“I’ll wait for the others.”
I didn’t bother to argue with him; it would be pointless. Instead, I turned away and walked back to the river.
CHAPTEREIGHTY-THREE
Ryker
When Ellery returnedwith more water, she gave some to the horses before joining me again. My blood streaked her face and chest, and a trickle ran down from her swollen bottom lip; I realized she’d bitten it.
More of it stained the bindings over her breasts and crisscrossed her belly. She must not be aware of it as she hadn’t cleaned herself in the river.
I hated seeing her skin marred in any way, but especially by blood. Seeing it on her reminded me that it could have beenherblood instead of mine, and as much as the arrows had hurt, I’d far prefer to have them embedded in me.
My neck was still wet from her tears as the lingering humidity made them stick around longer than they should. I hated their reminder against my skin, but I hated seeing her cry more.
I especially hated her crying overme. Everything between us was a mess.
Because she was paler than normal, the freckles on her nose stood out more, and her eyes appeared more vibrant when they met mine. The sadness in them caused my heart to clench. She couldn’t be unhappy because ofme.
There was so much I wanted to say to her, but nothing came out.
She knelt beside me, washed off my knife, undid the bandages, and cut away the remnants of my shirt. When she finished, she washed my wounds again and winced at the large, puckered hole in my chest before examining the three on my back.
“They’ll heal,” I assured her.
“I know.”
After she cleaned the injuries, she placed the rest of the bandages around two of the wounds. She cut off a leg from her pants and used it to cover the third.
She’d almost finished tying it in place when Tucker arrived at the encampment. He walked over to stand beside Ellery as she finished.
“Are you okay?” he asked me.
“I’m good.”
“Anyone else return yet?”
“No,” Ellery said. “Have you seen anyone?”
“No, I went into hiding right away, but I didn’t hear anyone getting caught.”
“Good.”
“Why don’t you go see what we managed to steal,” I told Tucker.
He nodded and turned away; he was almost to the carriage when one of the women who’d helped in the robbery arrived. He said something to her, and she went with him to unstrap the chests from the top of the carriage.
Ellery dumped the remaining water on the ground. “I’ll find something else to use for bandages in case you bleed through these.”
“Don’t bother. I can already feel the blood slowing. You should get cleaned up and get more water for the horses. I’ll be fine.”
She hesitated before grabbing the bucket and rising. I knew she wanted to argue with me, but one good thing about taking three arrows was she didn’t.
Ellery looked back as she walked toward the river. I would have risen to ensure she stayed safe, but she never left my sight as she knelt at the water’s edge and filled the pail before washing herself.
Though the bindings remained over her breasts, the enticing curve of her back and flat belly were exposed to everyone who returned. It shouldn’t bother me, but it did.
Gritting my teeth, I shifted to ease the discomfort in my back, chest, and shoulders as I leaned against the tree. I unsheathed my sword and kept my hand on the hilt as I set it by my side.
