Page 60 of Swamp Kings 2

The first flames appeared, illuminating his grin followed by his gaze finding her. His brows rose as he added wood to the fire. “I've not the slightest clue.”

She made her way to a log and pushed it as close to the coming heat source as she could and sat, reaching for the tinyflames. It hit her that it wasn’t the cold keeping her awake, it was her need to keep talking to him. She hadn’t done that in forever and it was nice. He was nice. And so very handsome she decided to admit, wanting it out in the open instead of sneaking around in her head.

“So, you men aren’t priests,” she said, recalling the marriage bed bit.

“We are priests,” he corrected.

“You… you are? But you said—”

“Our priests marry if they choose to.”

She considered that. “Nobody has a wife here,” she pointed out.

“Are you sure?” he challenged, adding more wood to the fire, requiring her to scoot her log back a couple feet.

“I guess I’m not.” She eyed him as he sat, the fire dancing in his blue gaze. “Well, are they married? Any of them?”

“Not the men currently here, no. And those who do marry that are here, usually leave and start a family.” He looked at her. “The men here are soldiers.This is a soldier’s camp you’re in.”

Right. She wondered then. “When will you do something about the girls? And what do you plan to do?”

“Whatweplan to do.”

“You and your men?”

“And my nurse.”

“Me?” she cried, alarmed. “What can I bloody do?”

“You can find out what the girls want.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do they want to stay there, do they want to leave and if they want to leave, you’ll tell them they’ll be provided for if they do.”

She narrowed her gaze at the fire, confused. “How? Where? Out here?”

“I’m starting our own community,” he said.

That news wow’d her real good. “Here? In the woods?”

“Yes. We’ve already begun building shelters.”

“Really,” she said, excited at this idea, looking around.

“They’re up the mountain a ways. Secluded. Protected.”

She studied his handsome face, amazed. “This is fantastic,” she realized. “I’d surely talk to them, I’d talk to all of them. Wait,” she paused, remembering. “They won’t even permit this, the lot of them.”

“I wasn’t planning to ask for their permission.”

What on earth was he thinking? “And how will that work?”

He pulled his knife out again and whittled on something, his smile a little too perfect for a wild man in the woods. “Was thinking I could use your mouth.”

An episode of chemicals erupted at those words and that… bossy, teasing tone. She should be angry, he was sexually teasing her again. “You know, none of the men beyond that wall ever did that to me.”

His blue gaze danced on her. “Did what?”

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