Chapter 18
They rode in tired silence on the back of Rise’s horse, both seemingly lost in their thoughts. Rise just hoped Liv’s weren’t all thoughts of regret.
He’d awoken this morning, his dick hard and ready for another round, but she was no longer beside him in the makeshift bed. He’d found her curled up into a tight ball on the sitting bench in the front room. It was hard not to take it personally.
With determination to get started on their journey, he’d completed as much of the preparations as he could before waking her.
Now, he noticed her yawning into her hand as she shared the saddle with him, her back pushed tightly against his front.
Her long hair sliding cooly over his heated skin created tingles wherever it touched.
She smelled of warm sugar and all things mouthwatering.
As much as he tried not to think about having her in this position for other purposes, his mind kept straying to images of Liv, her naked body tensed in pleasure as he stood behind her, held her hips, and drove his cock deep inside, fucking her until his eyes rolled back in his head and his toes curled in pleasure.
As much as he tried to focus on something…anything else, he could feel the effects of his thoughts on his body as his length remained semi-hard. He hoped Liv didn’t notice her effect on him.
Yet, as she turned her head until she could see him out of the corner of her eye, she seemed breathless to him.
Oh, she’d noticed.
She swiveled her gaze back toward the front and asked, “Do you require a break?”
“I’m fine to continue. Do you need a break, princess?”
“If you’re correct, and we can create a portal directly to Lord Thrait’s castle, I would rather keep going until we reach the chosen area. Didn’t you say we were close?”
“Yes. It will take us about another ten minutes on this windy path until we’re at the top of that hill in front of us. Once we’re there, I can create the portal that will take us to the swampy land between Grawl’s palace and the Wilder Sea.”
She sat silently for a couple of minutes before she asked, “Why can’t you just create a portal anywhere you choose?”
Rise didn’t really know how to explain it, but there were places where he felt his ability strengthen. It was just something he knew.
“I can feel the magic stronger some places. Those are the places where portals come easier. I’m drawn to them. They call to me.”
“Has that always been the case?”
Rise thought about it for a moment before he answered, “Actually, the first one I created was the night I escaped from your father. I ran down a tunnel into the rainy night. We hadn’t gotten rain in months as happens often, so the ground was cracked and dry under my feet until I stepped outside.
Water pooled on the ground, the acidity of the rain burning slightly around my ankles, making it hard to go very quickly.
When I saw a hill in the distance, I ran for it, splashing high arcs of water around me as I went.
As I grew closer, it was like a low hum carried on the air until it became a steady, pleasant tone that pulled me faster and faster to it.
I thought I heard the hunting hounds in the distance behind me, and I was sure Grawl had sent them to tear me to pieces. I refused to let that happen.
“Scared out of my mind, I reached the pinnacle of the hill, and without any special words or motions or anything, a portal grew from a pinprick to a large swirl I could walk through. I didn’t hesitate, figuring whatever was on the other side couldn’t be worse than where I was.
I stepped through and found an unexpected paradise. ”
Liv had turned her neck as far as it would go to look at him again. “Where did you end up?”
“To this day, I don’t know where it was, and I’ve never been able to get back to it.
I stayed there for only a week, but it was like a dream.
Heavy, juicy fruits hanging from the trees, berries on the bushes, clean water flowing swiftly over stones, the softest grass you could ever sleep on, all of this and more sustained me while I healed over that week.
Then, one day, as I was exploring, another portal opened, and though I didn’t try to go through it, I suddenly found myself on the other side, back in Umbraland, where cruelty was the norm. ”
Slowly, she turned back around once more, and Rise was almost sad to see them nearing the top of the hill.
Although he still wasn’t sure that he wanted her to know every little thing about him, talking to Liv, even about his most painful memories, felt natural.
The more time he spent with her, the more time he wanted to spend with her.
He didn’t want to think about what that meant.
He needed to get his head on straight. Clearly, she was distracting him from his vengeance, and he didn’t like that one bit.
“That must have been so hard, Rise. But I’m glad you escaped. I’m glad you survived.”
He needed to remind her, and himself, that his ultimate goal was to kill Grawl, whatever that took, and that might mean using her to exact his revenge.
“Oh, I survived alright. I learned how to be as cruel as the others around me. Don’t doubt that I am a product of my environment. I’m as cruel as the rest of them.”
“No, you’re not. You’re here because you want to help your brother, Atta.”
He stopped as the hum became the soothing tone he felt clear to his bones. They had reached the top of the hill, and he took a moment to look at the land around them. It had once been lush, green, and full of life. Now, it was dusty and dead.
“You see the way the land has changed since your father took power? Do you see the destruction of this world?”
She nodded.
“Don’t make me out to be something I’m not. I’m like the land that you see. That’s what I’m like on the inside, princess.”
He dismounted swiftly. “And if you’re fool enough to believe otherwise, if you’re fool enough to believe that I’m here for any other reasons than selfish ones, then you haven’t been paying attention.”
With sure steps, Rise stepped away, and a portal opened up right in front of him. He turned back and nearly went to his knees to beg for forgiveness as he stared into Liv’s somber eyes. It wasn’t one of his prouder accomplishments, but he’d managed to cast himself back into the villain role.
Good! He didn’t need her looking at him with hero-worship in her eyes. It was better that she didn’t believe the best of him. She would only be disappointed.
He knew his tactic was working when she pushed one single word into his head.
Asshole!