“I’m hanging in there.”
My fingers intertwine with his on top of his chest and I sighdeeply, enjoying the feel of his hand in mine, his body next to me.
“Ye dinna ha’ to stay strong all the time, ye know? Especially with me. You’ve been through a lot, Key, it’s ok to—feel. Let me bear some of the burden.”
“That’s the problem. I feel too much, so it’s easier to just not right now. At least until we start getting more of these problems solved.”
Lachlan’s throat bobs as he swallows down whatever words were bubbling up.
“I’ll be okay, I promise,” I whisper, laying my head on his shoulder.
“I know ye will be.”
He places another kiss on my forehead before he groans and heaves himself up. I shift out of his way, but I miss the feel of him next to me almost immediately. He leans over the bed and begins unlacing his boots.
“Do ye want to bathe first?”
I flop onto my back and nod, my head bobbing against the bed.
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll run the bath for ye,” he replies and pads out of the room, leaving me alone with the thoughts he drug up.
I will be okay, I know that.
But how much will this change me before it’s all said and done? And will I still be me when it’s over?
My mind flits from my parents and Gran, to Elowen, to Tane’s injury. So many lives lost or disrupted already and war hasn’t even officially begun. How many more will we lose before this is all over? Will I make it? Will Lachlan?
My fingers grip the medallion clasped around my neck. That last thought has me wanting to curl up in the fetal position and hide under the quilts. I can’t lose him. He’s the only part of mypast that I have left here, and nearly everything that I want for my future.
Lachlan pokes his head back in the door and his usually charismatic smile is in place, setting his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“She wasna lying. The water is just now not frigid. Will ye be ok with a lukewarm bath?”
“I’ll take anything at this point. I smell like smoke and sweat,” I grumble, pulling off a boot before struggling to pry off the other.
Lachlan drops down to one knee before me and takes my boot in his hand. The sight of him on his knees before me has me sitting up straighter. He looks up at me beneath lowered lashes. The green in his eyes hinting at more of a dark forest than a magical one. His eyes narrow onto my lips.
Instinctively, I shift forward and my legs spread, craving the touch of his lips on mine. Sensing my need, he rips my boot off before raising rapidly to capture my lips with his.
The touch of him has me moaning for more.
He swallows down my enthusiasm and deepens our kiss.
Maybe a distraction is exactly what I need from all these gloomy thoughts. My hands hold his face as he grabs my hips, pulling me roughly to him.
A cabinet in the kitchen slams shut, breaking through our frenzied kissing. We flinch apart as the world around us comes crashing in.
Lachlan’s gaze lightens, a smirk gracing his face. My shoulders rise and fall quickly as I work to catch my breath.
“Sorry, but this is probably not the most ideal place for that,” I whisper, grinning at the sizable bulge I see straining against his leathers.
Alight knocking on the door rouses us from sleep. I’m sprawled across Lachlan’s chest. My head rises and falls with his steady breathing. The motion and sound are undoubtedly the reason behind my unusually deep sleep. I try to move off of him, but can’t. I’m held firmly in place by the two massive arms that hold me to his chest. I crack an eye open to see the stubble of his beard and the sharp contours of his jaw.
Boudicca’s voice carries through the wooden door. “You might want to get a move on if you’d like to make it there and secure the stone before nightfall. There are creatures in that forest you don’t want to cross when the moon rises.”
Her words have me shivering. Lachlan’s calloused palm caresses my back and I look up to see his brilliant green eyes in the early morning light.
