Page 24 of Mated to the Alien Warlord

"Gods, I missed you, czira," he rasped when we broke our kiss.

"I missed you too," I confessed, pressing my hands against the rough stubble growing on his cheeks.

My eyes took in his dirty, travel-weary form, the dark rings under his eyes from lack of sleep and chasing Fionbyr through Thyre. I searched his clothes for stains of blood, but there were none.

"Fionbyr?" I inquired.

Vandor shook his head. "The wily bastard sent us on a wild chase through the mountains and escaped. He is currently hiding out at Grobhan's stronghold, which even our army can't take."

I drew my eyebrows together. "So what now? A siege?"

He shook his head. "Fionbyr has requested a peace talk with Gryck, which will take place in a few days. In the meantime, we will camp out at Steppenfort and meet up with the wagon train while we regain our strength."

He pressed me even harder against him. "I was out of my mind with worry when you weren't here."

I reached up my hand and stroked the worry lines etched into his features to relax them. "Fionbyr demolished the main bridge, forcing us to travel days downriver until we found one we could cross."

"Being without you was torture," he confessed.

"That's what you get for sending me away." I tried to laugh but failed.

He kissed me again before he lifted me on top of his horse and swung himself behind me. "I can't wait for you to show me your home."

I would have much rather it had beenhimshowingmemy new home, but I wasn't about to complain since we were finally together again.

"You won't leave me again?" I asked, leaning against his strong body.

"I can't make any promises. It depends on the outcome of Gryck' and Fionbyr's talk," he answered, but I heard the regret in his words. And somehow realizing that he had missed me as much as I missed him made me feel a lot better.

"Besides, you wouldn't like the camp life without the comfort of the wagon train." He laughed. "Hell, I don't even like it."

"I wouldn't have minded it if it had meant being with you." I said, turning in the saddle so I could see him.

He kissed my forehead. "A warrior camp is no place for a lady."

Neither did I have a place at the wagon train, I thought, but didn't say it out loud. I didn't want to complain to him about his attempt at keeping me safe and how miserable I had been without him, when he obviously hadn't had the time of his life either.

The gates to Steppenfort stood invitingly open, and Vandor surehandedly directed our horse to the city's center, where my father's palace was located.

"You found her," a familiar voice greeted us. "Welcome home, Lady Damaris."

"Myrca," I greeted Vandor's second-in-command who had already made himself at home in Steppenfort, having been sent here a while ago to protect my father's city from Fionbyr's revenge.

"Come on in," I pulled Vandor's hand, while calling, "Carol, Pira!" my personal servants whom I had left behind when I left Steppenfort with my father to meet my new husband, what now seemed ages ago.

"Lady Damaris," Pira greeted me first. "It is so good to see you again."

Her embrace felt good; the three of us had always been more like sisters rather than a princess and her servants, much to my father's chagrin. But what had he expected to happen when he made it clear that Adrian and I were to work like everyone else to earn our keep, even though we were his children?

"We missed you," Carol added when she came running from the kitchens, drying her hands.

"This is my husband, Warlord Vandor. Vandor, meet my attendants, Carol and Pira."

"Nice to meet you," Vandor slightly bowed his head at my servants, making them giggle.

"Are my rooms ready?"

"We have kept them clean and ready for your return ever since you left, Lady Damaris," came the expected answer.

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