Bastien laughed again. He’d been in that fight a few times himself. A few of those times, against Fain.
Snorting at his humor, Sumi pulled out a bottle of water and then helped him to sip it.
“How long have I been out?” Dancer asked.
“A few hours.”
He cursed. “I need to get going.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Sumi…”
“Don’t argue with me. I’m putting my foot down, Dancer. But if you attempt to leave, I’ll be putting it up your ass.”
He laughed then groaned.
Thia and Darice moved to stand behind her. She shoved at Darice. “Told you he wasn’t dead.”
“I knew from the snore he wasn’t dead. I said he wasdying.”
Bastien brought over a small plate of food and one of the roots he’d managed to dig up that could take the edge off the pain. “If you took the punches I did, I know it’ll be hard to chew, but… that root will minimize the pain.”
“Thanks.” Dancer set the plate down beside Sumi.
“C’mon, guys,” Bastien said as he caught the gleam in Dancer’s eyes and knew exactly where his thoughts were going and what the two of them would soon be doing. “Let’s give them some quiet time.”
Darice hesitated before he followed Bastien and Thia back to the small fire.
Hauk winced as he tried to chew the meat. Bastien was right. Eating was rough. “I need to go back for Illyse.”
“We already took care of it.” She gestured to the fire where the lorina was curled up and sleeping. “Bastien said you owe him a good night of drinking for the scratches she gave him.”
Bastien ignored them as best he could while he entertained the kids and did his damnedest not to think about how incredibly long it’d been since the last time he had sex with someone else.
Thraix was wrong.
The porn and sports networks didnotalleviate that ache in the least little bit. Only a woman could ease this pain.
After a few minutes, Darice excused himself to take a bush break.
Thia slid closer to Bastien. “You’re royal blooded, aren’t you?”
Her question caught him off guard. “Pardon?”
“I can tell. Even though you’re… a bit rough at the moment, you move like someone who’s had royal manners and decorum beat into him from the cradle.”
She was terribly astute. “Yeah, I was.”
“What happened?”
“What always happens. Somebody gets greedy. Someone else gets stupid. Next thing you know, you put the wrong person at your back and you’ve got a knife sliding through your ribs.”
“You sound like my father.”
Given that they shared family, it made sense. The Triosans were famous for offing each other. Jullien had been right all those years ago with his warning. Damn shame he hadn’t listened. Or thought to apply it to the Cabarro side.
As Thia excused herself, Bastien pulled his link out and turned it on. Dancer had called for a Sentella evacuation, and promised him that they could get The League tracing chip out of him.
