His hand wraps around my wrist like a cuff, and I go limp beneath his touch.
"I'm not saying you're not brave, love," he intones softly. "You're not just the bravest omega I've ever known, but the most beautiful, selfless soul…"
He plants a gentle kiss on my pulse at my wrist. "You are so selfless sometimes that it's dangerous."
"Well, hello, pot. I'm kettle."
He chuckles, and his thumb glides back and forth over my wrist in the tenderest sort of way imaginable. "You might be right. But my entire life's purpose is to protect and defend you."
My eyes plead my case as I say, "I understand wanting to protect me, and I'll honor the promise I made to you the other day. But I can't just stay in here forever bouncing on your cock…"
Said cock lengthens and taps against the underside of my ass.
"You could."
Pulling my hand out of his grip, I lightly smack his chest before I softly say, "But what about my life's purpose? I need to help. As much as I love taking your cock—that can't be the only thing I do."
"Fuck." He groans. "Don't keep talking about cock when you want to have a serious conversation."
I sigh and scan the tent as if the words I need to convince him are hidden somewhere in here and I just need to spot them. Butthe meticulously hung uniforms, the beds for the other men, and the trunks full of weapons don't hold any answers.
"I want to do what's best for us, but we also have to do what's best for the kingdom. People need to have faith in their ruler. They need to know Ted cares. And he'd be out here if he could…"
It's Ridge's turn to let out a lengthy breath, and I can see his expression morph into something thoughtful as he mulls over my request instead of just dismissing it.
His gaze is distant as he slowly says, "You mentioned Caran had gotten some medicine that helped…"
I nod. "Yeah. I don't know where. But it was probably smuggled in or something. Nóthos makes it. I never had the courage to ask."
I grind my teeth because it feels almost like a betrayal to admit that Caran might have skirted the law, but I can't lie to my mates.
Ridge's fingers tap the sides of my thighs as he thinks. And then those fingers pause. "What if we could get him some more?"
My intake of breath is sharp as a stab wound and nearly as painful, filled with razor-edged hope that slices deep.
"How?" I barely get the word out.
The morning sun brightens the air around us, as though the sun has finally escaped the tree line in order to fully engulf our camp. Ridge's body is bathed in golden light as his teeth drag across his bottom lip.
Finally, he says, "We've gotten in reports of a huge facility near the border. A lab of some sort. Believed to be abandoned.”
I slide back up his torso and grip his shoulders tight, urgency a sensation I feel throughout my entire body, flickering like a strobe light from the top of my skull to the tips of my toes. "Yes. Fuck. You think we could do that?"
His head wavers side to side. "Maybe. I'll have to do some research?—"
I swoop down to kiss him frantically, peppering his face, his neck, his chest. "Yes. Please. Yes."
My tongue traces a hot stripe down his pec and over his nipple. And then I brace myself on my hands and glide my entire body lower, eyes locked on his. The second he realizes what's happening, his pupils dilate.
"I didn't say it's a sure thing, Brylee."
"I know," I whisper as I bring my hand to encircle the base of his cock.
"They might not even have the medicine he needs."
"They will," I reply, because I have to believe it.
I need to believe it more than I've ever needed to believe anything in my entire life.
