AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My lips opened, and then closed.
I stopped walking.
He stopped too, leaving just a breath between us.
“You called me your female,” I said.
His head dipped. “The mate bond connects us.”
“You made themhold me back.”
“We’ve spent weeks together, Iloli. I know when you’re scheming. You didn’t think I could beat Teris—you were going to bond yourself to him again. I couldn’t allow that.”
“Allowit?” My voice raised. “That wasn’t your decision to make.”
“It was my life you were trying to protect, so yes, itwas.” His voice went lower with every damn word.
“I don’t even know you,” I said, eyes stinging and head shaking.
“Sunny!” Dots called out. My head jerked in her direction as she jumped out of a tree and then landed lightly on her feet. Her long, straight golden hair was already being tugged in the breeze as she threw her arms around me. “What happened? I heard fighting. Why were you gone so long? So much has changed. Your note said something about—” She cut herself off when she noticed Remmo. “Oh, damn.”
“Dots, meetVuvim.” My voice was cutting. “Can I get a ride out of here?”
“Sure.” She eyed me, then looked at Remmo. “Nice to meet you, I guess.”
He didn’t even bat an eyelash at her, saying in a low voice to me, “We arenotdone here.”
“Maybe you aren’t, but I am.” I grabbed Dots’ shoulder, and she caught the drift, shifting rapidly and hauling ass off the ground.
Remmo remained where I’d left him, his gaze tracking me and my friend as she glided through the trees.
My eyes shut,and I tried not to let them water as she soared through the forest. After a while, she landed on a large wooden platform that nearly blended into the trees it was nestled between. I recognized the spot she’d chosen for her house, but the platform looked almost exactly the same as it had the last time I was there. I’d expected her to make more progress on it than she had.
“What happened when you left? I am so confused.” She plopped down on her ass on the platform, but I didn’t sit.
I started pacing, grabbing at the wild puffs of hair on top of my head that I really desperately needed to shampoo and condition. Being in and out of the water so much hadnotmade my hair feel great.
“The plan went perfectly, but when I got out of the river, Remmo came out of the trees. He was gorgeous, and he told me that my plan was a good one, but that I still smelled like Teris and he would be able to track me. He offered to show me how to hide my scent, and the moment was all steamy, and I just… I asked him if I could kiss him.”
I went on, my voice raising and my words coming out faster as I continued. “And I thought he was rejecting me, but then he kissed me, and it was so damn good. And he smelled incredible, and there was electricity… and then Teris showed up, and Remmo knocked him out. And when he offered to take me to the healing lake, I said yes.”
I was rambling—and pacing—and gesturing wildly, like a crazy person.
Dots just blinked at me.
“And the water was so cold, and he warmed me up, and I wasn’t ready to go back to Teris, and he offered to show me a cave in his land. I agreed, because I was stupid, and happy, and he was my friend. And the cave was incredible, and things got steamy, but not too steamy, and—”
“Breathe, Sunny.” Dots lifted her hands. “Just breathe for a minute, okay? In, and out.”
I tried to take slow, deep breaths, but mostly failed.
It did help me calm down a little, though. Not enough to make my heart stop racing, but a little.
“So he followed you away from the party, and then you kissed him?” she checked.
I nodded, though it hadn’t really occurred to me that he hadfollowed me.
“And then you went to the lake. It didn’t heal you, so you weren’t ready to come back, and he took you to a cave?”
