Page 48 of The Orc's Stolen Shepherdess

And just like that, it was over. I wanted to collapse from relief.

Warmth enclosed my hand, and I looked up to find Caivid holding it tight in his own. He smiled down at me in a way that made my heart squeeze. “Let’s walk back together.”

Chapter Twenty

Caivid

As the carriage with her father disappeared behind a bend in the path, I finally took a deep breath.

And then Susara squeezed my hand in hers and I lost it again.

“That was. . .” She exhaled long and heavy with a shake of her head.

“Pure madness,” I finished, and a smile lit her face.

“Exactly. Fades, I knew people were being less than welcoming toward you warriors, but I had no idea they would believe you’d actually stolen me from my bed,” she said as we began to walk along the path. I felt like I was floating. The sunshine was brighter, and the air held less chill.

“I would like to say that this is the last time something like this will happen.” Her voice was tense, and she gave my hand another squeeze. “But you saw the way Waston looked, right? She looked. . .”

“I know,” I said softly. “I think she must have something planned.”

“But what?” Susara shook her head. “What could she possibly gain from stirring up tension between our communities?”

“I know not, but I suspect the truth will reveal itself soon enough. Regardless of what comes, Susara, I vow to protect you through it. You and your father both.”

She looked up at me with sparkling blue eyes and gave me a smile that had me melting for her all over again. “And I will take care of you. Just like I promised.” Her brow knitted, and she reached up to touch my cheek. “Does it hurt where he hit you?”

I snorted with amusement and leaned into her touch. “If I say yes, will you mend me?”

She smiled mischievously. “Lean down here and let me take a look.”

I did so without hesitation, and she pressed her cool lips to my hot skin. The touch was so wonderfully tender it made my eyes shutter.

She trailed kisses all the way to my mouth, and I captured her lips with mine. She tasted so good and her rosemary scent engulfed me. I parted my lips to deepen the kiss.

And then something pushed right into my back.

Susara gasped as I broke off the kiss and whirled around.

Only to find asheepbehind me. A black one.

Midnight.

Suddenly, two hands of sheep burst out of the woods and rushed toward us. They circled around Susara, bleating loudly.

“Wool and wails, you broke out of your pens again! You really couldn’t wait just a little longer for your grain?” Susara looked a perfect mix between shocked and amused as she rapped her crook on the ground. “And you’re filthy! What in all Faeda have you been getting up to?”

“They don’t look too bad off.” I patted Midnight’s black head, and she stopped next to me. I scratched under her chin and found her beard was orange. “Is this. . .carrot juice?”

Susara’s eyes grew huge, and she checked the other sheep. “It is! Where have you sheep been getting carrots? Do you think someone has been feeding them? Or are they getting into one of the orc’s gardens?” She sighed. “I can’t imagine he fed my sheep a bundle of carrotswillingly. They probably stole them. I’ll have to give him a few sacks of wool to make up for it.”

I snorted with amusement. “I suppose I’ll have my hands full guarding this mischievous flock.”

Susara stood back up and came to my side and I gulped at the glint I saw in her eye. She touched the middle of my chest with her soft, warm hand. “I’ll show you real mischief tonight.”

I used my thumb to push up her chin and leaned down over her in that odd way that made her breath catch, her heart hammer, and the scent of her arousal bloom. “I’ll be there.”

I kissed her with all the passion I could muster and she melted against me, so boneless that I had to hold her up.

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