Page 43 of The Lost Guard's Healer

A steady rain picks up that night and a howling, fierce wind keeps the village inside. I want to find Galene, to spend more time with her, to see into those eyes and hear her voice, but I know I shouldn’t. I will be leaving and that will be the end of it.

The previous night spent with Galene plays through my mind. Despite my words to her denying remembering it, I can still feel her against me, and taste her lips. My hands remember the feeling of her.

Snap out of it, Rourk, I finally tell myself. I’m getting ahead of myself and building a fantasy in my head.

My time with the Shanti People is over. I will give my goodbyes to the villagers in the morning and be on my way.

A face flashes through my mind. Striking blue eyes and a wicked smile.

It was always meant to end.

But the idea of that ending sours my stomach now. Of turning away from this village, these people…

Galene.

Chapter eighteen

Galene

Leila and I hang laundry on the line and pretend we haven’t noticed that everything around us is changing.

Or maybe it has been changing since the very day Rourk was brought into the medic tent. Since the moment it was declared that his livelihood was my Task.

Maybe I’ve just been avoiding that truth since the very heartbeat when I first set eyes on him.

I’m busy tossing a blanket up and pinning it down, wrestling against the damp fabric as it billows in the wind—so busy that I don’t notice someone has joined us until they clear their throat.

I jolt away from the noise—or, in other words, right into the billowing blanket. The person laughs, a deep, throaty sort of chuckle. Then an arm wraps around my waist and pulls me backward while untangling me from the fabric.

I recognize the feel of his skin against mine. Or perhaps not the feel of it, but more the way my body reacts to having him so close to me.

Rourk.

“Let go of me,” I mutter when I’m free, but the words come out so weakly that even I don’t believe them. Can he tell that I say it out of habit rather than disgust now? That I’m just trying to protect myself?

Still, he does. His arm falls away, and he takes a step backward. “Sorry.”

I cut a look at Leila, who tries to pretend she’s not watching us as she hangs one of our father’s shirts up. “It’s fine,” I mutter, straightening my shirt out. “What do you need?”

“It’s more of a want, actually.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Okay,” I drawl. “What do you want?”

“To go on a walk,” Rourk says simply.

Now I’m confused. “Then go.”

His mouth quirks up into a devastatingly handsome smile. “I meant with you.”

I blink. “Oh.”

He nods. “Yeah. I’m leaving soon, you know, and… I think we should talk. Before I go.”

“Oh.” The syllable falls from my lips dumbly. I quickly look at Leila again. She’s given up pretending to hang the clothes and now just watches us blatantly. “I can’t. I have chores.”

“Just go,” she calls out. “I’ll cover for you.” She winks at me.

“I don’t think—”

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