Page 91 of Of Rime and Ruin
It won’t happen again.
“Hey, girl,” I coo, stroking my mount’s snow-speckled muzzle. “Up for an adventure?”
She grunts in greeting, tilting her head to look at me with her big eyes. I scratch beneath her chin before I grab onto the saddle. Slotting my foot into the hold, I swing over her back and land on the leather seat.
It’s not much, compared to the saddle that Keen and I use for riding Ramona, and this version has fewer straps. There’s no water to worry about with a land-bound mount. My legs squeeze her easily, keeping my position without threat of slipping away in the currents. Maintaining a connection spell in the bitter wind will dry out my throat again, as it did yesterday afternoon. Two straps hang from a band around her mouth, which I can use to steer her. Tactile directions, instead of mental guidance. Seems less efficient this way, but I’ll try it.
No more hypothermia, and no more fucking the enemy. Should be easy enough.
I’m more prepared for the wind this morning, thanks to the kindness of another female hunter with enough layers to share. I wear wool leggings beneath my leather travel pants, a thicker sweater, a hat, gloves, cloak, and a frostcat scarf. It’s a new day. A fresh start.
If I’m lucky, I won’t have to speak to Aethan all day, and we can leave the whole sex thing in the past where it belongs.
I was exhausted last night. A recovering hypothermic. He wooed me with his warm furs and careful words, and I let my guard slip. That’s all it was. It meant nothing.
Even if it was, fins-down, the best sex I’ve experienced in my life. But I’m never tellinghimthat. No way in hell.
I keep my gaze forward. Cyrene barks orders from the front of the line. Most of the hunters are mounted now. I grasp the reins, ready to move. I can do this.
“No freezing to death today. That’s an order, Sunfish.” Aethan’s voice sounds next to me, and my stomach flips.
He grasps the edge of the saddle, then swings into a seated position behind me.
“What are you doing?” I hiss.
As he takes the reins from my hands, his fingers brush the top of my glove. The hunters move out. With a squeeze of his legs, Aethan guides my snowbear forward, falling in line.
“I’m fine to ride alone,” I mutter. “Look, I’m wearing a fucking hat today.”
The tip of his nose grazes my ear. He leans forward, and his chest presses against my back so that his voice rumbles through us both. “And it looks good on you, but you’re not riding alone.”
“You don’t think I can handle it?”
“Oh, you can handle it, Nahla.” His lips ghost over my cheek. “But I can’t. I’m a selfish male.”
“What’s that have to do with anything?” I protest.
I grapple for the reins, and he wraps his forearm around me, pinning my arms. When I squirm, my ass slides deeper between his legs.
“Careful, Sunfish,” he growls. “Unless you’d rather I keep you warm from the inside out.”
He’s hard already.
Warmth spreads through my center, and wetness pools in my leggings. He’s here to tempt me into fucking him again.
I suck in a jagged breath. “Listen, about last night…”
His fingers curl around my hip, securing me against his lap. My heart batters its bony cage, threatening to punch free. His nose skitters along my ear and dips to trace the exposed line of my throat.
“What about last night?” he whispers.
My eyelids flutter. Words jumble in my mind, leaving me with bumblefish soup. “I wanted to say…”
His lips press into the hollow beneath my jaw. “Hmm?”
I shudder as his voice rumbles. My body zings, craving him. I arch my back, and my ass nuzzles closer.Closer.
“I had a good time,” I admit, finally. The words sting on their way out. One night in his furs has me acting like a lovesick guppy.
