The One Knight Stand

.: Kind Giants :.

25 | Kind Giants

Rage. Rage. Rage. It became her. She was a storm, a monsoon in her own right.

Blue couldn't understand what deity she offended to warrant such dizzying change.

And that was the crux of it all, when you got right down to it.

Everything.

Changing.

First, Usha getting freaking married to some (most likely stale, whitebread) blacksmith in town, and then Bo had to follow up acting like some tortured lovesick martyr in a religion she never cosigned on.

If Blue looked in the mirror would she recognize the well fed, vaguely happy woman glaring back at her?

And is that really what she was?

Happy?

Disgusting.

Blue stalked to the nearest tavern, steam billowing from her nostrils. Ash erupted from her footsteps.

Inside was a rowdy crowd, liquor splashing and good stories abundant. But Blue wasn't there for a charming tale of personal growth and self discovery.

She found her mark hunched near the bar, the dusky lamplight shone bright on his dewy skin. His body illuminated all she desired.

A pox marked forehead, huh? So he wasn't a sheltered man. His complexion gleamed warm russet. The man's black hair was buzzed short on the sides, the rest was braided back in a long thick rope ending between his shoulders. His muscles? Huge. Probably a lumberer or an oarsman, and a fairly decent ranking one judging by his simple billow pants and the unbuttoned pigskin vest.

Or maybe he was just hot. Taverns weren't known for their fantastic circulation.

Winking at her over a sea of drunken heads, a thick golden bull ring pierced his septum.

Oh, he's perfect.

Blue pushed through and sidled up to the man, neatly fitting into his side, and peered up at him through her eyelashes.

This was no time for abashment.

"Hey."

Bull Ring took a leisurely sip of his dark ale. He eyed her figure and somehow wasn't taken aback by the blaze. He liked what he saw.

"Hey yourself. Buy you a drink?"

The Squire leaned in close. "Nothing they have on tap."

"Bold." Bull Ring's accent darkened deep. "Promising. You got anything in mind?"

"You gotta place?"

"My place."

"How close?"

"Closer than you think."

Bull Ring downed the rest of his beer, flipped an extra coin at the thankful bartender, took Blue's hand in his, and then they were off.

Good, Blue squeezed his warm palm not sure who she was trying to hurt. What she was trying to feel. This is good.

They jogged to a nearby cottage, closer than she thought, and not even ten minutes later she was pressed into a bedroom wall legs locked around his thick tree trunk waist. The muscles weren't all for show, he held her aloft as if she weighed no more than a teapot.