Page 22 of The Barbaric Fae's Soul

“Flying with you would be a privilege. One I’d remember proudly, until the day my soul leaves my body.” His fingers skated lightly over the back of my hand before he gestured toward his left. “We’ll rinse off in the river first.”

When he shifted forms, I eyed him, trying to figure out how I was going to get all the way up on top of him. He smoothly lowered to his stomach, making my job much easier, and I slid a leg over his back.

My fingers slipped into the silky fur I’d spent too much time petting over the last few months, and I leaned my chest to his neck while I got settled into place. As I wrapped my arms around his neck, I lowered myself against him.

He didn’t move, and I thought he might be waiting for me to tell him I was ready. He was probably worried about spooking me; he’d seen the way I reacted when things freaked me out. I just… left.

The alternative was panicking, so leaving felt preferable.

Because of my reactions, though, his caution was understandable.

“Okay,” I whispered. “Go slow at first. I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold on tight enough for you to move fast.”

He snorted at me, and my lips curved a little. He seemed different, now. Calmer. More open.

Freer, maybe.

If anyone could understand the relief of freedom, it was me.

I clutched his fur like a lifeline as he rose smoothly to his feet. He took a few slow steps first, and to my surprise, I didn’t so much as budge.

Aev picked up the pace a little, and my body didn’t sway or slip or anything. I could feel his heart beating against my hands, which was kind of intense, but I liked it.

He trotted for a few minutes, and I grew more comfortable on his back. I thought he would stop when he reached the river, but instead, he launched us into it.

I held my breath as we submerged, and gripped his powerful body with my arms and legs while he rolled us a few times.

Before my lungs started to strain, he burst back through the water and then landed lightly on the dirt.

He shook off, and a loud laugh escaped me. When he flashed me a toothy grin, I laughed again. “You’re just a big golden retriever, huh?”

He licked my knee, giving a rumbly chuckle before he carried me over to the nearest scent-tranquillizing bush and rubbed up against it. The soft leaves hit me in the face, and I tugged a couple of them off, running them over my arms and legs and chest.

Aev shifted too, and I squeaked when I found my thighs wrapped around a chiseled abdomen and my arms around those massive biceps.

He grinned at me over his shoulder, and our lips were only a breath apart. “This’ll only take a second.”

If he kept looking at me like that, I wasn’t sure I would react well. He was just too damn gorgeous.

Part of me wondered if I only felt that way because of the bond, but my affection for the man had been growing for two months. We were just friends—but I liked being his friend.

I liked it a lot.

So I stayed silent as he turned back toward the bush, grabbing a few leaves and running them over his body the same way I had. He was more thorough than me—but he was the one the klynnas wanted revenge on.

“Is it safe for us to go back to the Stronghold?” I asked him. “With the klynnas after you?”

“I’ll just have to keep my scent concealed,” he said, like it wasn’t a big deal. I supposed it only took a minute, and the effect lasted hours. “Staying out here isn’t an option. Korrik will send a search party for you if we don’t get back so everyone can see that you’re safe and sound. And there was the development of your connection with the beasts—we need to tell them about that. Maybe North will be able to see something related to it.”

That was so many words for the usually-silent man. I loved seeing him that way, honestly.

“You seem different,” I told him, biting my lip as I waited for his response.

He chuckled and tossed his leaves to the ground, but the soft breeze picked them up and towed them away before they could hit the dirt. “I feel better than I have in two decades, because of you.” His hand squeezed the back of my knee, lightly. My body flushed, but I hoped he was oblivious to the heat blooming within me because of his touch.

Aev didn’t know how he’d affected me in that tent—or how he was still affecting me.

And he had left without a backward glance when he realized the prison might be down.

---