Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
I wish I knew.
“Hawk…?”
He grunts, acknowledging that he’s heard me.
My nerve deserts me. I curl my fingers into fists and decide to go for conversation instead. Propping my head on my folded arm, I turn on my side and watch him as he pulls off his belt in preparation for sleep. “Tell me about you.”
“Tell you about me?”
“Yes, please.”
“I have a new wife who needs to go to sleep,” he says in a terse voice.
A mosquito lands on my arm and I slap it with annoyance.
Hawk goes still. “What was that?”
“Mosquito.”
“Ah.” He shakes his head. “Pests are out today. The Dark God must be in a good mood to send so many of his servants to annoy us.”
“Or they’re just plentiful because we’re in the woods,” I reply, and then return to my initial subject. “So you won’t talk to me about you?”
“You should go to sleep.”
“No, I should get to know my husband. Since we’re going to be sharing a marriage bed and all.” I keep a smile on my face, though it’s not hard to do now that he’s nude except for his pants and is easing his big body down onto the ground next to me. I think about being in the tent with him the other night and how he’d pushed his fingers into my pants and touched me until I came, and my thighs clench together because I want to do that again and I don’t know how to ask.
Hawk rolls his eyes and adjusts the blankets under his body. I notice he’s not getting under the covers, either. “Fine. What do you want to know?”
“You don’t have to sound so put-upon. It was a simple request.”
He tugs on the ring on his nose. “I just…none of this gives me a good feeling.”
“You and me?” I’m hurt, because this feels as if it is coming out of nowhere. I know we’re still getting to know each other, but surely he doesn’t feel the marriage was a mistake, does he?
But Hawk glances over at me in surprise. He rolls onto his side, facing me. “No. Sorry, I should have been clearer. I meant I don’t have a good feeling about your Five. About Magpie being involved.” He reaches out and runs a fingertip down my nose, tracing the length of it as if fascinated by its size. “You’re actually the only one I do have a good feeling about.”
Warmth threads itself through my body, and I’m desperate for more touching. I didn’t realize how much I craved it until I married Hawk. I always wished the staff—or my father—would hug me when I was back at the hold, but I knew those embraces wouldn’t happen. Now that I’m married and Hawk touches me? It’s an addiction I want to feed. I need him to touch me constantly. I need him to reach for me. I need him to pull me close and tuck me against him.
Or put his hands in my pants again. Truly, I’m fine with either.
But his words of flattery—as lovely as they are—are just as surprising. “If you think I’m competent, why are you so mean to me?”
Hawk chuckles, the sound low and sensual, and my nipples harden in response. “I didn’t say you were competent, little bird. But I trust you to have good sense when it comes to being in the tunnels. It’s clear you’ve studied the guild and the ruins, which is more than I can say for the others. If anyone in your group will pass, I think it’s you.” He traces my nose again, and then moves down to the divot between my nose and my lip. “But that’s why I have to be so hard on you. The guild will be suspicious because we are married. You have to show that you’re an excellent student no matter what is thrown at you.”
His teasing finger is making my blood heat. I want to suck on his fingertip. I want to touch his cock. I want—
Something crawls over his bare arm. A tiny spider. Automatically, I reach out and flick it off his shoulder.
“What was that?” he growls, his tail thudding hard against the ground.
“Spider. It’s gone now. Nasty little creatures.” I fight back a yawn. To my surprise, Hawk jerks to his feet and abandons the tent. “I…Where are you going?”
“Need to talk to Magpie” is all he calls back, voice strangely tight.
Rude. Rude to just up and leave after teasing me like that. With a huff of annoyance, I close my eyes and try to go to sleep.
* * *
HAWK
Being in the tent with Aspeth each day is the sweetest torture. At night, when they’re marching through the woods, it’s easy to push down any feelings of affection. It’s easy to focus on the task ahead of us—of training the fledglings. Magpie seems to be in a good mood—almost too good. She swears she’s not drinking, but she also won’t let me sniff her breath, so I don’t know that I believe her.