She giggled between my kisses and swung her hunting prize, holding it by its tail.
“Now you’ll have to teach me how to make the muskrat pie.”
“I will,” I promised.
“When? Tonight for dinner? Or do you want to wait until you come back from the keep?”
The reminder on my impending trip back to the keep stirred an unpleasant feeling in my chest. But the massive prey, like the giant long-tailed moose we got yesterday, had made us run out of storage space, and I needed to take the meat to the keep or risk it getting spoiled.
I’d promised to trust Khala’s abilities to take care of herself and even defend herself if needed. That didn’t make it any easier for me to leave her at the cabin alone again.
“Are you sure you want to stay behind again?” I asked for probably the millionth time, already knowing her answer.
“I can’t come with you yet,” she reminded. “Not until we’re absolutely sure that the men from the Avilet Kingdom have left the Wetlands.”
Khala was wanted for injuring and possibly murdering a man. She didn’t give me many details, but I believed her when she swore that the asshole deserved it, and I hated the dark shadows that would fall over her face when she talked about her past.
A sharp pang of longing reminded me how fucking hard I would miss her when away from her.
“Khala…” I slid a finger over the embroidered edge of the ribbon she wore as a headband.
“Yes?” She grinned up at me, and it was all I could do not to kiss her again.
“I need to tell you something…” I swallowed hard.
My throat tightened with nerves.
The smile slipped from her face.
“What is it, Grat?”
“I…” I huffed a breath in frustration, scrambling for words like a love-struck boy. “Men in my keep often give pretty ribbons as a courting gift to the women they like…”
She blinked, lifting a hand to the ribbon. “They do?”
“Yes, and I didn’t think about that when buying it for you?—”
“Oh, you didn’t?” Her expression dimmed somewhat.
“But now, I was wondering, if you would give me your permission to court you?”
Her lips moved as if she tried to contain a smile that had already lit up her eyes. “Is that what you want to do? You want to court me?”
“I do, Khala. There is nothing in this world that I want more.”
She paused, biting her lip to contain her smile and clearly oblivious to the fact that every moment she stayed silent was like a punch in my stomach.
“What does bog orcs’ courting look like? Will I get more pretty ribbons?” the little vixen asked with a cheeky smile.
“If it’s ribbons you want, my sweet thing, I’ll get you trunks full of them.”
“Will I get more kisses?” she kept on.
“As many as you can stand.” I ached to kiss her again.
“Morespecialbaths?” she asked with a naughty glint in her eyes.
“If we spend any more time in the bathtub, we may as well just live there.” I laughed, the knots in my stomach dissolving into a kaleidoscope of frantic butterflies.
