“Melaina!” Quilla scolded, surging to her feet and scowling at her aunt while I shifted my empty plate to cover my lap. “Enough.”
“Enough what?” Melaina asked, fluttering her lashes pertly. “Enough speaking the truth?”
“Enough baiting us and intentionally stirring up unease. And besides, he wasn’t flirting.” When she glanced my way with raised eyebrows to confirm her own words, I set a hand over my heart, supporting her claim.
“Right,” I agreed. “It’d be completely obvious if I was flirting.”
“Oh, brother,” Melaina muttered. “Of course, he’s going to agree with you. The man wants to get inside you like he wants his next breath. As if he’s going to dare disagree with anything you say right now.”
I frowned. “What the hell are you talking about, old woman? I disagree with her all the time.”
“I am not old.” Melaina gasped even though she had to be somewhere around Quilla’s and my age combined. She immediately began to stroke the deep red curls of her hair as if I’d somehow insulted her flaming locks. “And I’m not talking about the you from earlier today, before you murdered your cousin and went all sulky, oh-woe-is-me.”
I scowled at her because an arrow of pain sliced through my gut, making me remember earlier and what had happened with Axel.
“I’m talking about right now, while you know she’s worried about you and being nice to appease her own guilt. No way in hell are you going to do anything wrong in her eyes while she might throw you a pity fuck.”
“Seriously,” Quilla barked. “You need to shut up. Right now. Go clean the dishes or something.” She shoved her plate into her aunt’s arms. “And don’t come back until you can behave.”
“Ordering me around now, are you, child?” Melaina pushed to her feet and stepped close to her niece, challenging her. “Still doesn't change the fact that I’m right.”
I sighed and rubbed my face wearily as I realized I’d probably be playing peacemaker again and pulling them off each other—literally—in a few moments.
“Do the dishes,” Quilla growled.
I pushed to my feet to prepare for my intervening duties, but Melaina huffed out a breath and snagged my plate from my hand, adding to the pile she already held. “It’s now or never time, lover boy,” she hissed to me. “You want her cherry? Well, it’s more available for the popping than ever before.”
“You really are a crude bitch,” Quilla called after her.
Melaina blew her a sneering kiss and strolled regally away from the campsite.
We watched her long after she was gone, not saying anything or looking at each other until I cleared my throat and ran an uneasy hand over the back of my neck. “I promise I’m not looking for a pity fuck,” I announced.
Quilla turned to me, rolling her eyes. “Nor would I give you one.”
“When you finally come to me, it’ll be because you want me more than you want your next breath. Not because you feel bad or obligated out of guilt or worry.”
A deep thrum of appreciation rumbled through my mark.
But she only nodded, not telling me in words how much she liked my stance. I drew out a long breath. “Well, then…”
What the hell did we say now? She just continued to stand there, quietly. So I cleared my throat.
“I guess that’s that, then.” And I turned away to get my bedroll ready, snapping it out and onto the ground next to hers.
The wound in my side kept pulling as I kneeled on the bedding and stretched to straighten my blanket, reminding me that I hadn’t tended to it yet.
Once I pushed back to my feet, I stripped off my tunic and wadded it into a ball, soaking it in water before I pressed it to the dried blood on my side. Axel’s sword had scratched a pretty long trail through my rib cage, but thankfully it wasn’t very deep.
Behind me, however, Quilla sucked in a breath as if it were the nastiest wound she’d ever seen. I looked up as she stepped toward me, her gaze stuck on my side. “You haven’t even cleaned it yet. Dammit, now it’s going to get infected.”
“I’ll be fine,” I started. “It just needs a little—”
“Shut up,” she snarled. “Just shut up.” And before I knew what she was about, she grabbed my arm roughly and jerked me toward her.
I stumbled, losing my balance, and basically fell against her mouth as she rose up on her toes to smash her lips to mine. The kiss took me by surprise so badly I didn’t even have time to enjoy it before she pulled away again a second later.
“There,” she murmured, slipping her fingers over my rib cage where my wound was now mended together and healed. “Much better.”
Shuddering under her touch, I looked down at her hand on me. “Yeah,” I rasped, growing hard all over again. “I’m good as new again. Thank you.”
Her thumb shifted and moved along my flesh, probably just making sure I was back in one piece. But it felt like the most sensuous damn touch I’d ever experienced. I almost came in my fucking pants. I shuddered out a breathless groan and lifted my face to hers just as she looked up too.
Our gazes met. She was going to kiss me again. I could see it in her eyes and feel it from her gut. And it wasn’t because she wanted to heal me but because she just wanted me. I leaned closer. She wetted her lips, temptation coating her features. This time would be like our true first kiss. It’d be about passion and longing and affection.
My skin buzzed with awareness. I was so damn turned on, I probably could’ve—
“Christ almighty,” Melaina exploded, appearing in the clearing and making both Quilla and me jump out of our skins. “I was gone all that time, and this is only how far you two have gotten? You’ve barely removed his shirt? Jesus. Watching you two rut is like watching grass grow.”
“We’re not going to rut, you meddlesome hag,” Quilla snarled, jerking her hand off me and taking a decided step back. “I was just healing his wound. Not that it’s any of your damn business. But that’s all that was happening.”
As she turned her back to me and climbed into her bedroll, I glanced toward Melaina, who offered me a sly grin and thumbs-up as if she thought she’d somehow just assisted me with some seduction attempt.
I rolled my eyes.
At this rate, Quilla would never be willing to have sex with me, if for no other reason than to defy her intrusive aunt.
With a deflated sigh, I crawled into my own bedroll and prepared for a long, painful night full of blue balls.
Chapter 26
Quilla
I swear, it took me forever to fall asleep. The events of the day just kept running through my head. It was unsettling to learn I could be caught in a trap like the perimeter magic those men had used to target my mark.
When they had broken through the tree line earlier, I had thought that was it. Game over. But I hadn’t really had time to process everything that happened afterward because I’d gone straight into worry mode over how Indigo had to be dealing with killing his cousin.
Except now he seemed okay. I turned my head to the side and checked on him in the full moonlight. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing easily, nothing keeping him awake and stressed.