Not half an hour later we pulled into a small inn tucked into the outskirts of the nearest town. Through the rain, I couldn’t see much but a dim light and a small wooden sign swinging abovethe door. Unable to even be read, it could’ve said “Human sacrifices here,” for all I knew. After tying Moon’s reins to a post under some shelter where they provided hay, we darted inside.
I’d bet coin the last thing the attendant behind the counter expected to see was two people soaked in mud and rain carrying two piggly wigglys.
Behind the little wooden desk, a short woman with curly brown hair and big circle glasses checked us in. I waited behind Laken, looking around at the decorations, debating the odd decision to decorate with tiny porcelain teacups. I guess you’d say it was… their cup of tea.
“You two are lucky, I have one room left for the night, but”—her leaning past him to glance at me caught my attention and I listened—“there’s only one bed. Will that do?”
How?
How could anything else possibly go wrong? I’d love to know.
Spinning on my heels, I turned for the door. “I’d rather drown outside—” A hand grabbed my wrist.
“We’ll take the room,” Laken stated, turning to me. “Don’t be so stubborn. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
The attendant waited for my response, respectfully.
I knew it was a bad idea. I knew I couldn’t possibly survive more time in an enclosed space with Laken Augustus without taking his clothes off. But… well, “We’ll take the room,” I grunted.
By the size of the inn, its cramped space should’ve been expected. The one bed they offered had to be a full, and besideit was hardly enough room for the pigs. We laid towels in their cages and prayed they didn’t destroy them for the time being. Bordering the bed on its opposite side—a bath.
An old, rusted bath but a bath, nonetheless.
“You go first, princess. I know tonight’s been a lot for you.” His words were nice, yes, but they didn’t sound nice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Laken leaned against the wall. “Nothing. I just know you don’t like getting your hands dirty…” He stood and closed the distance between us, taking my hand in his as he traced his fingers over my skin. “And let’s just say I know a lot more than your hands got dirty tonight.”
I yanked my hand back, and he grinned as he retreated. “My hands got dirty because you dragged me in there and used me as bait.”
Laken’s mouth dropped as he unbuttoned his coat and dropped it onto the floor. “Dragged? I dragged you in there? Really? Because last I recalled, we did this assignment for you! So thatyoucan keepyoursanctuary.”
“And to save the pigs!”
He wasn’t hearing it. He tossed me a disappointed glare, inclining his head, saying, “Really.”
“Okay?” I flung my arms around, glancing aimlessly at nothing in particular. “That is a valid point, but—”
“But what, Reece?” He threw his hands up. “But what?”
Alright, so maybe he did smuggle pigs for me. And work extra jobs. And made sure I was taken care of. And maybe heeven read all of my favorite books, but… “You shoved me into a cart with two pigs.”
His head tilted to the side. “To. Save. Your. Life.”Fuck, he got me there.Laken raked his hands through his hair, his tunic lifting enough to show the bottom of his stomach and hips. “Gods above, Reece. You are a piece of work.”
Frustration pummeled through my bones and led me closer to him. “A piece of work? You grind every gear I have—”
Laken interrupted me, eating away at the space between us. “You know what I want to know? Why wouldn’t you wait.”Shit.He glanced back and forth between my eyes, awaiting an answer I didn’t have. Something in him snapped. “Why wouldn’t you? A year from now, you’re going to be running the sanctuary. I’m still going to be me. Nothing changes.”
I sniffled while refusing to look his way. I couldn’t look at those eyes knowing it might be the last time.
Would it be the last time someone looked at me with love in their eyes?
Would it be the last time I did the same?
“What changes is how I sit and wait day in and day out for you to return—praying that you do,” I confessed. Heat boiled under my skin, more with every step he took closer to me.
“Is that such a bad thing? To be waiting on someone who loves you entirely to come home? What are you so worried about? Falling in love with someone else? That I’ll fall in love with someone else? What is it?”
