Page 52 of The Stallion & The Tigress
Shortly after coming to his senses, Aleksistared down at the brush covering the Jackal’s body and the bootprints around it.He walked behind the tree and looked down at hisown, larger boot prints, which he hadn’t had time to sweep overwhen he rescued Sahar.
“You can bet that Yago and Taweel know it wasme who killed the Jackal and took you,” he said to Sahar’sback.
She nodded.She’d said nothing since thestream.Though her angry, accusing expression had spokenplenty.
They had come close, too close, to giving into their desires and putting themselves in a dangerous andprecarious position.Aleksi knew full well the fault was his.Allhe’d needed to do was look away as she had risen from the water,her sleekly muscled body, firm, high breasts and gently swellinghips glistening wet and naked, but he hadn’t.He should’ve turnedaround and walked away from her as she stood there, shy and bold,but he hadn’t.He’d walked straight to her, drawn by the look inher eyes and the need in his loins.He could still feel the wetwarmth of her skin against his, the taut roundness of her backsidein his hands, the heat of her kiss.He could still hear her lowmoan of pleasure as he held her close, her little gasp of surpriseas he had flicked his tongue over her pebbled nipple.
Thank the gods for skittish crows and athirsty stag.Aleksi had been thinking with his cock, not hisbrain, and had endangered them.
He glanced at her as she bent and picked upthe cut rope that had tied her to the tree, and he vowed he wouldnot be so careless again.Even as he swore to remain her chastebodyguard, his cock was responding to the memory of her bodypressed against his.
Concentrate on finding the Wolf, you fool,before he finds you.
“I am going to walk a circle outside thecamp,” he said to himself as much as to her.“Make sure they didn’tdouble back on us.”
The only tracks he found were of four horsesheading south and west.Yago and Taweel must have decided thatAleksi and Sahar were heading back to her father.He smiled grimly.Even after all that they’d put her through, they still did not knowher at all.
“You should ride Z,” he said, holding thestallion’s reins out to her.“I will walk the next league.Keep aneye out for any change in the tracks.”
She took Z’s reins and put her booted foot inAleksi’s cupped hands, letting him boost her up onto the saddle.Hegave her ankle a gentle squeeze, and she kicked his hand away.
“Come on then,” he said, starting off at aneasy lope.“We have leagues of ground to cover.”
They’d walked the half a league between theircamp and Yago’s this morning.He wasn’t looking forward to ridingpressed against her.Eventually though, they’d have to ridetogether.Until then, it felt good to stretch his legs and work hismuscles while concentrating on following the tracks.It helped tokeep his mind from wandering back to the two of them skin to skinin the stream.They’d covered another two leagues by noon andAleksi was arguing with himself.He was beginning to tire, but wasloath to tempt his self-control by riding double with her.He feltsomething crunch under his boot.He stopped and lifted it and sawthat there were hundreds of chestnuts lying where they had fallenfrom a copse of trees, ripe and ready for picking.
“Chestnuts,” he said, waving her over.“Wecan pack the saddle bags full of them.”
She jumped down and packed one saddle bagwith the nuts while he packed the other.He boosted her up onto thesaddle and then swung up behind her, gritting his teeth as sheshifted her backside into him.He took Z’s reins and urged thestallion on.They might well go hungry for want of each other, butat least they wouldn’t starve for food.
As they rode, the sun travelled in the sky,and Sahar fell asleep to Z’s steady gate.Her head pillowed onAleksi’s shoulder.When she stirred, he muttered in her ear,“Welcome back.”
She craned her neck and peered out from underheavy lids into a dusky sky.“Did I sleep the afternoon through?”she asked, yawning.
“You did.”
He shifted a little, sitting upstraighter.
“Where are we?”she asked.
“About five leagues south of where we startedthis morning,” he answered, bringing a flush of heat to her cheeksand to his groin.Where they had started that morning was nakedtogether in a stream, skin to skin, mouth to mouth, lips tobreast.
“Where, ah, where are Yago and Taweel?”
“A league ahead of us by their tracks, whichstill show two horses with riders and two without,” he told her.“My guess is they’ll camp on the mountain’s peak tonight and startdown the southern slope tomorrow.”
“When do we go after Lasair?”
“When they’ve relaxed their guard and leastexpect it.”
“What if they never do?”
He didn’t answer.
“The longer we wait,” she argued, “the closerthey’ll be to the Ox’s kingdom, and the longer and more dangerousour journey home.”
“True enough,” he agreed.“But the Ox’skingdom is still a good eight to ten days’ ride.We have time.”
Which was a blessing and a curse.Time alonewith Sahar in the wilds, riding with her, sleeping with her,without a repeat of what had happened in the stream this morningwas going to nearly undo him.
