“That he’s getting faster,” Amara answered sarcastically.
“No,” Kane said, passing the bottle back to her. “It means it’s becoming more natural. I no longer have to think about every movement, it comes like second nature.”
“At last,” Frasier said with satisfaction. “Now, go get something to eat. Then pack your stuff up, we’re moving out.”
“Already?” Kane asked.
“Yes. We’re too close to the border here. There is a supply shipment heading this way tomorrow. I don’t think you would want anyone to recognise you.”
“Who is going to care if I’m here?” Kane asked.
“You came across the border to deal with your uncle’s business. There is nothing here but these five cabins. And I know, I may be a little overly cautious, but we don’t get many lions this way either, and the amount of roaring you two did last night means it’s not exactly a secret you’re here.” Frasier stood up and headed for his cabin. “So we move out. Your uncle wanted me to help you, so I am giving you my best advice. I can’t make you take it.”
“We’ll go and pack,” Amara said. “We need all the help we can get.”
“Are you OK?” Kane asked as they walked back to the cabin.
“Yes, just … well, I like it here, I could almost forget what has happened, and what we have to do.” Amara kissed him on the cheek. “I’m happy, and I don’t want to lose that feeling. Not yet.”
“Hey, the way you speak, it makes it sound as though I’m already beaten,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulders.
“No. Not at all. I don’t think Frasier would let you fight Serrif unless he thought you could win,” Amara said. “I’m so grateful to him for helping us.”
“So am I. But you know we might not be able to pick and choose when I fight Serrif?”
“You mean if word gets to him first, and he thinks you are weak, then he may force your hand?” she asked.
“Let’s hope news doesn’t spread fast. And maybe from now on, we should only go lion under the cover of darkness, and no roaring,” he chastised.
“Me roar? You’re the mighty lion king who likes to stand on top of a mountain and tell the world you’re there,” she countered.
“It had to be done. All these years I’ve had that inside me, my lion had to let it out,” he said seriously.
“Blame your lion, why don’t you?” she laughed.
“It’s becoming a bigger part of me with every hour that passes. Like a flower unfurling inside me.”
“I never knew you were so poetic,” she said, turning to look at him. “I see it, you know.” She stroked his cheek and kissed his lips softly.
“And I see you, Amara. I feel every breath you take, and when you move, my eyes are drawn to you,” he said.
“Is that your lion talking too?” she asked.
“No, that’s all me.”
“Damn it, Kane, if you look at me like that, we’ll never leave today.”
His hand stroked her neck and then moved along her spine to rest on her round bottom. “I wouldn’t mind putting off our trip for a few hours.”
“I think Frasier would skin that lion pelt from your back if we aren’t ready. We’ll have all night tonight,” she said, opening the cabin door, although she would rather go to bed with Kane for a couple of hours than begin this journey. She knew at some point she would have to go and see her parents, and she still wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole thing. Was it true they had no idea what was going on with the contract, could her dad be so easily duped? And who exactly was the they Frasier had mentioned?
If it had failed, would she have been left to spend the next two years in the mansion, being a servant, all for nothing?
“Come on, it won’t be that bad,” he said, seeing her downturned face. “You get to spend god knows how many hours in a hot truck, bouncing along uneven roads. What could be more fun?”
“I could think of plenty of things,” she said caustically, and then her voice softened. “But really, being here, with you, in Shifters Prime. I don’t care how many hours we have to spend on the road. It has to be better than having that collar around my neck.”
* * *
Five hours later, she was not so sure. They had been traveling across country, Frasier deciding that the back roads were best, and she wondered how come he knew these roads so well.
“So you and your brothers,” Amara began. “What do you find?”
“Anything, everything. We’re picky, of course, nothing illegal,” Frasier said over the rumble of the engine.
“Of course not,” she said. “I only asked because we must be going the long way round, and I wondered why that was.”
“Like I said earlier, I don’t want Kane to be seen,” Frasier said.