The Last One

twenty-four

The sun was still hovering in the sky, just barely leaning down to kiss the horizon. I watched a deer munching on grass in a small clearing, unaware of my presence as it ripped at the grass and chewed lazily. I raised the bow and took aim at the creature. It raised its head as I pulled the string taut, and I faltered for a moment as it sniffed at the air before I let the arrow fly. It landed near the animal's feet, and it swiftly made its escape.

I sighed. "Fuck! I am never going to get this."

Sihtric laughed. "You are doing fine! It's not as easy as it looks."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, that's obvious, but now we don't have dinner, do we?"

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Do not be so dramatic. Finan will surely have had more luck than us."

"But I like being dramatic," I smiled at him slyly.

"Aye. That is true." His eyes took a quick excursion around the features of my face and lingered on my lips.

My cheeks warmed exponentially every time he looked at me like this. It always felt like the first time when his gaze slid its way over me. I swallowed hard and leaned closer to him outside of my own control.

He smiled, that stupid half smile that made everything inside of me turn to goo, as he closed the distance between us and pressed his lips against mine softly. He wrapped an arm around my back and pulled me closer against him. I followed his lead and pressed against his body with my own.

My lips parted, granting him access, and his tongue pressed into my mouth eagerly. His hand stroked my lower back as the kiss deepened. It started to heat up, but then he broke it off and hummed softly as he pressed his lips against my forehead and then stepped away.

My body rejected the idea of his body not pressing against mine, and I felt cold despite the sun's still warm rays beating down on us. We started walking back through the trees towards the camp.

"You're teasing me now?"

He smiled sideways at me. "No. I want to do more than just kiss you."

My heart skittered, and I raised my brows in a questioning look that bordered on flirty temptation.

He chuckled and shook his head playfully. "Incredibly, you may be the first woman who wants to skip the idea of getting to know a man before jumping in his bed."

I giggled wildly as my face blushed bright red. "I was just checking! It's not possible to go back in time, you know. We've already been together."

He smiled and looked at me again. "Well, there's plenty of time now."

We arrived back in the camp. The other men in camp meagered about on unseen tasks. I saw Uhtred working on sharpening his sword, and one man was tending the fire. Everyone else were set on paths that I couldn't discern from the short time I glanced at them.

The sun was halfway to being set, and it set the clouds on fire in brilliant hues of orange and pink. I was mesmerized, looking up at it as I leaned against a tree at the edge of camp and sat down in the grass. Sihtric sat down next to me and leaned back on his hands as he too looked up at it.

We sat in silence for a few moments, just taking it all in as the sky burned above us like a fire had been lit in the heavens and smoldered for us alone. I glanced over at him and found his eyes trained on me instead of the sunset.

He smiled and extended his hand, a little yellow dandelion in between his thumb and index finger. I smiled at the tiny offering as I accepted it. Such a small little thing with fluffy petals that felt like feathers, and yet it felt like more.