Shin Hye nestled into the blankets trying to get comfortable. The tent had been relocated while the bodies were being moved. It was now close to midnight but every cell of her body was wide awake.

She just couldn't get rid of the feeling that someone was watching her. Secret eyes that seemed to be watching her every toss and turn in the blankets. 

Her senses came immediately alert as the tent flap opened again. Tensing, she sat up ready to fight as a familiar shadow entered the tent.

"Relax, it's only me." Jong Suk's deep voice pierced through her defenses. In the darkness she felt him shuffle around in the tent, trying to avoid any obstacles.

"Over here." She reached out with her hand and tugged on his legs, causing him to stumble and fall upon her with an oof.

"Sorry," he muttered, trying to get his legs untangled with hers.

She could feel his warm breath graze the top of her forehead, so she stretched and wrapped her arms around him. Just that simple little hug melted through all her defenses that she had erected. 

"My clothes are dirty and I'm sweaty all over." But he didn't pull back and merely rested his chin on top of her head, lightly caressing her soft hair. Even with almost two weeks of travelling and bathing in river water, she still smelled absolutely delicious. A base note of floral with hints of woody smoke from campfires. It seemed like her natural scent was floral after all, only now she had acquired something earthy that he found complimented her very well.

"I don't care." Her voice came out all muffled as she only buried her head further into his clothes. Luckily his armor had already been removed and it was soft clothes and warm flesh that she was holding in her arms. 

Sighing contently, Jong Suk had to leave her arms for a moment before putting on some clean robes and then sinking back down into the mass of blankets with her. Despite his argument with her, he was secretly glad that she was here with him on this march to the villages. Beats spending lonely nights on hard and rocky ground and chilly tents. "You okay?"

"Mmhmm. Takes more than a few demons to unsettle me." But she was lying through the skin of her teeth and he knew it. 

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" When she didn't answer right away, he gently grasped her chin with his fingers to face him. "Is it about what the demons said?"

Nodding, she wiggled back firmly into his embrace, inhaling in his comforting scent again.She wanted to purge the memory of burned flesh from her mind using Jong Suk's scent. 

"I'll be fine." His murmur caressed over her, soothing her jumpy nerves. "I don't know why they were aiming for me, but I can take care of myself. I only wish you would take care of yourself more, too."

The warmth of his nearby body was making her drowsy. Tucking her head under his chin, Jong Suk patted her back in a calming rhythm. The dead bodies, the killing, the gore...this was why he never wanted her to come in the first place. But her pleading eyes had said for him to trust him. And he did. If anyone else had disobeyed his orders like she did, he would have him flogged within an inch of his life, but with her...he couldn't lay a finger to hurt her. 

There was a part of him that regreted taking her out of her safe haven at her Temple. Then she wouldn't be tainted by the likes of him or any corruption from the Palace. Then she wouldn't be breaking like this, snuggled into his body like lost child.

But then she...then he wouldn't have met her.

Jong Suk had thought her a troublesome mosquito when he had first met her. No one else had a sassy attitude or talked back to him like that outside of his own family. He was taken aback at first and then quickly found it aggravating and irritating. Even more so when she managed to allure him at the same time. 

But when she was with him like this, all his nightmares seemed to melt away. He wasn't immune or stupid enough to not hear the rumors floating around the Palace. That he was smiling more, that his icy exterior seemed to be defrosted by her, and that most of all, he was getting soft. 

Perhaps he was getting soft. He didn't hand out as many or as harsh punishments as before. But something had changed in him and in the men as well. He had more energy, more drive and motivation every time he got out of bed. He wasn't living day by day, just waiting for time to go by. Jong Suk didn't care for battles and never feared death. Now he was beginning to feel that he had something to live for. His men had sensed that change and somehow seemed to trust their leader more.

In the darkness, he could barely make out the outline of her nose and forehead. Touching his lips to her forehead, he followed the curve of her nose down to her lips. Barely registering what he was doing since she was half asleep, Shin Hye curled her fingers into the back of his neck and moaned softly into his lips. 

His body naturally responded, nibbling on her lower lip, his tongue gaining entrance into . Both of their minds were blank with nothing but the one in their arms, concentrating on the soft pair of lips that spread warmth everywhere. 

He laid a trail of soft kisses on her jaw, nearly reducing her to a mass of quivering jelly. But that was all he would take it tonight. His men were close by guarding the tents, and he smirked against his skin recalling that Shin Hye was pretty voc