Crossing Paths

The next time, Gray would not be so kind.

But that was the last thing on my mind today.

I was hiding in the abandoned cot of a hayloft. Trying to suffer through the heat of another miserable afternoon. I didn’t dare sneak out to try to steal a bit of food from the main house until after dark.

That won’t be for a while yet.

So, sleeping through the afternoon was the best call.

But I was finding that rather hard to manage.

The heat was making my hair stick to my brow and shoulders in sopping strands.

And sweat from my armpits made the oversized tunic I’d found in the loft stick to me.

I could hear the stable boys below working. They had newer quarters built next door and no longer slept up here. So, despite the tremendous heat, I’d taken sanctuary here in the hopes of having some peace.

But Craven had come.

In the throes of my sweating sleep, I felt the first groping touch sliding over my belly an