Page 10 of Tusks & Saddles
“To stupid fucking pigs,” Boone chuckled, splashing the meat with seasoning in a salt shaker. Willamina clinked her bottle with his before they both tossed them back.
Chapter Six
Boone
“Shit,” Boone hissed under his breath as the inky, endless sky wrapped around them. The sound of 300 cows breathing, the rustling of Roger in his bedroll, and three horses getting comfortable for a night, were the only thing he could hear other than his own thoughts racing.Could have sworn…“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Will asked, freezing with her bedroll in her hand.
“My bedroll is missing,” Boone grumbled. “Looks like I’m sleeping in the sand.”
“What?” Will stomped up beside him and did the exact same thing he did, which was rifle through his pack. “Damn.”
“It’s fine, I got my pillow and I’ll sleep on the blanket.” He truly had slept on worse things. Concrete floor in a damp, abandoned fortress for one. At least the air was dry here, and the sand was dense enough that he’d only sink a little.
“No… you can’t. Scorpions or worse will slink up into your clothes,” Willamina sighed, ripping him out of his own head.
“He ain’t gonna fit in mine,” Roger snorted from the other side of the campfire.
“You sayin’ he’ll fit in mine?”
“Will, it’s fine—”
“You ain’t packing hooves and three hundred pounds of lean, mean, cattle meat in yours, Will.” Roger cackled as he shifted around in his bedroll.
“Shut the fuck up, Roger,” Willa spat, before she leveled her glare on Boone. The Paladin held up his throw blanket and pillow. Before he could even tell her he’d be fine, and could set up enchantments, she snapped a finger out in his direction. “You too…take off your boots, I don’t want sand in my bedroll.”
He held up his hands in defeat. No real point in fighting with her. Bedrolls were made with enchanted fabric and furs to keep the sleeper safe from snakes, scorpions, or whatever other creepy crawlies might try and scurry in at night. Plus, it made things significantly comfier. Granted, they weren’t made for two people, they were made for anyone of any size to be able to use them. It would be…snug.
Right, just lay in a bedroll with the woman you’re smitten with, everything will be fine.He grumbled to himself as he toed off his boots and let her set out the bedroll. After she untied it, she motioned for him to step in first. Boone sank into the fuzzy death trap and lay on his right side to give her the most room possible.
When he felt her body brush his, he finally settled his bones. It wasn’t exactly comfy as he was a back sleeper.I’ve dealt with worse. Remember your training.
“Boone,” Will hissed softly.
“Yeah?” He twisted to glance over his shoulder.
“Will you get comfortable or something? You’re tenser than a brick wall,” she huffed, shuffling closer to the other seam of the roll. They were closed in, which meant there wasn’t much room to give.
“I’ll be fine, ignore me,” he grumbled.
“I can’t. Will you just get comfortable?”
“I am comfortable.”
“Don’t you fuckin’ lie to me.”
Roger groaned from the other side of the campfire and Boone swallowed his own tongue.Fine, you want me comfy?He dropped onto his back, propping his pillow and neck up with his right arm. His left, however, stabbed itself under the lumpy thing she used as a pillow. Will jerked. He felt her whole body twitch. However, as the seconds ticked by and he didn’t move, her body softened. He felt her lean her back against his side and sink into the curve of his body.
“See…” she whispered before letting out a long, breathy yawn. “Was that so hard?”
“Go to sleep, Will.” He scowled to himself, to the glinting stars above, and to the three moons that mocked him over their heads. Despite their looming presence, the sands were still inky and black more than ten feet from the campfire. It was slowly creeping down into the dirt, soon it would hiss as it died out.
“I will as long as you keep your word.”
“What word?” He flopped his head toward her.
“That you sleep like a log,” she snickered softly, the little puffs of her breath brushing the sensitive side of his arm. It took all the willpower in his body not to immediately curl it around her. To pull her into his chest like a personal body pillow that burned warmer than any fire.
