Page 19 of To Hunt a Ruby Remedy

I moved closer to him, seeking the heat of his body, but my shirt was a cool distraction against my skin. I let go of Ranulf and fumbled for the hem of my shirt.

He pulled back. “What are you doing?”

“I want this shirt off.”

Ranulf caged my wrists in one of his large hands. “Not here. That damn hunter might still be lurking in the woods.”

“Affenala curse him.” My shoulders slumped, and I rested my cheek against his shoulder.

Ranulf released my hands and began combing his fingers through my hair. “I didn’t think Affenala indulged in curses.”

“Under the circumstances, I think the goddess would sympathize with my frustration.”

“I don’t think Gideon is watching us, but I’d rather err on the side of caution. If that branch snapping was him, I think he probably saw us and moved on.”

“That would make sense. He’d assume the lure of his silver was too much for me; he wouldn’t want to interrupt my fact-finding mission.” I groaned. “I’m going to have to explain that I didn’t learn anything. He will not take it well.”

“Why bother? Take his coin and tell him the same things the villagers do, that the dragon flies over the forest occasionally, but makes his nest in the mountains.”

“I’m fine lying to him, but I’d feel guilty taking his coin as I did so.”

“Why? The money will do more good in your hands than his.”

I laughed and hugged Ranulf a little tighter. “I’ll still have to tell him I haven’t learned anything yet. It might be suspicious if I convinced you to spill all your secrets after a single frolic in the river.”

Ranulf snorted. “I’m touched that you think I’d be that tough to crack, but you are selling yourself short, Scarlette. It didn’t even take a ‘frolic in the river’ for me to divulge my secrets. I have no defenses against you.”

His casual pronouncement stunned me enough that I barely noticed him untangling himself from my hair. He tilted my chin up for a quick kiss and stepped back. “Stay here and stay facing the far bank. I’ll make sure Gideon isn’t waiting nearby.”

The walk back to the cottage was not the most comfortable for several reasons. My sodden skirts made me trip multiple times. The feel of my bodice laced up over a wet shirt was surprisingly uncomfortable, and my heart and mind were in a deadly battle that would leave no survivors.

Ranulf had decided that shifting and returning to the meadow where he had left his clothes would be safer than risking crossing paths with Gideon while walking back to the cottage naked.

That left me alone with my thoughts, which couldn’t stop trying to find a hidden meaning in Ranulf’s words. My heart insisted that he had risked exposure to protect me and that his statement of not having any defenses against me was practically a declaration of love. My mind pointed out that Ranulf was a kind man—much as he wanted to hide that fact—and the way he had put my safety above his own didn’t have to mean anything more than the fact that he was a good person. Under the circumstances, his words didn’t have to mean anything beyond the fact that he was attracted to me.

If my heart was right, then I might get to enjoy a few days of bliss. Then I had to return home. Even the most devout disciple of Affenala would admit that expecting anything more was unrealistic. Suppose I delivered the charm to Mama and came back. I didn’t have a life here. How long would Ranulf’s feelings last when I was constantly underfoot, contributing nothing? We had known each other for less than a week. A sane person did not plan their entire future around a single week, especially not one that was an exception to the norm.

If my mind was right, then I might still have those few days of bliss, but it wouldn’t be quite the same. Purely physical relationships rarely appealed to me. I wanted more. I already knew my time with Ranulf was limited, though, so asking for more made no sense.

Eventually, I realized that it didn’t matter what Ranulf had meant, since I couldn’t decide what I wanted. The only conclusions I reached were that I wanted to bed him and that, given the slightest push, I’d fall for him.

The cottage was empty when I returned, so I hurried upstairs to change. Ranulf had told me his sister kept a few changes of clothing in a trunk in the attic and I was welcome to borrow them. Given that I only had spare undergarments with me, and my skirt and now wet bodice would soak through them within minutes, I decided to accept the offer.

Rosalia was a little shorter than me, and more slender, but not enough to make the clothes ridiculous. The skirt and petticoat didn’t quite reach my ankles, and the edges of the bodice didn’t meet when I laced it up, but the fit was good enough.

Dry and dressed, I went back downstairs and got started on the pie. The cottage had a wonderful little oven built into the brickwork of the fireplace, and by the time I had finished assembling the pie, it was hot enough. I stuck to the familiar cast-iron pot for a loaf of bread, but I had to admit, the oven was a wonderful convenience. Back home, I had to barter with the tavern keeper for the use of his ovens if I wanted to make something like a pie.

I slid the pie into the oven and went to clean up.

The garden door opened, and I smiled, expecting to see Ranulf. Instead, a woman with the same black hair, albeit threaded with a bit of silver, entered the cottage. She looked barely older than my mother, though I knew she had to be at least two decades older, with a straight spine and arms corded with muscle.

I remembered my first conversation with Ranulf, when I told him he was too muscular to pass as a grandmother and he had told me I clearly hadn’t met his. I clapped a hand over my mouth to hold back a giggle.

The woman cocked her head to the side and considered me. Despite her obvious strength, there was a hint of exhaustion in her hazel eyes. “You don’t look like a dragon-hunter.”

“That would be Gideon, not me. Please, sit down. I’ll make you some tea. There is also soup over the fire.” I had been waiting for Ranulf to return to eat.

She sat at the head of the table. “You are very comfortable in my kitchen.”

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