Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,51

gusty sigh that earned her a brief nuzzle to her hair. Little more than a brush of his lips, it settled over her in a blanket of cloudy softness, keeping Aida pliant in his arms until his tent stood tall among the shambles of the rest. Then he became nothing but decisive actions. Sliding from Kal’s back, he hauled Aida after him as soon as his feet touched the ground. Tucking the blanket tight around her, Er’it slung his arm across her back and hurried Aida toward the dark opening.

“My king, I should have a look at her wounds,” Maruk said, coming up behind the pair.

For a breathless moment, Aida worried he would strike Maruk. Body tense, a faint tremble running through his arms as his fists clenched, Er’it craned his head back to look at the healer. Whatever Maruk saw in Er’it’s gaze sent him shuffling backward, head bowed as he mumbled an apology.

Aida drew a breath in when Er’it’s arm fell from her shoulder, ready to plead for the healer who had been nothing but kind to her. Head snapping back around, Er’it’s golden gaze glowed in the weakening light, staring hard at Aida as if he could see through her, the hard lines of his brows coming together the longer he glared.

“Come.” Er’it gave Aida a soft push to send her inside the dark interior. It was enough to make her quick step to keep from stumbling, but he did not shove her to the ground. Catching her shoulder, Er’it guided her toward the pile of cushions they’d yet to scatter around the tent for their bed and seating. He even held her elbow, easing her down onto one plump pillow.

Aida had no inkling where this strange turn of behavior came from, and she watched Er’it from beneath her lashes as he went about the tent to light the candles and lamps for Maruk to see by. Her attention did not stray even when Maruk began to speak to her as he poked and prodded at her welts and scratches. Somehow Aida ignored his mutterings about the multitude of bruises, her sole focus on the way Er’it’s copper-hued skin gleamed in the flickering illumination. The golden glow lent a richer warmth to his sun-bronzed skin, making him seem part of the light itself.

“Lady?”

“I… I’m sorry, I…” Aida’s cheeks warmed as she turned to Maruk. Voice loud, he must have called to her more than once.

“You have had a hard journey, Lady,” Maruk said, smile turning to grimace as a line formed between his brows. “I asked if there was anything else I should see to?”

“No,” Aida said, drawing out the word with slow consideration. While her sex ached, it was no worse now than in the beginning of all of this. More important, she dared not tell Maruk about the wound at her shoulder, some urgent voice in her heart keeping her silent.

Er’it appeared behind Maruk’s stooped shoulder, eyes burnished with an emotion Aida could not discern. Refusing to believe it to be concern or worry, she turned her gaze aside to watch her fingers pick at a stray thread of the cushion she sat on.

“If you are certain, Lady,” Maruk said, leaving a long moment of quiet for her to change her mind before he cleared his throat and produced a pot of the salve Aida knew all too well now. “We will need to cleanse these before—”

“I will see to it. Out.” Er’it came to stand beside Aida with his chest swelling over the breadth of his arms as he crossed them and an imperious, amber gaze allowing Maruk no argument.

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Maruk set the pot aside, rising on creaky bones to gather the rest of his supplies before leaving with a low genuflection in Er’it’s direction, a scant smile of sympathy offered to Aida.

“Why did you not tell him?”

“Tell him what?”

“You know very well what,” Er’it said as he crouched at her side, fingering a straggling curl before he pushed the fall of it back behind Aida’s shoulder.

“He could do nothing for that,” Aida said with a certainty she didn’t feel. Perhaps there was something Maruk could do, at least for the pain, but then she would have to explain. She didn’t know where to even begin, didn’t know what drove Er’it to do it or her to do the same. It was a savage, primal act that defied all explanation. To then find words to describe the sensations roiling within her