Page 46 of The Stolen Princess
“What’s that?” Drake asked, pointing out to the middle of the lake.
“That’s Lambeau Stadium,” she said.
Myka wondered if he had heard about Lambeau Stadium before, a giant arena built for sports in the pre-Desolation area known as Green Bay. Everyone in Tolsten knew about it. It was part of Tolsten’s pre-Desolation history. The stadium had been covered by water when the Great Lakes had tripled in size two hundred years ago. All that was left was one circular edge that stuck out of the water thirty feet into the air.
She made a mental note of that landmark. If she could somehow find a way to escape, she would head back in that same direction.
A few hours later, they stopped for a bathroom break, giving Myka another chance to be creative with the gauze, but the gauze wouldn’t last forever. She hoped they would arrive somewhere civilized soon. When she was all done, she stretched her back, trying to alleviate the stiffness in her muscles.
“Put this on,” Drake said, standing in front of her with a black cloth.
“What is it?”
“Your blindfold.”
Blindfold? She’d gone a day without wearing one.
He shifted his weight, letting out a frustrated breath. “Put it on.”
“Why now?”
“Because I said so.” He pulled on her shoulder, turning her around. His fingers brushed aside her hair, and Myka’s breath hitched, sending chills down her arms.
Did her body have to react every time he touched her?It was annoying.
All of a sudden, the cloth was over her eyes, making everything dark. “In a few hours, we’ll be at our camp,” Drake said.
“I’m not stupid. I know what direction we’ve been traveling in this whole time. I’m sure I could already tell the Tolsten army where to go.”
“They still wouldn’t be able to find our camp.”
The fabric at her eyes pulled tight as Drake tied it behind her head. All Myka could see was a little slice of light peeking in by her nose. She’d have to tilt her head way back to even have a chance at seeing anything, and even then, she wouldn’t have an angle.
“Let’s go,” he said.
His arms went behind her back and knees, and Myka let out a yelp as she was unexpectedly lifted off the ground.
“Put me down!” she demanded as she wiggled against the cradle his arms had made. She was like a giant baby. She turned her head to where she assumed his face was, and her nose awkwardly brushed up against his cheek and neck like she was some sort of lovesick girl sniffing his skin. She could only imagine the look of horror on his face from being nuzzled by her.
Drake mumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like a curse word, but Myka couldn’t be sure. She was too busy jerking her head back. Flames of embarrassment erupted up her skin. Her hip bumped into the side of the horse, and somehow Drake’s Herculean strength hoisted her up onto the saddle. Myka wasn’t going to be impressed, though. She was going to compliment herself on being so light thatevenDrake Vestry could lift her. He wasn’t attractively strong.
His hands held tight at her hips, steadying her, and she tried to ignore the way his warm touch made her feel like, at any moment, her skin would melt off her body from the heat of his fingers.
Stupid hormones.
She quickly swung her leg around the horse, trying to scoot back into the saddle as soon as possible so his grabby, warm hands would release her, but her leg ended up kicking him in the shoulder or face...somewhereon his body that she couldn’t see.
Drake swore under his breath again, and this time she’d clearly heard it.
“Do you have to make everythingsodifficult?” he asked as he let go of her.
Myka straightened in the seat. “Me? You could have put the blindfold on when I was alreadyonthe horse. That would have been a lot easier, but I think you enjoy manhandling me.”
The rope at her waist tugged, and the horse moved under her as Drake lifted his body into the seat behind her. “I don’tenjoymanhandling you.”
“Grabby hands. That’s what I’m calling you from here on out. Mr. Grabby Hands.”
“Personally, I’d save that name for Dawsick,” Drake grumbled as reached around her to pull on the reins, making the horse jolt forward.
