Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,32
before she even recognized it, was her single reward. With a shake of her head, she shooed Er’it’s hands as they reached for the implements, sidling away before trying again. Determined now that she could do such a simple task, she struck flint and stone over and again, baring her teeth as each new spark ended in empty nothingness, the pile of kindling no better than a personal Abyss as it sucked the light in and killed it.
“No,” Aida snarled, smacking the two stones together. Such a paltry thing to be angry over, but still the virginal emotion swelled under her breast, tightening her chest as her heart pounded and she struck again. This time, the spark caught, held for a breathless moment before winking out.
“Give it here, woman.”
“I almost have it!”
Again, Aida tried. It caught and held, and she gave a victorious whoop. Fist punching up to the sky, she turned to Er’it with an amazed smile but faltered at his deep scowl, her triumph dwindling until she hunched and laid the stones aside. Hands held in her lap, strangled fingers twisting in endless circuits against the warmth of her thighs, Aida darted glances in his direction as Er’it continued to stare while he fed the small flames with the thin branches he’d collected.
Neither inclined to break the silence that descended upon them, Aida listened to the approaching night’s various sounds. Still so strange and new, each echoing hoot and grating chirp had her looking back at the darkening trees around them. He showed no such concern, adding more lengths of wood to the small fire. Even Kal appeared untroubled, lips working in drowsy contemplation of the long grass and thin leaves around them.
Lips bunched to the side, Aida looked at the deepening shadows. If they could be so nonchalant, so could she. Nod decisive, she moved to sit on her backside, legs stretched out alongside the fire. It put her back to Er’it, but she tried not to let it bother her, even if she did feel his gaze burning along her spine, causing the small hairs at her nape to rise on end. Fingers sifting through the debris at her side, she sighed. At least with Rhyn there was conversation, no matter how crude he and Miyenth became. Though they teased her and made her feel small and stupid at times, they at least treated her as a person. Her mouth worked into a strained line, lips caught tight over the bitter laughter threatening to explode into the cool air.
“What are you smiling about?”
Aida couldn’t hold back the snort, chin angling over her shoulder to quirk a disbelieving brow at him. Seeing the utter seriousness of his gaze, she wondered if he thought her true smile so sour. Turning, she gave a hard jerk of her shoulder as she stared toward the road.
“Pining for your new lover? Hoping he comes to save you after his attempt to kill me failed so miserably? You know I will kill him, don’t you?”
Aida refused to rise to the bait. The vicious undercurrent of Er’it’s anger forever close to the surface when she was near, Aida was loath to begin another scene. Tired, sore, and hungry, she realized she wanted this quiet moment—time to think on what Marilsa had told her in the glen, the ominous shadow that had chased her, Er’it and how she felt about him despite his promises to murder her. Heaving another sigh, Aida curled her legs tight against her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins with chin resting atop her knees.
“I asked you a question.”
“Does it matter what I say?”
“You lied to me. They did touch you.”
“I can tell you exactly what happened the moment he took me into the woods. You will become angry, threaten me. Perhaps hurt me. I tire of the cycle of it.” Aida spun her hand in a weary circle, sighing again as she rested her cheek against upturned knees to look at the struggling flames.
Aida hissed as he dragged her backward, cringing when she slammed into the wall of his chest. She knew it had to pain him to treat his body so roughly, though he gave little sign of it. Tugging her head back with a tight fist in her hair, he crushed his bared teeth against tender lips, smearing the coppery tang of blood between them before Aida gasped and opened for his violent assault.
Moaning at the taste of him on her tongue, Aida found her arms