Total pages in book: 193
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Aurelia shakes her head while backing away. “No. No way. I can’t do that. I don’t know how.”
“You have to, baby. Please. For me?”
Aurelia chews on her lip, inhales, and then nods. “Okay. Tell me what to do.”
I run it down for her and then lie on my back and force myself to relax. Aurelia gently takes my arm and extends it but pauses with worry in her eyes that she might hurt me further.
“It’s okay, Goldilocks. You can do it.”
Nodding, she moves my arm the way I showed her, and I shout a curse when I feel the joint slide back into place. When enough of the pain fades, I rotate the injured arm to test it out and then exhale my relief.
“Thanks, baby.” She looks like she wants to pass out, so I make her sit while I quickly examine her. There’s no time to be thorough. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
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 hunting hard. 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.”