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I return her smile and pretend like I don’t see the threat there. Rose wouldn’t see it. She would just be so grateful that she’s being led out of these woods. My copper haired giant stays close to me, almost pressed into my side, under the guise of helping me keep my feet over the uneven ground.
We walk in silence for a while and the urge to fill that silence with chatter presses hard on me. I’m not normally that way, I don’t normally feel the urge to spout utter nonsense. But the threat of witch hunters definitely has me feeling slightly panicky. The need to convince them we’re just normal humans is so fucking strong, it’s almost choking me.
My hand drifts up and rubs at the scar between my breasts, the beginnings of a panic attack forming.Shit. Shit. Shit.Now is not the time to have one of these. I can’t have one when I’m Rose being led out of the woods after being lost. That doesn’t make any sense. I should have been having one before they showed up.
Kohaku pulls me into his side, nuzzles his face into my hair. “Breathe, little warrior,” he murmurs. “You need to breathe.”
I shake my head, making my temple bounce against his nose. Tears form, and I want to pull my damn shirt off because it’s too tight, it’s constricting me, cutting off my air flow.
“Yes, baby,” he says firmly. “You will breathe.”
“Is she okay?” A hunter behind us asks, and the sound of his voice is enough to send me spiraling.
Kohaku swears and pulls me into his arms, sweeping me entirely off my feet to cradle me again. “She’s fine, just lightheaded from dehydration and hunger. We should keep going. I’ll carry her for a while.”
My eyes are closed, but I can tell they’re all eyeing him and me in his arms. Sure, he’s big and obviously strong, but I’m not exactly tiny and they seem to think that he won’t make it far with me in his arms.
It’s probably not a good idea for him to do this. I’m sure if he needed to, he’d keep holding me for hours, but that would give away his supernatural strength.
“Its not far,” I hear the girl mutter and then we’re moving again. As soon as we are, I feel his lips brush my forehead.
“Tell me five things, little warrior. Focus on your surroundings and tell me five things.” I don’t even know how he knows this is a way to help me calm down, to get me to focus on something other than the panic clawing at my chest.
I open my eyes and look around. “I see trees.” My voice is wheezy and pinched. “I see freckles on your nose. I see the sky poking through branches.”
He nods. “Good. What else?”
“Feel your arms and the cool air.” I press my face into his neck and inhale, taking in a full breath. “I smell Christmas,” I mutter. “You smell like Christmas. How is that even possible?”
He chuckles and kisses my forehead again. “Magic, little warrior.” I tense in his arms as he says the words and resist the urge to look around to see if any of them heard him. “Also known as soap, deodorant, and cologne.”
I relax against him, even though I know none of that is true. It’s just how he smells, like all of my favorite things wrapped up into one glorious scent.
“Feeling better, baby?” This he says louder, like he wants his voice to carry to the others.
I nod. “Yes, thank you. Sorry, I got so lightheaded there for a moment. I’m never letting you take me hiking again, Jack.”
Another low laugh. “I don’t blame you, Rose.”
We walk in silence for a bit longer, and then the guy twists his head to look at us. “How did you two meet?”
Kohaku grins. “It was at a party. She was in the middle of a couple of guys fighting over her, even though she had no interest in either of them.”
I roll my eyes. It’s close to the truth, just like the best lies always are. “I thought they were going to kill each other, but Jack popped up out of nowhere and just sort of shut everything down real fast.”
Kohaku’s warm eyes run over my face. “When I saw her, I thought she was the prettiest, fiercest woman I’d ever laid eyes on and I knew I wanted her to be mine.” My heart rate picks up at his words because they don’t feel like a lie, or a half truth. No, they feel like a full truth and I have no idea what to do with that.
My lips quirk into a half smile, realizing that they’re waiting on more. “I took some convincing to get there, but I realized I want him to be mine, too.”
He returns my smile and bends to brush his lips against mine softly. Nothing more than the briefest of chaste kisses. But I still feel it through my whole freaking body, like an electric shock but pleasurable.
So. Freaking. Pleasurable.
He pulls back, but I chase his lips to kiss him again. Another soft press that I’m sure he doesn’t intend to let go anywhere, but I flick my tongue over his lips teasingly. He growls in warning, and I grin up at him impishly before settling against his chest.
“I could probably walk now,” I murmur, even if it’s the last thing I really want to do. It’s far too nice being hauled around by the giant of a demon.
His lips brush the top of my head. “Let me do this for you.” He waits to make sure I’m still okay with this, but when I nod, he turns his attention back to the people in front of us. “How much farther?”
