Chapter 53 #2
“We’ve decided we need a map to record all the ruins we visit.” Fern was all business, but that little waver in her voice made me think I was getting to her more than she let on. “But does anyone know where the ruins are around Nevermere?”
“I grew up around here,” Lance said. “I can direct us to at least some of them.”
“Used to play in the rubble of those ruins closest to the keep,” Sparrow added.
“We fly out with the lieutenant in the morning,” I said, glad that was decided. Now we could get some good food in our bellies and—
“Flying around and visiting ruins in a haphazard fashion would be an inefficient way to discover the nest. Someone has to have made note of these sites somewhere,” Fern said.
“Might be a book in the library that has that information.”
There was nothing Lorien hated more than books, so for him to put this forward as an option was a testament to how he felt about Fern.
“Books.” Fern nodded sharply. “And perhaps some maps if the keep library’s collection is extensive. I’ll ask Christian in the morning.”
“We will.”
Lance and I looked at each other over. The realisation we’d said that at the same time was quickly moved past as we focussed on our girl.
“Well, now that’s decided…” Fern said in a prim tone.
We had dinner after that. I didn’t taste a thing.
Too busy watching Fern to know if I was eating fish, fowl, or some other creature.
My mouth knew what it wanted and food wasn’t it.
Chatter washed over me. Dimly, I was aware that Sparrow and Fern were having some sort of animated conversation, right up until the point some strangers walked into the hall.
Quiet fell over more than one table, but while many people craned their necks to take the newcomers in, Lance’s response was the most marked.
Barry used to have an old hunting hound that would scramble to his feet, going completely still when we got close to a deer, and that’s what the lieutenant resembled right now.
“What…?” Sparrow was a sharp one. “Oh, that’s Pippin.”
She caught the change in mood almost as fast as I did, following Lance’s gaze. If she looked stricken, it was nothing compared to Fern. Both women went curiously pale and I couldn’t work out why.
Perhaps because our Lance was staring at another woman.
I took the stranger for a lad at first. Not sure why because she had long white hair, but there was something about those broad shoulders, those narrow hips that made me think man, not woman.
Lance seemed to be studying her just as closely, right before his eyes screwed down into a slight squint.
This wasn’t the appreciative look of a man observing a woman he wanted to get closer to.
But Fern didn’t know that.
My arm was moving of its own accord, curling around her shoulders and pulling her closer.
She’d made clear that the overture was not appreciated, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
Whatever the fuck this was, I’d protect Fern from it.
A glance up at me and I saw a flash of vulnerability, right before her mask was put back into place.
“If you’ll excuse me.” How often did she hide what she really felt behind that perfectly polite tone? “I’m exhausted from the flight home. It’s time for me to head to bed.”
“I’m tired too,” I said, smiling when her eyes met mine. “Maybe that’s a situation we can rectify together?”
“You…”
That little growl, the way it forced her to put her mask aside for just a moment and let something real out.
It was why I’d keep poking her, forcing a reaction until she was comfortable enough to let the spontaneous ones show.
Fern didn’t bother cursing me out. Instead, she turned on her heel and marched out of the room.
With me following hot on her heels.
Lorien did as well. Dain looked up, muttered some curse and then dropped his bread onto his plate, trailing behind, but we all followed her right the way down to her door.
“You won’t be pushing your way into my suite now.
” Her chest was heaving as she sucked in breaths, but I was willing to bet it wasn’t from the exertion.
Part of her was readying itself for what was to come.
But we couldn’t do anything until her heart was on board as well. “I’ll call for some riders—”
“Call for them.” Getting close to Fern was as natural as breathing, so when my hand landed on her neck, feeling for her pulse, it felt inevitable that I’d find it racing. “Call them, Fern. Call every damn rider in the place, because it’d save me some time.”
“Us.”
Lorien settled against the wall beside Fern, his body turned towards hers.
Her eyes flicked from me to each one of my brothers and back again, trying to work out what we’d do next, but she knew.
My hand slid down, forming a fist when it reached her collar.
It took that clench of muscles to stop myself from sliding it down and discovering every single curve I’d traced so thoroughly with my eyes.
“Do you know what I’d tell them?” Just a slight shake of her head was enough for me to forge on. “That they can lay all the flowers, sweets, books, and art materials at your feet. Gods, maybe I should let them pay court, just so you know what I’d do.”
I was drowning in the details of her. The press and purse of her lips, the arch of her eyebrow and that impudent tilt of her nose.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Fern. Capable of making us men idiots as we try to impress you, but there is nothing any man in this keep can bring you, do for you, that will change what I know to be true.”
Gods, help me, my arm went around her waist and distantly I heard Slate’s roar in response. Tugging her closer felt so damn right, as did her hand coming to rest on my chest. The thin cotton of the cadet’s uniform was a good thing now, because I could feel the heat of her touch.
“We’re the men for you. If finding the nest is what makes you see that, then we won’t rest until we unearth it.
We’ll plunder every damn ruin in Nevermere if that’s what it takes.
Whatever you want…” My free hand slid down the side of her face, my fingertips barely skimming her skin as my head dropped lower.
“Whatever you need and right now, it’s this. ”
Was this what a kiss was? By all the gods, the feeling was electric. She was soft and I was hard, demanding more, more. Her little moan, that was music to my ears, egging me on. I was in heaven and so was she.
Right before it was snatched away.
Staring blankly, it took me seconds to realise what was happening. With a frown, I saw Fern had been plucked from my grip by Lorien.
“You’ll never catch me looking at another woman,” he told her. “Can’t when you’re in the room. There’s only you, Fern, and right now I really want to—”
My grin was instantaneous. Fern’s hand snaked up, burying itself in my brother’s hair before tugging his mouth down on hers.
Lorien was a quick study, though. He’d taken over things, pressing her into the wall, his body into hers, seconds later.
I settled down beside them, watching my brother claim our girl, then glancing over my shoulder to see where Dain was the moment Lorien pulled back.
Only to find he was gone.
Fern looked like a woman waking from a dream, gasping, then blinking furiously before looking about herself.
“I… That…”
“Got you speechless with a kiss, lass?” My grin widened. “Imagine what else we can do if you let us inside that suite of yours.”
“Inside?” That frown was back. She pushed herself away from the wall, then smoothed down her uniform. “That will not be happening. Goodnight.”
“Sweet dreams.” Lorien came to stand beside me, both of us watching her jerk open her front door. “You can tell us all about what we do to you tomorrow when you dream of us.”
I couldn’t help but laugh when the door was slammed shut.
“I’m starting to see the wisdom of your approach, brother,” Lorien said. “Because that was…”
“That was,” I agreed, unable to find the right adjective to finish the sentence.
“Where’s Fern?” As we ambled back up the hallway, we were intercepted by Lance. The man was in a flap if his wild-eyed look was anything to go by.
“In her room, safe in bed,” I replied. “Which is more than you’ll be able to say if you repeat what happened in the dining hall.”
“What happened in the dining hall?” For a moment I assumed he was just being defensive, but the lieutenant wasn’t one for dissembling. He seemed genuinely distressed. “One minute we were having dinner and then—”
“You stopped what you were doing to stare at another woman.” I remembered then the men clustered around the stranger. “Something that will never be repeated if you want to be part of this wing.”
“At Pippin?” The idea seemed ridiculous to him, but I saw what I saw. “We were friends when we were cadets and I haven’t seen her for years. I was trying to catch her eye and wave her over to introduce her and her husbands.”
Husbands. So those men were the strange woman’s partners. Well, they could keep her because none of my wing would have any time for another woman, and Lance needed to know that.
“Those stupid toffs Fern’s father invited to court her made clear what they thought about her.”
Lance went pale. He’d recounted the story she’d shared. We’d bonded over it and beer, vowing to undo every hurt they’d so carelessly inflicted.
“No one’s making Fern feel like shit.” Lorien crossed his arms as he stepped closer to the other man. “Not even you, Lieutenant.”
“Hell…” He paced back and forth, hands sinking into his hair. “Bloody hell, is that what I did?” Lance was a bit stiff, but he was a quick study. “I need to go and make amends right now.”
“In the morning.” I threw out an arm, stopping Lance from going marching over to Fern’s suite. “All four of us will be at her door first thing. You can make clear how you feel then.”
“Right. Right.” Lance nodded, then straightened up. “In the morning.”
It wasn’t him, the plan, or anything else that consumed my mind as we walked back up the stairs. My lips stung at every point they’d touched Fern’s, aching for more. Whatever it took for all four of us to kiss Fern breathless, that’s what we’d do.
I wouldn’t settle for less.