Unquiet Slumber (38 page)

He whispered in her ear, “Tianna, are you back to being yourself?”

Tianna’s had no idea what he was talking about, as her mind was swirling. She continued to lie silently until her head started to clear. She tried to remember the night’s events, but everything was just a blur. Other than the fuzz in her head, she felt great. Actually, she felt better than she could ever remember. She did notice that they both were naked and Nathaniel was partially on top of her.

“Nathaniel.” She asked in an unsure voice, “Why are we naked, and why are you on top of me?”

Nathaniel, hearing her normal voice, eased his hold just enough to let her move a little. He wanted to see if she would turn and attack. When she didn’t make any moves, he eased slowly off of her.

She began to sit up, trying to cover herself as she moved. “What happened last night?” she asked while swaying.

“You don’t remember?”

“Well, my mind is a little fuzzy.”

Her eyes focused, and she finally took a good look at Nathaniel. He looked like he had been in a fight. “What happened to you?” As she asked, she tried to reach over to touch one of the many wounds on his body. He had an especially bad wound on his neck.

Nathaniel jumped like a poisonous snake was trying to strike. He glared at her with an expression she had never seen on his face before and never wanted to see again. He spoke with his teeth clenched. “You. Bit. Me.” After a longer pause, he added, “Many times.” He gave her another growl.

Tianna was shocked. She ran through any of the night’s events that she could recall. As she concentrated hard, a few rather shocking images appeared. These images, if true, could explain some of his injuries. “Oh,” was the only word that would come out of her mouth.

Nathaniel grabbed a small blanket, wrapped it around his waist, and started to pace. He threw his arms into the air and exclaimed, “Oh. Is that all you have to say after what you put me through?”

Tianna gave him a rather sheepish look. “I’m sorry.” It came out sounding like a cross between a statement and a question. “Why didn’t you use your healing powers to fix all of your wounds?”

“Because you sucked all of the energy out of me,” he said out loud but added ‘
literally
’ to the end of the statement in his mind.

“Let me heal you then.” She held out her hand that was starting to glow with her blue flame.

He jumped back and shouted. “NO!” He then spoke in a lower tone. “I think I’ve had enough of your power touching me for a while.” He paused and took a really good long look at Tianna. Not only did she look rested and held no battle scars, she actually had a glow to her skin. She looked great.

“Unbelievable!” he growled as he shook his head in frustration.

Just then, they could hear a female’s voice at the door asking to come in. Tianna, acting as if it was just any normal morning, said sweetly, “Come in.”

The female that stepped in was the same one that guided them to their tent the previous night. She curtsied to both of them. Nathaniel just growled in response.

She said, “I heard your voices and knew you had risen. Would like us to draw you a bath?” She spoke to Tianna but kept moving her eyes apprehensively back and forth toward Nathaniel.

Tianna feeling so refreshed, responded with a chipper, “Oh yes, please. That would be very nice.”

Nathaniel stood with his arms crossed tightly across his chest and giving out a constant low growl that was starting to make the ground vibrate.

For the next few minutes, their guide directed people in and out of the tent until a full tub of hot water was ready and waiting. One final female entered the tent and laid down a set of fresh clothes for both Tianna and Nathaniel. She then walked over to Nathaniel and handed him a rough cloth.

“And what am I supposed to do with this?” he asked.

“To help clean your mate,” she said as if she couldn’t understand his confusion. Seeing his reaction and hearing a louder growl, she glanced over at Tianna who smiled. Then the female quickly left the tent without saying another word.

Nathaniel stared at Tianna and slowly changed his expression, like he had just come up with an evil idea. “Yes mate. Come to the bath so that I may clean your skin.” He gave her a fake smile while swinging the cloth in one of his hands. When Tianna didn’t move, he urged her on. “Now don’t be shy, my sweet mate. After last night, there isn’t a single inch of that body of yours that I don’t know intimately.”

Tianna swallowed hard, realizing he was probably right. She didn’t know what to do. In the end, she stood and walked to the edge of the tub. For some reason the thought of being naked in front of him didn’t bother her anymore. She dropped the blanket and stepped into the water.

Nathaniel followed her every move with an intense glare.

The tub wasn’t deep, but it was large. She sat down in the water and, to Tianna’s complete surprise, Nathaniel dropped his blanket and got into the tub with her. She had to curl up her legs to make room. She didn’t know what to think, do, or say. She stared at the expression in Nathaniel’s face for a few minutes. In a quavering, soft voice and with her head hung low, she said, “I’m really sorry. I don‘t know what came over me.” She continued to look down at her hands that were folded on her lap.

When Nathaniel felt her genuine despair, it instantly knocked all of the frustration out of him. He knew she had no control on what happened, and he needed to make this right. He scooted around, scooping her up and setting her down onto his lap. He pulled her against his chest saying, “It’s okay, My Sweet.”

She stared at him with glassy eyes and then threw her arms around his neck, hugging him as tight as she could. She apologized over and over, while Nathaniel tried to quiet her. Once she calmed, they actually did help each other bathe. The greasy paint was everywhere, and it really did take two to get it off their skin.

As they were getting dressed, Nathaniel knew the question that Tianna had in her mind but was afraid to ask. He went ahead and answered it for her. “No, we didn’t. You’re still
somewhat
untouched.” In a grumble so low Tianna didn’t hear he added, “No thanks to your efforts.”

Relief flooded her body and she said, “Thank you for taking care of me.” She wanted to remember the first time she would give herself over completely to a male, especially if it was Nathaniel. She would have to talk to him later about his use of the word ‘somewhat’.

Nathaniel had similar thoughts. He was very grateful that he was able to keep his oath. He promised himself if he were to bed Tianna, she WAS going to remember it. The thought of taking her now was somewhat frightening and he shivered at the idea.

They left the tent together. As they walked to find their fellow travelers, Nathaniel took her hand in his. They intertwined their fingers and she held on tight.

As they walked, they approached two ladies deep in conversation. They were smiling, laughing, and making large animated gestures with their hands as they talked. Behind them were two males, presumably their mates. Unlike the females, the men were leaning against a pile of wood. They were pale in color and had scratches on their arms. Nathaniel presumed they had injuries hidden under their clothes as well.

As they passed, Nathaniel turned and acknowledged the males. He had an excellent guess as to what they had been through last night. They stared at each other, and then gave a brief nod in shared understanding. Nathaniel stared down at Tianna and gave her another stern glare. She quickly looked away.

Within a few minutes, they found the members of their quest. They were packing up the last of the supplies and had already stowed Tianna’s and Nathaniel’s gear.

The newly arrived couple was examined from head to toe. Tianna looked great although sad, while Nathaniel still looked like he had been through a war. Although most of his wounds were covered by clothes, some were exposed. The wound on his neck was painfully obvious.

Before anyone got a chance to say a word, Nathaniel announced in a commanding voice, “Don’t ask. And Marcus, my oath hasn’t been broken.”

Tianna smiled and a giggle escaped that she didn’t intend. Everyone laughed, except for Nathaniel. He rolled his eyes and stomped over to his horse.

After they waved goodbye to those that came to see them off, Nathaniel said, “Let’s go. I want to get far away from Eden.”

“
And away from me
,” Tianna thought to herself as a sharp pain stabbed her in her chest.

Marcus leaned into Gabriel and whispered. “I think he played with fire and got burned.”

Gabriel snickered and nodded in agreement. Secretly he was envious of Nathaniel’s time with Tianna.

Marcus and Seth discussed briefly the path they would be taking and then mounted their horses. Everyone followed Nathaniel out of Eden and on to the next village.

Throughout the day’s travels, Tianna continued to try and recall more of what happened the night before. Every once in a while, she would suddenly stop her horse and let out an “Oh my!” or a “Lord no!” and turn beet red. The memories were returning.

Tianna was feeling worse by the minute. She didn’t know how she could hurt a Draak of Nathaniel’s size and strength, but she knew she had. She didn’t know how to make it up to him and thought that maybe she just needed to give him some space. To avoid him, she made sure to ride as far away from him as she could.

While they traveled, Nathaniel rode straight ahead without saying a word to anyone. Thoughts of Tianna’s body on his made his lower regions react, which wasn’t a comfortable position to be in while sitting on a saddle. He kept shifting his body as if he was aching, but when his brothers asked if he wanted to stop and rest, it just made his mood worse. So, like Tianna, they ignored his actions.

It was a miserable day for everyone.

After a long day’s ride, they found a place to stop for the night and everyone helped set-up camp. Tianna did her protection spell to hide the campsite and continued to stay out of Nathaniel’s way. At evening meal when Marcus passed his Fire Wine around, Nathaniel grabbed the bottle. Normally a small swallow is all anyone would drink, but tonight, Nathaniel drank for a good minute before passing the bottle.

After the meal ended, Gabriel smiled at Seth and announced, “Time for your lessons. Tonight I think we’ll work on how to properly take a fall.” Given Tianna’s mood, he decided to give her the night off from training.

Seth’s shoulders slumped, but he got up and grumbled, “Yes, my lord.” He knew this was going to hurt.

Throughout the next hour the group heard a lot of thumps, moans, and “Let’s do that again.” Seth could be seen flipping through the air one way and then the other. Gabriel didn’t hold back in his training, so some of the landings made the onlookers cringe. Tianna wrote in her wizard book, staying close by to help heal any injuries. Nathaniel just sat on the sidelines and watched, still not interacting with anyone. Out of the corner of her eye Tianna did see him look at her several times, but she kept her eyes straight ahead.

When the training was done, everyone decided that this day had gone on long enough. As they headed to bed, Seth walked toward Tianna.

Before he could ask her anything, Tianna glanced between Seth and Nathaniel. She knew Seth was coming over to ask if he could practice braiding her hair, so she stopped him by putting up her hands and gave Seth the ‘not tonight’ look. He also peeked over at Nathaniel, who was glaring at him, so the younger Draak turned around and quickly retreated back to his bedroll.

Tianna had been sharing Nathaniel’s bed every night since he confessed both his feelings for her and his need for touch. When sleeping, she had always remained clothed, although he would sneak his hands under her shirt so he could wrap his arms around her bare stomach. She had no idea how he felt about her now and assumed that their nights together were over. Never again would she feel his arms pressed against her skin. She couldn’t blame him after what happened in Eden, but she cursed at herself, knowing that she should never have accepted the Eden drinks without knowing what was in them.

While she set up her bed directly opposite from Nathaniel, she watched him lay out his bedroll. He usually slept wearing pants on but tonight he stripped naked and crawled under the covers.

Tianna put on her normal night clothes and quickly buried herself underneath her blanket. She faced away from Nathaniel so that she didn’t have to see his glares.