He prayed to the Gods he wouldn’t have an episode in front of Airess. How could he explain such a thing? It’s not like he could tell her what he saw–Eryx forcing Taryn into his deepest traumatic memories when he intended to inflict pain. Eryx knew Taryn could handle the physical pain, so he often resorted to mental torture as well.
Taryn didn’t have a plan to rid himself of the mark beyond meeting with the infamous healers in Rune. For now, he would have to conceal his pain. He didn’t want Airess to know he was bound by the Oathmark. What would she think of him if she knew?
Why did he care?
Taryn brushed that thought aside as he gathered himself, turning as soft footsteps padded towards him, Airess’s scent prominent before he saw her. His breath hitched as he took her in. The blood and dirt she was caked in had been washed away, leaving her glowing beneath the morning light. Her ivory hair had been braided into a crown, save for a few tendrils that framed her freckled face. She wore a dark maroon cotton dress with white stitching. She held the top half of her dress up, her cheeks warmed a soft shade of pink.
“I can’t reach to fix the back of this dress. Do you mind lacing up this corset? Unless you don’t know how, of course –
“I know how to lace a corset, Haeleth,” Taryn cut in, his voice low as he moved toward her. Need bloomed within him at the sight of her–a completely inappropriate feeling he tried his best to block out. He barely knew her, Taryn couldn’t be thinking thoughts likethis. He swallowed at the sight of her bare back on display. He grabbed the strings and began to lace them gracefully, his fingers brushing against her delicate skin felt like electricity shooting up his arms.
Get a hold of yourself, Tar.
Taryn laced slower than he needed to, fighting every urge crawling up his spine, He tied the knot gently at the small of her back. “Is this too tight?” he asked, his voice hoarse with desire that he tried his best to mask. What was wrong with him, losing control like this? Never had a female made him soweak. He was holding onto any strength he could muster to not lose control, to hide the desire in his eyes. He couldn’t do this, not with her. Taryn didn’t even know if he couldtrusther. They were just… unlikely allies working together towards a similar goal. That was all. He reminded himself of these facts and neutralized his expression.
She took a deep breath in to test how much room she had in the bodice. “No, it’s perfect.”
She turned to face him. The air was thick with a certain tension as she tilted her head up to him, her golden gaze heated. Now that her dress was intact, her breasts were on full display from the tightened corset. Taryn clenched his jaw, a flicker of heat surging beneath his skin. He forced himself to look away with what little control he had left.
“Thank you,” she said lightly, as if she too felt the thick energy coursing in the air around them.
“Of course,” he said as he turned away abruptly, careful to ignore the sweet scent of her arousal as he descended to take a bath of his own.
Chapter 17
‘If you reach hard enough, we can enter the Minds of others,
though the cost is great’
— Unsent correspondence from Paulyr Moros
Airess
Taryn and Airess sat in front of the fyre pit after a long evening of Airess’ training, which turned out to be the complete opposite of what she had expected. She thought she would be learning hand-to-hand combat on the first night, but was quickly humbled when her evening consisted of Taryn verbally teaching her the basic offensive and defensive positions, explaining everything in detail.
He talked expressively with his hands, his voice dipping and rising during his lesson with her. Airess decided she liked that about him, the Faemale eager to teach, and she eager to learn. Although Airess had a fine education in Luciena, there was so much she didn’t know about the real world, about society, and she intended to learn everything she could. She was also glad he was finally coming out of his shell. She enjoyed learning what Taryn had to offer, and he was a fine teacher. In more ways than one.
Taryn strode over to the horses, taking out the remaining apples and feeding each of them. She could see his muscled back through the dark fabric of his tunic, his strong forearm flexing as he stroked the horses manes.
He had cleaned up well since they bathed in the pond earlier that day. He’d shaved, his stubble now replaced with smooth skin.
Airess uncovered her Sight as she watched Taryn, entranced by the never-ending blend of silvery color that flowed around him gracefully. Seeing him now changed her perspective. Although he never went into detail about how he ended up in the Mrkynian Guild, she could sense that there was more to the story than he let on. Airess had an inkling that Taryn didn’t have a peaceful past. She would never have guessed Taryn was a spy, or an assassin… or whatever he was to the Guild. His mannerisms were too genuine, too gentle, for her to have ever known otherwise.
Perhaps he was as equally as lost as she was in life.
Taryn sat down across from her and tossed an apple. She nearly fumbled the fruit as he announced, “The last of the fruit. We will have to get more soon. The horses need more food, too.” He took out his flask and drank.
“Are we going to hunt?”
Taryn’s eyes slid to hers, his mouth quirked up as he took a bite from the apple. “In due time, Haeleth. I was going to suggest we go into town tomorrow and find some tavern food. We will have plenty of opportunities to hunt after we cross through the main road.”
She rested a hand over her stomach. “After eating fruit for two days straight, tavern food sounds amazing.”
A comfortable silence fell between them as they ate and Airess began to get lost in her own thoughts. She thought of the dreamwalker, Ima, who had instructed her to travel with Taryn to Rune. Nothing about that made sense.
Airess sighed heavily. Ever since she quite literally tumbled into Taryn’s life, her entire world had been flipped upside down. What was her connection to the dreamwalker and Taryn? Could she even trust Taryn enough to tell him about Ima, or would he think she was crazy? He barely took in that hehimselfwas a dreamwalker. Perhaps she wouldn’t need to tell him at all. She would just make it to Rune and be on her merry way.
She thought of the strange dreamscape she had appeared in, standing in space before the portal of lilac flames, two beings on the other side. They wereawareof her. It was another piece to the puzzle she hadn’t quite sorted out yet. She hoped The Obadiah in Rune would have the answers she was looking for.
