Page 65 of Death Will Follow

Though Shade could walk, Nova deemed it wise to let the horse rest for a bit until she could determine whether there was any swelling. The sky had darkened with the threat of impending rain. Nova led her horse to the edge of the wood, slipping past the tree line to hide from view and tethering Shade to a tree limb.

The rains came soon after, but Nova remained mercifully dry beneath the thick canopy. Clutching her cloak to her, she crouched at the base of a tree, resolved to remain alert and carefully monitor the passage of time. But, despite her intentions, her eyelids drooped before long, her mind lulled to sleep by the rhythmic pattering of the falling rain.

Nova sensed him the instant before he spoke.

“You left.”

Her eyes shot open to find Callan standing over her. She drew in a sharp breath, briefly stunned by the sheer size of him. He consumed her entire field of vision, his broad shoulders silhouetted against the dim light filtering into the forest through the trees.

“Yes,” she said, swallowing hard against the break of anguish in her voice.

It had taken everything in her to ride away.

Callan crouched in front of her. “Why?” he asked, the word heavy and raw on his tongue.

“To protect you—all of you.” Agitation roiled in her chest. Could he not see that her leaving had been a kindness? Had been for his own good?

“I’ll let you know when I require protection.” Callan’s voice took on a hard edge. He breathed deeply before continuing, “Did you not think I’d come for you?”

“I imagined you would.” Nova flexed her fingers. “I had hoped to travel farther before you realized I was go—”

“You cannot keep doing this, Nova.” Callan ran a hand over his jaw, though the familiar self-soothing gesture did nothing to calm him. “You cannot keep running off. Facing everything on your own. Risking your life for everyone else.”

“And I can’t be the only thing you’re living for!” Nova shouted. Inwardly, she cringed at the bite in the words, but they were true nonetheless. “Who are you to dictate what and who I deem worthy of that risk?”

Callan looked as though she’d struck him. He pressed his lips together, nostrils flaring, his chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. With a fuller beard after weeks of travel and hot indignation flashing in the gold-flecked brown of his eyes, he looked beastly. Desire sparked low in Nova’s belly as she stared him down, aroused by his passion for her, obvious in the intensity of his gaze.

“That’s fair,” he conceded after a moment, his voice low. “But I will never apologize for how fiercely I love you. Make no mistake, if you leave again, I will find you.”

“Is that a threat?” Nova leaned forward, goading him, the desperate need to either fight or fuck warring within her. It was exactly as Callan had described after he’d nearly come to blows with the drunk at The Wilted Bloom.

“It’s a promise,” Callan snarled as he slid his hand between her thighs, cupping her sex roughly through her breeches.

Nova cried out at the delicious pressure.

“I could track you to the end of the world by this alone.” His voice was little more than a growl.

Nova’s jaw went slack, her head lolling to the side as she rocked her hips against his hand.

“Prove it.”

The terror triggered by the vision of her death abandoned her. Her heart thudded wildly behind her ribs, blood rushing to her core, flooding her with desire and reminding her she was still alive. Nova continued to grind wantonly against Callan’s palm, only realizing he’d leaned closer to her when he spoke against her ear, his breath warming her chilled skin.

“Start running.”

Callan tore his hand from between her legs, and Nova whimpered as the pleasant heat disappeared with it. He stood over her once more, reaching down and pulling her to her feet.

“And Starlight.” He crushed her against him, his mouth at her temple, his voice a wild rumble in her ear. “When I catch you, I will claim you.”

He released her hand, and Nova spun away from him, sprinting deeper into the forest, jumping over roots, and dodging low-hanging branches. Battling the urge to glance back over her shoulder, she pressed forward, spurred on by an intoxicating combination of desire and fear. The forest grew darker the farther she got from the tree line. Though the low light made it more difficult for her to navigate the wood, it would make finding her more challenging for Callan as well.

Nova had no illusions that she could evade him for long. He was faster and stronger than she was, and the scent of her arousal would, without doubt, lead him directly to her no matter how far or fast she fled. Still, life flowed through her in the burn in her lungs and the rush of her blood in her ears.

She’d no notion of how much time had passed when, at last, she reached her limit. Leaning back against a wide tree trunk, she pressed her lips closed, forcing her ragged breath in and out through her nose. Though she managed to get her breathing under control, her heart refused to obey, pounding with eager anticipation as she peeked around the tree. For a time, she saw nothing. Heard nothing. But when she turned back around, he was there.

Instinctively, she threw a punch aimed at his jaw, but Callan caught her fist. Nova gasped, wrenching her hand free and stumbling sideways away from the tree before falling on her ass. She kicked at the mossy ground to distance herself from him, not yet ready to admit defeat. Callan stalked toward her, steps sure and unhurried, then dropped to his knees, large hands spreading her thighs wide and pinning them to the ground. She squirmed beneath him, moaning shamelessly as he dragged his face from her cunt to her throat, breathing her in before biting at the sensitive spot at the curve of her jaw.

Wyld magic floated on the breeze unseen, urging her not to surrender. To continue the game. At first, she gripped Callan’s shoulders, shoving against him with all her strength as he ground his hips between her legs, his hungry growl rumbling along her chest.