Page 62 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom
I choked on a snort. Vareck paused, his shoulders going rigid. He looked back, scanning me from head to toe. I waved him off and after a suspended moment, he turned back to walking. “I can say with absolute certainty that Vareck doesn’t have that problem.”
Sadie grinned. “You’ve been dreaming of him for years. I’d damn well hope he knows where it’s at after all this time.” We both stifled our laughter, holding it in as much as possible, which just made it all the worse. My side cramped up and I grasped it.
“Fuck, you’ve given me a cramp.”
“I’ve given you a cramp?” Sadie demanded, clutching her own stomach. “Way to place the blame.”
“Least I’m blaming you for being funny.”
“This is true. I am hilarious.”
We both gave it a second to catch our breath, and I intentionally put a few more paces between our party. “So, have you and Damon hate-fucked yet, or?—”
Smack.
“Okay, okay,” I said, rubbing at the spot on my bicep she’d just backhanded playfully. “Still working toward the deed, then.”
“I wouldn’t touch that playboy with a ten-foot pole.”
“Okay, Grinch.” I rolled my eyes, glancing at the mark she left on my sunburned arm. It wouldn’t sting as much if I hadn’t been halfway cooked from our trek through Eversus the other day.
“I’m serious. After Klaid’s fuckery, I learned my lesson. No more players for me.”
“What did you say about making a mistake?”
“Oh, I made a mistake,” she agreed wholeheartedly. “Dating. That’s the mistake. Friends with benefits is the way to go.”
“Oh yeah,” I said sarcastically, waving my hand at the scenery. “That’s worked out so much better for you.”
Sadie frowned at me. “Amelia played us, but at least I wasn’t trying to have a relationship with her. Could you imagine how much more this would suck if that was the case?”
“True ...” Once again, my thoughts turned to Vareck. I wanted to say yes. To give in to this mate bond and whatever craziness came with it. But Sadie was right. I was scared. Mistakes like my friendship with Amelia made it hard to trust that anything but family would last forever.
“Do you remember what Mom and Dad said when we were growing up, about mating?”
I scrunched my face, immediately recalling the awkwardness of the sex talk when I was young. “I’m assuming you aren’t talking about when they sat us down and fumbled through ‘the talk’, so you’re going to have to be more specific.”
Sadie laughed, shaking her head. “Oh gods, definitely not. Not that. Just the process of choosing a mate. They met at a gathering. Mom was there to compete against the other redcap females in the Fae Games. They weren’t from the same town, but they decided to make a go of it anyway after the games. Dad followed her when she left Odenhal to move on to the next leg of the competition and six months later they mated.”
“Right,” I nodded. “Mom and Dad were lucky, though. They’ve said that time and again.”
“You know what they also said?” she prompted, glancing between me and Vareck. “When you know, you know.”
I swallowed hard on my now dry throat. “What if you’re not sure?”
“Then take your time and make sure that’s not the fear talking,” Sadie said quietly. She hesitated before adding, “Otherwise a good thing might slip through your fingers.”
Chapter 17
Vareck
The humidity and tension thickened the longer we walked.
While I knew I needed to talk with my mate, my frustration with her hadn’t abated. I walked away for a good reason. The words I’d said in anger were bad enough, and I wasn’t willing to risk making it worse. Sometimes saying you’re sorry isn’t good enough to repair the damage your words have caused, and I wouldn’t make that mistake. Despite my good intentions, the silence between us made each second excruciating.
Night stretched on.
And on.
