Chapter 22
I slept well, and the smell of coffee hit me when I awoke.
Cillian was brewing the liquid gold over the fire, but it was Torgrin who held a cup to me.
I thanked him with a sleepy smile and took my first sip.
I groaned as the milky liquid hit my tongue and warmed my insides.
When I opened my eyes, both men were staring at me.
Torgrin cleared his throat and walked stiffly back to the fire.
Bethel didn’t get the same morning treatment. We had packed up most of the camp and waited for her to appear, still needing to take down her tent.
Torgrin was forced to enter the tent when she didn’t answer his call. Then, the shouting began. It ended with Torgrin coming out with a disheveled Bethel trailing behind him. Her hair was a fright, and her green dress looked as though she had slept in it.
Two soldiers stepped forward to pack away the tent. The fire was out and the food had been cleared, so she had to settle for water from her flask.
The day went much the same as the day before. I listened to Bethel whine, and Torgrin refused her demands to stop. Then, I spent another night sleeping between both men. We settled near a stream big enough for us to bathe in on the third day.
Bethel followed behind me as I looked for a private place to wash while the men set up camp.
I was eager to wash off the grime I had accumulated riding for three days straight.
I stripped off all my clothes and waded into the cold water.
Bethel was less excited about washing, and I realised she had probably never bathed outside a bathtub.
She was shivering as I handed her a rag and soap.
I felt a little sorry for her. She had lived a life that was as foreign to me as bathing in a stream was to her.
We stood up to our waists in the water. Her long, black hair cascaded down to her waist and resembled a messy bird’s nest with twigs and leaves entwined in the dull tresses.
‘Would you like me to wash your hair?’
Bethel took her time before replying, likely her vanity fighting her pride.
Her vanity won out. ‘Yes,’ was all she said before turning her shivering back to me.
We returned to the camp when we finished bathing to find the fire was lit, and a stew was served.
Cillian wasn’t around, so I assumed he was taking his turn at the stream.
Bethel disappeared into her tent with a bowl of stew, and I plopped myself down by the fire to comb through my hair.
It had grown long without Dana around to trim it regularly.
My hair reflected the firelight as I moved my fingers through the golden strands.
I looked across the flames to see Torgrin watching me. When he realised he’d been caught, he returned his focus to the open journal resting on his knees. His attempt to pretend he hadn’t just been caught watching me made me smile.
‘What do you think he puts in that book?’
I jumped a little as Cillian dropped to sit beside me. He looked clean and relaxed. His hair was a few shades darker than mine and hung loosely around his mountainous shoulders.
Torgrin’s head was bent over his journal, and the way he moved his charcoal across the page suggested he was sketching.
‘I don’t know,’ I lied.
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It was a few more days before we reached another river. Everyone dispersed to wash and set up camp. After Bethel and I bathed, I brought her back to her tent. I had seen a deer on the riverbank, so I retrieved my bow and quiver, excited by the thought of having fresh venison for supper.
Following the tracks left in the mud by the stream, I didn’t have to go far before I spotted the animal again. It was an easy kill, and I had the deer gutted and draining quickly.
The sun was low in the sky; night wasn’t far away. As I washed my hands and blade, I heard noises further along the bank.
Quietly, I crept forward to see who it was.
There were two soldiers positioned against a tree.
One had his leather breeches partially down, and the other man was behind him.
They were moaning and panting, clearly enjoying themselves.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I continued to watch the lovers, and soon realised that the soldier thrusting into the other man was Tomas.
‘Enjoy watching people having sex, do you?’
I squeaked and spun around. My face felt as fiery as the Murus sun. Torgrin.
I glanced back quickly to see if Tomas and his lover had heard me, but thankfully they were completely oblivious to our prescence.
‘So, it’s not just me you like to watch?’
‘No! I mean, yes! No, I mean …’ I was trying to keep my voice quiet while my embarrassment blazed. ‘Bethel set me up, and you know that.’
Torgrin’s jaw pulsed as he clenched his molars. ‘She set us both up.’ A cry of pleasure punctuated his words, and I resisted the urge to look behind me.
‘Does it excite you to watch them?’ he whispered, leaning in close and looking over my shoulder.
Torgrin’s chiseled profile was so close that if I turned my head slightly, my lips could trace the stubble along his jawline.
He turned his attention back to me, his warm breath brushing my face.
His dark eyes examined mine like he could see what his nearness was doing to me.
I began gnawing my lip, trying to stop myself from doing something I would regret.
He raised his hand and pulled my lip away from my punishing teeth with a gentle finger.
‘I didn’t know men could do that,’ I admitted to him.
‘Yes, they can. And women enjoy each other’s bodies too.’ His eyes were on my mouth as he said this.
I didn’t know such relationships existed. I must have seemed naive to Torgrin, but my curiosity was stronger than my embarrassment because I couldn’t resist asking a question.
‘How is Tomas not hurting the other man by putting it in … there?’
Torgrin moved his body closer, pinning my back against the tree. He leaned on the tree with one arm and twirled a piece of my hair around his long fingers. The moans of the two men were intensifying, and I had to open my mouth to get enough air into my lungs.
‘A skilled lover knows to start slowly and ease himself in. I have found oils work very well,’ he whispered in my ear, his stubble grazing my cheek. I shivered as his breath tickled my neck. ‘And yes, it is very enjoyable for the receiver, whether a man or a woman.’
The moaning came to a crescendo behind us. We waited. Torgrin watched them, and I watched him.
‘They’ve gone.’ He stepped back abruptly, making my head spin a little. ‘Now, would you like my help to carry that deer you have cleverly slain for our evening meal?’ His brow arched in question as I composed myself. I nodded.
We were joyfully received back at camp when our cargo was spotted, so we handed the deer over to others to butcher and cook.
I saw that Tomas and his friend were back and chatting by the fire, clearly happy in each other’s company. Cillian was across the fire, watching Torgrin and I enter the camp together. He smiled at me when I sat next to him.
What would Cillian do if I asked him to take me into the trees right now? Agitation and an ache in my core had me crossing and uncrossing my legs more than was necessary.
Bethel was, for once, not hiding and eating in her tent.
She came to join the excited group gathered for the evening meal.
I observed her across the fire, sitting and chatting to Torgrin as if they hadn’t been at each other’s throats all week.
It annoyed me how familiar they were in each other’s company.
I thought about what Torgrin had admitted in his journal.
He had imagined my thighs squeezing his head, not hers.
He had wanted the room filled with my moans, not hers.
He had written that thinking of me had made him hard.
I tightly gripped Cillian’s hand, feeling the warmth and strength in his large palm, and led him into the dense canopy of trees.
‘What’s going on?’ Cillian asked in confusion.
When the voices from the camp became distant and muffled, and the only light was from the flickering of fire appearing between the trees, I pressed my body against Cillian’s and kissed him.
‘Oh,’ was all he said before he took over and walked me backwards until I was pressed against a tree.
His kisses were as passionate and frantic as mine. I reached for the bulge in his breeches and undid the ties to free him. Cillian groaned into my hair as I took him in my hand and stroked him like I had watched him do to himself.
He lifted my shirt and sucked my nipples almost painfully, making me pant harder.
His hand found the ties of my leggings, and when he had them undone, his fingers began to circle that sensitive throbbing spot between my legs.
Arching my back, I fell into the abyss within seconds.
Cillian covered my mouth to muffle my cries.
‘Damn, woman, that was quick,’ he said, chuckling softly.
I continued to stroke him, feeling him getting harder and hotter in my hand.
Cillian kissed me slowly while keeping his hands in my breeches.
He pushed a finger into me, igniting my desire once again.
Soon, he had two fingers inside me, and then three, stretching me until I was whimpering.
His digits twisted in and out of me, bringing me closer to the edge.
I knew he was close, too, as he thrust faster against my hand.
His fingers worked in tempo with his hips as if he was imagining he was inside me, and we came together, muffling our cries with our joined mouths.
With languid bodies and secretive smiles, we returned to camp. I noticed that Bethel and Torgrin were no longer sitting by the fire. I ate my venison as the glow of Cillian’s lovemaking eased. Soon, I took myself to bed despite the babble of voices surrounding me.
Using the limited light from the fire, I read more of Torgrin’s journal.
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She’s gone. She left without a word.
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