“What do you know about Hephastus Baldridge?” Bastien asked Lawrence.
Lawrence looked to Thalia. “Your uncle, right?”
She nodded. “On my mother’s side. He was banished to this area twenty years ago for using blood magic. We seek his knowledge to fight Ferelith.”
A faint smile played at Lawrence’s mouth. “Hephastus lives about five miles north of here on a small farm. Keeps mostly to himself but comes into Avery for supplies from time to time. Nice fellow.”
Thalia looked to Bastien, a smug expression in place as if to say, See, he’s not dangerous at all.
Bastien wasn’t convinced as he turned his attention back to Lawrence. “Does he practice blood magic?”
He got a shrug in return. “I’ve not seen anything to suggest that, but it’s probably not something he’d go around advertising now, is it?”
In other words, they knew nothing going in.
Conversation turned to more mundane topics as they finished their meal. Lawrence bid them good night, promising to have their horses saddled and ready to go at first light per their request.
When the door closed behind him, Bastien locked it and used his own magic to put up a protection spell.
“At least the bed is big and seems comfy,” Thalia said, and Bastien whipped around to find her sitting on the edge.
Gods, the things he could do to her in that bed tonight.
Shaking his head, he moved to the wardrobe. Inside was a blanket and pillow. “You should be plenty comfortable. I’ll sleep on the floor in front of the door for added security.”
“Not this again,” Thalia said upon a frustrated sigh. “Your magic is strong, and the ward you placed is plenty good. The bed is big enough for both of us.”
Bastien didn’t reply, merely laid the blanket on the floor and dropped the pillow.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of me?” Thalia taunted.
Bastien turned to face her, his insides a jumble of emotions, but frustration was what caused him the most angst. “I’m not afraid of you, Thalia.” And then in a moment of brutal honesty, because he was a truth teller by nature, he added, “Just what you make me feel.”
Empathy suffused Thalia’s expression as she stood from the bed, yet she didn’t approach him. “Feelings are not a bad thing, Bastien.”
“They are when you’ve gone years without having them.” His gaze hardened upon her.
“And now you’re feeling something for me, and it hurts,” she surmised, moving across the room to stand before him.
His body tightened with tension for her nearness disturbed him in ways he didn’t know if he could fight.
Thalia noticed, because she was not only inherently perceptive, but she’d known him for years and years and probably knew him better than he knew himself.
He wasn’t sure if it was relief or regret when she stepped away, giving him space. Unfortunately, he couldn’t relax, and the walls seemed to close in, making the room feel incredibly small.
Thalia moved to the bed and started to disrobe without a word. She peeled off her clothes, folding them neatly to place on top of the table where they’d eaten. She made no move to get sleeping garments from their saddle packs, but instead slipped naked under the blankets.
Thalia did nothing overtly sexual. With the covers pulled over her breasts, she turned on her side and propped her head on her hand to face him.
It was intended to be nonthreatening. She wasn’t going to seduce him, and he hated that he felt more regret than relief.
“Bastien,” she said softly, causing him to focus on her. “I’m not going to beg you, but I am going to ask you. Please come join me. After this morning and what we shared, I know you want me. I also know you don’t want to feel with your heart. I’m okay if you can only feel with your body.”
It was a lie. Thalia would not be okay if he could only give her sex and not the love she’d ultimately expect. It could destroy her, and he’d rather die than hurt a hair on her head.
That’s because you’re starting to care for her again, a tiny voice said.
He ignored it and started to lower himself to the blanket but froze when she next spoke.
“Okay… I lied. I’m going to beg you to come to bed with me.”
Bastien turned to look at her, and his heart clenched when he saw her expression beyond pained. She looked tortured with need to have the barest of emotional connections with him.
His heart wasn’t the only thing that reacted. A surge of lust flowed through him as she pushed the covers off her body. She was a sight to behold.
Helpless to deny her after all she’d been through and lost, Bastien wordlessly shed his clothes as she moved over to give him room. There was no triumph in her eyes, and he knew it was the right move when he read her emotion as happiness.