Chapter Twenty-Five
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OAKLIE WAS STILL SHAKING on the inside after almost being captured by the men who’d ambushed them. While she was stronger and faster than normal, she didn’t have any combat training. Taking on two foes at once had been challenging, especially after she’d been knifed in the arm.
“Can you fortify the doors?” Arkas asked when they darted into the motel.
“Sure,” she replied, determined not to fall to pieces.
Placing her hand on the doorframe, she sent her magic into the structure.
All of the windows and exits became fused and impossible to open.
“We’ll be safe here now,” she said. “Someone can smash a window and climb inside while we’re sleeping, but the noise will give us plenty of warning. ”
“We’ll need a room with two beds, so I can keep you close,” the knight said. She wasn’t about to argue with him. No longer in her home, Oaklie felt vulnerable and frightened. They’d already run into one disaster and they still had a long way to go.
Arkas forced open the closest door and glanced inside. It only had a queen-sized bed. So did the second room. The third room had two singles. “I’m too tall for a bed that small,” he said with a grimace.
“We can use a room with a queen bed,” Oaklie said. “I’m too tired to jump your bones tonight,” she joked.
His pale blue eyes flared with instant desire and he quickly turned away. “This room will do,” he said huskily, backtracking to the room next door.
Snickering beneath her breath, Oaklie followed him inside.
He’d taken a seat on a chair in the corner of the room.
A lamp stood beside it. It was so dark she was having trouble making anything out.
She dropped her bags next to his, then shut the door.
Once again, she fused the wood together.
“Let me know if you need to leave the room,” she said, then covered a yawn with her hand.
“I’m going to eat some food, then go to bed early. ”
“Do you need some light?” Arkas asked, taking his flashlight out of his pocket.
“Thanks,” she said and crossed to take it from him.
She rummaged in one of her duffle bags and pulled out snacks and a bottle of water she’d stashed inside.
Arkas moved the chair closer to the window.
He shifted the curtain aside so he could watch the storm raging.
Oaklie sat on the bed and switched the light off so no one could spot it from outside.
“We should only travel during the day,” Arkas suggested. “It would be too easy to drive straight into an ambush at night.”
“Good idea,” she agreed. “I don’t want a repeat of what happened today.” Her wrist had healed, but the memory of her agony remained.
She ate her makeshift meal and washed it down with water, then took her brush out of a duffle bag. Arkas switched his attention to her when she took her hair out of the bun.
“I’ve never seen hair as beautiful as yours before,” he murmured, pulling the curtain shut so no one could see in.
“It can be a pain to look after, but I’ve always had long hair,” Oaklie said. Her hair was tangled, so she wrapped it around her hand to tug the bristles through it.
Arkas crossed to the bed and sat next to her. “May I?” he asked.
Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness. She saw his expression was vulnerable rather than demanding. “Okay,” she said with a flutter in her belly. “Don’t pull too hard while you’re brushing it,” she requested.
“I’ll be gentle, female,” he replied, taking the brush from her.
Oaklie turned her back to him. Her body tingled when he ran the brush from her scalp down to her waist. “Ouch,” she said with a wince when it got caught in a tangle.
“Lean forward so I can unknot your hair,” he requested, placing his large hand on her back and pushing her forward lightly.
Obliging him, she tensed when he wrapped the tangled hair around his hand.
This time, he freed the knot without tugging on her roots.
He was sitting so close that she could feel the heat of his body.
Desire rose as he systematically untangled her hair, brushing it with long, slow strokes.
Occasionally, he ran his hand down her hair all the way to her butt, stroking her like she was a cat.
Her breath hitched when he put the brush down and dug his fingers deep into her hair. They touched her scalp and began to massage her.
“You’re too tense,” Arkas murmured. “Let me help you relax.”
Speechless, she melted as his magic fingers went to work. Oaklie had to hold in a moan of pleasure as the warrior expertly massaged her scalp. Boneless by the time he was done, she didn’t resist when he eased her onto her back. Lying beside her, he took her into his arms and pulled her in close.
Lying side by side, they gazed at each other without speaking. Oaklie let her shield fall and the connection between them instantly became impossible to ignore.
Arkas cupped her cheek, treating her as if she was as fragile as a crystal glass. “You’re so beautiful, my cambion,” he said in longing. “I wish I could stay here with you forever.”
“Me, too,” she replied wistfully, exhausted from the tension and the constant travel. “What would you do if you didn’t have to fight the Soldiers of Chaos?”
He looked at her blankly, as if he’d never even considered the possibility that he could be anything other than a warrior. “I’d like to become an artist like you,” he decided at last. “You could teach me how to sculpt properly.”
She smiled at that notion as sleep drew closer. “What would you teach me, Knight of Order?” she murmured.
“I’d teach you how to fight and how to destroy your enemies,” he replied. “Although you’ve already proven you can hold your own in battle.”
Smiling, her eyes drifted shut. Arkas traced her lips with his fingertip, his touch so light she could barely feel it. “What else would you teach me?” she asked, voice slurring a bit as she began to ease into slumber.
“I’d teach you everything I know about passion, my female,” he said. “I’d pleasure you every day for the rest of our lives if Fate saw fit to let me stay here with you.”
Her eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each. Forcing them open, she saw an expression of such intense longing on his gorgeous face that she leaned in to kiss him.
His lips were softer than she’d expected.
Their kiss was so featherlight she almost thought she was imagining it.
Arkas pressed her palm against the tattoo on his chest and tangled his legs with hers.
Then sleep grabbed hold of her and she couldn’t resist it any longer.
Safe in the cocoon of his arms, she slumbered while the storm raged on outside.
Rousing briefly a few hours later, Oaklie gazed in wonder at the warrior lying next to her.
Deeply asleep, Arkas still had his arms wrapped around her protectively.
Her heart ached that he could never be hers, no matter how badly they both wanted it.
The knights had a purpose that was far more important than her selfish wants.
She resolved to protect her heart so it wouldn’t be shattered.
It was inevitable that her warrior would eventually be wrenched from her world and sent back to the Void.