Chapter Twelve
I dressedin jeans and layered t-shirts and did my best to ignore the way my nerves twisted my stomach into knots. Going braless on a seven-fey expedition didn’t help the cause. After a few steadying breaths, I left the room and joined Azio downstairs.
With my jacket in his hands, he waited for me by the door. I gave him a weak smile and let him help me, hoping he wouldn’t notice how badly my hands were shaking.
“Your heart is racing. There is no need for you to leave,” he said.
“You can hear my heart racing?”
“Yes.” He moved my hair out from the collar of the jacket, and his fingers brushed against my skin in a light caress. “Please stay.”
I turned to look up at him, my heart racing harder when I met his gaze.
“If I stay, nothing will change. And I really want things to change. My fears are holding me back and keeping me from the things I really want. And, no, I’m not going to tell you what I want. Not yet. Maybe someday, though. If this works.”
He grunted and zipped my jacket for me.
“Will you allow me to carry you?”
“Yes. Please.”
He picked me up before opening the door, which made me giggle until he opened it with only a minor adjustment in how he was holding me. The show of strength was both reassuring and fear-evoking at the same time.
I caught a brief glimpse of a group of fey waiting outside before I closed my eyes.
“Where would you like to go?” Azio asked.
“You choose.”
“What would you like to find?”
“Food would be good. Maybe some clothes?”
He grunted, and I felt him start running. His movements barely jostled me. That changed when we reached the wall. My stomach flipped at his sudden jump, and I barely contained the squeal that wanted to erupt.
Then wind battered my face, and I turned my head into his chest. While the weather was still cold, it wasn’t unbearable in his arms. Warmth radiated from his torso, keeping my nose and hands comfortable. My backside, though? Not so much. However, I’d known this wouldn’t be some happy outing, so I didn’t complain about my discomfort.
Minutes passed without any other noise but the wind and the slight rustle of their passing. I lifted my head after a while to take a quick peek. The fey ran in a circular formation around Azio. No, around me.
When one of them noticed my attention, he glanced my way and nodded. I managed one in return before tucking my face into Azio’s chest once more.
There was no mistaking the way he leaned down this time and brushed his cheek against the top of my head. I smiled to myself, appreciating his gesture of comfort.
If I put aside my fears about his strength and my aversion to his eyes, I really did like Azio. Groth too. But there was something sweeter about Azio. Which was kind of crazy since he was also the sterner of the two. Maybe that’s what I liked most. He wasn’t as much of a pushover as Groth. I grinned into his chest, thinking of how he’d plotted to lose my bra.
Azio was willing to push at my boundaries but still respected them. That was what I needed to make my dreams of a future a reality.
Eventually, the group slowed, and I looked up again. A farmhouse loomed ahead.
“This is a place we’ve visited in the past,” Azio said. “There are no clothes or food. But it has heat and water if you want to stop.”
“Yes, please.”
Two of the fey ran ahead, and I watched them disappear inside.
“They’re checking for infected, aren’t they?”
Azio grunted.