Toran let her back away from his embrace because he could sense her unease.The more he came to know her, the more he wondered if anyone in her life had ever shown her they valued her.From what he knew of her father’s court, he doubted it.
“I am only sorry I couldn’t get here sooner,” he said with a shrug.
“Your timing was impeccable,” she assured him as she peered over his shoulder.
He couldn’t help smirking.“Looking for the boats, mate?”
“Have you hidden them?”She asked as she set her hands on her hips.
He shook his head and crossed his arms.“There are no ships.Or coracles.”
“Then what was your conveyance?”
He gestured to himself.“We all shifted to our each uisge form and swam.”
“Then how did you manage to carry that?”She pointed to his sword.
“We strapped our weapons to our backs.”
“Well, I can’t transform like you and the rest of your company.”
“No, you cannot.Which is why I’ll bear you home on my back.”
Her eyes widened.“I can swim — I don’t need you to carry me around like a child.”
“I don’t doubt you can swim, but we’ve traveled many leagues and are much swifter than you’d be on your own.If we don’t wish to be caught, it’s better that you do as I say.”
She raised a brow.“I don’t recall ever agreeing to obey you.Especially if I don’t agree with your orders.”
“I make this decision for your safety and the safety of us all.We must make haste before your escape is discovered.”
“The Kraken King didn’t bother interrogating me, so I doubt I’ll be immediately missed.”
“He didn’t bother interrogating you because his plan was to use you as bait.For me.”
“As if you’d ever fall for such a ploy.”
He shook his head again, bemused by her constant derision of her own value.“I know your worth, wife.And you are my mate.We are bound by our vows of blood and I will never leave you to fight by yourself.”
Her expression hardened and became inscrutable.“I’ve fought my own battles for as long as I can remember.”
“Well, this is one occasion that won’t happen.Come, I tire of arguing,” he said as he closed his eyes and transformed into his other form.He lowered his body as close to the sand as he could, stretching his foreleg in front of him so she could easily swing onto his back.With a reluctant sigh, she carefully seated herself behind his withers and entangled her fingers in his mane.
“You’re not giving me a choice are you?”She grumbled.
He couldn’t speak in his beast form, so he tilted his head and gave her what he hoped was a disapproving look.
His neigh, and the splash of the surf on her face, roused her from dreams she didn’t care to dwell on.She lay flat on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers tangled in his mane.
Brun was mortified that she’d let down her guard enough to fall asleep.That she’d found her perch astride her husband’s each uisge form comfortable enough to put herself completely in his keeping.As if he were nothing more than a packhorse and she the spoils of war he carried.
As soon as his hooves touched the sand, she swung off his back.
When he transformed again, he was naked, just as he’d been before, and she wanted to look anywhere but the broad expanse of bronze, gleaming skin that seemed to occupy her entire field of vision.She sensed it was futile to avert her gaze, because it seemed destined to seek him out against her will, as if it was tracking the ascent of the sun across the midday sky.
She shivered at the memory of the immense power she’d felt harnessed beneath her when he plunged into the sea.A power that had held her captive more than the imprisonment she’d been rescued from.
His gaze searched hers in the twilight creeping over the horizon, and she suddenly yearned to know whether his eyes were still ice, or if they burned with midnight fire.
