battle with me and fight for woales." He rubs his chin thoughtfully.
"You know what? All of that sounds awful. Let's just go with stealing. Jesus. I never thought that would be the least evil of our choices." I shake my head, hanging the rest of my clothing to dry and then digging through my woefully small bag for something fresh to wear. My cold ass is hanging out and I need something warm to cover me.
Plus, I'm feeling weird being naked around Aron after the bathing. I'm pretty sure he's impassive to human things like lust—well, except for his other Aspect that is nothing but lust—but me, I'm having a hard time figuring out where I stand with him.
"You sound upset, Faith." He wades back to the shore and offers me his wet clothes, as if I should hang them. When I don't take them, he tosses them over my wet clothes on the same branch, as if the problem is solved, and I have to bite back a curse of irritation. "It is a good plan."
"For you, maybe. What about the people you're stealing from?"
He snorts. "If they are anything like Katharn's fools, I should be glad to rid them of their belongings. They need to be taught a lesson or two. What kind of treacherous idiots try to kill a god?"
Apparently a lot of them, since that seems to be the agenda for oh, half the people we meet lately. "If they're like the Katharn people, I won't feel bad about stealing from them," I admit. "But what if they're more like Omos? What if they're moms and dads with kids to feed and we show up and demand their money and horses?"
Aron gives me an incredulous look. "You think I would cripple those that already suffer? What kind of man do you take me for, Faith?"
"An arrogant one?" I shove my arms through the sleeves of my new tunic.
"Arrogance is not selfishness or cruelty," he says, and pulls a tunic out of his pack and then offers it to me. "Wear this. You're still shivering."
I'm surprised—and touched—by his offer. "What about you?"
He shrugs. "I do not feel the cold nearly as much as you do. And we can huddle together for warmth if I do start to feel it. Are you going to sleep now?"
It almost sounds like he wants me to go to sleep. Is it because he's tired of talking? Or because he wants to hold me? I flush at the thought, discarding it from my mind. Probably not that. "Is it safe?"
"Safe enough, and you need to be well-rested for the morrow's journey." He sits, leaning against the trunk of a tree, one arm resting on a thick root as if it's a throne, and I can almost ignore the fact that he's bare-assed in the dirt. He still looks regal and imposing, and when he flicks a hand toward me, indicating I should join him, I do.
I delicately spread his tunic over his lap so I won't snuggle against his naked cock and balls, and then slide against him. "Thanks," I murmur. "Wake me up if we're in danger." I don't think I'm all that tired, but my eyelids grow heavy as he puts his arm around my shoulders.
I don't fall asleep right away, though. There's a rock under my butt, and Aron's shoulder is hard with muscle. Plus, he's started to play with my hair, which is…distracting. I think about our earlier baths. I think about that night in Tadekha's Citadel, too. Man, I really need something new to think about, because creeping on Aron is not going to end anywhere good. He's already shown he's very uninterested.
I yawn.
"Go to sleep," he tells me.
"I'm trying. Quit talking to me."
"I will once you go to sleep."
I poke him in the side and shift against him, doing my best to get comfortable. It's almost too quiet around us, and I didn't realize how noisy the town was until we got out here. It feels unnervingly silent, and every time something in the distance makes a sound—a branch snapping, an animal moving through the bushes—I tense up.
"Why are you afraid?"
"Well, let me think. We were chased out of town by both an angry torch-wielding mob and a graveyard full of undead. Gosh, I can't imagine what there is to be frightened of."
He pokes my face, an Aron attempt at being playful. "You are here with Aron of the Cleaver. Nothing shall harm you."