by Bekah Clark
“Somehow, I get the feeling cleaning me is the last thing on your mind.”
“Vonn and Meg are busy.” His teasing voice didn’t match the promise of heat in his eyes.
Giggling and shaking my head, I replied, “And I’m taking a bath in a very small tub. Not to mention, I don’t want to get water all over her floor. So stop, please.”
His thumb brushed over my nipple a few times before he tugged and a gasp tore from me. “Are you sure you’re asking me to stop?” he rumbled.
“I’m sure. Now get out, you wild barbarian!”
His rich laugh filled the room as he walked out. When he left, I chewed on my bottom lip. Part of me wanted to call him right back in and let him give me a good and thorough washing. Yet, as I looked around, I had to once again realize that the tub was entirely too small, and I did not want to get water everywhere in the home of the woman who was showing me such sincere hospitality.
After my bath, I slipped out of the tub, set it to draining, and then dried myself off. Meg had grabbed my dark green skirt, cream-colored shirt, and my wide black belt. I dressed quickly, then braided my hair. It was still brown, but a bit lighter than when I had originally put the dye in. I had the feeling it would last until we reached Kingshold. As I examined myself in the mirror, I tilted my head. I had gotten thinner. Not a great deal, but enough that I noticed. I was never as thin as the girls back in Vella, but I wasn't overweight, either. I had to maintain a certain weight; the life that I used to heal was my own. In all the excitement, I hadn’t eaten as much as I usually did. I’d have to rectify that before I met Donner.
I found Torric in the hall. He dragged me to him and kissed me soundly before heading into the bathing chamber to wash up himself.
Making my way down the stairs, I searched for Meg. I didn’t look too closely, however, out of fear of finding her and Vonn being intimate. She came out of a small side room off the kitchen with Vonn grinning behind her. I blushed and glanced away, but I caught his kiss to her cheek before he left.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
She smiled at me and pointed to the large table. “Sit here, I’ll bring you some carrots to cut, and you can tell me all about yourself.”
I found Meg easy to talk to, and soon I was regaling her with tales of my home and our journey as I sliced the carrots. She asked a few questions and glanced from time to time at my pendant. Finally, with the stew cooking, she put some tea and biscuits out for us. As I spread some jam over one of the biscuits, she asked, “Did Torric really give that to you?”
A flash of heat took my cheek. I really needed to get this under control. But dealing with friendly people was still new to me. “Yes. It’s just a token of affection. Everyone keeps making a big deal out of it, though.”
She smiled knowingly. “I’m sure they are. Now, will you and Torric be sharing a room?”
I stopped midbite and looked at her with wide eyes. She laughed at my expression. I put down the biscuit and sipped some tea to fortify myself. “We will be.” I said.
She grinned. “As you should. That man needs a woman, and I think you’ll do nicely.”
“Do you know where they’ve gone?”
“I sent the two of them to get me some supplies. They may as well make themselves useful while they’re here. Otherwise, you'll spoil them. Don’t pamper them, dear. A spoiled man is insufferable.”
The expression she gave me was full of warning. Still, I laughed. “I won’t. But to be honest, it’s more like they spoil me.”
“Really, now. Well, isn’t that interesting?” I shrugged and she grinned at me before she added, “Eat some more. When I walked in, I could see your ribs.”
I chuckled and took another bite to appease her. It was easy since it was so delicious—it practically melted in my mouth. The jam was an amazing mixture of sweet berries, and the butter perfectly balanced with salt. It would be so simple to stay here in the safety of Meg’s warm home. I was certain it wouldn’t take long for me to gain back the weight I had lost. But I also knew that we would have to head out eventually.
After dinner, which almost made me beg for thirds, Meg and I sat in the living room while Torric and Vonn went to check in with the village leader. Meg was working on a quilt, and I had to admire her color choices and patterns. I had little to do, so I pulled out the blank journal I had brought from Fort Nyte and began writing about my adventures. I started with the moment I had first seen Torric wounded. As I wrote about him, my cheeks went warm, and I realized just how much I had not viewed him as a patient, even when he was.
“You look flushed. Is anything wrong?”
I smiled at Meg. “No. Just dwelling on the past a bit.”
Her perceptive gaze lit up with amusement and that was enough to drive me away. I rose and said graciously, “I think I’ll head to bed.”
She stood and surprised me with a heartfelt hug. I returned her embrace shyly before I dashed upstairs. The room I shared with Torric had a large canopy bed, a matching bureau, and a little writing desk. I stripped off my clothing and slipped into bed. I had forgotten to bring a chemise to sleep in. I somehow doubted Torric would mind such an oversight.
I awoke in the night to Torric’s arms wrapping around me and hauling my back to his bare chest. I let out a soft sound of contentment and turned my face up to his kiss. As his tongue gently danced along the seam of my mouth, one of his hands slipped over my breast as the other trailed down past my stomach. I pulled my mouth away and let out a soft cry. “Torric, they’ll hear.”
He laughed and let his tongue run over the rim of my ear. “Can you hear them?”
“No.”
“Then don’t fear their hearing you. Once we leave here, I’ll have to be good again. Unless you consent to our using the tent to—”
“No!”
He laughed as his fingers danced over me, and I gasped. With slow, insistent strokes, he brought fire to my body, and my back arched against his hard chest. One of his hands kneaded my breast, fingers plucking at my nipple, as his other hand slipped down my thigh, raised my leg, and then gently rested it atop his own. Gradually, his fingers trailed along my thigh and back to my core, drawing a cry of delight out of me. His attentions didn’t stop. In fact, they became more demanding and intimate as his lips played along my neck. Soon I was crying out his name.
He drew me back against his chest and whispered in my ear, “I love when you call my name. Do it again.”
And so I did. My cries rose, and I gasped for breath between each one. With a quick movement, he flipped me onto my back. In an instant, he was on top, and I slipped my legs around him as we joined in one powerful move of his hips. I gasped and looked up into his eyes. In the dim lamplight, his eyes gleamed brightly with fierce intensity. They bore into mine as I cried out again.
“That’s it, lass, don’t stop calling my name,” he said roughly as he ground against me. I cried out in response, leaning up to capture his lips with a heated kiss. He responded by caressing my tongue with his in slow, sensual strokes, mimicking the movement of his hips. One of his hands slipped into my hair, and the other trailed down my side to my hip, hauling me closer, and pressing my legs open more. The fire of his movements brought me up to a fevered pitch. Tipping my head back, I screamed out his name louder than I ever had before. He grinned down at me with a wild gleam in his eyes and before too long, he roared out my name in response.
After a few long and deep breaths, he rolled onto his back, dragging me to rest on top of him. Gently pulling my face to his, he tenderly kissed my temple, my brow, my cheek, and finally, my lips. I stared down at him and he stroked back my hair. One of his hands slid softly down my back to rest on my bottom before he grabbed hold of me. Shyly, I admitted, “I missed this.”
He grinned. “I know. So did I. We aren’t far from Kingshold. There we’ll share my room.”
“How long are we to be in Kingshold?”
He softly wrapped a lock of my hair around his finge
r. “For as long as the king needs us. Or you ask to be sent home.”
I smiled. “I won’t be asking to return to Vella. I would, however, like to go back to Fort Nyte to finish training Kayla.”
He stared at me for a long time. “You truly won’t go?” he asked roughly.
“I won’t. I promise. I know that I said before that I wanted the choice. I do still like knowing that if I ask, you’ll take me. But I really know in my heart, I don’t want to be parted from you, or to leave Glane.”
He brought his lips to mine. The kiss was so warm and gentle, filled with promise and tenderness. I clung to him, and my heart swelled. His hands gripped my bottom and my thighs before he lifted me to sit astride him. At our joining, my back arched and I gasped his name. As he slowly brought me to release once more, I knew that I was safe with him. Forever.
Chapter Seventeen
The next day, Meg and I went out to the market. It was set up much like any other with its own cacophony of sounds and mixture of heady scents. There were various stalls along the walkway with vendors selling their wares. Torric had given me some money to buy anything I wanted for the trip or just for myself. I stopped by a vendor selling clothes and started to look over the shirts. Meg laughed and slipped her arm through mine. “Supplies first, dear.”
With a soft exhale, I let her lead me off down the lane. We had about a five-day trip to Kingshold. We didn’t need much, but we did need to resupply. Fortunately, I had Meg with me. She was a master at negotiating and knew all the best places to purchase goods. Once we were loaded down, she took me to a different stall that had the most amazing fabrics. I found a lovely dress in a soft, pale green that was more delicate than anything I had ever worn. For a moment, I pondered purchasing it. However, I usually wore skirts and shirts that were common among my class. Still, I eyed it from time to time.
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, just buy it. Your man will enjoy it on you.”
I turned shyly back at Meg. “Do you think?”
She grinned at me. “I know. Come on, buy it.”
Looking it over one more time, I nodded and purchased it. We gathered our things and headed back to the house. As we walked through the market, the scent of spices—many I recognized, some I did not—turned the air into an intoxicating perfume. With all this to work with, it was no wonder that Vonn and Meg were such great cooks.
We were nearly back to their home when a girl came running up to us.
“What’s wrong, Lizza?” Meg called out to her.
Lizza, an adorable girl with a riot of curly brown hair and huge brown eyes, turned up a tear-stained face to us. “It’s Momma! She’s having her baby too quickly, and she’s in too much pain. The midwife sent me to get the medic.”
Meg and I exchanged glances. I knew Torric wouldn’t want me healing anyone because it could alert the wrong people to my presence. But I simply couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Stepping forward, I gently placed my hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Please take me to her. If she can be saved, then I can do it.”
Meg’s voice was uncertain. “Zianya, I don’t think Torric would want—”
I shot Meg a quick glance. “He doesn’t dictate whom I heal.”
The girl exclaimed loudly, “You’re a healer?”
“Hush now, Lizza. Take me to her.”
We rushed through the winding streets. She brought me to a large gray house with a black roof. Opening the bright white door, I quickly followed her into the house. She headed for the stairs, and I picked up my pace as she led me into the third room. There, I found a young midwife holding an unresponsive baby and a dark-haired woman lying in bed, crying. “Please, my baby!”
Both of them needed my help. The consequences of healing two people at a time ran through me. It took a great toll, which is why I had told Torric I could only do one healing per day. But I couldn’t sit back and do nothing, not when something like this was before me.
First, I rushed over to the midwife. The baby was my first priority; I could feel its little life fading fast.
“Please, give me the baby.”
“Who are you?” asked the midwife. She was about twenty-five, with blonde hair and pale blue eyes.
“I’m a healer,” I said, reaching for the baby.
She drew away from me.
“She’s telling the truth, Carra,” Meg said. “Give her the baby.”
I took the little one in my arms and instantly let my healing energies sink into the still form. It was alive, but it was fading fast. Because it was so small, I knew I could still heal it despite how close to death the little one was. I infused the newborn with life, and I let out a small cry of joy when it started to squirm in my arms. I continued to work on the baby until it suddenly let out an angry squawk. I took a deep breath and handed the baby back to the midwife.
“Take care of him.” With that, I moved on to the woman on the bed. I touched her. She was bleeding badly. She wasn’t close to death…yet. I could tell if I didn’t heal her, eventually, she’d bleed out and die. I let my healing sink into her. I could feel her wounds slowly knitting. My last thought before I drifted off was that Torric was going to be very angry with me.
The first thing I noticed was that my head was throbbing. The next thing I noticed were the hushed tones—and one of them was angry. But beneath the anger, I could sense worry. Fear. The other two voices were trying to calm him down.
“What if she doesn’t wake up?” Torric’s growl didn't mask the panic in his tone.
“Shh. My head is throbbing,” I groaned softly.
Torric was immediately at my side, his hands gently running over my arm; I didn’t need to see him to know it was his touch. My eyes fluttered at first, then opened, sending renewed shards of pain through my skull. I found Torric looking down at me, his eyes a war of fury and anguish. A weak smile took my lips. He tried to smile back, but he was so worried it came out wrong, twisted. He reached out to stroke my hair, but he must have remembered what I said about my head because he stopped.
“I thought I lost you.” His rough voice bursting with untold emotions.
“I never said more than one healing was impossible.” My voice was low but still brought pain to my pounding head.
“Zianya, you’ve been asleep for thirty-seven hours.”
I closed my eyes to hide from the fear I saw in his gaze and moaned softly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be out so long. But right now, I could use some tayden tea and food. Lots of food.”
Meg said, “I can get that for you. Come on, Vonn. Let’s leave them alone.”
The bed dipped as Torric drew me into his arms. My head pulsated, but still, I curled into his chest. Softly, he stroked my hair. “Please don’t touch my head, it really does hurt.”
His hand slid down my back to rest on my bottom, holding me close to him. I felt safe and warm. Trying not to fall back to sleep, my eyes opened to find him staring down at me. The worry in his emerald eyes tore at my heart. He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. “I don’t want to fight about it now. I hurt.”
Pain flashed through that emerald I loved. “I wasn’t going to say anything about this. We’ll discuss it later. I was going to say I was worried about you. I am worried about you.”
My lids fluttered closed as I sighed softly. “I’m sorry that I scared you.”
“You didn’t just scare me. You terrified me. You wouldn’t wake up. I shook you and called your name, but you just slept.”
I couldn’t look at him when he sounded so full of fear. Of course, I really just wanted to keep still, and the light was bothering me. However, I couldn’t tell him either of those things. If I did, it would only make it worse for him. So instead, I curled into his arms slowly, trying not to jostle my head, and tried to ease his fears. “This is why we don’t normally heal more than one person in a day. I’ll be fine. I just need lots of food and tea, like I said.”
He growled. I would have laughed if it weren’t for the pounding behind my ey
es. While I wasn’t sure that Torric’s feelings were as deep as mine, I did know he cared about me deeply and that my safety was of the utmost importance to him. And I knew that he was prone to growling if he was upset. Or excited. From my position, I knew he wasn’t excited. So I was sure the growl had to do with his fear of losing me.
“When you’re well, we’re having a long talk, lass.”
I could hear Meg walk in, and I opened my eyes, smiling at her weakly as she poured me a cup of tea. Torric helped me to sit up, and I took the cup to drink the bitter brew. She had left some biscuits, butter, and jam for me to have while I waited for the meal she was making. I devoured them quickly before pouring a second cup of tayden tea. Torric’s hand softly caressed my hip as I drank it. I felt as if he were trying to reassure himself that I was alive.
I could feel the pounding behind my eyes lessen just a little, and I let out a soft breath as the tension within me eased. I glanced over at Torric to find him staring at me. I smiled weakly. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“No, you don’t know!” he bellowed. When I winced from the pounding in my head, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Mindful of my pain, he began again in a quiet voice, “You don’t know. I thought you’d never wake again. I was going out of my mind.”
“You know I always sleep after a healing. It stands to reason I would sleep longer.”
“How should I know that? As far as I know from you, you shouldn’t heal more than one person. What if you never woke up, Zianya?”
My eyes brimmed with tears at the anguish I heard in his voice. I didn’t have an answer to that question. There was also no way I could explain to him how, if presented with such a choice again, I’d do the same thing. That poor mother and her sweet little infant—there was no way I could heal one and not the other. There was no way I could have walked away, either.
“This is why I can’t be where the fighting is,” I said softly.
“What do you mean?”