CHAPTER 64 Her Darkest Desires

CHAPTER 64

Her Darkest Desires

Brownie

Bronwynn knew Rufus was struggling with something.

He clenched his hands in his lap and stared down intently as Donna maneuvered them through the small town. Brownie had asked directions to an inn she’d only been to once before. It was a nice inn; it was just out of the way.

“No, I don’t want to sleep anywhere near a Sumbrian royal,” she told Donna after they were guided in the opposite direction of the elf’s fancy carriage. “They can find some other half giantess in shining makeup. That reminds me, I need to ask my cousin for more crushed pearls. I ran out on the road, and I need my cheek and eyebrow glitter. What were we talking about?”

Donna sighed.

Brownie nodded. “Well, someone else can keep Earl Oakley out of trouble. Didn’t Madame Potts make a warning about that?”

Her horse chuffed and shook her head, plodding on. The Lonely Hearth Inn was just ahead, but they had to stop for a family of trolls with two small children to cross the road. A human in a hurry used the opportunity to dart across the street at the last minute, and Brownie tugged the reins a bit to deter Donna from nipping at the distracted man.

He didn’t even wave a thank you.

When the road was clear, they continued, without anyone sustaining injury.

“Almost there. Are you ready, Commander General?” She turned to her handsome and fluffy travel companion. “Rufus?”

Maybe she should have spoken louder to get his attention, but he was looking rather downtrodden. Even his tail hung low, unmoving. Brownie gently placed a hand on his arm, and he startled, looking at her with intense golden eyes. The same eyes that sometimes made her self-conscious when she caught him staring at her. She pushed those feelings aside.

“Rufus? Are you alright?”

“Bronwynn.” Her name was like a whisper on his lips. He made her doubly self-conscious. “Bronwynn, would you like to go to the Summer Masquerade with me?”

“What?!” She couldn’t help the loud outburst, her cheeks flushed as she squeezed his arm in surprise.

His paw, claws sheathed, covered her hand.

That was too much for her.

The commander general of the Dark Lord’s army had just asked her out. Probably. That was an important question.

“Wait!” Brownie cleared her throat and tried to speak calmly. “Do you mean you want to take me on a, on a date? A real one? To the Masquerade?”

“Yes,” Rufus replied.

Brownie pointed at her chest, checking one final time. “Me?”

A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Isn’t this normally where you would say, ‘Of course you want to take me on a date. I’m the Minstrel Bronwynn’?”

“I’m not normally asked out by Commander General Rufus Triever, the most powerful beastman of the Dark Lord’s army!” she countered, but she was grinning from ear to ear.

Donna cut in with a snort. Brownie ignored her horse.

“One more question,” she added, pulling her hand free but then running it down his arm and gently taking his hand so she could squish his paw pads. Before she said yes to a date, she needed to see if he would be alright with her darkest desires. The beastman shivered, but it wasn’t from rejection, and she grew bolder when he let her play with his fingers.

“Is this an ‘I’m interested in a relationship with you’ ask to the ball, or an ‘I like you and want to go dancing with you’ kind of date?” Her heart pounded in her chest, and she dragged her attention from his soft palm to his emotionally tumultuous expression. He was figuring it out and struggling with finding the words, she could tell, but Brownie didn’t regret asking.

These were important questions!

“Both?” he finally said.

“Both is good,” she replied, squeezing his hand. “Now, let’s hop down and get sorted for dinner.”

She dropped his hand and collected the reins again. Just in time. Donna didn’t wait for anything, not even an awkward but intense confession by the Dark Lord’s right-hand man. The mare had brought them right to the Lonely Hearth Inn and was ready to check herself in for some hay and a good brush .

“We’re just staying the night.” Brownie jumped down and tossed Donna’s reins to a nearby stable hand. Then she faced her horse. “Donna, please, for the love of all the gods, let me have this night?”

Her mare gave her a half-hearted neigh that Brownie took well. She hugged her horse before dragging Rufus inside to secure room and board.

“Greetings,” a naga woman welcomed them inside the inn.

“Rooms for me and my companion,” Bronwynn said, then hesitated. “Separate rooms. And board for my horse and wagon.”

“Right this way, miss.”

Brownie followed the innkeeper and Rufus followed her. Brownie felt the weight of his gaze on her back. She enjoyed his company and his personality and his sense of humor. He was patient and kind, and sometimes fierce.

And she’d managed to shove it aside with a laugh until now. But now, it was an uncomfortable sense of pressure that she didn’t know how to handle. In the span of an hour, she’d finally told him her secret, and he’d asked her out. She knew it wasn’t because of his investigation into her family business … probably. But she’d thought of it, and would continue to think of it.

The pressure built enough that she turned to look at him while putting on a dazzling smile to hide her uncertainty. “Can we finish our conversation over dinner? There’s a curry shop around the corner that will make your mouth water.”

She met his eyes again, and almost tripped.

“Alright.” Rufus could, when he was serious, speak in a deep, rich voice that sent shivers down her spine. She quickly faced forward again.

They were shown to their respective rooms, dropped off their respective things, and then met back in the hallway.

There was a moment where they stood facing each other, and then Brownie took the initiative and offered her hand.

For a powerful general, he was very soft.