“I remember,” he repeats.
“Are you keeping up your end of the deal?” I finally face him.
Davien’s lips part slightly. “I am trying.”
Trying? But are you succeeding?Yet another question I can’t bring myself to ask. Not when he must tell the truth.
I push off the ground and sway as I stand. Yet again, I’m leaving him while sorting my clothes and feeling a mixture of confused and terribly unsatisfied. How many times must I indulge in this urge before it’s satiated? This need he fills me with is a relentless beast, charging through my thoughts, consuming me with one giant bite after the next.
“Katria.” He murmurs my name and rests his hands on my shoulders, running them down my arms. His fingertips on my bare forearms shoot tingles through me that go straight to my head. I almost tip my head back to expose my neck so that he may bite it.
“Davien…” I sigh his name like a soft prayer. I’ve never believed in the old gods the elderly in town pay homage to. But if I’d paid more attention to them I’d bet they’d have a name like him.
“You think too much.” Sure enough, he kisses the exposed skin of my neck.
“One of us has to.”
“Let yourself go; give yourself to me.”
I shiver and he pulls me back to him with a tug. I’m enveloped once more. His hands sliding over me. His mouth on the soft flesh of my neck. That is, until the door latch is undone.
Davien releases me in a second, pushing me away lightly. He’s collected and composed as I’m scrambling to re-sort my clothes again. Luckily, we didn’t manage to get too far this time.
“What did you find?” Davien asks casually.
“Hare, nettle, some wild mushrooms.” Giles holds up a hare and a plump bag.
“We’re not interrupting anything, are we?” Shaye misses nothing.
“I love wild mushrooms,” I say quickly.
“Good, then you can cook them.” Giles grins, but it falls quickly when Shaye gives him a jab with her elbow.
“You lost your bet; you’re cooking. It’s time you refined some skills. A bachelor like you can’t survive forever on the charity of others.”
“Maybe I’ll find myself a lovely wife to cook for me?” Giles waggles his eyebrows.
“Good luck with that.” Shaye crosses to the fire pit, but her eyes keep darting between Davien and me.
“I’m going to go and check on the horses. Make sure they’re sorted for the night.” I make my escape before a red flush creeps up my neck and gives me away.
Alone, I take a breath, allowing the night’s chill to brace me as the door shuts. I head back to the well, drawing up a bucket for our steeds. My reflection stares back at me in the water.
“What are you doing?” I ask the rippling woman. This is a magical place. Maybe she’ll answer? Maybe she’ll have better luck sorting through these feelings than I. My reflection is silent. “A lot of help you are.”
I sigh and make my way to the posts the horses are tied to. They’re lazily grazing the tall grasses that poke through the moss without a care in the world. One by one, I let them drink from the bucket and, when they’ve had their fill, I return to the well and draw one more to leave out for them. By now, the smell of roasting hare and wild mushrooms sauteing in drippings is becoming almost unbearable.
Hushed conversation within has me pausing at the door.
“…answer my question,” Shaye says curtly.
“I already have.” Davien’s tone is lazy and almost hides the agitation beneath his words.
“You’ve dodged it at every turn.”
“I have not.”
“What do you feel for Katria?” Shaye demands plainly, making my heart jolt.
