Meta Gods War 3 by B. Miles (the ebook reader txt) 📕

feet in front of him and tugged at a low branch.

“He might” she said.

“The stupid bastard.” Cam felt a pulse of anger run through him. “More lost lives. And these are lost needlessly. They won’t advance our cause; they won’t win us any time.”

“That’s what’s bothering you?”

“I’m out here to save lives,” Cam said. “Even if those men think godlings are monsters and beasts, I still want to save them. They’re my people, good or bad.”

Brice tilted her head. “I’m not sure I’d be so generous.”

“It’s not generosity,” he said. “It’s just what’s right.”

“And most men don’t concern themselves with what’s right.” Brice broke off a twig then threw it on the ground. She looked at him and dropped her hands to her sides.

“Everyone worries about what’s right,” Cam said. “But few act on it, because what’s right isn’t always what’s easy. I wish this were easy, I wish I could just march after those bastards and revel in their deaths, but it’s not why I’m out here.”

“So what can you do about it?”

“Find them,” he said. “Bring them back. Punish Lagon and make sure everyone knows he was wrong.”

“That sounds like a fantasy.”

Cam laughed, bitter and angry. “I think you’re right.”

“This is going to end in violence,” she said. “You know that, don’t you?”

He met her gaze and held it. The laughter slipped away. “I know it,” he said. “And I’m ready for it.”

“Good.” She stepped closer. “I think I underestimated you, when we first met.”

Cam tilted his head. Brice was closer, inches away from him now. She was smaller than he would have guessed, a few inches shorter than he was. Her body was lean and muscular from fighting with that heavy armor, but still feminine and soft in the right places. He felt himself stir at her closeness and at the look she gave him, sultry and desiring.

“I knew exactly what you were the second we met,” Cam said.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

He reached out and touched her cheek. She didn’t flinch away. He moved his hand down her side, along her arm, to her hand. His fingers slipped through hers and he tugged her closer.

She put a hand on his chest.

“Brave,” he said. “Determined. Terrifying as hell. Beautiful when you want to be.”

She smiled a little. “Not beautiful all the time?”

“Not when you’re too busy killing your enemies,” he said.

She smiled more. “You know just what to say to a lady, don’t you?”

“Damn right I do.”

He leaned down and kissed her.

She returned the kiss, slowly, tentatively. Her lips tasted like berries and cool spring water. Her tongue was soft against his and he pulled her body closer. Her breasts pressed against his chest and his other hand moved down her back, the graceful curve of her spine beneath his fingertips.

He felt her shiver into the kiss before he broke it off.

“I’ve been thinking about that since the first night I saw you,” he said. “Wearing that armor, fighting the wolves.”

“Have you?” She smiled a little. “The thought didn’t occur to me until… more recently.”

He touched her cheek again and kissed her a second time. She took a sharp breath and seemed to melt against him.

But he had to break it off again. There was work to do, and he couldn’t spend all day taking his pleasure from Brice’s gorgeous body.

“We should get moving again,” he said.

“Yeah. You’re right.” She didn’t move though. “This won’t… complicate things?”

“I have a lot of experience working with women, I’m… you know.”

She smiled a little. “We haven’t done that yet.”

“Yet?” He arched an eyebrow. “I like the implication.”

She gave him a look and patted his cheek. “Keep up the good work and I’ll reward you. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.”

She turned from him and stalked back to her men. Cam watched her go and wondered what he was getting himself into.

But he didn’t care. Brice was smart, beautiful, and brave. He needed her on his side, and more than that, he wanted her in his bed. He’d mention her to the other girls when he got back to camp, but he had a feeling they wouldn’t mind.

He took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and forced himself to clear his thoughts.

When he opened them again, it was time to get marching.

26

Footing got rocky as Cam climbed further up the steep slope toward the mountain cliffs. The air was thinner and cold on his skin. The armored men moved slower and Cam could see the sweat beading their skin. Brice moved among them, speaking soft encouragement. Several had to swap out of their gear early.

Tracks led along a winding path. Boulders loomed on either side of their hike. Cam worried about an ambush, but pushed the thought away. Lagon and his men would be exhausted from their battle earlier in the day, and there was no way they knew Cam was this close. He doubted they were scouting or doing much more than pushing as hard as they could toward the cliffs.

Cam called a halt a few hours before sunset.

“We might have to camp here for the night,” Brice said.

“I want to push on,” Cam said. “Another hour or two.”

“The men are tired.” Her eyes swept over the group as they drank from their water skins and rested against trees and stones. “I’m worried that if we do catch up with Lagon, they won’t be much use in a fight.”

“Lagon’s men are worse off,” Cam said. “They did this march on top of a pitched battle. Half their number are probably injured, and the other half are probably exhausted.”

She nodded, her eyes tight. “Another two hours,” she said. “Then we call it and camp.”

“Alright,” Cam said.

“There should be some safe spots up near the cliffs. We’ll dig in for the night, then find Lagon in the morning.”

Cam scouted out ahead while the others rested. He climbed up a large rocky outcropping that hung over the valley. He felt wind whip along his clothes as he scanned the path below.