“I’m going to wait for Logan to send a missive, then I’m going to go to the city.”
“Because you want him or because you’re going to help me?” Bessie asks on a laugh.
“Both,” Daisy responds quickly. “He’s exactly what I want and I will have him. Plus, the Assembly needs information and he’s on to them. Logan wants to make sure he doesn’t get discovered. He’s trying to give him just enough information to appear loyal.”
Bessie nods her head a couple of times. “Whoever she is, she’s appeared and there is something off about her. He’s suddenly changed and he is attached to her.”
Daisy giggles. “He may feel like that in this moment, but as soon as I get him alone, he won’t. It’s too hard with that maid there and all of the men, but once they’re in the city, I’ll be able to slip in and do everything that I need to. Don’t worry, Bessie. I’ll take care of everything and you’ll be in control of Devilrise before too long.”
“Good,” Bessie says with a nod.
“Birdie,” a voice calls out.
My entire body jerks and my eyes open wide. Turning my head to the side, I see Martha standing next to me, a tray in her hand.
“Dinner. Colt wanted you to get started. He said he would be late and meet you up here when he was able.”
Pushing myself up to a seated position, I make sure to arrange my sheet over my still naked breasts.
“A bath will be here shortly as well,” Martha announces.
“I went to the brothel,” I whisper.
Martha’s eyes widen as she places the tray on my lap. “Birdie,” she breathes.
“They’re plotting against Colt. Bessie wants control and she’s trying to use Daisy to get it, there’s something else and I don’t know how to tell him.”
Martha holds up her hand, shaking her head a couple of times. “Don’t say a word to me,” she warns. “Tell only Colt.”
“Why?” I ask.
She clears her throat. “Because whatever it is, it is only for his ears. If he cannot trust someone in his inner circle, then that could mean me as well. You’re his wife and he needs to be able to trust you implicitly.”
“He’s not going to believe me. I’m worried that this could ruin what little trust and love that we have,” I admit on an exhale.
Martha shakes her head. “He is quick to anger, but Colt is not only headstrong, he is intelligent. Probably the smartest man that I know. If you tell him, even if he doesn’t believe you at first, he will figure it out. Have patience.”
“It seems I’m being told that I need to have patience with him often,” I grumble.
Martha takes a step backward, toward the door, a smile playing on her lips. “That isn’t common in your world? A woman needing more patience than a man?” she asks, arching a brow.
Thinking back to just my parents, excluding any relationship that I’ve personally been in, I know that she’s right. My mother has the patience of a saint sometimes. Though my father isn’t without the quality himself.
“I think it can be pretty equal,” I admit.
Martha grins. “Eventually, it will become this way. Right now, you need to have more.”
She turns around and walks away without another word. Then, the room fills up with boys carrying my tub, then filling it with water. I snack on the dinner until they’re finished, then I make my way into the tub and moan as I sink down into the warm water.
Just as the warmth envelops me, the door opens. Turning my head, I smile at the sight of Colt standing at the entrance of the bedroom, his eyes darkening and a look of extreme starvation crossing his features.
COLT
My entire body freezes in its place at the sight of my wife in the bath. Her hair is up and off of her neck in a pile at the top of her head. I can see her bare shoulders, but everything else is hidden by the side of the tub. She looks over to me, her eyes wide and just as she did the moment I first laid eyes on her, she takes my breath away.
“You’ve talked to Logan?” she asks.
Something in the way she asks the question causes me to pause and watch her for another moment. She knows something, I’m not quite sure what, but there is something she isn’t telling me.
Instead of demanding answers, I begin to strip out of my clothes. Kicking off my boots, I leave them in the middle of the floor, then undress out of all of my clothes until I’m completely bare. Birdie’s eyes widen as she watches me, her tongue peeks out and she tastes her lips as I slowly stalk toward her.
“Scoot,” I demand.
Climbing into the small tub behind her, I spread my thighs and pull her back against my front. “Colt,” she breathes.
There is a flash in the sky outside and I wonder if she’s upset. Her body trembles slightly against me, but I don’t demand she speak. Instead, I wait for her to explain to me what she’s thinking, because there is something going on in her head, it’s right there on the edge of the surface and she’ll say it soon.
“I know you don’t want to hear this,” she begins.
I smirk, letting out a hum as I run my fingers up and down the soft skin of her arms. Staying quiet, I wait for her to continue. Biting the corner of my lip, I continue to wait, knowing that she’s done something.
“I went to Daisy when I was resting,” she whispers. “She was in a room, a floral room, and she was talking to Bessie,” Birdie begins to explain.
Then she tells me the conversation that the two women had, in detail, along with the news that Logan may not be an ally, but instead an enemy.
“You’re telling me Logan wants to sabotage me?” I ask.
Birdie doesn’t say anything right away, the room is bathed in silence and then slowly she turns her head, tilting it back to look up at me. “I don’t want to believe it, Colt.”
“Could you have heard wrong?” I ask, shock rolling throughout my entire body.
Birdie presses her lips together, her eyes focusing on mine and nowhere else. “Colt,” she breathes on a whisper. “I know what I heard.”
I nod my head a couple of times, unsure of what to do next. Should I believe her? She is my wife. Logan has been a friend for decades, would he really do this to me, to our country? I can’t forget the way that evil mass came from Florence and escaped into the world. Just because I think that I know Logan, doesn’t mean that I truly know all of him or know what could befall him.
“I believe you,” I murmur.
Birdie doesn’t say anything immediately, but instead waits a moment before she speaks. She lifts her hand and laces her fingers with mine. My instinct is to pull away, but I decide against it, allowing her to touch me, and pull my hand across her chest.
“Tell me something about your land.”
Birdie squeezes my fingers and I feel her chest rise and fall. My other hand, I wrap around her waist and press against her growing belly. Dropping my chin, I touch my mouth to her shoulder and enjoy the feeling of her soft body against mine, waiting to hear her story of her land.
Closing my eyes, I listen to her tell me about her land. None of it sounds real, and if I didn’t know she was truly from a different world, I would think that she just has a very active imagination.
That is how we spend the evening, then before we fall asleep next to one another, she rides me until we’re both completely spent. Our bond somehow strengthening with every moment spent naked with one another.
I don’t know that we will ever be anything more than what we are. I’m not sure if our love will ever go beyond physical desire and lust, but I’m no longer going to fight it. There is no need to anymore. I can protect her and the baby. I can keep them safe and I will, until my last dying breath.
Chapter Forty-Two
BIRDIE
Logan watches me from across the property. I don’t know why, but Colt hasn’t said anything to him yet about our conversation last night. Florence is still being held in jail under guard, but Logan is oddly free and watching me, unnervingly so.
He k
nows that I know. He has to. The way that he’s watching me, it’s freaking creepy as shit. I’m watching him, focused on him when I sense someone walk up beside me. Tearing my gaze away from Logan, I look to the side and see Martha at my side.
“Hey,” I whisper.
“He’s watching you and I have a sick feeling.”
Nodding my head, I don’t tell her that she is right to feel that sick sensation. Licking my lips, I place my hand on my stomach and pray for the safety of this new baby. There is something happening around me, around us, and I have a feeling that I won’t be able to stop it from unfolding, not ever.
“I do too, Martha,” I admit on a whisper.
There is a moment of silence, that is, until my head is filled with a menacing voice. “You will never stop this from happening. He will never believe you.”
The voice is without a doubt Logan’s, but I don’t give him a reaction, not a single ounce of one. Instead, I continue to look straight ahead and completely ignore him.
Colt already knows the truth of what I’ve seen and heard. I left it all up to him, hopefully he will make the right decision and I have to trust him with that. Hopefully we all survive whatever is about to come our way.
Pressing my lips together, I turn my back to him, ignoring him and shaking his voice out of my mind. I don’t know how he got inside of my head, but I don’t need him to know what I’m thinking or what my next move is, he needs to stay in the dark—completely in the dark.
Colt is strapping the saddle to his horse when he senses my presence in the barn. I watch as he turns his head, looking over at me before he straightens and turns to face me. He doesn’t move, his gaze focused on mine and nowhere else.
My heart beats inside of my chest at the mere sight of him. I don’t know how I lived my entire life without this man. How I thought that I might be able to transport myself home to get away from him. How I thought that this could be nothing more than temporary.
I was wrong about it all.
“Colt,” I call out as my feet begin to move toward him.
He frowns, reaching out for me. My arm extends and I slip my hand in his. He tugs me against his chest, his chin dipping before his lips brush against mine.
“You’re okay?” he asks.
Nodding, I rise to my toes and touch my mouth to his. “Logan entered my thoughts. He said that I would never stop this from happening and that you would never believe me.”
“He can get in your thoughts? Without your invitation?” he asks against my mouth.
“He can,” I admit on a whispered breath. I don’t tell him that shit is terrifying and I’m scared to death.
There is a moment of silence and I expect him to curse or say something, but he doesn’t. Instead, his lips brush mine, his tongue tastes mine and I melt into him. Slowly, he breaks the kiss, but doesn’t lift his head or step away from me.
“You needn’t worry, darlin’. Just stay with me, yeah?”
I don’t know what it is, but I want to stay wherever he says he wants me. I want to do whatever he wants me to and it feels weird. I have never felt this way about a man before, but with Colt, I am putty in his hands and the asshole knows it, too.
“You know that I will,” I breathe against his lips.
He hums, wrapping his hands around my waist, and with little fanfare, he picks me up and sets me down on top of the horse—sidesaddle. I let out a squeal as soon as my ass lands against the hard leather.
Seconds later Colt climbs on behind me. I open my mouth and make a move to straddle the animal, but Colt doesn’t allow me. His arm wraps tightly around my middle and he clicks his teeth before we start to ride. He doesn’t even slow down as we pass all of his men, including Logan, not until we’re past all of the soldiers and camps, only then does he stop.
“How long will it take us to get to the city?” I ask.
He hums, but doesn’t answer me immediately. “About a week,” he eventually admits.
“Having a car would be nice right about now,” I grumble.
He chuckles, his arm flexing around me. “I have to admit, your contraptions do make things sound a lot easier.”
“Yes, but no,” I mutter.
“No?”
Shaking my head, my eyes scan the bright and vibrant spaces ahead of me. I think about how the air is almost hazy at home and here it almost glitters it’s so crystal clear. I think about how everything is just magical here.
Though, running water and electricity isn’t very magical. I really need to figure out a way to make that happen, especially if I’m going to be staying here for the rest of my days. Because they’re a necessity, at least for me they are. I miss them, so fucking much.
“You are,” Colt grunts.
“I am, what?” I ask.
He chuckles. “I heard you and you’ll be staying the rest of your days. You’re my wife, darlin’. The baby inside of you is mine. You’ve been bound to the land. You’re not going anywhere, not without me.”
My heart skips a beat just at the way he is so insistent that I’m his wife and I’m not going anywhere, it’s sexy. If I could turn around and take him right now, I would. A chill runs throughout my entire body and I close my eyes, inhaling a deep breath and letting it out on a sigh before I attempt to open my eyes again.
“We have a few hours before we can stop for the night, darlin’,” he murmurs against the side of my ear.
Pressing my lips together, I try not to lose myself in the sensations that threaten to take me over. I’m not sure what his gods are getting at, but I’m already pregnant, there should be no reason that my blood boils as often as it still seems to do when it comes to him.
“I’ll see if I can abstain until then,” I hum.
He laughs softly, and together we continue to ride. “Your guard is directly behind us, then there are the soldiers, and somewhere in there is Logan. He won’t bother you and I’ll take care of him soon.”
“So, you believe me?” I ask.
He grunts. “Of course I do. You have no reason to lie, plus, after Florence, I watched him closely. He’s changed. I’m not sure when it happened, but that doesn’t matter, all that does is that there’s a change. I’m not so naïve that I can’t see when a man has changed. A man that I once knew as well as I knew my own self.”
My heart hurts the way that he speaks of his friend. I can’t imagine how it would feel to have one of my sisters change that way, to become an enemy behind my back. It would devastate me completely.
It all makes me wonder if something has taken him over the way it did Florence, or if he’s truly changed. I don’t know if we will ever know either.
COLT
Logan has been a brother to me for so long that it is hard to comprehend the fact that he is no longer the same man that I have loved for decades. He isn’t though. Birdie was telling the truth, I knew it before she even said a single word. Even if I wanted to pretend that I couldn’t see it in his eyes, I could feel it.
Keeping her close to me, I wonder what will befall us when we arrive in the city, what Logan thinks he’s going to accomplish, and if I’m going to have to end him with my own hands. I likely will, it wouldn’t be right to have anyone else do it.
The men follow far enough behind us to give us our privacy, but close enough to still act as true guards. The fact is that we don’t truly know what Logan or the rebels have planned, and I’m not going to allow anything to happen to Birdie, the prophecy, or the baby growing inside of her.
She inhales a deep breath and lets it out on a heavy sigh. Smiling to myself, I clear my throat.
“You’re alright, my wife?”
She hums, but doesn’t answer me immediately. “I’m worried,” she murmurs.
“About?”
“Everything.”
It’s my turn to hum, but I don’t say anything else, not right away. Instead, I look out on the desert landscape and wonder why I’ve chosen to live out here isolated from the world and why I have not immerse
d myself in my position to keep a better pulse on it all. A lot of this could have probably been avoided had I been in the middle of it and could ensure what my own people were up to.
“There is nothing to worry about,” I inform her.
Though, I’m not sure if even I believe my own words or not. The simple fact is that I do not know what the future holds and I can’t say that there is nothing to worry about, but then an image of Adelaide will pop into my head, of our Temperance, and I’ll remember that life can change in an instant.
“I will protect you and unlike many women, Birdie. You, can protect yourself.”
Saying the words aloud, it causes me to believe them that much more. Unlike many helpless women, Birdie is anything but that. She has powers and while her teleportation powers may be stunted, the others are not and she can hold her own in battle.
We don’t say anything else as we ride in the sweltering sun. We stop several times to water not only ourselves, but the horses as well. Birdie’s guard closes in on us as we approach a large town, the first stop on the trip.
“Tonight will be our last night in a bed at a hotel before we arrive at my city home,” I inform as we approach the cityscape in the distance.
“City home?” Birdie asks.
I don’t answer, sure that she knows that while I may not own castles all over Devilrise, I do indeed have homes throughout the country, given and appointed to me by the Assembly for work purposes.
“You have a home in the city?” she whispers. “How many homes do you have?”
“We,” I chuckle. “How many homes do we have?”
She shakes her head, but doesn’t look back at me. “They aren’t mine, Colt.”
“You’re my wife. I don’t know how it is in your world, but here, we are two that have become one which means what is mine is also yours.”
“Even if you share your bed and body with another?” she snaps.
“Birdie,” I warn.
She’s quiet for a moment, then clears her throat. “I’m just asking. You know you made it all too clear that it could be a thing.”
Bride of the Frontier (The Prophecy of Sisters Book 3) Page 28