can tear up my sundress and use it,” I pulled at the material, yanking with all of my strength. “Really? Wow. Ralph Lauren makes strong clothing.”

  Will took the dress from my hands, tearing strips as though the dress was made from paper. “There now. No more than that, or you may clog the loft.”

  I looked at him quickly, watching the smile dancing on his lips. “Did you just make a joke? Holy shit.”

  “Language, Eva,” he called as I hurried to the far corner of the loft.

  “We’re alone!” I called, moving behind the stacked bales of hay. I screamed as a hen flew out from nowhere, clucking and flapping her wings maniacally.

  “Be gone,” Will waved and kicked at air by the hen, shaking his head at me. “Eva the Assassin. Weaknesses- heights and hens.”

  “Shut up,” I called playfully, hurrying to finish before returning to him. He took a turn, and then eagerly crawled under the blanket next to me.

  “Closer,” he murmured, drawing my entire body against him. He shivered, and I realized that he was just as cold as I was.

  “We’ll be warmer if we’re skin to skin. But if you start touching me, I can’t guarantee I won’t burst into flames.”

  He sat up and pulled his shirt over his head, and I slowly began unlacing my gown. I really didn’t expect him to take me up on the offer…

  “Eva, when I do touch you, I will set you on fire. Magic or no magic,” he promised, balling his shirt under his neck.

  My fingers froze on the laces, and I swallowed hard.

  He caught my fumbling hands, expertly unthreading the laces of my gown. His eyes, in the moonlit loft, glowed to a silver blue.

  “You do that too easily,” I raise an eyebrow, brushing my curls away from my face. “Like you’ve had tons of practice.”

  “Do you speak of your laces? Or my ability set you aflame?”

  “Haha. Pretty confident there,” I gave a wispy laugh, nervously focusing on his bare chest.

  “Raise your arms.”

  I lifted both of my arms in the air, my eyes locked with his. He moved to his knees, slowly lifting the gown, his eyes never leaving mine.

  The wind gusted against the siding, whistling through knots in the wood. He dropped my dress to the blanket, catching my arms as I tried to fold them over my tan, laced bra.

  “Think about what I am doing,” he murmured, pressing his fingertips to my shoulder and dragging them over the length of my arm. “Think about how I am touching you.”

  His fingers dove into the cup of my bra, lifting my breasts above the material. Widening my eyes, I watched his mouth lower to my right nipple, and then my left. I felt absurdly pleased at his pleasured sigh. “You are flawless.”

  “Will,” I shivered, swallowing and clenching my thighs together impatiently. He urged me back over the blanket, his fingertips moving on to my stomach.

  “My hand on your skin.”

  As his palm flattened over my hip, I closed my eyes tightly. He pulled away, and I uttered a tiny, disappointed cry.

  “Keep your eyes open, Eva.”

  I nodded once, exhaling sharply as his hand returned to my hip, moving down. His thumb brushed against my thigh, and I felt my eyes well at the force of my immobile lids. Don’t blink… don’t stop…

  When his mouth touched my throat, his palm flattened over the apex of my thighs. I arched against his gentle pressure, wrapping my arms around his shoulders for an anchor. I was sure that my rapid heartbeat would be felt beneath his lips as he continued over my chest. When his finger moved beneath the lacy material of my panties and slid into my moistened body, I inhaled sharply, closing my eyes and crying out at the rhythm of his deepened touch.

  “Look at me,” he ordered roughly, lifting his face from my skin. I did as he asked.

  My mind raced one thousand miles an hour, trying to decide what I was doing, what he was doing, and if this meant something.

  I want him… every part of my body wants him…

  He wants me, too… but he doesn’t love me. That never mattered with Liam.

  But it matters with Will.

  As I threw my hand back over my head, the Shirelles’ Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow began in the barn. With a mortified gasp, I quickly closed my fist to turn the music off.

  Groaning, he captured my lips in his, and then pulled away too quickly.

  “Wait… don’t stop, Will, I want you,” I begged, watching him lay back and sling his hand over his forehead.

  “Your eyes. They’ve changed. We cannot risk a fire in this barn.”

  “I can control it,” I promised, my fingers moving to his waist. Tugging at the button on his pants, I went for the zipper. “I can-…,”

  “Eva- the dangers.”

  “Now, Will,” I moved to his feet and pulled at his pants, watching him lift his hips with amusement.

  “You will require my cooperation, love. You cannot do this on your own.”

  “You’ll cooperate.” I straddled him, pressing my readied body against him. He grabbed either side of my waist, turning quickly, so that I lay beneath him.

  “We will not risk a fire, Eva. Nor a pregnancy.”

  I felt the blood rush from my head, letting him cover us with the blanket. He turned me so that I lay tucked against him, my back to his chest, and he pressed his face into my hair.

  “I can’t believe… that didn’t cross my mind.”

  “Rarely does the future- or the consequences of your actions- cross your mind, Eva. You are barely eighteen. You have much to learn.”

  “Wow. Make out with me, and then put me down. Are you sure you didn’t go to my high school?”

  “I am not putting you down. I am giving you honesty. Expect nothing less from me in our marriage.”

  I sighed, backing against him until I was impossibly close.

  “Be still. By God, you frustrate me.”

  Smirking, I closed my eyes.

  Chapter Sixteen

  For the first time, I woke up in Will’s arms.

  His bare chest rose and fell beneath my cheek, and the light sprinkling of dark hair tickled against my mouth. I turned to look up at him.

  “Good morning,” he stretched, his hand flattened on my bare back. Suddenly, he froze, sliding his hand up and down my shoulder blades. “Where are your undergarments?”

  “I told you. I don’t like to sleep in anything.”

  “For God’s sake.”

  He tried to sit up, but I kept him pinned, letting my hair fall over his face in a wild array of fiery curls. The early morning sun lightened his dark hair and illuminated the need in his eyes.

  “I have no resolve left. Get off of me.”

  “I was thinking, last night, that a baby wouldn’t be the worst thing,” I cocked my head to the side, dragging my lips over his throat. My teeth nipped at his collar bone, and he stopped breathing. “If it happened.”

  He gripped my hips, dragging me over him more fully. “Eva,” he murmured, rocking to sit up and meet my lips. As his mouth grabbed for mine, his hands slid from my back to my chest, touching, stoking the fires already raging inside.

  “I trust there be only two of you up there, this morn?”


  John’s voice from below the loft shook a muffled scream from my throat as Will shoved his hand over my mouth. “Aye, no baby has come this night.”

  “Join us to break your fast, William Reed.”

  “Our thanks,” Will called, grinning when I wrapped my legs around his waist. “Get off of me, you little harlot. Immediately.”

  “Whatever.” I reached for my bra and panties, snatching my gown from the pile of hay. “You are impossible to seduce, big gay brother.”

  He laughed, pressing me tighter to his waist. Completely naked, so close to him this way, rational thoughts escaped me. I knew of at least seven different ways to pin him down, contemplating which hold to begin with.

  He threaded both of his hands through my hair, pulling lightly. “I am going to make love to you, Eva, and you have no idea what I will do to you. I will see to it that you are safe… to lose control.”

  For the first time in my entire life, I couldn’t speak.

  We hurriedly dressed and had breakfast with the family. Will spoke to John, inquiring about the town and asking if he knew of a man named Henry Asher. I watched the farmer think for a moment, screwing his face up into a grimace.

  “Mayhap it wise to avoid Asher,” he suggested, and he and his wife proceeded to send each other such animated, sideways glances that I almost laughed. “Talk of heresy.”

  “Thank you,” Will nodded. “I was told he was a healer; perhaps my source was mistaken.”

  “His son is a healer,” the wife added, again trading exaggerated looks with her husband. Do they think they’re being subtle? “The child ails you?”

  “Oh… I…,” I staggered, trying to decide how to answer her. “I ache… of the head.”

  Will curled his lips inward and looked down in his struggle to keep from chuckling. I sent him a frown.

  “A root, to chew,” the wife suggested. Mary nodded, as if I’d just confirmed her brain damage theory.

  We walked to the town, and finally spoke once we’d assured a clear distance from the farm. “You ache of the head?”

  “Shut up. I’m trying my best to sound medieval, and it’s coming out like Yoda.”

  He grinned as I lifted my skirt and retrieved my cardigan, tucking his arm over my shoulder. “What you said this morning, about a child…,”

  “Will, I would have said anything to have my way with you.” I stopped in my tracks, grabbing my white shoe and dumping whatever was poking me in the toe. “Do you want to have kids someday?”

  He caught my hand as I began walking again. “Not in a burning world, Eva. But under different circumstances… yes. With you. Someday.”

  His short, staccato sentences had the ability to drive me wild. I turned in his arms, standing on my toes to reach for his kiss. He obliged, once on my lips, and then my nose. “When we find Asher, let me speak. Do as I say; it is imperative that your father hears the right information.”

  “Okay,” I acknowledged, wondering if it was wrong to actually be enjoying myself on our accidental, time-traveling honeymoon. “I am so glad you’re here with me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “You would do just fine.” He promised, continuing toward the town.

  Farthington, the town that crept into my view, absolutely reeked. The smell pervaded my nostrils and almost left me gagging. “It smells like pee, everywhere,” I whispered, and held the sleeve of my gown over my nose.

  “Hush. You’ll adjust. Do not cover your nose; you will only draw attention.”

  “Oh- God- Will,” I slammed against him, finally realizing what I was seeing in rows of tall spikes at the town’s edge. Heads with no bodies, with flesh pecked away by vultures and macabre locks of thinning hair, were perched on the barbs as if on display.

  “This is very real, Eva. Hold your tongue,” he grabbed my cardigan and pulled us behind a massive tree. Turning me so my back faced him, he wrapped the dirty sweater around my head, tucking my hair beneath. “Eyes down. They are emeralds today, and your beauty will turn every man’s head.”

  I softened at his compliments, however efficiently they were dealt. I did as he said, keeping my eyes down and focusing on my footsteps. Deep ditches lined the road in a stream of… well, shit. I gagged silently, longing to press my face to Will’s shoulder. When the scent of fish was added to the mix, my stomach refused the meager breakfast from that morning. I turned to the trench, heaving.

  “Better?” Will asked gently. I nodded, brushing my sleeve over my mouth. I needed a toothbrush.

  “I’m sorry.” I wiped at the dirty, wet streaks in the corners of my eyes, and he shook his head.

  “No need to be sorry,” he tucked a misbehaving curl under my makeshift scarf. “We are very far from game night at the Perry’s.”

  I guessed immediately at his intended objective as his reference to my family calmed my nerves. “Look… an apothecary. That’s a pharmacist, right?”

  The irritating bellows and laughter on the streets forced me to raise my voice. A horse pulling a cart rounded the corner behind us, and we darted to the side of the small building. “I will inquire; be silent, love.”

  “Okay,” I agreed, following him toward the door. Before we could pass through the entrance, I grabbed Will’s arm, holding my breath.

  My grandfather, looking exactly as I knew him, hobbled out of the store. Will took a step toward him, but blocked me and jumped back as a man followed behind him.

  My father! Slightly younger, hair longer, and dressed as the other people in this time, he carried a bottle in his hand, speaking to my grandfather. Asher nodded, listening to his son as they waited for a horse to clod by.

  Seeing my father sent an unexpected wave of sadness over me. I longed to run to him, hug him, and beg his forgiveness for my terrible words in the living room. Why don’t I think? I have absolutely no filter between my brain and my mouth.

  “We must speak to Asher first, alone,” Will took my hand, leading us a safe distance to follow behind them. In minutes we watched as they arrived at a cottage near the very edge of town. The small, windowless hut appeared to be fashioned by a giant swarm of bees. I couldn’t tell what the papier-mâché-like siding was, and was surprised to see there was no chimney. How do they stay warm?

  “Now what?” I held my stomach as it growled impatiently. Really? How am I hungry? It smells like a Porta-Potty- everywhere.

  “Now, we wait.” He glanced around, taking in the environment. Food, shelter. I knew the drill.

  “Wait… he’s leaving,” I watched as my father walked out of the hut and into the sunshine, heading back into town.

  “Now. Eva, listen to me. Do not assume anything. Allow me to speak first.” I nodded, following him to the door of the cottage.

  “I know, Will.”

  He cleared his throat. “Henry Asher?”

  My grandfather turned away from a stone oven to the open doorway. I hid slightly behind Will, my heart clamoring in my chest. He slid a step forward, his mouth falling open so that his white beard touched his chest. “Yes…,” he focused on my face, and then turned to Will. “You are the king.”

  I tugged the cardigan from my hair, letting my curls fall from the wrapping. He moved toward me, and I knew Will’s hand rested on the gun at his side. Asher held up his palm, still focused on my face. “You’ve no need for that hand cannon here, King.”

  “Do you know who I am?” I asked softly, stepping around my husband. Will reached for my hand, but I shook my head at him. “He won’t hurt me.”

  “Daughter of the sun.” He gestured to my hair, his long, bony fingers barely touching a curl near my neck. “You’ve brought me the answer that I seek? The elixir of life? Eternal existence?”

  “What?” I glanced nervously at Will. “Immortality?”

  “Yes, yes,” he grinned, and I cringed at his yellowed teeth. Mine probably are just as gross right now. “And to give my son back his memory. Of Icepond.”

  Until he said the name of the kingdom, I a
lmost didn’t believe any of this was real. Nodding, I stole another reassuring glance at Will. “Aren’t we just wasting time? Why don’t you just… tell him… about the spell?” What am I missing?

  Asher shook his head, pinching at his long beard. “Your father is... mulish. Disobedient and unruly. He must see… to believe. Ah, child… you look so like Mina.”

  “And evidently behaves like her father,” Will murmured, under his breath. I shot him a glare.

  Asher took a shaking step forward. “I had prepared to tell him of the prophecy on the anniversary of his birth. He has already stopped aging.” Clearing his throat, he gave an impatient wave of his hand. “And the elixir?” He prodded.

  “I don’t… have an elixir, Grandfather. I don’t know what that means,” I squeezed Will’s fingers in mine, and he tugged me back.

  “Eva possesses magic, but she does not have the elixir of life. She cannot give you immortality.”

  Will’s defensive words sent me back to a sunny, summer day in Ohio. Morgan and Jason were about to get married, and I found my mother and Logan in her childhood bedroom. I held each of their arms, asking permission as my grandfather had taught me in my dreams, before trading their mortality.

  The realization of this fate, this future that brought us here, struck me and stunned the words from my throat. I am not here just to tell my father about the prophecy…

  I am here to make Asher immortal.

  “An alter consequence,” I whispered, lifting my eyes to Will. He stiffened, sliding his palm against my cheek.

  “Your eyes, Eva-…,”

  “I’m here to make him immortal. So he will save my mother… in the last life.” I turned to my grandfather, taking a shaking breath. He listened patiently. “You taught me that there is an alter consequence for all magic, Grandfather. I offer you immortality, and in turn I sacrifice my own. Do you accept this?”

  Will hardened, his muscled arms tightening. “Eva, absolutely not-…,”

  “Yes,” he answered, holding his frail hand out to me. I gripped his forearm, closing my eyes.

  “Eva!”

  “It is done.”