Hannah's Hero - Ruby Dixon Page 0,105
J’shel. “Keep it in the sling and don’t use it, and come back in the morning and I’ll keep working on it.” She smiles brightly at us. “For now, you two should probably head out. You look so tired you’re making me exhausted just looking at you.”
“We’re going home,” I agree.
“Home to my hut,” J’shel says. “H’nah is mine now.”
Veronica reaches out and impulsively touches my hand. She closes her eyes, and then pats my hand before releasing it. “Yeah, there’s already a bun in that oven. Glad to hear you two reconciled.”
I blush. Again. And once more when J’shel gets a rather self-satisfied look on his face. “We will go to our hut and—”
I panic, imagining the filthy things about to come out of his mouth. “Sleep for hours,” I bark out, jumping to my feet. “Right, babe?”
He grins slyly up at me. “Right.”
When we emerge back out to the camp, I’m not surprised that we get invited to sit at cookfires as we walk through. Everyone loves J’shel. K’thar and Lauren try to get us to eat with them, but Gail just hands us a bag of dried meat and shoos us away, and I’m so thankful I want to cry. At least someone realizes how tired we are. Brooke and Taushen have disappeared back to their own tent, and as we pass by the main fire pit, I see N’dek and Devi sitting together. Bridget sits on the other side of N’dek and A’tam is on the other side of Bridget. R’jaal’s talking to them all—or lecturing—and I carefully skirt J’shel away from that mess before he can get caught up in it.
“N’dek,” he murmurs as I drag him in the direction of the huts.
“Tomorrow,” I say. “You can talk to him tomorrow.”
“He still sleeps in the same hut I do,” J’shel warns me. “I invited him to stay when you would not look at me.”
“And because you felt the need to hover over him like a mama bird,” I tease. “That’s fine, and he can stay with us tonight, but tomorrow, he needs to find somewhere else to stay.”
“This is true,” J’shel says, not arguing. When I give him a surprised look, he adds, “I do not want to be interrupted when I am between your thighs.”
This man, I swear. “Let’s save that for when you’re feeling better, all right?”
He only grunts in acknowledgment.
We get to the hut, and it’s the first time I’ve ever been inside. I’m touched at how nice it is. It’s spacious inside, with a wood floor and a central firepit that has hot coals in it. Two sets of furs are set up on opposite sides of the hut and there’s a cluster of supplies in a pile at the back. It needs organizing and a woman’s touch, but I’m mostly thrilled to have a floor. “This is wonderful. You built all of this?”
“For you,” he says.
I feel like the cruelest woman ever to make him suffer for so long. “I’m sorry I avoided you.”
“You did what you felt you had to.” He drops his pack on the floor and gestures at the furs. “Now we sleep.”
“Sleep sounds amazing,” I agree, suddenly exhausted. The piles of furs never looked so inviting. “Which one is yours?” When he points, I flop down and pull off my boots. My snowshoes were abandoned up on the cliff and I groan with pleasure when I pull the first boot off. “Give me a moment and I’ll do yours,” I tell him.
“I have one bad arm, my mate. You think I cannot take care of myself? You think I cannot take care of you?”
I look up and then he’s over me, looming, and there’s a hot look in his eyes that has nothing to do with sleep.
“Seriously?” I squeak. “You’re wounded—”
“The healer numbed it—”
“—and we haven’t slept in days—”
“—so I will be quick,” he tells me, and puts a hand on my shoulder, pushing me down to the blankets. “But I need my mate.”
Even though I’m exhausted, I’m starting to get a little turned on. “You…want me to sit on your face like you said earlier?”
His eyes gleam with excitement. “I like your idea better than mine. Yes, let us do that.”
“Wait,” I sputter, suddenly shy. “That wasn’t my idea—”
J’shel puts a finger to my lips, silencing me. “Does that mean you do not want it?”
I blush, and he laughs.
“Come and sit on your poor, wounded mate’s face so he can pleasure you,” J’shel says, lying