to put out. Then, in his warlord tone, he directed me to where I'd be the most helpful. My soldier brain had responded to that and followed his order.
By the time we were done, the sun was rising and a third of the human portion of camp had been lost. And that wasn't the end of the losses or the fires. We still had to gather the Farungal corpses and burn them so their venom wouldn't poison the soil when they decomposed. Then, we had to bury our dead, and, finally, build a temporary shelter for all the displaced soldiers whose tents had burned.
The Leopard Lord had stayed at my side the entire time, forcing his officers to search for him when they needed instruction. He didn't try to stop me from helping with the clean-up, burials, or construction, just stood to the side, one eye on me while he gave his commands. When all the work was done—all that needed to be done immediately—I trudged toward my tent, expecting the Leopard Lord to return to his.
He didn't.
“What are you doing?” I turned to confront him when he started following me.
“I'm escorting you.”
“I don't need a fucking escort to my tent.”
“You do if you think you're going to escape speaking to me about this.”
“About what?” I asked wearily.
“About us!” he snarled.
“There is no us!” I snarled back. “I saved your life, and you felt guilty, so you saved mine back. We're square, warlord. Leave me be.”
I turned and started walking again. The Leopard Lord kept stalking me, looking like a leopard even in his Sidhe body.
“Go away,” I groaned.
“No. You're upset, but you'll understand soon enough. We're bound now, Tristan.”
“I don't fucking care.” I found my tent and stumbled into it.
With a deep sigh, I dropped my sword and unbuckled my belt. I was glad I had worn it. Usually, I didn't strap on a sword for meetings, but I'd had a strange feeling that day. I wasn't wearing armor, but at least I'd had a weapon; a lot of the human soldiers had to run for theirs when the fighting began. It's why the Farungal had gotten so—
“What the fuck?!” I screamed when I saw the Leopard Lord standing in my tent. “You scared the shit out of me!”
His mouth twitched in a smile. Then he looked around my tent and scowled. “I thought captains got better accommodations.”
“Accommodations?” I gave him the look that statement deserved. “It's a fucking army camp, not a hotel. Even you sleep in a tent.”
“A tent that is much larger than this one.” He looked at my things. “At least we don't have a lot to carry.”
“What are you talking about?” I kept my stare firmly on his face even though I was dying to check out the glimpse of gloriously sculpted chest offered by the V of his tunic. I bit the inside of my mouth, trying to remind myself that I wasn't gay.
“You'll be staying with me from now on,” he said imperiously. “Another soldier can have your tent.”
“What? No. Not happening. Go away.”
“You need to be with me, Tristan,” the Leopard Lord said with a sigh. “And this tent could be used by another soldier. Would you really have one of your fellow soldiers sleeping on a pallet in that communal tent instead of comfortable in here simply because you can't control your lust for me?”
“Simply because I can't . . .” I made choking sounds as I gaped at him. “You are one arrogant motherfucker! I am straight! A heterosexual! I don't like men! I fuck women! How else can I say it so you'll understand?” I tossed my hands up in the air. “You think just because you look like that, you can have anyone. Well, you can't! I'm not interested, okay?”
He sighed deeply. “No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“No, to all of that.” The Leopard Lord waved his hand in a general motion. “You don't seem to understand what becoming a valorian means, Captain. So let me enlighten you. The bond that we've just forged goes deeper than our physical bodies. Our souls touched. I took a piece of mine and set it inside yours. I saw you—the real you. The you that the Goddess found to be as breathtaking as I do.”
He stepped forward. I stepped back.
“And you saw me too, didn't you?” the Leopard Lord whispered as he lifted a hand to my face. “You're feeling the same things for me that I am feeling for you—an