Everything.
And in spite of his trying to feign sleep, Sumi, Thia, and Darice pulled him into their circle. Before he knew it, they were trading old stories like long-lost friends.
In fact, Bastien was in the middle of one about Fain when Dancer finally woke up.
The laughter died on Sumi’s face as her gaze met Hauk’s. She got up immediately and rushed to his side. “How do you feel?”
“Like a guy who made a pass at Thia and Nyk saw it.”
Laughing, Bastien grinned at Thia, who appeared less than pleased by his description. Obviously her father’s overprotectiveness was a source of great irritation.
Sumi rolled her eyes. “You have one heck of a shiner. Who was tall enough in that fight to hit your face?”
“He wasn’t. But the board in the bastard’s hands gave him reach.”
Bastien laughed again. He’d been in that fight a few times himself. A few of those times, against Fain.
Snorting at his humor, Sumi pulled out a bottle of water and then helped him to sip it.
“How long have I been out?” Dancer asked.
“A few hours.”
He cursed. “I need to get going.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Sumi…”
“Don’t argue with me. I’m putting my foot down, Dancer. But if you attempt to leave, I’ll be putting it up your ass.”
He laughed then groaned.
Thia and Darice moved to stand behind her. She shoved at Darice. “Told you he wasn’t dead.”
“I knew from the snore he wasn’t dead. I said he was dying.”
Bastien brought over a small plate of food and one of the roots he’d managed to dig up that could take the edge off the pain. “If you took the punches I did, I know it’ll be hard to chew, but … that root will minimize the pain.”
“Thanks.” Dancer set the plate down beside Sumi.
“C’mon, guys,” Bastien said as he caught the gleam in Dancer’s eyes and knew exactly where his thoughts were going and what the two of them would soon be doing. “Let’s give them some quiet time.”
Darice hesitated before he followed Bastien and Thia back to the small fire.
Hauk winced as he tried to chew the meat. Bastien was right. Eating was rough. “I need to go back for Illyse.”
“We already took care of it.” She gestured to the fire where the lorina was curled up and sleeping. “Bastien said you owe him a good night of drinking for the scratches she gave him.”
Bastien ignored them as best he could while he entertained the kids and did his damnedest not to think about how incredibly long it’d been since the last time he had sex with someone else.
Thrāix was wrong.
The porn and sports networks did not alleviate that ache in the least little bit. Only a woman could ease this pain.
After a few minutes, Darice excused himself to take a bush break.
Thia slid closer to Bastien. “You’re royal blooded, aren’t you?”
Her question caught him off guard. “Pardon?”
“I can tell. Even though you’re … a bit rough at the moment, you move like someone who’s had royal manners and decorum beat into him from the cradle.”
She was terribly astute. “Yeah, I was.”
“What happened?”
“What always happens. Somebody gets greedy. Someone else gets stupid. Next thing you know, you put the wrong person at your back and you’ve got a knife sliding through your ribs.”
“You sound like my father.”
Given that they shared family, it made sense. The Triosans were famous for offing each other. Jullien had been right all those years ago with his warning. Damn shame he hadn’t listened. Or thought to apply it to the Cabarro side.
As Thia excused herself, Bastien pulled his link out and turned it on. Dancer had called for a Sentella evacuation, and promised him that they could get The League tracing chip out of him.
If they could …
He glanced down at Ember’s gorgeous face where she was staring up at him with the brightest laugh. Her green eyes twinkled. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel her hand on his face. Smell the faint trace of her perfume whenever he buried his lips in the valley between her breasts. Feel her hands tugging at his hair while he made love to her until they were both sweaty and spent.
Damn, how he missed her. His body hardened even more as his memories of her surged with vicious biting images that drove him to the brink of insanity until he feared he’d go crazy from testosterone poisoning. He wanted her back so badly he could taste her already.
Don’t even think about contacting her.
She was most likely married with a couple of kids by now. Worse? She’d tell Alura he was alive—bypassing the records Jullien had forged that said he was dead so that Barnabas and the others would lax their guard and give him an advantage for taking them down. If Alura ever learned Jullien’s report was false, she would run to his enemies with the news.
And yet a part of him was willing to risk it. That was the part of him that had always gotten him into trouble.