Page 51 of What Lies Within Blood & Heirs

Just stay. You can figure it all out later. Just … stay.

The breeze disturbed a rod of straw across the floor. Only, she was wrapped in the blanket, and he pressed flush against her, hand resting on her hip and arm as her pillow. So, she didn’t feel its potential bite.

And Garrik’s breathing… Slow and even.

He seemed to be sleeping. She hoped he was.

Her heart began racing. Every breath he took, every scrape of his chest against her back, was one breath closer to him waking. Panic needled through her veins as she gripped the blanket.Stay. Just stay.

Garrik’s arm twitched.

And it was all it took to send her slipping from the blanket, carefully lowering his hand, which remained utterly limp where she settled him.

Alora scooped up the first piece of clothing within reach and dressed before sneaking between the bales, through the rickety barn doors, and out into the sunlight.

Aloraslowly unbuttoned Garrik’s tunic. Happy that she’d grabbed it and not her leathers.

She was failing miserably at not picturing his body and how it had felt pressed against her last night. And now she greedily took in the scent of metal and leather with each button popped.

Last night had been a dream, but …

Thiscouldn’t be anything more.

Cautiously, she scanned her surroundings and noted mounds of lush bushes budding with springtime flowers near a peaceful river. On the far side of the water, a long line of weeping willows swayed in the breeze as she glimpsed the peaks of Fourtress far above, snow-capped and just as deadly as the night before.

The last button popped, and she discarded Garrik’s tunic. Warring off the incoming intrusion of imagining herself pulling it from his body instead, she quickly waded into the frigid water.

Not twenty minutes later, clothed with Garrik’s tunic hanging loosely past her thighs, Alora headed back toward the barn. As she drew closer to its door, a shadow stirred inside the decrepit threshold, and she stopped within the tree line.

Her shoulder pressed into the bark of a nearby tree. Watching. Waiting.

Garrik stepped outside of the darkness, adorned in his armor. Propping his shoulder against the threshold as he crossed his arms and rested one ankle over the other.

Gaping, Alora struggled to catch her breath.

Her eyes trailed over his leathers. At how they perfectly outlined every carved muscle. How, with his arms crossed, his biceps bulged. They traveled down his abdomen, to the metal of his buckle, and didn’t dare fall below. Her cheeks flushed at the memory of his hips rolling against her. His cock hard and needing while his moans?—

Should you continue to undress me with your eyes, clever girl, I might catch a cold.

Oh—oh stars.Blinking rapidly, Alora straightened and pushed from the tree, rubbing the back of her neck. Of course, he knew she was there. He always knew.

Garrik’s gaze speared into her with every step. Maybe she would’ve been ashamed by her exploration had it not been for the very fact he was just as inclined to undress her with his eyes.

“So,” he drawled. “That is where my shirt went.” Raking his eyes hungrily over her, he decided, “It looks better on you.”

Alora was tempted to snap back with satire, but instead, she rolled her eyes and slumped against the barn door. “I know.” A tease.

Garrik released a breathy chuckle and pushed from the frame.

Her body instantly felt hot and tight. Watching his calculated steps until he twisted in front of her.

Garrik settled his palms on either side of her shoulders, his impeccable attention fixed on the pulse at her neck. Silver roamed over his tunic; his hand followed. Starting at her hip, he squeezed, thumb softly rubbing circles, and her legs almost lost their function. A low hum rose from his chest when that hand wrinkled the fabric, gliding up her side.

His voice dropped low. “Last night?—”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

Jaw tightening. “No, Alora, you must know I—” Garrik’s head snapped up, whipping his gaze over his shoulder as he straightened.

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