The Touch of Salvation

14: Braided Hair

ADALIND

I awake as soon as the sun creeps over the green mountains that roar across my territory. My tent lightens as the sun streams through the material. I know I look a mess and immediately I regret not braiding my hair.

I'm no fool. I know the features that I possess are bizarre; sunlight eyes, hair as yellow as the sun, with a darker complexion. I know that it isn't particularly hideous, but it is strange, and I can't help but feel nervous having to wake up around my mate in this state. Maybe he isn't up. The sun has barely risen.

Maybe I could get away, dip my hair in the water, and braid it for the day. I tip-toe out of my tent only to see no sign of Goliath in the spot he had reserved away from the fire. I quickly make my way to the river that cuts through the forest.

As I near the stream, I stop seeing the chiseled back of a man that towers feet over the shallow water. He's naked. There's a tattoo on his thigh that ends above his hip right hip. On his back, another black tattoo that looks like a wolf. I can see a glimpse of another one on his side, but it must climb up his ribcage because it disappears. I wonder how many more he has. A hand stretches up and rubs the back of his head. His white hair is wet. He's wet.

I'm-

"Adalind," his dark voice echoes. As soon as he says my name, the forest lightens and I realize that shadow had been crawling through it. He didn't command shadows. He was the shadows.

As soon as he pulls his shadows back, I feel the sun glitter on my skin and I smile, rejuvenated. I loved the sun. Goliath loved the darkness.

How strange.

"I'm sorry," I find myself saying. He doesn't turn his entire body, just his head to tell me he heard me. Of course, he heard me, he's a wolf. "I just wanted to wash my hair."

He gestures to the water as if telling me to do so.

I close my mouth and nod, going to the left where the stream turns. I kneel down on the dirt and glance at the shallow water for a while before taking out the clips that had been in my hair since last night. Looking at the water, I grimace, realizing that the mud would surely get twisted in my hair even if I tried not to. I could get completely naked but...I wasn't comfortable with the first time Goliath saw me naked to be like this. I wasn't ready to show my scarred body. I probably would never be.

That was okay - he would never touch me, anyway.

I toss my hair over my head.

"Come here."

It's a calm order. One that knows I couldn't disobey it. He holds the hushed command of a King. Flipping my hair back, I stand and go to him again. He's still standing with his back toward me. And then he turns and I cover my eyes.

I can feel him near me, a dark chuckle leaving him. "Does nudity bother you?"

Not particularly, but for some reason, I wasn't ready to see him all. Maybe because it would be a forbidden fruit I couldn't have. I shake my head.

"Why shield your gaze, then?"

"I just didn't want to invade your privacy."

Another chuckle. "I turn to you and you think I would take your eyes upon me as an invasion of my privacy?"

I open my eyes and lock onto his gaze. There's dirt on the side of his face. What had he been doing? His hair is no longer bound by the band and it fell into his eyes.

"What is the point of washing your hair if the stream will make it dirty anyway?"

"I wanted to braid it."

"Then get in."

"It's too cold," I murmur.

He looks at me like he knows I am lying. He thinks for a moment, his eyes wavering from my eyes to the dress I'm in. I should have put on a heavier dress. I'm in my nightgown. His arms lock behind my knees and lift me up. I hardly yelp out, my arms going over his shoulders. Then he walks into the water, holding me above it. I lay my head back, enough to get my hair wet. My hands run through my hair and my eyes close in comfort.

The tips of my toes are getting wet. That's okay. I know the end of my dress might also be wet.

"The sun," his voice is hoarse. "It always finds you."

I hum. "My mother was from House Capricornius and my dad had ties to the Orignal House. She could wield sunlight as I can but to a greater extent."

He clears his throat. "And your father?"

"He was a very powerful man," I say softly. "They died before I was captured. I never knew them well, but I remember great memories. What about your family?"

He doesn't say anything, but his body doesn't freeze like he's upset with my question. "All my blood relatives are dead."

"I am sorry," I say. "I have one blood relative left. My brother."

"Where is he, then?"

"You sound upset knowing I have a brother."

"He should be here with you. Protect you."

I grin.

"Can you handle a sword?"

"Some would say I can handle a sword better than a man can handle his own."

That earns a chuckle. "Yet you have guards around you from dusk to dawn."

"Because I'll die from wounds you or anyone else could survive. That makes me weak."

For once, I feel his arm freeze around me. I open my eyes to see that his are closed. He says nothing as he opens his eyes and carries me out of the water. He gives me his tunic to wrap my hair in.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

GOLIATH

As I watch her speak with Espen about the magic of House Dae, I wonder if she knows how beautiful she is. Those bright sun eyes meet mine and she cocks her head in a way that makes me rethink religion.

She was stunning, a masterpiece of this world.

And she was all mine.

She was made for me.

"Does she seem evil to you?"

Xerxes' voice snaps me out of my gaze. We are taking a break from our travels. It's hotter here, uncomfortably so. The heat must be getting to Adalind too because she changed from her heavier cotton dress to a lighter, more whimsical dress that only went to her ankles. It was almost completely sheer and it was driving me nuts.

When I held her as she wet her hair, her dress had been white and when the sun shone on her, it let me see...everything. Every delicious curve. Her nipples were hardened into brown peaks that were on top of the most voluptuous breasts I'd seen.

But there were scars too. Tiny slash marks on her stomach and chest that went over her thighs as well, and I grew infuriated. I didn't tighten my hands on her, not when she was so easily breakable, but the rage I felt was...unprecedented. As she stretched back to wash, I saw the thin scar around her neck.

And then it clicked.

The collar.

My control wavered now that she wasn't near me. The Earth beneath me quaked. Her eyes flew to me again while I looked at Xerxes.

"No," I say.

"She doesn't to me either, but you do not survive a curse for 500 years without being manipulative."

But she didn't seem manipulative, she seemed genuine. She seemed to love and love hard. I nod at Xerxes.

Within minutes we are back to traveling. We decide to camp by the border of House Aquarius and Gemini. Sleep comes easy to me in the warmth, although part of me wishes it would be a bit cooler.

AUTHORS NOTE
I promise sexy times are coming...
Also the third book is about Xerxes ;)