50. Chapter 50
T he water was so cold, it burned. Ren poured water from the ladle into her coop and let it wash over her tongue, icy and clean.
Mountain cap water, Talen had called it.
Straight from the spring, born of ice melt.
It was the best thing she’d ever tasted, and this morning, her body was desperate for it.
Her head still thudded from last night’s drinking
Her gaze flicked to the other side of camp. Kaelin lingered beside Whisper, stroking the mare’s sleek muzzle, her fingers moving in unhurried circles. She was quieter than usual this morning.
Truth be told, they were all quiet.
Something had shifted last night. Ren wasn’t sure if it was the fiddle music, the heat of the fire, or simply the distance from the palace and all its watching eyes. But even through the haze of drink, she had felt as though she’d set something down, without knowing what it was.
The rhythmic pound of hooves broke through the stillness. Talen rode in at the head of a small group. Behind him, a male and female fae kept pace. Draped across Talen’s front was the broad, tawny pelt of a kill.
Only then did Ren notice how small their party truly was, including Kaelin, Talen, and Lucan, there were just the two fae warriors and a healer trailing behind them. Yesterday had been so frantic she hadn’t even realized .
“Nothing more refreshing than a morning hunt,” Talen called. “Bagged an elk big enough to feed us for weeks. Means we don’t have to live off dried meat, cheese, and bread the whole time up north.”
Lucan, gnawing on a strip of jerky, gave a reluctant grunt. “Thank the gods.”
Packing began in earnest after that. When Ren turned toward the horses, Talen rubbed the back of his neck, a crooked grin tugging at his mouth. “Sorry,” he said, patting the elk pelt. “You’ve been replaced.”
“A shame,” Ren muttered, though the word tasted heavier than she meant.
“Don’t look so disappointed,” Kaelin drawled from her saddle, a smirk curling at her lips. “There is plenty of room up here.”
Ren’s gaze desperately flicked to Lucan, whose color was rapidly shifting toward seasick green.
Talen sighed. “Don’t mind him. Poor fool can’t hold his drink to save his life.”
In response, Lucan groaned, clutching the reins.
Ren sighed and approached Whisper warily. The mare was taller than Cider by a hand, her presence as imposing as her rider’s. The mare shifted her weight as Ren came near, watching her sidelong with an unnerving, intelligent pair of eyes.
Ren hesitated, the urge to murmur something— anything —rising unbidden. But she caught herself. Horses couldn’t understand, and Whisper didn’t strike her as the type to appreciate flattery, anyway.
Ren begrudgingly swung into the saddle behind Kaelin. Whisper shifted again, tail flicking hard against Ren’s thigh, as if to make her displeasure known.
Ren grumbled, “You and your nightmare horse are made for each other.”
Kaelin shot her a wicked smile. “Oh, I quite agree. She kicks, I plot, and together we’re unstoppable. Hold on tight, Ren.”
An hour later, the forest spilled away behind them, giving over to open, frost-tinged hills.
Whisper’s gait was smooth, every step rolling into the next like flowing water. But it wasn’t the mare Ren’s mind kept circling back to.
It was the way Kaelin’s hips moved with each stride, the faint sway that pressed her inevitably, into Ren’s front.
The way her braid swayed against Ren’s shoulder.
And saints , her scent – an alluring symphony of wild lavender and frost-kissed grapefruit.
It wrapped around Ren, making it damn near impossible not to think about the fae princess.
“Comfortable back there?” Kaelin asked, her voice just loud enough to carry over the hoofbeats.
“Depends on your definition.”
Kaelin shifted deliberately , Ren suspected. “You’ll have to hold on when we hit the pass. The climb’s steep, and the drop is dramatic. But the views of the mountains?” Her lips curved as she glanced over her shoulder, meeting Ren’s gaze. “ Breathtaking .”
Ren’s blood went cold. The color drained from her cheeks before she could mask it, her fingers tightening on the saddle.
Talen quickly caught the way Ren paled. “Not a fan of heights?”
Ren clenched her jaw, leaning forward as if bracing against the wind. “I’m a fan of solid ground.”
Kaelin chuckled. “Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall.”
Ren scoffed, heat creeping up her neck despite herself. “You say that now. But if I do, I’m dragging you with me.”
“If it means your arms wrapped tight around me, I might not mind the fall.”
Ren snorted, rolling her eyes. Without thinking, she retorted, “Saints, you’d flirt with a stone if it looked at you the right way.”
Kaelin leaned back just enough for her words to curl hot against Ren’s ear. “No, Ren, darling. Just you.”
From behind, Talen and Lucan exchanged a knowing look. Lucan mouthed, you owe me , and Talen scowled, digging out a coin.
Ren’s pulse stuttered, her sarcastic armor crumbling for a heartbeat as heat licked down her spine. Kaelin’s laugh was low, pleased. And then she leaned back just enough for her shoulder to brush Ren’s chest. “Are you enjoying yourself? ”
Ren clenched her jaw, heat crawling up her neck. “Are you swiveling your hips on purpose?” she asked, each word ground out between her teeth.
A slow smile curved across Kaelin’s mouth. She didn’t look back, didn’t need to. “Darling,” she murmured, her voice low enough for only Ren to hear, “you should see what I can do in bed.”
The words struck in Ren’s chest, hot and dangerous. She forced her eyes to the road ahead, willing her pulse to steady though she was sure Kaelin could feel it in the space between them.
They rode in silence for a stretch, Talen and Lucan having already trotted ahead, locked in a heated debate over some absurd political point neither of them would ever concede.
Only when their voices faded did Kaelin finally speak. “So…” she began, drawing the word out, “about last night.”
“What about it?”
“Our kiss.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Kaelin laughed. “Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The way your lips felt soft, warm… like you’d been waiting for it.” She shifted her hips, her voice dropping to a near-whisper. “Makes me wonder where else I could put them.”
Heat slammed into Ren’s face, her breath catching. “Kaelin – ”
“What?” The single word was all silk and provocation. “You didn’t like it?”
“Saints, do you hear yourselves sometimes?”
Kaelin turned her head just enough to glance over her shoulder, a wicked smile curving her mouth. “You’re adorable when you’re flustered.” Against her will, Ren’s cheeks warmed even further to Kaelin’s delight. “Mmm… and there it is. That gorgeous little flush you get.”
Ren clenched her jaw, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a reply, but it didn’t matter. She could feel Kaelin’s quiet amusement radiating off of her, and saints help her, a treacherous part of her wanted more.
“You know,” Kaelin murmured. “ I liked it.”
Without so much as a glance, Kaelin slid her hand behind her, capturing Ren’s with a fierce, deliberate grip.
Without giving Ren the chance to pull away, Kaelin pressed a swift, mischievous kiss to the pads of Ren’s fingers before letting her hand fall back to Ren’s side.
Ren drew in two shuddering breaths, trying to wrestle her treacherous pulse back under control.
“I liked it more than I should have.” She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes catching Ren’s gaze.
“And as good as my lips felt…” Her voice dropped into something sinful. “…my fingers can do much more.”
A soft whimper left Ren’s lips before she could stop it, her core becoming pure molten heat. “Kaelin – ”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I think,” Ren ground out, trying to compose herself and her thoughts, “that you like hearing yourself talk.”
Kaelin’s grin widened. “Only when I’m making you think about all the ways I could show you.”
Ren willed the cold air to strip away the raging heat that had consumed her body, but it didn’t work.
She could still feel Kaelin’s laughter in the subtle shift of her back, the scrape of her teeth against her fingertips as she had kissed her hand, and she could still hear that promise in her voice.
Saints help her, a dangerous part of Ren wanted to know exactly what those fingers could do.
How they would feel exploring every secret part of her body and allowing Kaelin to touch her where no one else has.
Ren’s pulse thundered. She told herself it was the cold, the ride, but the truth lay in Kaelin’s words, still warm and wicked in her mind.
Kaelin’s grin curved. She faced forward again, braid brushing Ren’s arm. “Someday,” she murmured, barely audible over the hoofbeats, “I’ll show you.”
Whisper’s head snapped up. The mare’s ears pinned flat, muscles coiling under them.
Kaelin’s posture shifted instantly, that playful warmth vanishing. Her eyes flicked to the ridgeline ahead, then to the rocky slope on their right. “We’re not alone,” she stated.
Talen’s voice carried from ahead, clipped. “Eyes forward, all of you.”
Lucan swore under his breath. “Really? Now ? Of all the gods-damned times – come on.” He reached for his sword, the humor in his tone replaced by grim readiness.
Before Ren could respond, six figures stepped into the path ahead, bows in hand. Behind them, more emerged from the rocks—six, maybe seven—closing off their path .
“Bandits,” Kaelin confirmed, her hand already dropping to the hilt at her hip. She cast a single glance over her shoulder at Ren, and in it was both command and promise. “Hold on.”
Kaelin clicked her tongue, and Whisper lunged forward as the first arrow hissed past Ren’s ear.
Talen’s shout split the air, Cider rearing as Lucan charged with his horse, blade flashing. The clash of steel erupted ahead, the narrow pass turning into a funnel of chaos and shouting.
Kaelin’s hips moved with precision, her body anchored and lethal in the saddle as she drove Whisper straight into the thick of the fray.