The Spirit Walker (BOOK ONE): The Ripple

Chapter Thirty-Two: Insults and Banter

As soon as we reach a secluded area, the mask slips, and I feel myself start to tremble. Calum notices, and he draws me tight against him. For once, Ness does not interfere. Instead, she takes a few step back and pokes her head around the corner, ensuring us our privacy.

"You did well, I'm so proud of you," Calum says, and presses a soft kiss against my temple.

"I'm sorry- I don't know why..." I laugh, shakily, as I hold up my trembling hands. "How silly."

"No it is not. How long were you kept in isolation?" He asks, and I flinch at the casual reminder of my time with Master. Calum grimaces at my reaction, realizing his mistake, and asks no more questions.

"As time passes, it will grow easier," he says, instead. "Until then, I will support you in every way I can."

I make a little noise at the back of my throat, and shake my head. "This really isn't fair."

"What is not?"

"How perfect you are," I grumble, and Calum chuckles. He takes a step forward, pressing his forehead against mine.

My breath catches, and it takes every ounce of restraint in me not to fully close the space between us, consequences be damned. It is painful not to give into the impulse- the rubber band is there, and it is tight, desperate for the snap of release.

"I am hardly perfect, Raelyn," he rumbles. "You, though... you will make a perfect Bhanrigh."

His nose slides against mine, and my eyes slip closed as I lean into him.

"Oh?"

"The way you handled the situation with Tamhas was brilliant. It spared us any political repercussions and allows us to question Tamhas however we see fit."

I hum under my breath. "You agree Laird Drummond has something to hide?"

He makes a soft noise of agreement, and then gently cups my jaw in his big hand. "It is too coincidental that Drummond issued his demand as soon as your existence became public knowledge."

"Calum... the Drummond lands are the next stop on the tour. What if..."

"Look at me, Raelyn," he says. cupping my face with both of his hands. I meet his eyes, and my breath catches and my heart nearly stops from the intensity I find there.

"I will never, ever, allow any harm to come to you," he vows, and then he bends forward and brushes his lips against mine. It is probably meant to be a chaste thing- a gentle reassurance- but neither of us seem to be capable of restraint anymore.

The rubber band snaps, and there is nothing but the heat between us- the delicious warmth and friction that acts as a balm to the near-constant tightness in my chest.

Less than a second after he initiates the kiss, I am pressed against the wall, one of my hands fisted in the hair at the nape of Calum's neck, the other gripping the fabric of his shirt. Calum deepens the kiss and palms a breast, and then lifts me up so that my legs are wrapped around his waist. My head falls back against the wall as he tears his lips from mine and plants hot, open mouthed kisses down the column of my throat, groaning and tasting.

I whimper, one of my arms locked around the back of his neck for balance, as I frantically reach for the hem of his shirt and slide my hand down the smooth, firm plane of his stomach with the other.

"Hey! Hey, that's enough of that!"

The interruptions have become so habitual I'm actually starting to become immune to them.

"Dammit, of course the two of you would think imminent danger is a turn-on," Ness grouses. "You both have a screw loose."

Calum trembles as he peels himself away from me, his eyes black, and my knees are shaking when I am set back down on the ground. Ness has to physically pull him further away to put more space between us and I am left aching and hollow and cold, the pulsing between my thighs painful to the point it is nearly unbearable.