Page 17 of Stolen Threadwitch Bride
Teeth gritted, I pulled away. “Who’s to say I don’t already wish that?”
He huffed a laugh that tickled my ear. “Suit yourself. But I won’t be massaging your aching muscles when we stop tonight.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thank the gods.”
Welcome & Unwelcome
Ilasted half an hour. After that, my back hurt so much, I had to lean against him.
To his credit, he said nothing.
We ate lunch in the saddle, and by midafternoon thick clouds blanketed the sky, grey and flat. “Feels like snow.” I shivered at the drop in temperature.
He just pulled his cloak around me. This time, I didn’t fight it. With both of us in the soft wool, we soon generated so much warmth that the cold air on my face was welcome and refreshing.
However, the heat brought anunwelcome side-effect. It unleashed his scent—tart rhubarb mingled with something woody and smoky. It crept over me, invading each steaming breath.
I hated myself for liking it.
But soon it wasn’t a problem as huge flakes of snow fell, catching on the deer’s fur and blankets, flecking the fae’s cloak, and freezing my nose until I couldn’t smell anything. Fingers numb, I had to release the front of the saddle and tuck my hands inside the shared cloak.
He shifted the reins to one hand and closed the other over mine. I could’ve pulled away—his hold was only loose—but he was warm and my stubbornness had already given me a stiff back and aching shoulders today. I didn’t want to add frostbite to the list.
When I checked over my shoulder, he was staring ahead, perfect, straight nose tipped with pink. That little sign of something like humanity made me smile.
His gaze shot to me. He frowned, but the midnight blue of his eyes was bright in the grey light, less severe, less unfathomable. “What?”
Snow flecked his hair and melted. A drop of water snaked onto his temple and down his cheek.
I followed it until it disappeared into his dark stubble. “Just surprised to see you’re affected by the cold.”
“I’m a living creature just like you.”
Notquitelike me. I grunted, and we rode on.
We passed gates and stone walls that barely peeked out of the white blanket. There must’ve been some magic to the deer, because they only left shallow hoof prints, rather than sinking to their knees.
More enormous trees speared the grey sky, giving some shelter from the rising wind. Beneath them grew hellebore with flowers as big as my fists. The ones in the woods outside Briarbridge were two inches across at most.
Between the plants and the deer, it was as though the earth here was so rich, everything grew larger.
By the time we stopped in the last dregs of daylight, a bitter wind nipped at our faces and ruffled his hair. I hadn’t seen a single road. Either the fae didn’t have them or he preferred a cross-country route. So much for scoping out my escape.
To make matters worse, once I was off the stag, I could only whimper and hobble my way into the freshly erected tent. My back, my hips, my thighs, and bum—every movement revealed some new agony.
Apparently, the fae didn’t have a death wish, because he made no comment.
I threw myself face-first onto the bed and screwed my eyes shut, backside throbbing in time with my heartbeat. He was torturing me. How many of those stupid girls who’d offered themselves had expected to be subjected to this kind of pain?
“Never mind acclimatising,” I said into the blankets. “Why don’t you just puff us to your faerie house or wherever the hells you live?”
“There are… certain limitations.” His words came out clipped, and when I pushed myself off the bed, uttering a few choice curses, he was kicking his boots off with a ferocity I hadn’t seen in him before. The knot in his jaw. The deepVof his brows. The fact he hadn’t even corrected me for saying “puff.” His irritation was undeniable.
So, he got to take me from my home, the only place I knew, without even a bag of belongings and that was fine. But the moment I suggested we use the easy method to travel, suddenlyhewas pissed off? Teeth gritted, I flung the cloak from my shoulders and yanked off the fur-lined boots.
I stomped and grumbled my way through the tent, hissing at each groan of my muscles as I put away my outerwear. Without so much as looking at him, I threw myself into one of the chairs, regretting it as burning pain shot through my backside.
But when he offered it, I ate another plate of delicious food. Hot stew this time. Gods knew where it came from, but it was full of lamb and so tasty it brought tears to my eyes.
