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What?Louisablinked up at him, at where he was so close, so close she could feel his breaths, could almost taste the echoes of his words.Thiswas good.Thispleased me.Asif… as if maybe she’d proven something, after all.
“Nowgo, and rest,” he murmured. “Ishall come for you when next we are here, ach?Weshall be out working for the clan these next few days, so next week, mayhap.”
Nextweek.Louisa’sstomach plummeted again, but it was still something, something, a small flickering hope.Andthen — the touch of something that might have beenKillik’slips, brief but warm against her forehead.
He’d…kissedher.
Louisafroze in place, and for an instant, she wanted to shout at him, to claw at him, to beg.Tosay,Pleasestay, how can you just say no, how can you just walk away…
ButKillikdidn’t care, he didn’t.Thiswas only a deal, only five more nights.Hewas leaving.Leaving…
AndsuddenlyLouisacouldn’t bear it, couldn’t stand to watch him go.Andafter a brief clutch against him, a foolish stroke to his hard forbidding chest, she twisted away, and staggered off into the darkness.
27
Louisaspent yet another restless night.Kickingand twisting in her bed, frowning tiredly at the ceiling, shoving at the thoughts ofKillikandUlfarrthat just wouldn’t go away.
Thisis very good.Youshow us great honour.Sosweet.Youare wondrous,Louisa.
No.Hecannot.Youcannot.
Itwasn’t at all helped by the silken wetness still seeping from inside her, or the rising dull ache deeper within.Orthe cursed hunger that kept swirling at the memories of it, ofKillikgroaning as he’d pulsed out into her, ofUlfarr’stoo-large strength opening her, pushing its way inside…
Louisafinally had to use her hand to wring out her own pleasure — twice — before she could fall asleep.Buteven that was fraught, because her dreams were full of it, of them, of a longing so strong it felt like it was crushing her, wringing her empty beneath its weight.
Bymorning, she was exhausted and irritable, but there was also a grim, resigned awareness as she washed and dressed.Aswondrous as last night had been — and as tempting asKillik’schallenge of proving it had been — she needed to remember the actual truth of it.Thiswas a deal.Itwas only five more nights.Andmaybe she should even tellKillikshe was done with it again, try to abandon it, forget it for good, just likeLordScall…
But— no.No.Shewouldn’t.Lastnight had been unlike anything she’d ever known.Ithad given her so much pleasure, so much wonder — and even those fleeting, beautiful moments of… peace.Justlike the peace she’d felt seeing the camp the day before, and knowing that she was usingLordScall’sland for good.Notforgetting what he’d done, but instead perhaps… facing it.Helpingthe people he’d harmed.Makingamends.
Itwas almost enough to drown out the lingering longing, and the ache ofKillikleaving, and not coming back for a week.Becauseyes, it still hurt, it still clutched deep in her belly — butLouisacould face it.Shestill had five more nights with them, and then her land would be hers, forever.Shecould focus on the hope, and the healing, and the peace.
Soshe threw herself into the day with as much determination as she could, laughing and chattering with her staff and the children over breakfast, and then tackling the task of cleaning the kitchen’s oven and chimney, a daunting project she’d been putting off for months.Andwhile it was filthy, exhausting work — especially without the help ofEliseandGladys, who were still dealing with the venison in the cellar — it at least shoved away the memories from the night before, until they were only nattering away in a tired corner of her brain.Nextweek, an entire damned week, and then —
Abang.Atthe door behind her.
Louisawhipped around, her heart pounding — just as more bangs pounded, sharp and staccato against the door.Asif someone needed in.Urgently.
Ithad to beJoan, some kind of emergency — andLouisaleapt up, rushed over to yank the door open.Andfound —
Anorc.A… young orc.Ayoung, slim, grey-skinned orc, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old, with pulled-up hair, and a flushed, wet, wide-eyed face.Lookingfrantic, and in pain, because —Louisa’seyes rapidly swept down over his tunic and trousers — he wasbleeding.Histrousers were badly torn at the knee, and his calf was a horrifying mass of deep, vicious-looking cuts, pooling bright streams of red down onto his soft leather boots.
Louisa’seyes held on the boots for an instant too long, and then she yanked the door open wider, and fervently waved the orc inside. “Goodgods, sweetheart,” she croaked, “what the hell happened to you?Didyou — get attacked?Byan animal, maybe?”
Theorc grimaced and shook his head, but willingly limped inside, pain flashing across his eyes with every step.Andhe kept glancing backwards, too, toward the still-open door behind him, toward —Louisagroaned aloud — towardRikard.Godsdamnit.
“Stopthat orc!”Rikardhollered, huffing and gasping as he staggered up toward her door, with two of his armed stooges jogging along behind him. “Getthat trespasser,Louisa!”
Louisashot a look back at the young orc now hovering behind her — at his pale face, his quivering mouth, the genuine terror glimmering in his eyes.Andwithout thinking, she shoved him further behind her, and firmly planted herself between him and the open door.
“Whatthe hell is this about,Rikard?” she demanded. “Youcan’t honestly be accusing this — this juvenile — of trespassing, while you’re about to shove your way into my house?!”
RikardshotLouisaa dark, baleful glare, but reeled slightly back from her open doorway, so he could loom menacingly just outside it. “I’monly seeking to uphold the law,Louisa,” he snarled. “Andthat orc” — he jabbed his thick finger toward the orc behind her — “was caught openly trespassing, on my property!Asyousworeto me those odious orcs wouldn’t do!”
Louisadarted another look back at the orc, at his drawn face and pleading terrified eyes, and she drew in a shaky breath, fought to follow this, to think. “Iknow the orcs have been very careful about the property lines,Rikard,” she countered. “Anddo you even have proof that he was on your land?”
“Yes,Ido have proof!”Rikardroared, waving a furious hand toward the orc. “Hewas caught in one of my traps!”
Thehorror surged inLouisa’schest, her eyes snapping back down to the orc’s injured leg.Towhere those sharp, deep cuts suddenly did look a lot like the marks from a trap, from a strong steel wire, perhaps.Andthose smaller cuts all around it, those would be —Louisaclosed her eyes — from the orc’s own claws, scratching at the wire, desperately trying to break himself free.
