Chapter 30

Yula woke Naomi far too early for her liking, but then anything before noon would have been too early for her. Naomi moaned and tried to burrow under the bed covers, but Yula began tugging on one of Naomi’s feet to get her out of bed.

“What is so important that I have to be awake?” Naomi complained from under her pillow.

“Breakfast, of course.”

Naomi rolled her eyes and tried to flop back onto the bed, but Yula caught her arm and pulled her toward the breakfast table. “Did you not sleep well?”

“I feel like I didn’t sleep at all,” she answered scrubbing at her eyes. She began to pick at her food.

“Do you wish to miss your lesson with Master Geoff?”

Naomi shook her head. “No, I wanted horse riding lessons. I shouldn’t shirk them after all the trouble everyone went to for me.” There was a meow from Naomi’s feet. Agatha had followed her from the bed and looked clearly hungry. Naomi began scraping eggs from her plate to another to share with the feline.

“Who is this?” Yula nodded down at the black cat.

“My cat. She came to my room last night and made herself quite at home.”

“And what name have you given her?” Yula crouched and extended her hand for Agatha to sniff. Naomi froze. They hadn’t discussed names. She couldn’t say Agatha obviously. Tavik would kill them both, and while Agatha may have nine lives, Naomi definitely only had one. “Kitty.”

Yula’s brow scrunched together. “Kitty?” She obviously didn’t think much of the name. Agatha meowed to distract her. Yula scratched under her chin, and Agatha raised her head to give her better access. The sight was slightly disturbing to Naomi. Her mind kept trying to picture the scene if Agatha were in her real form.

Naomi went down to the stables feeling half human. She met Master Geoff and Stomper. The horse greeted her friendlily. She hoped the stable master didn’t pick up on their familiarity, but she needn’t have worried. Master Geoff looked to have been perturbed by something else prior to her arrival. Naomi cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Is something wrong?”

The stable master smiled tightly at her. “Nothing to worry milady about. Just someone played a grand joke on one of my stable boys. The poor lad is still scared half out of his wits due to it.”

Naomi already knew what joke he spoke of but thought it prudent to inquire. “What happened?”

“Someone hid in the stables and told the boy he was a ghost and made him saddle Stomper here.”

“Oh, what a terrible prank.”

“Yes, I’m gonna have to put a guard on the stables to keep it from happening again.” Naomi nodded. She wondered how they would get a horse the next time they needed one? Mr. Squibbles could not possibly trick a couple of grown men. She decided to push the worry from her mind and focused on her second riding lesson. Master Geoff noticed how much more comfortably Naomi sat and complimented her on it. Naomi accepted the praise as innocently as she could.

She returned from her lesson twice as tired as before, and she was beginning to feel sore from all of her riding. She hoped Yula would let her nap for the rest of the day. She was barely keeping her eyes opened as it was. Of course, napping was out of the question when she returned to her room. Tavik was sitting inside waiting for her. With a quirk of an eyebrow, she saw that Agatha was in his lap purring loudly as the war lord petted her.

“Tavik, welcome home,” she said, stifling a yawn.

“Thank you, I found something very odd when I returned to my quarters.” The statement had the effect of a cold bucket of water upon her. She was awake and suddenly very aware of everything. She glanced at Agatha, but the cat's eyes were half closed, and she was angling her head for Tavik to scratch under her chin. If she could act so relaxed, maybe it wasn't anything to worry about?

Naomi schooled her features to polite curiousity. “Oh? What did you find?”

He nudged the pale pink candle that lay on the table. She recognized it as the one she’d cast aside when she entered the secret passage. She hadn’t paid it any mind at the time because she hadn’t thought she would be coming back and hadn’t thought about it when she and Agatha had returned.

Going for total ignorance, she asked, “What’s wrong with it?”

Tavik chuckled slightly. “I don't have pink candles in my room, and none of the servants would use one of these. They are only used in your room.”

“Huh. Maybe a servant dropped it while cleaning your room?”

“You think that is what happened?” he asked, clearly not buying her theory for a second.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“Have a seat, Naomi.”

She was getting a bad feeling again. “I’m fine. I would rather stand, you know because of sitting on the horse.”

“Have a seat.”

Naomi gulped and scooted over to the chair across from Tavik. “How did your business go? Did everything go all right?”

“What did you hope to find in my bedchamber?”

Naomi’s face fell. He knew it’d been her. She was in trouble now. Agatha jumped down from Tavik’s lap and went over to Naomi and began to brush up against her legs. She purred loudly. Naomi figured the witch was trying to reassure her.

“I wasn’t looking for anything in your bedchamber.”

“But you were in my bedchamber.”

What could she say? Tavik already knew that she’d been in there. How could she divert him from what she had really been doing and still not get into trouble?

“I was scared. I missed you.”

Tavik sat back in his chair. Naomi could not tell if he believed her any but continued on regardless. “I don’t know what you want from me. I’ve never been a lady or lived in a castle. It’s all so strange to me. I wanted to be near you, but you were not here so I went to your bedchamber as the next best thing. I’m sorry I invaded your privacy.” Naomi hung her head in shame.

“And if I had been here, what would you have done?” Tavik asked quietly.

Naomi bit her lip. Oh geez, she did not have any answer to that.

“You forced me into an agreement on our wedding day. You specifically said separate beds. Have you reconsidered that demand?”

Naomi’s eyes widened. That day at lunch she may have had a momentary lust for the war lord, but she needed him to stay untouched. Bowing out of the deal would destroy almost any hope of keeping his chastity intact. How had he stayed a virgin anyway? Naomi glanced at Agatha for any clue on how to proceed. Yellow eyes stared back at her without an ounce of help in them. Naomi twisted the cloth of her skirt in her hands. Closing her eyes, she answered.

“No, the agreement stays. I’m better now. I won’t bother you ever again.”

“Don’t feel you have to keep the agreement on my account,” Tavik teased.

She opened her eyes and stared him. Her eyes narrowed. Things were just not adding up. He had agreed to separate beds when he had not really needed to. He had not wanted a wife in the first place. He was a virgin. If he had not come onto her the other day, she would have thought he were a very suppressed gay man, but he had shown his interest in her clearly. What if the other day were an act? What if he was so deep in the closet that he didn’t know what he was? It almost made Naomi feel sorry for him. Oh, the poor, virgin, gay war lord.

“It's probably for the best that it stays,” she said softly.

Tavik rose from his chair and stepped over to her. She looked at him calmly. “Close your eyes, Naomi.” She was startled by the request then she saw the blindfold dangling from his hand. She grimaced and did as she was told. He tied the blindfold across her eyes securely. His hands settled on top of hers to hold them. Naomi had an inkling of what was to come. “Lift your face.” His breathed across her forehead. She did as she was told. His lips grazed her cheeks, her nose, and her chin with soft touches.

Naomi breathed shallowly through her mouth under the gentle kisses. She was frozen in place. His mouth slanted over hers and gained access easily. She gave into the kiss. He certainly kissed her like he liked girls. Naomi was ashamed by the moment of relief that caused her. His sexuality should not matter. The fact was it would be better if he were gay. There would be no chance of her tempting him then. He pulled on her arms to get her to stand. She rose without breaking the kiss. He began backing her to her bed. He switched her wrists to one hand and wrapped his other around her to hold her close. Any thoughts of Tavik being gay swiftly departed at the bulge she felt against her hip.

“Gods, you make me do dangerous things,” he murmured against her mouth.

“Why is this dangerous?” Naomi whispered back. Tavik’s answer was another kiss and another step back toward the bed.

Continue to Chapter 31.