Page 79 of Blood and Fate

“Absolutely.” Satori moved to stand and swayed dramatically.

Teague and Kais reached out at the same time, each catching an arm. Her eyes grew wide for a moment.

“Blood loss,” she breathed.

For the third time that day Kais didn’t think, he simply acted. He slid an arm under hers and in one fluid motion swept her legs out from beneath her.

She let out a surprised sound. “I can walk.”

He turned his head to the side, and her face was there—right there. Her eyes were so beautiful, her lips inches from his. “And you’re a beautiful liar.”

Her eyes dropped to his lips for a second, and desire washed through him. Hers. His breath stuttered for a moment as his heart missed a beat. Her eyes returned to his, and he did nothing to mask the twin emotion churning inside himself. There was no hiding from her, even as she couldn’t hide her feelings from him. They were open to each other. It was the most intimate thing he had ever experienced.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

SATORI

She felt like a child. The problem was that she was significantly larger than a child, and yet Kais seemed to have no issues carrying her. She allowed herself to relax into him, feeling safe, and didn’t miss the slight tightening of his fingers where they held her. Safe. She felt safe in his arms. If someone had told her, even a week prior, that she would be feeling the things she was toward Kais, she would have laughed at them. Yet, here she was, nestling into his hold and drinking him in. A warmth radiated from him that had nothing to do with temperature, and she was sure it was because he knew what she was feeling at that moment.

She was feeling other, less complicated things, as well. She was desperate for a wash. Some of the blood on her clothes had begun to dry while in other places it was still soaked. She was also beginning to feel nauseous from the coppery tang that permeated the air around them.

She had been attacked by a boar! Now, in Kais’ arms, having nothing else to focus on, her mind wandered back to the moment the boar had torn into her. There had been no pain at first, and then all at once it had felt like her insides were being pulled out.

If she hadn’t been awake to tell Kais about the blood, she would be dead by now. Dead. Then what? Would her father pass his crown onto Henrik? Her nausea increased at the thought of her country in the hands of that man.

Kais’ attention shot to her, his brows drawing together. “What is it?”

Her first instinct was to assure him it was nothing. But instead, she decided to talk to him. “I was only thinking what might have happened to Dunleigh if I had died.”

“Don’t think about that,” Kais said. “There’s no point in dwelling on what might have been when you are alive and well and perfectly capable of running your country when the time comes.”

“Thanks to you.”

“I wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t told me.”

An edge of panic seemed to flit through him. No doubt he was also imagining what might have happened, even though he told her not to.

She reached up and touched his cheek, waiting a moment as the sensation of their contact passed through her. “It is a good thing we found each other.”

His eyes ran over her face for a moment before he moved his head to the side and pressed his lips to hers. It was the same jolt as when they touched but magnified by 100. She had to leave this man, leave him behind and go home to who knew what. How could she do that? She broke off the kiss and met his eyes, and when she smiled at him, he returned the expression.

“When we get back, there’s a stream they use for washing. I’ll show you where it is so you can get cleaned up,” Kais said.

“Thank you. I’ve never been this disgusting in my life.” She sighed. “I’m making myself sick.”

They had grown close enough to the village that she could hear voices and the sounds of daily life. “Put me down, please?”

Kais smiled. “I’m not struggling, Your Highness.”

“I know, but look at us. People are going to ask what happened. If I’m walking on my own two feet, we can tell them this is boar blood. But if you’re carrying me, they’ll want to know why.” She met his eyes. “It’s not exactly a common occurrence.”

“Maybe it is in my country,” Kais countered. “You don’t know.”

Satori rolled her eyes at his joke as Kais set her gently on her feet, keeping an arm around her waist for support. Soon they started seeing people. Or rather, people started seeing them. Eyes grew wide with shock and horror. At least one person slammed a hand down over their mouth and turned away.

Teague drew up closer to them. “You are going to be telling this story for a month.”

“Longer,” Kais shot back with a huff.

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