Bound By Chains (MxM)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I was incredibly nervous. To the point where my heart felt like it would squeeze to a pulp if I wasn't too careful. And to be perfectly honest, I was so nervous, it was borderline painful for me. But I kept my nerves to myself. Afterall, I didn't want to cause Cayden to panic, especially if he was the one who was going to navigate us through the forest at night so we could get away.

However, Cayden was incredibly good at reading me, it seems, and he ended up slowing to a stop before turning those dark eyes towards me. "Are you ok?"

I toyed with the idea of lying to him; to tell him I was fine, and everything was hunky dory, or whatever...but that man seemed to know how to read me like a book and would no doubt see right through me. So, with a sigh, I rubbed at my arms and turned my attention to him, nibbling at my bottom lip. "Sorry, I'm just...I'm nervous. About tonight, I mean."

Cayden frowned and placed a hand on my cheek. "I understand. To be perfectly honest, I'm a little anxious about tonight too. I mean, where the hell are we going to go? We need to get far enough from Terry, and my father's armies...it's a lot to process and think about before that time comes." He then paused and tilted his head, pursing his lips as he seemed to ponder about something. "Actually...Terry might have some maps that I can steal that could help us navigate away from this place. If I could just sneak into his tent while he's distracted..."

I immediately shook my head to that, my nerves flaring back up as I shot the other man a look. "Absolutely not, Cayden. I don't want to risk him catching wind of our plans, and I definitely don't want him to catch you in the act, either, not when he's gunning for your life." I sighed and rubbed my arm. "While a map will help us immensely...I'd rather not chance it, if I'm being honest."

Cayden nodded, mostly for my benefit and flicked a bug that had climbed onto his shoulder during our conversation. "If you feel like that's the best course of action, then I won't do anything. But I'm just saying; a map would be incredibly beneficial to us."

I huffed as a bird flew into my field of vision, fluttering there for a moment to study me before it flew back into the trees. I watched it go with a frown, before I turned my attention back toward the brunet. "What if...what if you get caught?" I muttered, staring into Cayden's eyes. After thinking about it, he was right. We needed a map to navigate this forest and help us avoid running into people we would rather not run in to. This forest was massive, and I honestly didn't want to get lost...it was probably a stupid idea...but maybe Cayden was on to something.

I pulled out of my thoughts when I felt Cayden brush his thumb under my eyes, my attention meeting his intense gaze as he gave me another one of his soft smiles. "I can be sneaky when the time calls for it," he told me, going back to the conversation at hand. "I could probably get in and out before he even notices something is off."

I nibbled at my bottom lip. "What if he's in there? And if he isn't, he has that guard of his guarding the only entrance into his tent. How are you going to sneak in without anyone noticing?"

My cheeks warmed when he pressed a kiss to the corner of my lips. "I'll figure something out. Hell, we can watch him for a bit, and the moment he leaves his tent, I'll try going in from the back. Hopefully people will be too occupied with whatever they're doing to pay any attention to me."

I stared into his eyes, reading them before I huffed and dropped my head against his broad chest. "I'm sorry I'm so indecisive. I'm just...I'm scared. I'm not used to running and hiding from everyone and it's a lot for me. I don't know what the hell I'm doing."

I relished the way Cayden's arms wrapped around me, the natural scent of him filling my nose as he rubbed a hand against my upper back. "It's ok, Davian. I know you're not used to this, so don't feel bad for not knowing what you want to do."