“Do you think I came off wrong?” Jo wondered aloud as Kehlor turned and with a few grunted acknowledgements as a round of good-byes started, headed off.
“Bye,” I heard Dace call softly.
Turning, I threw her a little wave over Kehlor’s shoulder.
With that wild and wacky encounter over, swimming in my head, I was silent as we headed, uh, well, wherever the hell Kehlor planned taking me.
“Unmated female huts not ready,” Kehlor told me.
“Are there a lot of unmated females?” My gaze slid over the column of Kehlor’s throat, pale skin peeking past whatever he was wearing. Some sort of hood.
“No,” Kehlor answered on a short grunt.
Thinking about that, wondering what he planned to do with me, I rested my chin on his shoulder. Kehlor was strong, comforting. I felt safe with him. Just like I did with Elm and Cy.
“Can I stay with you?” I murmured, turning to eye his throat. That was as high as my gaze could go, unable to meet his eyes.
“Stay with Kehl,” he confirmed.
Blowing out a long breath, I noted the way he shivered as my breath coasted over him, turned to rest my cheek on his thick shoulder, leaving my breath to fall on his throat, and closed my eyes. My lips tipped up, thinking about him referring to himself as Kehl with me. “Good,” I mumbled sleepily.
His hand came up again to cover mine where it was gripping his fur. Thick fingers smoothed over mine, comforting and maybe a smidge more.
I barely knew Kehlor. I should be freaked out, shouldn’t I? How right this felt, how completely natural, it wasn’t normal. It wasn’t human normal, I had to correct.
The human world half of me screamed this was nuts, don’t trust him so easily, Pru! But this other part of me felt overpoweringly strong about Kehlor. Kehl, I should say, since he all but gave me leave to use it.
As my eyelids grew heavy, a single stray thought hit me, a whisper of it really.
Mine.
Chapter 9
Waking up in a strange place in a furs-covered bed was confusing, to say the least. Waking up with a woolly male beside me, blasting heat like a furnace all the way from his side of the bed I’d hazard a guess he’d made himself, like the rest of the cabin-hut-like structure I found myself in, was a unique experience all its own. Even more strange to me, was the hand lightly resting over mine so that despite the respectful distance he’d offered we were still touching, and the urge to jerk away from him was nonexistent. I felt drawn to him, in a similar way I found myself caught up with Elm and Cy. If anything, I itched to draw closer. It was an oddity all its own.
Sitting up with a groan, my hands absently began to pat about my person. My hip ached from laying too long in the same position. Nothing felt out of place. Same clothes, my things were still on my person, picture, ring box, hoodie and hat. The only thing missing was my boots.
Still all here.
Other than a bit of a crick in my neck and the ache in my hip, the need to relieve my bladder, the disorientation of waking up in a foreign to me place, the shock still humming through me from everything up until this point, I actually felt kind of… Iwouldn’t say good but… Holed up in here, warm and cozy with Kehl with everything else out there, I felt protected, safe. I knew Kehl would look out for me. I felt it with such an intensity it worried me.
My head was killing me yesterday to not even a pinch of pain today. Pink Eye wasn’t joking when he’d claimed his village’s healers could help me.
Hefting my legs over the side of the bed, I knocked the boots in question I was wondering about over in my haste. Cy’s blanket was loosely draped over me, my hoodie rucked up exposing my t-shirt beneath. It was rather warm in all these layers, bundled up in Kehl’s place.
I was aware I’d awoken briefly in my long winter nap and groggily partook of the tea and bread Kehl had offered, then basically dozed off right there at the table, a table I spied as I glanced around the room. Unless that was all a very detailed dream.
Huh. Odd contraptions littered large sections of the open concept home he lived in. Heavy dark purple drapes covered large windows. Swaths of material took up a wall.
Gaining my feet, I spied with my sleep filled eyes a large fire place, an old school looking cookstove not unlike stuff I’ve read about, definitely before my time.
“Thirsty? Wake?” Kehl grumbled as he snuffled awake and sat up.
Was I thirsty? “Yeah, but I need to take care of things first,” I admitted. “If you know what I mean.”
“Take care things?” he questioned.
Right. Blunt was going to work better here unless I wanted to have a little accident. “I really need to pee, my dude.”
