Total pages in book: 193
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
“Actually, I only have one. Why are we in a cave? Don’t get me wrong. It’s a nice cave, except for the fact that it’s a cave. It doesn’t really seem like you.”
I tell Seth about Meera and her pups, Bane waking up hours later like a delayed fuse, the storm, and waking up here. I tell him about my encounter with Bane, which seems to disturb him even more, and then Bane’s warning not to go back to the cabin.
“Did he say why?” Seth asks once I’m done.
“Only that I wasn’t safe there.”
“Hmm.”
“Any idea why?”
“No.” Seth sighs as he slides his hands into his pockets. “None. I’ve kind of been preoccupied keeping the son of a bitch from getting out.” He eyes me then. “Are you sure he didn’t hurt you?”
“I’m sure. Bane is, um…not what I expected.”
“Oh yeah? How was he?”
“Well, for one, he kept saying I was his, and then he saved my life. More than once. I really don’t think he wants to hurt me.”
“Bane is dangerous, Aurelia. If he’s fixated on you, it’s just one more reason to be afraid.”
“Maybe, but… I don’t know.” Just then, my stomach growls, so Seth and I search the cave for my boots, which Bane hid behind some rocks, and then we leave the cave to hunt for food.
I show him the narrow passage I found, and we squeeze through.
“The storm’s breaking,” he says as we search for whatever stream Bane had gotten our water from. “We’ll head back first thing in the morning. I’m sure Thorin and Khalil are losing their minds.”
“I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
“Join the club,” Seth retorts.
“So what’s the plan? We don’t even know where we are.”
“Bane wouldn’t have been able to carry you far after being in the river, so my guess is we’re on Maia. We’ll just have to keep heading south. Eventually, we should run into something familiar.”
The stream isn’t far away from the cave, and the moment I see the clear water, Seth and I drink our fill and then we tear off our clothes to bathe away the day. We even find some mint leaves growing by the edge of the stream and trout upstream hiding out near some log jams.
When we return to the cave, Seth pulls me close while we lie on the hard slab, and once again I have trouble falling asleep, but for a different reason.
“Sleep, Sunshine. You’ll need your strength tomorrow.”
“Promise me you’ll still be here when I wake up.”
“I promise. I’m not going anywhere until you’re safe.”
But if Bane is right about the cabin, who knows when that will be? I’m asleep before I can let the impending doom torture me further.
SETH
I lie awake while Sunshine sleeps soundly in my arms where she belongs. Brushing off the alarming fact that Bane thinks the cabin isn’t safe wasn’t easy. Without any real answers to offer, I didn’t want to worry Aurelia, but now I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know if it’s Bane’s lingering influence, but I almost want to follow his lead and keep her here just to be sure.
I’m so lost to my thoughts that I don’t even notice Sunshine stirring until I hear her sleepy grumble. “Seth, you’re crushing me.”
“Fuck. Sorry.” I loosen my hold around her waist, and her head immediately pops up. I’m thankful for the lack of light because I feel her trying to study me in the dark. There’s a fire, but it’s small, so the warm, golden light mostly mingles with the shadows rather than casting them out completely.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful you are.”
“Flatterer. Now what were you really thinking about?”
“Bane’s warning.”
“Oh… And what have you come up with?”
I blow out a breath that’s part frustration and part amusement as I drop my head down on the slab. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Seems to me like you need a distraction.”
“What kind of distraction?” I ask absently.
“A thorough one.”
My head pops up again when Aurelia crawls down my body. I want to be gallant and tell her she needs to save her strength, but she makes quick work of unbuttoning my pants, and the moment she licks her palm and reaches a small hand inside to pull my dick free, I know I won’t. My breathing quickens as she strokes it to full hardness, and then I watch her kiss the flared tip and feel my dick jerk eagerly in her palm.
“Fuck,” I swear roughly. “You want to suck my dick, baby girl?” Aurelia nods, and then with her eyes on me, she opens her mouth, and I slip right in. My head falls back and I groan, but just as quickly, I’m lifting my head again to watch her try to take all of me. Her cheeks puff out as I slip farther into her mouth until I’m touching her throat. “Such a good girl, tasting that dick.”