AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Shit,” he rumbled, his hands groping blindly as he fumbled his way off Mint.
“Farrow?” I hurried off Caramel as well and rushed toward him. “What’s wrong? What can I—”
He held up his hand, staving me off. “No! Stay back. If you ever do anything for me, just—please—keep your distance right now. I’ve got this. I swear. I just…” He shook his head in a desperate manner. Sweat dripped from the ends of his soaked hair. The man looked a mess. “Give me a minute here. I’ll be fine. I just need to—I need to relieve myself.”
“Oh.” Flushing, I swallowed and held back as he spun away and lumbered off into the trees.
If he merely needed to use the chamber pot, he could’ve just said so. All his if you ever do anything for me dramatics had been a bit over the top, if you wanted my opinion.
Sighing to myself as I waited for him to finish his business, I saw to the horses, watering and finding a snack for them to munch on, then getting one for myself.
By the time I was finished, however, Farrow still hadn’t returned. I cringed. Poor guy. Just how much had the potion loosened his bowels?
Hopefully he wasn’t so sick that—
I bit my lip uneasily and glanced in the direction he’d gone. Next to me, the horses nickered and shifted restlessly, but I heard nothing from Farrow.
Mydera wouldn’t give him something that would endanger his life, would she? What would be the point? I could see why she’d drug him with something that would make him as happy and compliant as he’d been before. She’d outright told me she’d assisted in helping me win him over. So a loopy po
tion made sense. But to actually poison him?
I couldn’t believe it.
Except this was Farrow’s life I was betting on. I wasn’t willing to take chances.
Unable to keep my patience a moment longer, I hurried off to find him, deciding privacy be damned. I had to make sure he was okay.
“Farrow?” I called.
When he didn’t respond, my worry spiked.
“Farrow!”
He had better speak soon, or I’d—
When I spotted him up ahead, sitting upright with his back against a tree and his legs splayed in front of him, eyes closed, and head tipped drunkenly to the side, I cried, “No!” and raced forward.
“No, no, no, no, no!” I skidded to my knees at his side, clutching his face in my hands. “Farrow. Please answer me. Oh God.” He was so pale—deathly pale. He’d stopped sweating, yet his hair and bare chest were still drenched with it. Plus, the ties at his waist to hold his britches up were undone and opened.
When I sobbed and began to pet his wet hair, hoping he hadn’t suffered too greatly, his lashes flickered apart. Bleary eyes focused on me.
“I told you…” he rasped from dry, cracked lips. It seemed to take all the energy he had to barely speak the words. “To stay back.”
I released a relieved lungful. “Heaven help me,” I growled, jostling his shoulder. “Don’t ever do that to me again. I thought you were dead.”
“I wanted to die for a minute there,” he uttered, letting his eyes fall closed once more as if keeping them open took too much effort. His throat worked as he gave a rough swallow.
“Is it over, then?” I asked. “Whatever was in the potion? Has it passed through your system now?”
His head lolled back and forth against the tree as he winced. “Lord, I hope so.”
My sympathies rose. “You poor man, you. I can’t believe that wretched woman put you through all this.” I stroked his hair some more, patting down the unruly parts that were sticking up in all directions. “And to think, I actually felt indebted to her for taking us in for a day. No wonder why she never passed a purity test.”
Farrow let out a grateful sigh and nuzzled his face toward my hand. “Damn, your touch feels good.”
“Does it?” That was nice to hear. I’d touch him all day, every day, if he allowed it.
Glad he wanted my attention now, I grew bolder, scraping my fingers lightly against his scalp and then caressing my hand down until my palm coasted over the corded tendons on the side of his neck.
