I pause outside the boundary and stare back at my field of multi-colored Agastache and the quaint dwelling I called a home.
My past.
Rami tugs on my arm lightly, and I turn to see the beautiful man before me. His blonde hair is mussed and knotted, blue eyes red, cheeks tear-stained, and lips swollen.
My future.
The walk through the woods is quiet between us. I keep him tucked into my side as his adrenaline wanes until all that’s left is a shivering husk. He still has the wherewithal to lead us to a brick home backed against the trees.
My eyes widen, looking around at the majesty of these large homes. They’re so much sturdier in appearance than the log homes I remember. And larger.
I open my mouth to comment on his home until I see Rami’s sunken eyes and white pallor. Now is not the time.
Instead, I lift him into my arms and hold him tightly to my chest. He huffs lightly, as if he’s going to protest, but then buries his face into my neck. Ludo rushes down from my shoulder and nuzzles his soft snout against Rami’s jawline. All the tension in his body is released with his breath, and he nearly melts against me.
“You are safe, my sweet Rami,” I reassure him.
His only answer is a grateful hum, blowing his warm breath against my neck.
Walking up to the back entrance that Rami pointed out earlier, I lift my hand and rap my knuckles against it. A wide-eyed elderly woman opens the door and gasps loudly.
“Rami? What’s happened to him?” Her words rush out quickly, and it takes me a moment to collect what she said.
“He is safe and uninjured,” I say in an attempt to assuage her worry. “He is weakening after a stressful evening. My name is Adriel, would you be okay if I entered your dwelling?”
She blinks her owlish eyes and rakes them from my head to toe. “Adriel?” she says quietly. “His cursed witch in the woods?”
“Yes, madame.” Rami shivers in my arms. “I don’t mean to press, but I would really like to attend to Rami if that is acceptable.” My patience is running thin, but this isn’t my home. And I’m not naïve enough to not recognize how imposing I can appear.
She nods quickly and moves out of the way in invitation. I dip my chin and enter through the doorway sideways so as not to crash Rami against it.
“A warm bath would do better, but I believe he needs you more. Unfortunately, our tubs were not intended for men of your stature.” She looks me over again. In this proximity, our height difference is amplified, with her only coming to my lower chest. “So I’d recommend a shower.”
I bob my head, following the woman through their home. She leads me down a narrow hall to a room she calls a bathroom. I don’t enter right away, unsure how any of these contraptions work. She must sense my stress and puts me out of my misery by turning the water on and giving me a brief explanation on how to adjust the temperature.
“I’ll make some food, though I doubt he’ll eat much. The water heater is getting old, so it only stays warm for about thirty minutes. If it starts cooling without you adjusting it, I’d recommend finishing quickly before you end up with an icy shower.”
I nod as if I understand everything she’s saying. She disappears and closes the door after pointing out towels for drying and soap for washing.
“I have to put you down so I can divest our clothes.”
Rami nods against my neck, and I move quickly, heeding Grandma Julia’s warning. He steps into the shower first. When I step in behind him, he buries his face in my chest as he wraps his arms around my middle. My hands run all over his soft skin. I can easily see myself becoming obsessed with this.
If circumstances were different, this would be incredibly intimate. Here, in this tight space with him, the weight of my situation hits me like a boulder.
I’m free.
I’m no longer trapped. And now I’m capable of real contact. Flesh against flesh.
Okay, so I’m already obsessed with this.
Not wanting to push our luck with the hot water, I turn it off and dry Rami before myself. He shows me how to wrap the towel around my waist which is clever. Not sure how Grandma Julia will respond to me walking through her home exposed.
I follow Rami further down the hall to another room with a large bed in the center—his sleeping chamber. He digs around until he makes a pile of clothes on the bed.
“I’m not certain I have anything that’ll actually fit you,” he says, nibbling on his bottom lip. “These sweats are a little big on me.”
He tosses me the thin trousers and I slip them over my legs. His cheeks pink beautifully as he stares at me. I raise a brow curiously.Did I put them on wrong?
