Page 12 of Koha'vek
His whole body tensed at first, and he didn’t move. Then his hands came up, cradling my waist, gently as if I might break. Lifting me onto his lap, straddling him, he kissed me back. I closed my eyes and savored the light pressure of his lips against mine.
I opened my mouth to deepen the kiss and felt his growl vibrate softly against my chest.Yet he held me with a careful reverence as though I were precious to him.
When we finally ended the kiss, my breathing was shaky. Koha’vek was more controlled, but his eyes burned. He was no longer the monster I screamed at the first time I woke.
I wanted to kiss him again, but I thought we both needed some time to ponder whether to pursue this obvious attraction between us.
Heart pounding, I lifted myself off his lap and the bulge I felt pressing against me. “It’s been a long day. I should sleep.”
His voice was rough when he answered. “Yes.”
As he rose slowly, I touched his hand. “Thank you for today. Sleep well.
Chapter Seven
Ava
The trail to the stream had grown familiar, now that I could walk again. It was my favorite place to go now that the weather was growing warmer, at least during the days. There were still mornings when we were greeted by snow on the ground, no matter how warm the day before had been.
Warm beams of sunlight shone through the pine canopy, turning the forest floor into a shimmering mosaic as a soft breeze whispered through the branches. Wildflowers had started to bloom in the clearing, tiny white stars and vivid purple bursts that I didn’t know the names of.
Koha’vek offered to go instead, but I needed to get out and about. It wasn’t that long to walk, and I liked getting out to do what I could to contribute. A mild ache in my muscles felt normal.
I filled the water skin with cool, fresh water from the stream. Although we could pump water into the cabin, it was not as palatable fordrinking as the water from the stream. I was just closing the water skin's opening when a voice behind me made my spine tingle.
“Well, well. Look who finally crawled out of her hole.”
I turn slowly, my heart pounding.
Two men stood at the edge of the clearing, dressed in patched, dust-stained clothes that screamed Jenkins’s gang. The one on the left carried a rifle slung casually over his shoulder. The other had a grin too wide for his thin face and something dangerous in his eyes.
I recognize them immediately with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I took a step back, gripping the waterskin in both hands.
“Don’t scream,” the thin one said just as I was about to. “It won’t help you. Ain’t nobody gonna hear you up here.”
“Why are you here? This land is not yours.”
“It ain’t yours either,” the other one said. “Just like that ranch where you used to live.”
The grin on the first one’s face widened, and he looked so smug that I wanted to slap him.
“Mayor Jenkins is really worried about you, sweetheart. He says he forgives you for running off like youdid if you come home like a good girl. He might even let you keep a bedroom yourself—after he’s done with you.”
The very thought made my stomach lurch again. He took a step forward, but before I could respond, everything shifted.
I heard a rustle, and then I saw a blur of motion in the trees. And Koha’vek appeared. He came out of the woods like a marauder, silent but impossible to miss, seven feet of scaled fury with a blade already in his hand.
The first man’s grin vanished. The second one managed to unsling his rifle, but Koha’vek was faster. He struck low, ripping the weapon awayand slamming the man into a tree hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Then he turned on the other, growling—a low, guttural sound that chilled me more than the men’s threats had.
The second man stumbled back, hands raised. “What the hell is that—?!”
I stepped between them before Koha’vek could strike again, not that I would’ve minded had he killed them both, but it would bring more trouble to us. Koha’vek froze, the blade still in his hand. I’d never seen him look so fierce.
I turned to Jenkins’s thug, jaw clenched. “Tell Jenkins he’s got my ranch, but I don’tcome with it. If he sends anyone else after me, they won’t walk away. Leave now.”
“Lady,” the man said, looking at Koha’vek then at me, “you’re out of your mind.”
“Maybe I was, but I’m better now.”
