Because I thought you were a demon.
“Why did you chase me?” I bite back, though the vicious tone the male usually draws out of me is nowhere to be found.
“I chased you because you ran, and you were terrified,” he says.
“I ranbecauseyou chased me.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” he growls.
“I just—I had an awful dream, and the next thing I know you’re chasing me through the woods.”
I will my voice to soften and wish Leanna had been successful in her attempts to teach me to cry on cue. Not that those lessons were very fun.
His grip slackens on my arms, and he studies me. I’m sure he’strying to decide whether he believes me or not and I take a deep breath to steady myself. When my chest heaves against his, my breath hitches and I decide to stop breathing altogether. The contact peaks my nipples, sending goosebumps across my arms. The moonlight ripples across his jaw as it tenses and he shifts his weight, pulling his leg from between my own and lifting himself off me.
“I’ll walk you back,” he says, offering his hand.
I take it reluctantly, letting go the moment I’m on my feet.
We walk in silence for quite some time, and I’m relieved that he seems to know where he is going. I likely would have had to wait until morning to be sure of my direction or risked walking further into the forest.
“Who taught you to fight like that?” His question comes from nowhere, but I’ve had plenty of time leading up to this moment to have considered what my reply will be.
Not that I ever expected this situation.
“My father made me take lessons. He thought it wise to ensure I could defend myself, if necessary,” I say.
I glance at the broken skin beneath his eye and wince. It’s stopped bleeding but has already begun to bruise.
“He sounds like a wise man,” he says, “Awri’s father felt much the same way.”
“Really?” The shock is clear in my voice.
“Really.” He nods. “Though she doesn’t practice those skills on her friends.”
“Neither do I.” The quip slides off my tongue before I can choke it back.
The general huffs. Was that a laugh? And he lets it go.
The woods break around us, revealing the soft lights of the manor up ahead. We stop at the edge of the forest, and I expect him to part ways with me. The evening certainly could have gone better, but it could have been equally worse, and after such a mild reaction from the male, I can’t help but harbor some small hope that I haven’t ruined everything.
The general kneels by a small stream flowing along the border of the forest and tears a swatch of fabric from the bottom of his tunic. He dips thefabric in the water, wringing it out before handing it to me.
“Wash your face. I can’t take you back to your uncle like that, he’s bound to have too many questions as it is.”
“You tore your tunic for that?” I blot my face with the damp fabric. “That’s a touch dramatic. I could have used my hands.”
“Do you find it necessary to have a snide remark for everything?” he asks, clearly exasperated. “You’re like a snake when it’s being fed, just as likely to bite the hand that feeds it as it is to—for the love of the veil, give me that.”
He tears the cloth from my hands and wipes my face like I’m a child. “Better,” he grunts.
I rip the cloth from between his fingers just as he’d done to me.
“Your turn.” I smile and raise the cloth to his cheek. When he pulls away, I quirk an eyebrow. “You’d rather explain to my uncle that I punched you in the face when you slammed me up against a tree?”
He hesitates for a moment, before leaning forward reluctantly. Despite what he’d said in the carriage about my privileged life I try to be gentle when I wash the blood from his face.
“You were at my uncle’s when you found me?” I ask.
