14. Hide & Seek
SOUNDTRACK: The Hunted by Oskura
~ GRACE ~
I pulled my cloak more tightly around me as I slipped into the trees that surrounded the hut.
I wasn’t cold, but I suddenly needed to feel held.
I was struck once more with my inability to read men correctly.
I’d been certain something important was happening.
That he’d intended to teach me something much more intimate than foraging for mushrooms. Yet, he’d turned away and gone back to cooking as if nothing would happen.
Oh, the anticipation was there in the bond. I had no doubt we’d enjoy our evening together after the meal. Perhaps that was his intent. But it frustrated me that I lacked the wiles that most women seemed to possess by instinct.
My passage was slow as I entered the thick wood. In the clearing, the world still glowed golden and orange. But under the canopy, night had fallen. I slowed my pace as everything turned a deep gray that shrouded details. There was still light, but my eyes needed a moment to adjust.
Then Koa sang in my head, and some of my unease was soothed in the face of her joy.
‘The mate is coming!’ she chittered joyfully, amid images of Kham pursuing her somewhere in the nearby forest.
I couldn’t help but laugh—Koa adored leading Kham on a chase.
‘Enjoy yourself, Koa,’ I sent with a genuine smile, yet feeling the pinch and bracing myself. As her desire rose, mine would as well.
‘The games, Firebird. Enjoy the games!’
I nodded and sent her a rush of love. Her pure joy, and her devotion to Kham, were beautiful things.
I couldn’t always interpret every word, especially if she was excited or anxious.
But I felt her. Her heart was beautiful, and fierce.
She loved deeply, and with abandon—and she preened under Kham’s attention.
Their love was as beautiful as her ruby scales, and I now held precious hope that Voski and I might reach something like that, some day. A hope that deepened as he softened.
But I couldn’t shake the niggling fear that it was our solitude that had freed his heart. That when we returned to the Keep, his tension would return with it.
‘No, Grace! Free the heart—play the game!’
‘I will,’ I assured her. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
‘Run! Run fast!’ she sang.
I grinned. ‘Enjoy your mate, Koa. Just don’t touch my mind once you’re mating, please,’ I sent with only a little squirm.
Koa—and Voski—were teaching me not to be so easily embarrassed by talk of these things.
But I still felt out of my depth. I loved it when Voski’s eyes began to gleam, and his tone dropped to that ragged gravel. It was thrilling.
‘Grace—enjoy! Grace, play the mate game!’
Ah. I thought I understood. She’d felt my desire rise when I was with Voski, and she was urging me toward him. ‘I will, don’t worry,’ I reassured her. ‘We have to eat first, that’s all. Strong men need a lot of food before fun.’
To my surprise, Koa gave a low growl in the bond. ‘The mates need games.’ My mind flickered with images of Kham, chasing her through the trees, his neck extended and snaking as he chased her down.
I’d seen them do this several times since they bonded, and I always found it thrilling.
Koa was delighted when Kham came after her.
And she led him on a merry chase whenever she could, screaming and whistling, taunting him—which only drove him after her with more vigor.
Until they ended in a tangle of necks and limbs and… well.
Perhaps that was what she was telling me? To tease Voski? My mother had always urged me to remember that my frankness wasn’t attractive. That men loved the chase. That coy flirting was more attractive than bald statements of the truth.
Perhaps that was why Voski had stopped and sent me for mushrooms? Because I hadn’t played games?
I frowned. I enjoyed the flirting when I managed it. But I usually couldn’t think of flirtatious things to say. Only suggestive truth. And I didn’t want to pretend with him. It didn’t sit well in my chest.
‘Hide and seek… Hide and seek, Grace.’
I’d just caught sight of a small cluster of the mushrooms near the roots of a tree and hurried toward them, but Koa’s words took me by surprise.
I recognized them, of course. A child’s game I used to enjoy a great deal when I was young.
But it seemed strange that she would use it.
Kham must have described their teasing, chasing game with those human words.
‘I enjoy hide and seek as well, Koa. Now go. Enjoy your mate, and I will enjoy mine.’
I heard her distant, shrill scream and grinned, praying that they’d play their game for a time so we could eat before the other hunger overtook us.
I was pleased to find nearly a dozen of the mushrooms near the base of a large tree, but they were small, and Voski said he needed twenty.
So, after shaking as much dirt from the mushrooms as I could, I made a loop with one side of my cloak and placed them inside the folds, then turned in the dying light to look for more, praying I’d be able to see long enough to find them.
But just as I straightened, my senses prickled.
I went still. Ears perked, turning slowly, listening. The evening birds had gone quiet, which meant something predatory moved nearby.
My instincts shrilled. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Suddenly I felt eyes on my back.
I whirled.
Dark eyes. Pinpoints of light. A shadow that moved faster than a blink. Then nothing.
I stood there, my breath growing quick and shallow, searching the dark for more movement, or sound, my heart hammering in my chest.
When I couldn’t see anything, I instinctively reached for Voski in the bond, and then slumped with relief.
Of course. He was near. Very near, because I could feel him very clearly.
Those were his eyes. And he’d darted away.
Hide and seek, Koa had said. Mate games.
I gave a little laugh as understanding clicked. Then let my cloak fall, tumbling the mushrooms to the dirt at the base of the tree, and slipping behind it so if he was still in that direction, he couldn’t see me.
Then I closed my eyes, and opened myself to the bond, turning until I thought I’d figured out which direction he was in, then crept out, keeping my body low, and biting down on a smile.
Hide and seek.
Mate games.
This would be fun.
~ VOSKI ~
I cursed to myself when she sensed me, and darted around a tree, pausing only to make certain she still faced the position I’d been in, then began to creep around to get behind her, smiling when I felt her in the bond.
Clever girl. But not as adept with the bond as I was. Stifling it as much as I could, I knew I wouldn’t stop her sensing me, but the sensation would broaden and fade. She’d struggle to find me with it.
Moments later, her voice rose, echoing through the trees. “I know you’re here! I can feel your eyes on me.”
And then I reached for her mind, pressing harder, having to speak louder than I would with Kham. ‘I like having my eyes on you.’
I knew she’d heard me when she whirled.
Carefully, using all my skill, I watched her through holes in the bushes, keeping myself at her back at all times, so I could watch her without her seeing me.
“Come out!” she called, but I could hear the smile in her tone.
Shaking my head, I remained at her back, but slipped deeper into the trees. She didn’t yet understand.
Moments later, she stopped turning, searching and tipped her head. “No,” she murmured. “You like to give orders, not take them.”
Whether she intended for me to hear the words or not was unclear.
But I smiled.
And even on profile, saw her cheeks stretch to reflect the same.
God, I wanted her.
“You feel like a predator,” she said breathlessly, quietly. I had to strain to hear her.
‘Do you feel like prey?’ I sent, crouching when she began to back toward me. ‘Because you are.’
She sucked in a breath and whirled, poised to run directly toward me—then her eyes flew wide and she slid to a halt as our gazes locked.
I smiled, then sank deeper into the dark so she wouldn’t see me. She’d begun to back away, already smiling, the bond thrumming with need, and anticipation. I balled my fists as my heart slammed in my chest.
‘Grace… run.’
With a little squeak, she bolted, and I was after her like a dog on scent.
She was swift, and silent on her feet—but ruined it by laughing. Tittering, giggling, scrambling through the forest offering me a trail that didn’t require line of sight.
I smiled and moved around her, herding her, though she didn’t know it.
Because this was our first hunt. And I wanted to savor it.
“Hide and seek!” she called over her shoulder, then dodged off the trail and into the trees. “And tag! Right?”
I swallowed a chuckle. ‘You’re it,’ I sent, my body thrilling when a rush of anticipation and desire washed through the bond.