“Oh.” I make a face. “I’m not very interesting, though.”
“Oh, but you are. Aside from being powerful and very pretty, they are attracted to your roundness.”
“My what?” I frown.
“Your roundness. Your round ears, your very round breasts, and your rounded hips.”
“My round breasts… Are you serious?” I can’t help but giggle.
“Very.” Terra looks down at her own naked chest, which is much smaller than mine. “You have very large breasts comparedto us. Many of them want you in their furs to test how well they would bounce.” She giggles.
I choke out a shocked-sounding laugh. “That isn’t going to happen,” I tell her firmly.
“It is sometimes easier to get over someone if you get under someone else.” She winks at me.
“Terra!” The word comes out on another shocked laugh. I turn serious quickly. “I’m still cut up over Sebastian. I won’t be getting into anyone’s furs anytime soon. I don’t need sex. It’s what got me feeling heartbroken in the first place. I need peace and quiet…But I also need to keep busy. And that’s all. I just…I don’t want to think of him. It’s driving me crazy.” My lip wobbles.
“Oh, Isla.” Terra’s voice softens. She pulls me into a hug, and despite myself, a tear slips out. Then another. I wipe my face quickly, sniffing.
“Let’s get you home,” she says gently. “You will start to feel better before you know it.” She slips an arm around my shoulders and guides me back toward the still-arguing males.
“Isla is going with me, you fools,” Terra shouts, silencing them instantly.
They fall back, looking somewhat abashed, though they continue to shoot glares at one another.
Terra turns to me. “Ready?”
I look at her, then at the forest.
“As I’ll ever be.”
I bite down on my lip to keep from crying again.
I hope to the goddess that I’m not making a mistake.
45
Sebastian
The shovel bites into the earth with a crunch.
I throw the dirt aside and drive the blade down again, my shoulders burning from the repetition. We have been at this for hours. Damon works to my left, Orion to my right, all three of us stripped to the waist, and covered in sweat and grime as we dig the new irrigation channel.
The work is brutal, but I like it.
And for now, it is enough. It won’t be long before we are forced to deal with issues concerning the realm.
Orion wants to make sure that when he leaves his family, they will be safe and taken care of…at least for short periods.
It won’t be long before the Drakar is ready to see us. I itch to see Isla again.
I miss her more than I thought possible.
I stab the shovel into the ground again, and my arms shake with the effort. The trench stretches behind us, a dark scar in the valley floor that will soon carry water to the crops.
It has been almost two weeks since Isla left.
I set down the shovel and wipe my forehead with the back of my arm.
