Page 80 of Wolfkissed
“Yes, it was,” she insists, cheeks reddening. She reaches for her collar, and her fingers twitch when she finds it undone. She starts buttoning it up. “Now you’re saddled with me.”
I can’t think of anything to say. Is she so clueless about my feelings, or taking it so hard that our families are entwined in such gruesome ways? Getting to know her these days makes me think the latter. She’s feeling guilty for something that not only wasn’t her fault, it marked her in ways that make me want to kill people.
There’s little I wouldn’t do to take that pain from her.
I’ve never had my fucking heart broken before, but I’m starting to realize I’m about to…
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
ROSAMUND
Another day of waking up to find Valen sitting guard beside me, his gaze on me. Is it so bad that I’m starting to get used to it? No, not just that, but to like it?
His mouth tilts into a smile when he notices my eyes are open. “Good morning, Princess. Did you sleep well on your wool-stuffed mattress, with your down duvet and silken pillows?”
I crack a smile back and stretch slowly, feeling all the aches where small rocks and twigs have dug into my side. “Softest bed I’ve ever known.”
“Doing my best for your comfort,” he mutters, still smiling, still looking at me as I sit up and rub at my eyes. “And here the head chef has been preparing your breakfast.”
“I hope the quail eggs are cooked to perfection,” I quip.
“Oh, yeah. The bacon is crisp, the pancakes fluffy, and the tea strong.”
“Gods.” My stomach grumbles. “This is a cruel game.”
“Indeed.” His smile turns crooked. “Guess what we’re having?”
“More dried meat?”
“Spot on. Here is your prize.” He hands me a strip of meat, and I sigh. “Sorry, Princess.”
“What for? You’re the reason we have any food at all. The reason I’m alive.”
He nods, but his face is set in serious lines. Gone is the bright smile, and I find I miss it. That I’d do a lot to see him smile again.
Gods, I’ve got it bad.
“Did you sleep?” I ask for something to say, and frown when he shakes his head. “Not at all?”
“Wildcats have been prowling. I could smell them. I didn’t want any other bad surprises.”
“How is your shoulder?”
He shifts it a bit, as if to test it. “It’s fine.”
“I should check it.”
“I wouldn’t mind your hands on me at all, but we should get going.”
“And I don’t mind going,” I say, “but I’d get my hands on your first.”
His mouth finally quirks again. “Why, I’ve created a monster. You can’t keep your hands off me, can you?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I say, wondering who this confident, teasing woman is to say such things, when a few days ago I wouldn’t have even dreamed of such a comeback to my cousins, let alone a man. “I just want to see that your wound hasn’t festered, because if you were to fall sick, who would protect me, then?”
“I love me a practical woman,” he mutters and rolls to his feet with an elegance I envy. He reaches for me, and I take his hand, letting him haul me up. “Do it, then. You can’t have a faulty bodyguard with you. You’re not the nursing kind, are you?”
“Of course I am.”
