I know it’s coming. I brace for it. But it still knocks the breath from me. His grip is steady, his strength effortless, as if I weigh nothing.
The contact sends a jolt through me, heat blooming where hisfingers grip me. It lasts only a second, the sensation slipping away as quickly as it came. Then I’m in the saddle, and the moment is gone, leaving me unbalanced in more ways than one.
Kaelzar steps back and retrieves the discarded cover. Without a word, he hands it to me. I take it, my fingers brushing his as I wrap it tightly around myself.
“Thank you,” I murmur, as I take off the boots and offer them back to him now that I don’t need them.
He nods, takes them and puts them on without a word. His gaze remains fixed on the path ahead as he takes the reins and begins leading the horse forward.
We travel in silence for what feels like hours again, the rhythm of the horse’s steady steps lulling the forest around us into an uneasy quiet. I keep my eyes ahead, my thoughts circling like restless birds.
The warmth of the cover shields me from the chill, but the ache in my feet lingers.
Eventually, I clear my throat, breaking the silence. “Wouldn’t it be faster if you got on the horse too?”
Kaelzar doesn’t turn his head. “It would.”
There’s a pause, then a faint edge of amusement slips into his tone. “But judging by your earlier outrage, I figured you’d rather walk another five days than share a saddle with me.”
I stiffen. Outrage? That’s not what that was. Was it?
“That’s not—” I exhale sharply. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
He finally glances back at me and there’s a glint of challenge. A knowing look. He’s waiting to see if I’ll dig myself in deeper.
I press my lips together and look away as heat rushes to my cheeks.
“It’s just… you’re so large, and—” I hesitate, my gaze dropping to the sturdy frame of the horse beneath me. “I just thought… poor horse, carrying two people.”
A moment of silence, then Kaelzar chuckles softly, the sound low and rich. “This horse could carry three of me and barely notice. But it’s endearing how worried you are about him.”
My flush deepens, and I bite the inside of my cheek, unsure whether to feel annoyed or embarrassed. Before I can respond, he reachesup, grasps the saddle horn with one hand, and swings himself onto the horse behind me with effortless grace.
I tense. Even before he fully settles, I feel him— the shift of weight, the press of his presence against my back. The instant his body aligns with mine, a fire surges through my veins.
His warmth is startling, seeping through the cover, through my skin, through every last layer of distance I’ve tried to hold onto.
And then there’s his scent. Dark storm and warm leather. It fills my lungs, wrapping around me as surely as his arms do when he reaches for the reins.
I try to focus on the rhythmic sway of the horse, but the steady rise and fall of his breath against my head makes it impossible.
I swallow hard and clutch the cover tighter as a strange mix of emotions coils in my chest. It’s not just his warmth, though that alone is a comfort, but it’s the feeling of safety, of being shielded from the world by something immovable.
I let myself relax, even if only slightly.
Kaelzar’s voice breaks the quiet, low and almost teasing. “Comfortable?”
I tense. “It’s fine,” I say quickly.
“Hmm,” he murmurs, clearly amused. “Good.”
The horse continues its steady pace through the forest, the sound of hooves soft against the earth.
I try to focus on the trees around us, the faint rustling of leaves, or the cool night air. But all I can feel is the solid warmth of him, the quiet strength in the way his arms frame me.
I shift in the saddle, my gaze dropping to my hands. I study one ofmy palms, tracing the faint outlines of my darkened fingertips with my eyes, the tips seem even blacker now from the Decay magic I drew in earlier.
The rhythmic sway of the horse beneath me does little to soothe the heavy thoughts pressing in on me. My magic, relentless and simmering, stirs at my unease, as though it has a will of its own. I try to shake the weight of it, but it clings to me.
