Page 21 of Quest for her Knights
“You okay, darling?” I ask, the nickname slipping out easily. But I don’t take it back, and she doesn’t correct me.
“Yeah, thanks. I got a little overexcited there,” she giggles.
“Let’s go that way,” I say, pointing upstream. “Here, take my hand so you don’t fall.” I offer my hand, and she takes it easily. Her skin feels soft against my calloused hand.
Are my hands too rough for her?
She grips me tight as we walk side by side through the water. I know she doesn’t really need to hold my hand, and I try to convince myself it’s just for her safety.
Yep. Her safety. It has nothing to do with the warm feeling in my chest.
“Tell me about yourself, Blaze.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Well, you already told me you started working at the castle because it gave you a purpose in life. How long have you been working there? And how old are you? Where are you from? What do you do for fun?”
I chuckle at her barrage of questions, warmed that she remembers what I said her first night here. “Let’s see… twelve years, thirty-two, Pelican Bay, annnnnnd… I don’t know. Cook, maybe?”
“You like to cook, for fun?”
“When I get the chance, which honestly isn’t often. We’re usually given all our meals at the castle, so I don’t get many opportunities to cook.”
“Maybe you could cook something for me sometime?”
My heart takes a small leap in my chest. She wants me to cook for her?
“Yeah?” I ask, a smile playing on my lips.
“Only if you want to.”
“I’d like that,” I tell her honestly. The thought of making a meal specifically for her makes me eager and excited. I quickly start thinking about what I would make and how I’d cook it.
“What else do you do for fun around the castle? Do you play any games or anything?”
“Sometimes in the evenings, the knights will play cards. When we get a day off, Arrow likes to go hunting or practice with his bow, and Draven practices throwing knives.”
“What about you?”
“I prefer the sword or hand-to-hand, so I can’t practice without a partner to spar with.”
“I’d pay good money to see that,” she says so quietly, I have a feeling I wasn’t supposed to hear it.
“What was that now?” I ask, biting my lip to stop myself from smiling at her lack of filter.
“Oh, um… I just said I’d pay good money to learn how to fight like that.”
“We can train you, if you’d like?”
“I should probably warn you I’m a bit clumsy and more likely to stab myself with a blade than any opponent.”
I let out a small laugh. “Maybe we’ll stick to the fighting, and you stick to looking pretty.”
“You think I’m pretty?” she asks shyly, and I turn to see her cheeks turning bright red.
Wondering if her lack of filter is wearing off on me, I can’t help but admit, “Fucking gorgeous.”
Chapter nine
