“He can get in your thoughts? Without your invitation?” he asks against my mouth.
“He can,” I admit on a whispered breath. I don’t tell him that shit is terrifying and I’m scared to death.
There is a moment of silence and I expect him to curse or say something, but he doesn’t. Instead, his lips brush mine, his tongue tastes mine and I melt into him. Slowly, he breaks the kiss, but doesn’t lift his head or step away from me.
“You needn’t worry, darlin’. Just stay with me, yeah?”
I don’t know what it is, but I want to stay wherever he says he wants me. I want to do whatever he wants me to and it feels weird. I have never felt this way about a man before, but with Colt, I am putty in his hands and the asshole knows it, too.
“You know that I will,” I breathe against his lips.
He hums, wrapping his hands around my waist, and with little fanfare, he picks me up and sets me down on top of the horse—sidesaddle. I let out a squeal as soon as my ass lands against the hard leather.
Seconds later Colt climbs on behind me. I open my mouth and make a move to straddle the animal, but Colt doesn’t allow me. His arm wraps tightly around my middle and he clicks his teeth before we start to ride. He doesn’t even slow down as we pass all of his men, including Logan, not until we’re past all of the soldiers and camps, only then does he stop.
“How long will it take us to get to the city?” I ask.
He hums, but doesn’t answer me immediately. “About a week,” he eventually admits.
“Having a car would be nice right about now,” I grumble.
He chuckles, his arm flexing around me. “I have to admit, your contraptions do make things sound a lot easier.”
“Yes, but no,” I mutter.
“No?”
Shaking my head, my eyes scan the bright and vibrant spaces ahead of me. I think about how the air is almost hazy at home and here it almost glitters it’s so crystal clear. I think about how everything is just magical here.
Though, running water and electricity isn’t very magical. I really need to figure out a way to make that happen, especially if I’m going to be staying here for the rest of my days. Because they’re a necessity, at least for me they are. I miss them, so fucking much.
“You are,” Colt grunts.
“I am, what?” I ask.
He chuckles. “I heard you and you’ll be staying the rest of your days. You’re my wife, darlin’. The baby inside of you is mine. You’ve been bound to the land. You’re not going anywhere, not without me.”
My heart skips a beat just at the way he is so insistent that I’m his wife and I’m not going anywhere, it’s sexy. If I could turn around and take him right now, I would. A chill runs throughout my entire body and I close my eyes, inhaling a deep breath and letting it out on a sigh before I attempt to open my eyes again.
“We have a few hours before we can stop for the night, darlin’,” he murmurs against the side of my ear.
Pressing my lips together, I try not to lose myself in the sensations that threaten to take me over. I’m not sure what his gods are getting at, but I’m already pregnant, there should be no reason that my blood boils as often as it still seems to do when it comes to him.
“I’ll see if I can abstain until then,” I hum.
He laughs softly, and together we continue to ride. “Your guard is directly behind us, then there are the soldiers, and somewhere in there is Logan. He won’t bother you and I’ll take care of him soon.”
“So, you believe me?” I ask.
He grunts. “Of course I do. You have no reason to lie, plus, after Florence, I watched him closely. He’s changed. I’m not sure when it happened, but that doesn’t matter, all that does is that there’s a change. I’m not so naïve that I can’t see when a man has changed. A man that I once knew as well as I knew my own self.”
My heart hurts the way that he speaks of his friend. I can’t imagine how it would feel to have one of my sisters change that way, to become an enemy behind my back. It would devastate me completely.
It all makes me wonder if something has taken him over the way it did Florence, or if he’s truly changed. I don’t know if we will ever know either.
COLT
Logan has been a brother to me for so long that it is hard to comprehend the fact that he is no longer the same man that I have loved for decades. He isn’t though. Birdie was telling the truth, I knew it before she even said a single word. Even if I wanted to pretend that I couldn’t see it in his eyes, I could feel it.
Keeping her close to me, I wonder what will befall us when we arrive in the city, what Logan thinks he’s going to accomplish, and if I’m going to have to end him with my own hands. I likely will, it wouldn’t be right to have anyone else do it.
The men follow far enough behind us to give us our privacy, but close enough to still act as true guards. The fact is that we don’t truly know what Logan or the rebels have planned, and I’m not going to allow anything to happen to Birdie, the prophecy, or the baby growing inside of her.
She inhales a deep breath and lets it out on a heavy sigh. Smiling to myself, I clear my throat.
“You’re alright, my wife?”
She hums, but doesn’t answer me immediately. “I’m worried,” she murmurs.
“About?”
“Everything.”
It’s my turn to hum, but I don’t say anything else, not
