Page 24 of The Warlord's Wildflower
“I’m wearing your favor today,” I murmur, brushing my thumb along her swollen lower lip.
She scoffs. “I didn’t give you one.”
“Didn’t you?” I lean down and whisper against her ear. “Then, what do you call the way you came on my tongue last night? Painted my fingers with your pleasure?” I pull back just enough to watch her flush. “Seems like a favor to me.”
She shoves at my chest, but I catch her wrist and press a kiss to her pulse. Then, before she can retaliate, I pluck the ribbon from her hair, the one that’s been teasing me all morning, slipping loose from its knot.
She stiffens. “What are you—?”
I tie it around my wrist, the lavender silk stark against my leathers. “Now, I’ve got proof.”
Her lips part to protest, but I don’t let her speak. I kiss her again, slowly and thoroughly, until she’s clutching my shoulders like she’ll never let go.
When I finally pull away, her eyes are storm-dark. “Please, be careful,” she glares at me.
I grin, “Always.”
Then, I’m out the door, her taste still on my tongue, her ribbon tight around my wrist.
Time to win a tournament.
I stride toward the sparring ring like a man whodefinitelydidn’t almost die from a bee sting yesterday. The other Bulls are gathered in clusters, stretching and posturing. I can feel their eyes tracking me the second my hooves hit the dust.
“Look who survived nature’s deadliest predator,” Berrick calls, hefting a training spear with a shit-eating grin. “You sure you’re safe out here, Fenric? I think I saw a butterfly earlier.”
The others snicker. Someone makes a buzzing noise. I press a dramatic hand to my chest. “Gentlemen, please, you might trigger my apian fears.”
Cray squints at Harl. “What’s ‘apian’ mean?”
“Bees, you absolute cabbage,” I sigh, flipping a dagger idly in my palm. “Try reading something other than what’s scratched above the tavern's chamber pot.”
Laughter ripples through the group, and I bask in it.
“But in fairness,” I add, flashing a wolfish smile, “That bee did drop me faster than any of you managed to yesterday.”
More jeers. Someone chucks a clod of dirt at me. I bow like it’s a standing ovation. I’m still grinning when the other mensuddenly go silent, and I turn to see Dakar standing behind me. His arms are crossed, jaw locked, and that telltale vein in his temple is pulsing like a war drum. Maeve’s fingers dig into his bicep, and again, this tiny female is the only thing stopping him from strangling me.
Ah. Right. My smile slips, and I straighten as I approach, dipping my chin in a nod that’s more respect than greeting. “Chief.” My voice is lighter than I feel. “You’re looking particularly lethal today.”
Maeve gives me a warning look from behind her mate, and I heed it as I step closer. “We’ll make it convincing. Garron won’t see anything but a man head-over-hooves for his mate.”
“This isn’t a game, Fenric. If Garron suspects even a whisper of fakery—”
“Then, he’ll take her,” I finished, my smile slipping. “I know. I’m not playing around.”
Dakar’s glare could gut a lesser Bull where he stood. He’s only a few inches taller than I am, his horns a handspan wider, but right now, I might as well be a Calf caught trampling the crops.
Then he sighs, and some of the tension slips from his shoulders. He remembers, just like I do, that the trust between us wasn’t built from honeyed words and promises made over mugs of mead. It was made in the Bone Trenches, when we held the line against the Orc horde until our hooves sank into blood and mud. When we fought back-to-back with nothing but sheer stubbornness between us and death. That kind of trust doesn’t come easy. It’s carved from pain, from loyalty proven in the worst moments.
Dakar hasn’t forgotten, and neither have I.
“I know you respect the chain,” he mutters. “But this was reckless, Fenric.”
“I’d do it again,” I reply without hesitation. “For Annie. Every damn time.”
Dakar sighs, but Maeve’s brows lift, a grin curling at the corners of her mouth like she’s already rehearsing how she’ll recite this to Annie, word for word.Oh, she’s loving this.
“You’re an idiot,”
