Page 56 of A Touch of Poison
Maybe it was that, maybe it was the expression that I knew matched my own, but when I caught his eye, I laughed.
It started as a chuckle, but like the rain, it soon became a torrent.
And he laughed too.
I gave my body to it—a release after almost a month of uncertainty. He doubled over, as though the rain had washed away Business Bastian and the tense man I’d ridden out of the gate with.
Also…
“You look like a drowned rat,” I wheezed around my laughter, pointing at him, at the clothes stuck to his body and the hair plastered to his face.
He swept that hair back and cast an eye over me. “So do you. Albeit a very pretty rat.”
That only made me laugh harder. A few tears mingled with the rain on my face, but they were good tears. Gods, I hadn’t laughed this hard in…
I shook my head and wiped my cheeks as Bastian drew deep breaths, rubbing his belly. “I’m not used to working these muscles.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Maybe you should introduce laughter into your exercise regime.”
“Maybe you should not argue with trees next time you ride.” He bent close and swiped a stick from my hair.
“I was saving that for later.” I snatched it off him, like he was trying to steal my most prized possession. “Firewood, you know.”
“Ah, yes, that damp twig will warm us right up.”
We chuckled. Not the slightly unhinged laugh of moments earlier, but something calmer that lit up Bastian’s eyes as they held mine.
“Look, Kat. About earlier…” He shook his head and removed a wet lock of hair from my cheek.
The sun must not have yet reached the horizon, because no magic raced between us, but the way his expression softened and his skin upon mine still stole my breath.
“I truly am sorry.”
I didn’t want an apology of obligation. “You don’t have to say—”
“But Iamsorry. I used you. It stopped being just that for me, though. I need you to believe me when I say that.” He leant in, gaze so intense it was like a grip on my soul. “It was only when your husband appeared that I remembered what I was meant to be doing to you. And I felt sick to my stomach at that and everythingI’ddone as much as the fact you’d deceived me and were married.”
My eyelids fluttered as everything came into new, sharp focus through that lens. He’d hurt himself as much as me. What a mess we were, inside as well as outside.
“And I’m sorry for what you said about taking away your choice.” He caught my chin, stopping me from looking away. “I never thought of it like that before. And this isn’t enough for that and for hurting you, but it’s a start.”
I swallowed, throat thick. “A fresh start.”
“Exac—”
Mid-word, he flinched, eyes widening. “Shit.”
A cold even deeper than the rain gnawed my bones. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“They aren’t meant to be this far east.” His gaze skipped side to side, distant, and I understood—his double had to be scouting ahead as it had in Riverton Palace.
I whispered past the lump in my throat, “Who?”
“Horrors.”
21
Bastian
