slow down.
Suddenly, the girls faced him as if deciding to walk back up. They both screamed when seeing him. He threw his hands up in front of him. “Sorry, females,” he said.
His mate’s eyes widened as she stared at him.
The other female asked, “Were you following us? Who are you?”
He couldn’t help the smirk on his lips at the beautiful female’s fixation on him. Yes, she was affected by him as he was by her.
“I am going to the smith’s cave to speak with him. I do not know where you are going.”
Daphne continued to speak since Lilah said nothing. “We made a wrong turn somewhere and are going back.”
“I would be more than glad to escort you to where you want to go.” His eyes never left his mate’s.
“Oh,” the tall female looked at his mate still staring at him. “Uh, we don’t want to keep you from whatever you’re doing.”
He smiled his best smile and stepped toward Lilah. “You won’t be.” He gestured with his arm for them to continue down with him, laying his hand on the small of his mate’s back. “I will show you the most impressive weapons cave you have ever seen.”
Tingles raced through his body on contact with her. He couldn’t tell her reaction since it was hidden by the extra clothing. He wanted so much to touch her skin, feel its softness, silkiness. Maybe they could find a corner where they could “meet” each other.
He’d been blabbing the whole walk down to the mine and really had no idea what he said. His mind was so involved in both her and her reactions to him. When they reached the dig area, his mate was sweating. He had forgotten how hot it was in the volcano’s depths.
“Smits,” Ferrus called out. He watched as his mate studied the young boys carrying in rock from the mine and the magma female drenched in sweat at the lava river. His mate’s wide eyes and gaping mouth probably weren’t a good thing.
Great. Now, what was wrong?
Chapter Eight
Lilah was so pissed when she walked out of the dining room, she could’ve chewed the entire rock wall and spit it out like bullets from a machine gun. All at one man, well two: that asshole who liked to hurt women and the dumbass king for his stupider than dog shit laws.
That one nice man, though, she had seen him when she walked in. She’d wished that the light hadn’t been so dim in the room. She couldn’t see much more than his silhouette as he sat. She would have loved to see what all of him looked like up close. That would be a wet dream come true. But right now, she had more important things to think about.
It was time to get the hell out of this place. If the guards tried to stop them, she’d deal with it then. Right now she was too angry. Reaching the kitchen entrance, she made sure her cousin was with her then continued down the slope toward the king’s throne room where this whole nightmare began.
Could she tell off the bastard and not be thrown back in their cell? Probably not. Maybe she could try to be such a pain in the ass that His Hind Ass would tell them to leave. She doubted that too. Judges didn’t release the attorneys for bad behavior; they called contempt of court. And sitting in jail while the judge cooled his jets wasn’t fun. She learned that the second time she had to sit and wait.
“Lilah,” her friend asked, “do you know where you’re going?”
“We went straight to the kitchen from the king’s room. So, we just go past that, and the big cavern should be nearby. From there, we can get to Wren and Zee and get the fuck out of this fresh hell.”
“Lilah,” Daph whispered, getting closer to her, “why are you ready to chew someone a new hole? Granted, that guy back there who hit the woman deserves to have his left nut cut off, but you’ve been like this since we left the village this morning.”
Lilah squeezed her hands into fists, letting the bite of her nails into her palm help her to get a grip on herself. There was no way she would tell Daphne about her jealousy of Wren finding a mate, the loneliness she had endured for so long, and the humiliation she suffered daily from others because of her weight.
“I am guessing you didn’t hear me