Page 12 of Running from the Orc
Delicious. As if I was a feast for him to sample.
Focus, Roxanna. That shouldnotbe an arousing thought.
“I stink of horse and sweat and firesmoke.”
“Aye,” he agreed merrily. “Ye do. So do I.”
I huffed to cover the urge to smile. “Then you need a bath as well.”
I admit that our argument was making me feel…well, not calm, but more at ease, at least. Being able to snap at him and know Varkaan was always going to reply with a grin…it was as if I had permission to be as grumpy as I wanted without fearing retaliation.
And aye, I was correct; he merely hummed thoughtfully.
“Then this afternoon we’ll stop early, and we’ll both have a bath.”
“In a lake?” I asked suspiciously.
His arm tightened around me momentarily. “A loch, aye. And ye can wash yer gown aforenightfall if ye’d like.”
I twisted in his lap to glare up at him. “And you will no doubt use the chance to spy on me as I am naked? To touch me and make me feel…”
I trailed off because I was uncertain how to finish that.
My tone was biting, accusing. I wanted to make him feel shame.
But staring up at him, at his sharp jaw and soft, thick hair and those fascinating pointed ears that made me want to touch—with my tongue…well, I rather forgot my point. Because suddenly the thought of him watching me bathe, touching me when I was naked…
I swallowed.
His expression, meanwhile, had changed to something uncharacteristically serious. Varkaan tucked his chin so he could stare into my eyes and lifted his free hand.
He cupped my cheek, his fingertips brushing away the hair at my temples, palm caressing my jaw, as he made a vow.
“I ken ye, Roxanna Tarbert. And I ken ye’ll come to trust me. I’ll no’ do a thing to hurt ye, or aught which ye dinnae want to do.”
I swayed in his lap, trying to remember why I did not want to go with him.
He is taking you from your family.
Nay, Sorcha and Effie were my family, and they were ahead of us, at the village. Behind us, my father would scorn me, even if I could return to him.
My eyes squeezed shut. Varkaan had taken the choices from me.
And for some reason, I didn’t hate that.
The realization actually filled me with a sort of relief. My shoulders slumped and I felt myself fall against him. His arm settled at my back, supporting me against his chest.
“Sleep, Roxanna,” he whispered. “I’ll keep ye safe.”
God help me, I believed him.
I didn’t have to be strong anymore.
Varkaan
I gave her the privacy she requested for her bath. There was a glen I knew where a stream trickled down a mountainside to burble over boulders and land in a pool. The water wasn’t so deep I’d have to worry about her drowning, but enough for her to bathe and washher gown as requested.
As for myself, I sat with my back to one of the largest boulders, facing the west and simultaneously straining my ears for her movementswhile alsodoing my best to ignore the thought of her breasts floating in the pool of water.
