Nicolette gripped my shoulders, halting me. “What sack?”
“The one…” I tried to explain the very important sack Mydera had given me. But that seemed like too many words to bother with. So I just sniffed in frustration, wondering what had happened with—
“Oh!” My hand fisted reflexively, making the items in the sack jangle, reminding me I’d been holding the woolen bag the entire time I’d been looking for it. Grinning, I held it up. “Say, here it is!”
Nicolette gave a rather desperate-sounding moan. “What the hell did she give you? A silly potion?”
“Are we quite certain she gave me anything?” I asked as Nicolette placed the palms of her hands against my backside and propelled me forward when I started to mount, only for me to pause halfway up, confused why we were in such a hurry. “I feel fine.” Stumbling into the saddle as she nudged me again, I straightened and slurred, “Say, where’re we going, anyway?”
“Away from here, dammit. And stop starting so many sentences with say. You’re Farrow. You never begin sentences with say. It’s making my worries mount.”
Well.
She was certainly in a snit.
“As you wish, my lady,” I told her. Whatever floated her boat. Then, I couldn’t help but whisper, “Say, you’re quite moody just now.”
When she growled, I snorted out a laugh. Ha! What fun this was. Everyone should be as happy as I felt.
Happy was nice.
“Are you sure it’s not warm today?” I added a moment later. “I feel especially warm.”
As I fumbled to undo the next few buttons on my tunic, Nicolette ran around to the other side of Mint and manually slotted my foot into that stirrup.
“It can’t be a mortal elixir,” she mumbled to herself. “If she wanted us dead, we’d both be dead. So all we have to do is get as far away from these people as we can, then wait for whatever this is to wear off, and we’ll be fine. That’s all. Everything will be—Farrow! Put your tunic back on! What are you doing?”
“I’m hot,” I whined, whipping the restricting clothing off and over my head, relieved to have it gone, away from my skin.
Nicolette’s hand immediately pressed to my forearm. “But you don’t have a fever at all, darling.”
God, her fingers felt good against my heated flesh. “Call me darling again,” I begged as I slid off the horse to get closer to her.
“What’re you doing? Farrow! Don’t get off the—” she started, only to gasp in surprise when I hugged her and leaned against her touch, burying my nose against her neck. Her scent swirled up my nostrils, and I wanted more of it.
“You smell so good,” I said. “You always smell so good. Like honey and flowers. I wish I could swim in your scent and let it flow through my fingers.”
I stroked her hair, running that through my fingers. Her mane felt silkier than anything to ever caress my palm before. My hands sank deeper, needing more.
“Farrow,” Nicolette yelled, her voice lifted and desperate as if this wasn’t the first time she’d said it. Then she clapped sharply in front of my face. “Focus.”
I blinked, and suddenly I did focus. Everything aligned into brilliant, wonderful detail. She came into detail. Standing in front of me, she looked amazing and real.
“Thank you,” I said. “I think I needed that.”
She drew out a relieved breath. “Good. Now get back on your horse before your head goes haywire again. We’re getting the hell out of here.”
I nodded, thinking that was a wise idea indeed. “As you wish, my lady.”
Nicolette took my sack and discarded tunic and shoved them into my saddle bags while I swung myself up onto Mint. But the moment I peered down at her, I realized how ungentlemanly it had been for me to mount my horse before she had hers.
“s**t, I should help you onto your—”
“No!” She dove forward, clutching my thigh to keep me seated. When I followed her order and remained where I was, she blew out a relieved breath and asked, “Do you feel secure up there?”
I sent her a loopy grin. “Quite.”
That was good enough for her. She raced to Caramel and scrambled into her own saddle before taking the reins of both our horses and trotting us out of the clearing and away from the mages of Dimway Forest.
And I just sat there, watching her, rather stupidly, grinning as I admired her managing way. She’d taken care of us both most suitably. Pride swelled in my chest. Of course she had. My woman was accomplished in all things.
Yes, she was my woman, wasn’t she? For once, I didn’t shirk from that mental admission.
That innermost place inside me rumbled mine when I looked at her, and I was completely okay with that.
My lashes swooped as dizziness assailed me. I watched her drowsily as she swept us along, forcing the horses to gallop as she tried to protect me from what she perceived was our main threat. It was adorable, really. Sweet. Completely noble. And all wrong, because I was her main threat.
But I shrugged loosely; none of that seemed to matter at the moment. We belonged to each other. That’s all I could focus on.
And she looked damn fine with her backside hopping up and down in that saddle. I could think of something else she could ride like that.
With a groan, I shifted as my c**k swelled and bollocks tightened.
Envisioning myself climbing onto Caramel behind her, I entertained the mental picture of pressing up close to her backside in the saddle and gathering the back of her skirts until nothing but her smooth rounded bare ass was on display. Then, I’d bend her forward over the horse’s neck until her gleaming, wet entrance came into view, and I’d thrust into her tight heat, f*****g her with a savage thirst.
When I made another aching sound deep in my throat, Nicolette cast me a worried glance.
“Farrow?”
Gritting my teeth hard, I closed my eyes and bowed my head. “Ah, fuck.”
I’d just figured out what kind of potion Mydera had fed me.