Bridgette must have come to the same realization because she immediately got out of bed. “We’ll leave now.”
Garrett wasted no time and rushed out of bed to help. They worked in a hurried silence to repack her bag, but just as Bridgette grabbed her discarded dress, a sound from downstairs made them freeze. Knocking.
Arthur’s uncertain voice answered, and Garrett held a finger to his lips before he crept towards the door. He pressed his ear to it, and though they were keeping their voices lowered, the sound traveled right up the stairs and to their door.
“-looking for an orc and a silver-haired woman.” Arthur stuttered out a response, but Garrett didn’t wait to hear more.
“They’re here,” he whispered even as he quietly slid the bar of the door shut. Fear crept through him, numbing him as he hurried to the window. He threw it open to see that the drop was long, but not impossible. Maybe they could run, get to the outskirts of town and hide.
“Garrett.” He turned to see Bridgette sitting on the bed. His own fear was reflected on her face. “Do you trust me?”
He blinked when he saw the fox fur in her lap. She beckoned him over, and he realized what she intended to do. He swallowed as he slid back onto the bed, cupping her face in his shaking hands. “Of course I do.”
She offered him a wavering smile before she lifted the fur and fastened it around her head with a cloak pin, covering her eyes. He pressed a kiss to her lips, following her as she laid back. Heavy footsteps thudded up the stairs, but Bridgette’s hand cupped his face.
“Just keep your eyes on me,” she said before she drew him into a gentle kiss.
He closed his eyes as he returned it, feeling the tingle of energy between their lips. If he died there, if the constable killed him, at least he’d die in the arms of the woman he loved. He forced the thought away even as he deepened the kiss defiantly.
No, that wouldn’t happened. He couldn’tallowthat to happen. They’d leave Frostcliff and never return. They’d build a life together, learning magic, sharing joys and sorrows, trials and triumphs. The thought of growing old with her filled him with a longing like no other, an overwhelming urge to make it real.
Bridgette let out a quiet sound of pleasure against his lips, and he looked forward to hearing that sound again and again. Of finding new ways of bringing it out of her. The thought heated his blood even as their door rattled as someone tried to open it.
He blocked it out, focusing only on her as he found the slit between her legs. She let out a gasp of pleasure, but he closed his hand over her mouth as he thrust into her. Her moan was muffled against his hand even as hers gripped his shoulders in a silent plea, her walls clenched around him.
A crash sounded against the door. Then another. Wood started to splinter, but Garrett did as Bridgette ordered and kept his attention on her. The fox stole obscured her face, but her commanding grip on his shoulders urged him on. She rocked her hips to meet him, legs hooking around him in a silent command for more.
He gave it, thrusting deep even as the energy between them swelled. Bridgette tensed, her muffled moan of pleasure escaping from around his hand. He buried his face against her neck, biting back a swear as his own end crashed through him and into her.
Behind him, the door slammed open, the metal bar clattering across the floor. Garrett froze, ready for the shout of fury, the pain of a blade in his back.
Instead, he heard, “Where the hell are they?”
Garrett didn’t dare pull his face from Bridgette’s neck, didn’t dare slide out of her. Likewise, she held her breath under him, her legs still hooked around his waist.
There was a rustling, a thud as they upended Bridgette’s bag, checked the closet. Out of the corner of his eye, Garrett watched as a man lifted the sheets to check underneath the bed.
Garrett’s chest filled with a strange sort of elation. A giddiness that bubbled up, banishing his disbelief.Magic. These men couldn’tsee them.
“They were just here,” Arthur said, voice faint. “I heard them talking!”
Heavy footsteps crossed the room before a man said, “They must have fled out the window.”
“Out the window? The orc could barely stand!” Arthur said in disbelief.
“Good. Then they won’t have gotten far,” the man said. “Head down and spread out. We’ll find them.”
There was a round of affirmatives before the footsteps hurried away. Only then did Garrett lift his head. He watched as Arthur cast one last perplexed look around the room before he closed the door behind them.
Bridgette’s lips crashed against his cheek in an ill-aimed kiss, and Garrett bit back his own giddy laugh of relief. He lifted the fox fur from over her eyes and held one finger to his lips. Bridgette nodded in understanding, but she couldn’t seem to stop the quiet chuckle as Garrett kissed her deeply, filling it with all the love and gratitude he could muster.
They sped to get dressed before they regathered Bridgette’s things. Garrett’s spare shirt was the only thing that had survived in his ruined pack, and he donned it now before pulling on his blood-stained cloak. As Bridgette stuffed the needle and catgut into her pack, Garrett peered out the window.
Torchlight moved through the streets below, but they were heading further into lowtown. No doubt their pursuers expected them to use the fastest route to the edge of town, so they would just have to take the longer one.
“Ready?”
Garrett turned to see Bridgette smiling at him. Excitement had her bouncing on the balls of her feet, her cheeks flushed pink with the memory of pleasure. She looked unburdened, unashamed, and all the more beautiful for it. Garrett smiled as he reached out to take her hand.
