His Secret Wife

I’ve Found You

Thea slipped away before dawn, easing away from his steady embrace. She retrieved her pack from the empty stall, slinging it over her shoulder. She told herself that she wasn’t running from the man. Reminding herself that it was simply sensible. Boring. She wrinkled her nose as she walked, putting determined strides between them. She wasn’t going to let Liam’s venom dictate her voice, her actions the night before had been anything but boring, but they’d been reckless.

She crossed out into the courtyard and through ornamental gardens. The party had gone on so late, that she doubted anyone else would be awake. Another thing to be grateful for. Back in her room, part of the Griffin Rider barracks, she stripped off her costume, discarding it to the laundry bin with a flourish. As if it had offended her somehow. There were bits of straw sticking out of the corset but she couldn’t face trying to pick them out. She’d lost her mask somewhere in the straw, but there was no way she was going back to weather that storm and risk meeting the stranger in daylight.

Instead, Thea did all the things she usually would. She washed, and dressed again. This time in dark brown riding breeches and a pale blue tunic, better suited to the summer weather. It had short sleeves that ended at the elbow, leaving her forearms exposed. She braided her hair into a single plait down the center of her back, and avoided looking at herself in the mirror. Knowing that she wouldn’t recognise the woman looking back. She buckled her sword belt around her waist, and spent her time diligently going over the bag of supplies she’d meant to check the evening before. Finally, sick of her own company and the quiet of her room, she wandered back out into the grounds of the Palace.

Freya often laughed at her, because Thea had always found it easier to spend time with animals than people. But Thea liked the simplicity of animals and the peace that they gave her. She walked through the forest, away from the Palace towards the endless stretch of meadows where many of the Palace horses turned out to graze. She climbed up on the bottom rung of the wooden fence, looping her arms over the top. Content to simply watch the horses as they moved around, picking at the grass as the sun slowly rose behind them.

‘So I’ve found you.’

Every muscle in her body tensed. She gripped the wooden plank beneath her hands and turned her head. Blood drained from her face to the pit of her stomach. The man from the night before. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it stuck. She tried to think of something, anything to say, but her mind was blank.

She slid back down to the ground with a bump, back to the fence as she looked him over. She’d known that he was gorgeous, but the man before her was almost overwhelming in his attractiveness. What she hadn’t seen in the dark, were his piercing ice blue eyes. Blonde stubble lined his chin. His hair was messy, a handspan long it was tousled. She wondered if there was still straw in it. He was taller than she remembered as he advanced, his footsteps cautious. As though he approached a wild horse.

‘Thea, isn’t it?’ He frowned and she found that she could nod.

‘Yes,’ she could answer that at least.

‘You’re…’ he looked her over again, gaze lingering upon her face before moving over her body. Slowly, taking her in. She wanted to squirm beneath that gaze, but held still, hands trembling as she held them, stiff at her sides. She wasn’t going to fidget. Was he angry? He seemed angry. Her heart thumped again, uneasy.

‘You’re a Knight?’ He suggested, and she realised his struggle to place her clothes.

‘A Griffin rider,’ she corrected as her cheeks burnt. Heat lifting along her throat as the memory of the night before, replayed in her mind. She lifted a hand, running it along the back of her neck. Following one of the paths that he had kissed. But was there any part of her body that he hadn’t kissed the night before? She was flushing crimson, embarrassed.

‘A Griffin rider?’ He blinked, rocking back on his heels. He shifted his weight, mirroring her stance.

‘Not what you expected?’

‘No,’ he answered before his frown deepened, ‘I mean…’

She let him find his thoughts, hating it when people interrupted her.

‘I’ve never met a Griffin-rider before,’ he admitted with a light shrug.

Thea couldn’t help but smile at his honesty, the expressing pulling at the dimples in her cheeks.

‘You’re from Milany?’ She suggested before taking a slow breathe, ‘I’m sorry…I don’t…I don’t know your name.’

‘Ro-ger,’ he answered and threaded his fingers through his hair as he stared at her. ‘They call me Roger,’ he added quickly. He looked back, glancing through the trees, as though he expected someone to burst through and apprehend him at any moment.

Thea nodded, it was getting easier and easier to stand in his company. But what had happened between them was done. She looked along the line of the fence, hoping for inspiration. A way to escape the awkward conversation.

‘Griffin riders…Knights in Veren are nobles?’ He asked, voice quiet and she glanced at him, puzzled by his enquiry. She nodded in answer, searching his expression. What was he trying to find out? Before she sighed. He’d obviously had the talk from her Grandfather.

‘I don’t expect you to marry me,’ Thea sighed and folded her arms across her chest. ‘If that’s why you tracked me down, if you’re worried about all the-’ she waved her hand, dismissively. ‘I’m not going to tell anyone what-’ she couldn’t even say it outloud to herself. She shrugged. Expressions that she couldn’t name flickered across his face, and he moved closer still. There hadn’t been a lot of space between them, and now he was in touching distance. Her heart skipped another beat. She really had to get out of here, fast.

‘What…what if I wanted to see you again?’ his voice dropped, low and husky.

Her gaze landed on his boots, her tunic felt tight against her neck. She tugged at the cloth, trying to pull it away from her throat.

‘We can’t do that…’ her reply was soft, mindful that despite the early morning, someone else might choose to come down to watch the horses. It wasn’t likely, but it wasn’t impossible.

‘Why can’t we do that?’ He reached out. His fingers landed on her forearm and she pulled in a breath. The skin lifted in tiny bumps beneath his touch, betraying any hope that he might think her indifferent.

‘Because…’ she was scrambling for ideas. For any excuse. ‘Because it’s not how things work in Veren. We can’t just see each other.’

‘I wasn’t your first lover…’ his voice was a scorched whisper across her skin and she closed her eyes. Swaying towards the heat of the man. He hadn’t fastened his shirt. The bare skin of his chest still peaking through along with fine curls of blonde hair. He smells of straw. I shouldn’t find that so attractive, but I do.

‘No…’ there’s no point in denying it. They’d enjoyed hours of wild, passionate s*x and Thea knew that she’d clearly been no blushing bride. But she was blushing now. Wishing she could take back the night.

‘So…’ he dipped his head towards her, lips brushing against her cheekbone. She felt dizzy as she inhaled the scent of him, curling her hands around his black shirt once more. He was like a shadow against the morning sun. She couldn’t believe that he had found her. How had he found her?

‘Thea…do you want to see me again?’

‘I-’ She closed her eyes. It should have been so easy, but it wasn’t. If she saw him again, then what? He was the most attractive person she’d ever laid eyes upon. She had met him twice, but he made her head spin. At heart, Thea knew that she was a hopeless romantic. She’d read about true love, heard about it in songs and stories. True love was all consuming. It struck hard and fast and had the capacity for the highest highs and lowest lows. Seeing the man who had called himself Roger again, would mean offering up her heart to him. They both knew that. She couldn’t risk it. She was still broken, reeling from Liam’s betrayal. But even the broken pieces of her heart, hurt less around the Knight from Milany. Because surely that was what he was, a Milanic Knight?

‘Thea?’ He pressed and his hands slid over there shoulders, down her arms to take hold of her hands. ‘Just answer with the truth,’ he spoke with the confidence of a King. As if he knew what she was thinking. Daring her to try and tell a lie.

‘I want to see you again,’ She wasn’t a liar, and wasn’t willing to start being one.

Ronin grinned, grateful that he’d given his Griffin Rider a false name, because he had no doubt that truly, she didn’t know who he was. She’d shocked him with her insistence that he didn’t have to marry her. Was it wrong that part of him was slightly disappointed by his continued freedom? No, he told himself. Because the woman before him was someone extraordinary. He could feel it through every fibre of his body. He couldn’t help but grin. Smiling ear to ear as he bent to kiss her.

He’d stolen her breath again and she was lightheaded. Dizzy as she returned his kiss. Clinging to him as his hands smoothed down her back, holding her close. Pulling her against his body. She felt the heat of his erection and blushed, pulling back. Panic was far too quick to return as she withdraw. Worried. What if he wanted more than a kiss? Would he think that she was boring if she refused him? Would he change his mind about seeing her again?

‘What’s the matter?’ He peered down at her, brow lifting as he studied the alarm in her expression. The panic hidden behind her warm brown eyes.

‘We’re…just out in the open,’ she murmured and the words caught in her throat, ‘we can’t um,..’

Ronin blinked before laughing. He bent, kissing the tip of her nose gently.

‘I know…’ he agreed and stepped back, cheeks red as he put a sensible amount of distance between them. He let out a slow breath and innocently held his hands behind his back. ‘Can I see you tonight?’ He asked, voice soft.

Relieved by his respect of Verenian tradition and rules, Thea let out a slow sigh of her own, nodding before she swore.

‘What?’ He moved to approach but she held up her hand, and he hesitated, keeping the safe distance.

‘I have to attend an event tonight…’

‘Oh…’ he huffed a breath.

‘I can see you after?’ She suggested ‘if your Prince won’t notice you slipping away?’

Ronin grinned suddenly, ‘he won’t notice at all…’

‘Then I’ll meet you here?’ She looked around, glancing at the meadow that would be lit by a full moon.

‘Midnight?’ He suggested and Thea nodded. She wanted nothing more than to close the distance and kiss him again. But spotted a trio of figures walking through the meadow, Riders come to collect horses for the day. She glanced back at Roger, ready to excuse herself, but he was already gone. She smiled, wrapping her arms around her chest. As though she could hold onto the sensation of happiness as it coursed through her body. Gripping it hard. Was this true love? Maybe it was madness, but it was wonderful. Liam had hurt her, and he had taken away her dreams for their future together. But Roger had returned them. He had given her hope once more. Could she trust him with her heart? Did she have any choice when he seemed determined to steal it from her?