Page 104 of A Simple Truth

“Honestly at this point, I’ll shoot anyone if I can’t get these shit stains out of my boots,” Cori said as she shoved her brightly colored messy bun out of her face.

“I just hope Oleyg enjoys the smell of dragonfly shit in my hair, because I am pretty sure I’ll never be able to wash it out.”

The Ten continued rambling on and on, while I carefully marked the placement of each creature, each soldier standing patrol, their weapons, and the signal torch they used to communicate with the other islands in the dark as my plan slowly shaped within me.

One more day, I told myself. My heart thrashed as I soaked in the last few hours with the women that had become my friends.

63

GIDEON

The stars were gradually fading into the warm golden sunrise as I snuck past the tents to find Finnleah. She’d been distant since I got my team a win, and I for one was sick of Zora’s stupid lockdown. I could no longer bear to stay away.

The morning dew from the green grass softly landed on my boots as I excitedly made my way across the camp, towards the Ten’s tent, or the ‘angry dragon lair’, as Broderick nicknamed it last night after Pelagia, the sunniest person I’d ever met, flipped him off after their encounter at dinner as we loudly commented about their ‘embarrassing’ defeat.

In reality, it was far from embarrassing.

In fact, after two games with the Ten, I had realized that I most definitely had been underestimating them as they demolished us every time, coming so close to the finish line until I yanked their win right from underneath their noses.

I crept inside the tent, without making a single sound. Finnleah was cuddled up with her blankets, mumbling in her sleep. My mouth stretched in a wide smile as I heard her murmurGideonin a half whisper.My ears perked up, listening for her soft breathing, resembling a heated moan.

Well, good morning to me...My eyes lit up with mischievous amusement as I grabbed her boots and pants, kneeling on one knee by her bed as I gently pulled the blankets off her shoulder.

“Wha—” She startled awake, her eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed with anger-laced confusion. I covered her mouth with my hand, silencing her, motioning with my eyes to the sleeping Ten and then to the door. She scowled but nodded as we snuck out of the tent.

“Are you kidnapping me?” she hissed outside, keeping her voice down. She ripped her pants out of my hands, and I couldn’t resist glaring at her bare, muscled legs as she quickly slid them on.

“Maybe,” I replied. “But that’s of no importance. You had a dream about me...” I concluded.

“No, I didn’t,” she argued, tying up her pants and tucking in her thin, loose nightshirt. I passed the boots to her. She attempted to balance as she forced her foot down the narrow of the boot. I rolled my eyes, extending my elbow for her to hold on to, and she grudgingly grabbed it, sending lightning down my skin at her touch.

“Oh, but you did. You even said my name. I was there, I heard it,” I probed her further.

“Well, if I did, it must have been a nightmare,” she replied, bending over to lace up her boots. In that moment, I didn’t fail to notice that one very particular piece of clothing was definitely missing, now that her loose shirt was hanging down low, exposing her bare chest as she bent over to tie her boots, my eyes wandering to places they shouldn’t wander. My heart thudded loudly and for a second, I forgot to breathe.

It was a good fucking morning indeed.

“Except it wasn’t a nightmare…” I interrogated her, almost gaping as I saw the light blush filling her cheeks, confirming my suspicions as she stood up. “Are these the kind of dreams you arecatching,Dreamcatcher?” I smirked as my teeth scraped across my bottom lip.

“Even if it wasn’t a nightmare” —she rested her arms on her hips— “which it was…but even if it wasn’t, the only dreams I have about you, General, are of me stabbing you dead, so don’t get too excited.” She dramatically narrowed her eyes on me.

“If that’s how you say my name when you are stabbing me, then by all means, Finnleah, please don’t hold yourself back.” I spread my arms wide, exposing my stomach and chest to her as if waiting for her to stab me.

The air caught in my lungs as my gaze wandered down to her chest, her nipples taunt through her thin nightshirt, thanks to the light touch of the chill morning breeze. She followed my eyes, noticing.

“Eyes up here, General,” she sneered, giving me a well-deserved whack in the stomach.

“Remind me to kidnap you more often,” I uttered, completely infatuated with her as she glared at me. I couldn’t even hide it anymore.

“If you dragged me outside at the crack of dawn on the day of the game for no good reason other than your desperate need to chit chat, then I swear to the gods, General, you are indeed about to get stabbed again.”

“I enjoy your threats, Daughter of the Dead, they hold a certain level of heat that I am looking forward to exploring more of,” I buzzed at her.

“What do you want, Bellator?” she asked, her raspy morning voice turning me molten.

I was fucking obsessed.

My mind went blank at her question, forgetting whatever my excuse was to see her, besides being unable to spend another day not being close to her.

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