I walk over to my discarded pack and bring it back over to her before reaching inside and removing my full canteen. “Here, drink.”
“I’m not thirsty.”
“Drink it anyway,” I command.
“Is it too much to ask to have just one boyfriend who isn’t overbearing and bossy?”
“It is now, since you’re stuck with us, and we don’t share.”
“Except with each other,” she says with a devious smirk.
“Sometimes not even then.” She rolls her eyes and drinks while I tend to some of her cuts and bruises. Once I’m sure she’s fit for the journey, I help her to her feet and press my forehead against hers. “I was beginning to worry I wouldn’t find you,” I admit. Something about Aurelia always makes me feel like it’s okay to be open with her.
“Really?” she says as she slides a hand over my cheek and then rises onto her toes to kiss me deep and slow. “Because I never doubted you would.” A moment later, she pulls back enough for me to see her face and the worry in her eyes. “How’s Thorin?”
“Alive. Eager to see you. Hopefully getting the rest he needs.”
Aurelia snorts. “No chance of that. He’s probably pissy he had to be left behind.”
“Then by all means, let’s get you back to him.” I kiss her again and then grab Bane, hoisting him over my uninjured shoulder while Aurelia grabs the rest of our things. “Let’s go.”
THORIN
There’s nothing sweeter than the scent of my songbird filling my nostrils again. Khalil, Bane, and Aurelia returned an hour ago. Aurelia spent the majority of that time soaking away her aches and bruises in my tub. Now the three of us are gathered at the foot of Khalil’s bed with Aurelia tucked under my arm and dressed only in her bathrobe with her hair still wet.
“What do we now?” she asks as we stare at Zeke’s body restrained to the headboard. “How much longer before he wakes up?”
“Hard to say since you knocked him out before the tranq could take effect, but it usually wears off within a few hours.”
“He was going to kill you,” she reminds Khalil. “He was going to cut your throat right in front of me. What was I supposed to do?”
He looks annoyed while I lift a brow at him over Aurelia’s head. I seem to remember him mocking me endlessly, but it looks like Bane got the best of him too.
“I’m not blaming you, Goldilocks. You did the right thing. Uh…thank you for that by the way.” It only just occurred to him to thank her for saving his life because we’re so used to doing it for each other that we don’t even bother bringing it up after the fact.
“You’re welcome.”
“Nothing we can do now,” I say, going back to her earlier question before pulling her from the room. “Are you hungry?” She lost her arrows in the river, which would have made huntinghard. There are shadows underneath her eyes that only a good night’s sleep and a well-balanced diet can fix.
“A little,” she answers as she lets me steer her upstairs and far away from Bane.
I bring her up to the table and sit her down before walking over to the stove, grabbing some wood, and throwing it inside to get it fired up. I then grab the kettle and fill it with water before setting it on the stove. I get started on fixing her something to eat. I don’t want her to wait long, so I grab the fixings for a sandwich and throw together a hearty one with some baby carrots on the side before setting it in front of her on the table.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask after she takes the first bite.
“I should be asking you that,” she answers around a mouthful. “You’re the one who got hurt, not me.”
“Had to be a rough couple of days.”
“I’ve survived worse, remember? At least there wasn’t snow.”
“I see your point.” I’m content to watch her eat for a while until the kettle begins to whistle and I hop up to make her tea.
Khalil comes up the stairs, and he pulls her chair out from under the table and lifts her up before taking her place and sitting her in his lap. “Looks good,” he says.
She places the sandwich to his lips, offering him some, and he takes a healthy bite of it with his gaze locked on her.
“That’s for her,” I snap. “She needs to eat.”
