Page 109 of Upon Buried Embers
“Yes.”
“Then you can go on ahead while I talk.”
“No. She’s with me.”
Asseya shakes her head. “Better go and tame the Dragonbond before he gets even more grumpy.” She rolls her eyes, and Rohan frowns.
“I’m not grumpy.”
“Mmhmm,” she hums, patting my shoulder before walking off.
I lower my head, trying to hide my smile.
“You should do that more,” Rohan murmurs as he walks beside me, our arms brushing.
I look up at him. “Do what?”
“Smile.”
He doesn’t look at me when he says it, but his fingers graze mine, hooking them in his for a moment before he picks up speed.
Those were the same fingers that picked the rose I left for him this morning, and I came out unscathed, again. Not a single scratch from a thorn.
I grin then, my cheeks hurting.
I can’t remember the last time I smiled so wide. Maybe when Effy gave me some sweet berry bread. It was the best thing I’d ever tasted, especially after not eating for five days.
We pass through the treeline, moving deeper into the forest in silence. It isn’t long until we come to a pool of water, a stream trickling down into it from a rock wall at its back.
Rohan wastes no time stepping out of his pants, his bare ass on display and I look away, that funny feeling in my stomach returning.
“You’re not going to let me bathe on my own, are you?” Rohan asks, and my eyes come back to his.
He’s turned to me now.
“Why are you bathing so much?” I ask, but I’m already removing my cloak.
Master would let me bathe once a week and the water was freezing.
I untuck the long tunic, Rohan’s, and remove my pants. His tunic comes to my knees, and I look around, worrying my lip.
“We bathe a lot because we move a lot, train a lot. It’s important to warm the muscles.” He tilts his head at me. “No one is here, Elf. I wouldn’t let them look at you the way I do.”
I want to know what he means but I don’t ask.
Rohan turns his back and I lift the tunic off my body in one swoop then step into the pool. Warmth hits me instantly, and I dunk myself under, letting it swallow me.
My body loosens, relaxing instantly. It’s like the pool in The Pit with it being so warm.
A hand suddenly grabs my hair and pulls me up and out of the water. I gasp, blinking as Rohan looms over me.
“I told you once already!” he growls.
“What?” I ask, my hands going to his bare chest to steady myself.
His grip tightens in my hair and I hiss. “Do you have a death wish?”
Maybe.
