Chapter 6 #3
Before I could finish the scream, Kendrick was gone. Pulled off me and flung all the way to the water’s edge. I was pulled to my feet just as fast and found myself face-to-face with Tynan. The intensity in his eyes took my breath.
“You’re okay, Ma Guerrière?” It was both a question and a statement.
The grip he had on my shoulders eased so he could turn my head from side to side to see if Kendrick had managed to bite.
When he was sure there was no real damage, he tenderly rubbed the side of my face and pulled me into his arms.
I let myself feel protected by the strong body wrapped around mine. I still hadn’t said anything. Pressing forward, I melted into the hardness of his chest. “The man is a monster.”
With the adrenaline and the rush from my experience in the forest running through my blood, I couldn’t fight the lure of his body pressed against mine.
From the knees up, I could feel every hard line.
I closed my eyes and imagined what his naked flesh would be like pressed against me like this.
Not able to stop myself, I slid my hands around his waist and clung to him.
The muscles of his back tightened slightly in response to my touch.
His hands cupped my face as he pressed his cheek to mine.
“Keena, we need to talk about this, about us.”
The deep rumbling of his voice only made it harder to be this close. My body was crying for his. My pussy was wet and wanting and I had just escaped death. This was not right.
Shaking my head, I pulled away. “I can’t—”
“Over here!” Manus shouted from the tree line.
I could hear his movements as he joined us.
It was a good thing he’d shown up. I didn’t trust myself alone with Tynan.
I attempted to shake away the barren feeling left in my heart, knowing I had to walk away from him.
I would not give in and have him bound to me for eternity.
Oh, but I wanted to.
Manus ran to my side, sword drawn, still looking around for the threat.
“Kendrick. He’s gone,” Tynan growled over my head.
Manus sheathed his sword. “Here? That’s rather bold, isn’t it?”
“Not if he had succeeded.”
Manus gave Tynan a terse look and turned to me, trying to change the subject. “How did you get all the way out here?” I saw his face change from real concern to mild amusement as he looked me over and calmed down.
Anger filled me at his question. They still weren’t going to tell me about the plot against me after another attack! “I know about the Slaugh and my half-sister’s alliances. Kendrick was sent to kill me.”
He took a step backward and a deep breath. “It seems the manor grapevine is wound deeper than I thought,” he said, as he ran a hand through his hair. “You needed to know. I should have told you.”
I glared at him. “But you didn’t, did you? No. I heard it from someone else, and I really didn’t take it all that seriously. I figured if I needed to be so careful that I couldn’t even take a walk on the grounds, my guardian would tell me.”
“Keena.” Manus had the decency to look regretful as he started toward me.
“Don’t you think I could protect myself better if you guys told me exactly what’s going on around me?
If I’d heard the truth from you, even Bevin, I’d have taken more precautions.
I’m not stupid, and I’m not a child.” Storming off toward the forest, I left with one last look at Tynan.
I was trembling from anger, fear, and from the feel of Tynan’s body pressed to mine, from the feelings I had no control over.
Anger was easier to deal with, easier to control. Even predictable.
Hogan stumbled from the woods, his clothing torn and tattered, his chest heaving from running.
Oh man. He’d be furious at me for mussing his wardrobe, more so than for leaving him behind.
I stopped to help him straighten himself, pulling his tunic straight and brushing leaves from his hair, straightening his mohawk.
I kissed him on the cheek and gave him a wink that made him blush, which was really cute with his blue cheeks.
“She was riding a ceffyl-dwr,” Hogan huffed toward the other men, trying to catch his breath. The two men looked from him to me, mouths gaping.
“Tattletale!” I re-mussed his hair and started down the path to the manor. Manus stopped me with a stern hand on my arm. “What?” I asked, brushing his hand off.
“The ceffyl-dwr are particular about being ridden, Keena. It’s usually not safe. They take riders off and dump them. That beast brought you to Kendrick?”
No. Definitely not. The horse and I had been communing in the forest, sharing our love of the run and the wild.
Coming across Kendrick was not the horse’s fault.
He wasn’t part of some horsey plot against me.
I knew it. They were not going to blame the horse.
“He’s not a beast, and we rode to the ocean, not the Vamp.
Kendrick surprised the horse just as much as he did me.
The ceffyl…cef…whatever…didn’t do anything wrong.
“The bigger question is—how did Kendrick know I would be here?”