Page 52 of Bound and Tide

Xander thought a moment. “Any tips?”

“Don’t go.”

Xander returned to the three and plastered on a false grin when asked if anything was wrong, but that smile turned genuine when Maia covertly flicked a potato at Costa, and he caught it out of the air by enchanting the broth of his stew. Evangeline chided that they shouldn’t play with their food and then smirked. “At least wait until the barmaid isn’t watching.”

Xander sat back and listened to the three, remembering when last he’d been seated in a tavern with a party. This time he didn’t have the urge to roll his eyes, and he wished he could step back into himself and change how he’d handled things in Eirengaard. But then, if that had gone differently, he might not have been here now, and even if he were going to die tomorrow, he was grateful he was indeed here now.

“You’ve been much more agreeable lately,” Red said when the two were alone in their rented bedchamber of The Drowsy Dolphin for the night.

“Of course I have.” He fell back onto the bed with arms spread out—especially eager so as to not think of what tomorrow held. “Now, reward me.”

“You shouldn’t do good things just to be rewarded,” she scolded even as she climbed up to straddle his hips.

“But, darling dearest, I’m to become a martyr for the gods on the morrow!”

“You said you don’t know any of the details about this so-called prophecy you’re following.”

“Well, no, but one can imagine.” He scrunched his nose. “Though one wishes not to. One wishes, instead, to pretend to have been thrust into the role of selfless savior, be treated like the foolish hero one is, and have one’s cock milked.”

She rolled her eyes and looked dubiously over her shoulder to the wall that Maia and Costa’s chamber shared. “I’m a little concerned about the insulation in this place.”

Oh, those brats are not going to ruin what is potentially my last night alive. “I’ll go tell them to sleep out in the stable with the griffin.”

“I’m sure there’s a better solution than that.”

He caressed her hips, wondering if he could cast some sort of silencing shadow on the chamber until he thought a bit more deeply about using up what little arcana was available to him. There were but a few drops of blood left in his vial, but death would probably be worth a last night with Red. Then again, she had her own magic too. “Did you perhaps pack a potion of gagging?”

She chuckled darkly and pulled her dress off over her head. “No room, not with everything else.”

“Surely you’ve got a bundle of something dried and pointy in your bag to stuff in my mouth.”

“I never thought you one eager to be muzzled,” she said. “But I wouldn’t waste precious herbs on that. Maybe if we’ve got a spare linen…”

“You left your shop.” The realization sparked brightly into his mind even as he stared up at her clad in only a thin chemise, arousal put temporarily on hold.

Her hands began unlacing his tunic, a shoulder shrugging, but he could feel that she was forcing on the nonchalance.

“You never leave your shop, you said so yourself. You only take off very early mornings and very late nights.”

“Some things are more important than the shop.” She ran nails down his bared chest, the feeling ridiculously pleasant as it awakened his tired skin with pink markings.

“Like making sure I don’t accidentally kill off the urchins.” Xander smirked, digging into her hips as he leaned upward.

Her teasing halted, and she brushed her fingertips over that place again, the one where she’d marked him. “I promised you I wouldn’t leave you alone.”

She did, but…she’d meant that? For how long, he wanted to ask, and what if he lost his arcana? Grew weak? Feeble? Old? What if his wit dimmed, or his good looks faded, or his charm—well, no, surely that would always stick around, but what if…what if he disappointed her?

None of those things formed into words, though, because he didn’t want the answers just then just like he didn’t want to know exactly what the prophecy held. It was much easier to believe, well…to believe something good might happen for once. “You actually do like me?” was what ended up coming out instead.

“Yes, of course!” She shoved at his chest so he lay flat on the bed. “Now, I’ve thought of a way to keep you quiet, so be still.” Red crawled upward, sliding knees on either side of his shoulders and bracing her hands on the wall.

Xander reached around and palmed her ass as she sank herself down toward his eager tongue. He could not have formed any questions even if he wanted to then, but with her warm wetness presented perfectly for worship, he didn’t really need to ask where her affection lay when it was so clearly on his face.

Chapter 23

A STUDY ON INSTINCT

Crystal Basin spread out before them, but there was no telling how far it expanded, the mist dense well ahead of Ironwood Hollow’s shore. The Kvesari Wood hemmed in on either side of the lake, thick and dark. Behind them, Thistlemire’s plateau rose up a steep embankment where old steps had been carved into the earth and abandoned. In the spot they stood, there was only an old pier and a single sad boat bobbing on a ratty tether, hidden from the fishers and bustle of the town.

---