Chapter 4

I stalked home with a breeze between my legs, irritated with my encounter at the lake. The audacity with which the man presented himself in front of a nude woman made me sick to my stomach. At the same time, I couldn't help but want additional opportunities to see him. I knew guys had different body parts than women, but I was anxious to see what they looked like when they were nude, and he had only given me half of his body to look at! From the warriors at home, it was a view that I had seen many times before. Not one of them had ever piqued my interest enough to make me want to see more, and the foreign sensation blazed within of me.

My interest was piqued by everything about Calian's character. I was interested in learning about the scar on his chest and what it was like to be labeled a traitor.

What prompted him to offer to assist me in getting out of the wedding, and how would he go about doing so?

As I approached the gravel road that led to our tiny village, I pushed the memories of him to the back of my mind and concentrated on getting home. I needed to put on a fresh pair of panties and come up with a creative method to explain why I was missing one pair. Having one pair of underwear missing would raise suspicion, and that was something I did not want to deal with. The expectation was that we would stay virgins until the night of our wedding, and if they suspected anything from me, they would have a healer examine me to make sure I was still intact. I knew from hearing about other girls' experiences that it was a difficult thing to go through.

I rounded the corner and came onto the road that would take me directly to my house. I caught a few people's eyes on me, and I felt a flood of remorse pour through my body. Their looks gave me the impression that they were aware of my uncleanliness, which led me to hasten my pace as a flush crept up my cheekbones.

My forehead smacked into the chest of someone since I was not paying attention to the road in front of me. Ahiga looked at me with a piercing gaze as I looked up.

“What has you in such a rush?” He quizzed me, placing his big hands on my shoulders to steady me.

His gaze brushed across the top of my damp hair.

“Just exercising with a fast walk.” I lied.

He reached up and grabbed a strand of my wet hair that had come loose from the braid. “Were you… swimming?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

When the chat became too long, I cut it short and tried to push by him, but I failed. As I attempted to get past him, he obstructed my progress once again.

“Where did you go swimming? Why is your hair wet but not your clothes?”

“Ahiga! I may be engaged to you, but we are yet to be wed. I do not answer to you!” I shouted.

Pain filled his eyes which turned to sorrow. “What will be your excuse tomorrow after we are?”

I lifted my chin in defiance. “I’ll tell you I’m my own being and that I answer to my Chief and only him.”

“Incorrect.” Anger flashed across his face. “You will be my wife and you will answer to me first.”

I dropped my jaw. “If you treat me that way, then expect a wife only in name.”

“Excuse me!?” He demanded.

Despite my shoving him, he refused to budge, but he saw the necessity for me to get away and side-stepped.

“How can I make you happy if you are so unwilling to try!?” He shouted to me as I rushed home.