Page 79 of Wilds of Wonder
I ran a finger around its edge. “Neither El nor Aron knew what this pocket watch represents nor what it’s counting down to. El said it’s likely just a broken watch and nothing more.”
Emory looked at it, biting her lip. “I can’t help but feel like it’s significant somehow.” She let go of it. “How much longer are we traveling with them before we break off to find your sister?”
I looked to the distant horizon. Hills surrounded us, all different colors, and I wondered what might await over each of them. What dangers lay out there.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “My instinct is to trust them. But at the same time...”
“I understand. We’ll do whatever you want.” She gazed longingly at the painting. “I hate leaving this here, but it can’t come with us. It would be nice to restore it. To have something from the star court when we return home.”
I held out my hand and helped her to a stand as El, Aron, and Driscoll emerged from the little house where they’d been. “Maybe one day we can come back. Explore this land and all its hidden treasures. A true expedition.”
“Together?” she asked.
I pressed my forehead to hers. “Together.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
EMORY
Nothing about this land made sense, yet my mind couldn’t help but constantly try to explain the impossible. To make it possible.
El and Aron knew the exact spots to avoid walking, places where mud would suck you in or vines would reach out and suffocate you, where skeletal birds would dive from the flowers where they perched and pluck out your eyes. They knew the shadows to stick to and the best areas to drink water that wouldn’t show you some future you didn’t want to see.
We’d stopped to camp for the night, Aron and Driscoll off hunting for dinner once again, while El and Maverick were speaking, Maverick likely telling El we were parting ways with them come tomorrow. A crystalline lake sat in the distance, surrounded by the hilly Wilds.
I didn’t know how to feel about separating from them. So far they’d kept us safe, but that didn’t mean we could trust them.
In the distance, six knotted trees spread out in a circle, trunks thick and twisted, long branches threaded like braids, vivid red leaves sprouting out. They were so vivid, gorgeous. With nothing else to do, Iwalked toward the massive trees, the foliage so thick you couldn’t see into the clearing they surrounded.
The trees looked harmless enough, though I approached cautiously and lay my hand on one of the trunks. The red leaves rustled, but otherwise the tree didn’t move. I rounded the large trunk and walked inside of the sheltered clearing.
Two arms wrapped around me, and I stiffened.
Lips brushed against my ear. “This is an excellent idea, little rabbit.”
I smiled as Maverick nuzzled my neck, heat stirring between my legs. “What idea is that?”
“To come somewhere private and dark and away from prying eyes.”
I turned in his arms as he walked me back into a tree. “And why would we need to be away from prying eyes?”
“So I can do this.” He pressed a kiss to my collarbone, and I shuddered. His hands slipped inside the waistband of my trousers. He stroked a finger down my center that made me gasp. “And this.”
“Mm,” I said in agreement.
“I’ve missed you,” he growled, trailing kisses over my neck while his hands worked slow, steady motions over my clit.
“We’ve been together all day,” I panted out.
“Not like this.”
His lips found mine, and we kissed with a kind of insatiable hunger I’d never felt before. I fumbled with the laces of his trousers, undoing them and wrapping a hand around his hard length. He groaned as I pumped my hand up and down, loving this effect I had on him.
He braced one hand against the tree behind my head while his fingers continued to work my clit. An aching throb pulsed in my core, and bloody frost, I wanted more.
I arched my back, lifting a leg to wrap around his waist, and he circled my clit with his finger while I dipped my hand lower, giving his balls a light squeeze. A low rumble escaped his mouth.
He swiped his tongue over mine, deepening our kiss.
