I chuckle. “You crashed pretty hard.”
“Did I snore?” She looks almost horrified.
“Absolutely not. You were perfect.”
She rolls her eyes, but there’s a smile twitching at her lips. “Are you sure it’s time? I don’t want to get out from under this blanket,” she complains.
“Unfortunately, yes.” I wink. “But let me make this easier for you.” I grab the edge of the blanket and rip it off her.
“Kian!” she shrieks, sitting up with murder in her eyes.
“Hey, it worked. You’re up.” I grin.
Muttering to herself, she gets to her feet while I fold up the blanket and put it away. When I return, she hands me the neatly folded bedroll.
“Thank you, Rae.”
“I’ll get you back for that,” she threatens with only a little bite.
“I look forward to it.”
She scrunches her nose, which makes me want to drop a kiss on it, so I quickly turn away and untie my horse.
Raelyn hands me my wrinkled cloak. “I’m sorry, I should have taken it off before sleeping.”
“Aren’t you cold? Keep it,” I insist.
“Okay . . .” She smiles.
I help her back up onto the horse, and within minutes, we’re cantering down the road toward the meeting place. My heart almost skips a beat knowing what’s coming, but I try to shake it off.
Raelyn’s warm body is doing all sorts of things to me that I’m attempting to ignore. I’m ninety percent certain she felt how hard I was for her on our initial escape from the manor.Way to get turned on in inappropriate situations, Ki.
When we finally arrive at our destination, I sigh in relief when I spot Alex’s horse attached to a small carriage next to the abandoned temple. He made it.
I slow Phantom to a walk, and we pull up next to it. Knocking on the door, I’m pleased when Alex pops his head out, stifling a yawn.
“Oh good, you’re here,” he says. “I’m almost certain the priestess thinks I made the whole thing up.”
I roll my eyes at him before dismounting and helping Raelyn down.
“Rae, this is Alex, my most obnoxious and loyal friend,” I say.
Alex frowns and throws me a glare before turning on the charm and smiling at Raelyn. She holds her hand out, and he presses a kiss to it that oddly has me feeling like I want to rip her away from him.
“Charmed, Lady Raelyn,” Alex says.
“Nice to meet you, Alex,” she replies with a demure smile. “Soweare to be married?” She winks at him, and he laughs heartily.
“Is that a proposal, my lady?”
Alex still hasn’t let go of her hand, and if he doesn’t in the next three seconds, I will remove it for him.
“You’re hilarious, Alex,” I grit out. “Is the priestess ready?”
“Sort of. Let me wake her again,” he says, finally letting go of Rae and walking back to the carriage. “As you can imagine, she wasn’t thrilled about the early wake-up call and fell asleep on our drive.”
“As long as she performs the ceremony, she’ll be well rewarded,” I reply before looking at Rae. “Last chance, soon-to-be princess. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
