Lidia ran.
She had no idea where she was going, only that her legs refused to stop. The wind whipped through her hair, branches snagged at her clothes, and her breath came out in ragged gasps.
Her heart pounded furiously, beating against her ribs like it was trying to break free and ditch her too.
She needed to hide.
Desperately.
That thing—whatever it was—had glowing golden eyes, and things with glowing golden eyes usually weren't interested in friendly conversation.
A bush came into view, thick and dense, resting at the edge of a lake. Without a second thought, she dived in like her life savings depended on it, shoving herself into the leafy cover and praying whatever beast was chasing her had the attention span of a toddler.
Leaves scraped against her skin, twigs snapped under her weight, and she curled up, breathing heavily.
Her lungs screamed for air.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
She didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Didn't even breathe properly—just stayed as still as humanly possible, waiting.
Seconds ticked by.
Silence.
Okay, maybe it left.
Lidia finally dared to raise her head, ever so slowly, peeking over the bush to scan the area.
The lake stretched out before her, its dark waters shimmering under the pale glow of the moon. Mist hovered just above the surface, giving the entire scene an ethereal, almost magical quality. The trees swayed gently, their leaves rustling in the breeze. If she weren't currently hiding for her life, she might have actually taken a moment to appreciate the beauty of it all.
But then—
Something caught her attention.
And it wasn't the sparkling water.
It wasn't the gleaming midnight lake.
No.
Her gaze locked onto a pair of butt cheeks.
Yes.
A soft, round, well-shaped pair of cheeks.
Her brain short-circuited.
She blinked.
Then blinked again.
Her gaze traveled upward, slowly, following the muscular curve of a back, the defined ridges of shoulder blades, the broad frame of a man standing in the water—
Until her eyes finally met the horrified gaze of the knight.
Lidia froze.
The knight froze.
The world froze.
Oh.
Oh, shit.
Her face burned.
A deep, fiery red crept from her neck to her ears, her entire body stiffening in absolute mortification.
Because no matter how she looked at it, this was bad.
She was in a bush.
She was hiding in a bush.
She was hiding in a bush, staring at his bare lovely pair of ass cheeks.
Like a damn peeping Tom.
Lidia wanted to die.
The knight's expression twitched, his brain clearly still processing what was happening.
And then—
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
The knight's deep, mortified voice shattered the silence like glass breaking.
Lidia let out a horrified squeak.
Leaves rustled violently as she panicked, flailing in the bush like a caught animal.
"I—it's not what it looks like!" she blurted out, but the moment the words left her mouth, she realized that was a lie.
Because it was exactly what it looked like.
A woman.
Hiding in a bush.
Staring.
At a naked man.
Shame.
So much shame.
The knight's face turned a shade of pure, unfiltered outrage, his hands instinctively covering himself as he backed into the water, shoulders rigid with humiliation and rage.
Lidia smacked her hands over her face, groaning into her palms.
"I swear, I wasn't— I mean, I didn't—! ARGH!" she nearly screamed. "I WAS RUNNING FOR MY LIFE AND—AND—"
"And decided to hide in a bush to SPY ON ME?!" the knight snapped, his voice higher than usual.
Lidia gasped dramatically.
"I WOULD NEVER!" she shouted back, completely ignoring the fact that she had, in fact, been staring at him for a solid five seconds before realizing what was happening.
The knight dragged a hand down his face, taking a very, very deep breath like he was praying for patience.
"I hate this," he muttered.
Lidia pouted.
"Well, I hate this right now too, so we have something in common."
He gritted his teeth, muscles tensing as he fought the very obvious urge to throw something at her.
She cleared her throat awkwardly, still hiding in the bush because she didn't know where to go from here.
Silence stretched between them.
The knight exhaled sharply, his expression somewhere between disgusted, exhausted, and violated.
"I am going to finish my bath," he announced, slowly, through clenched teeth.
"Okay."
"You are going to leave."
"Okay."
"You will NEVER speak of this again."
"Okay."
A beat of silence.
Then—
Lidia peered up at him.
"…Can I at least get a second look?"
A rock came flying at her.
She screamed and bolted, crashing out of the bush like a wild raccoon as the knight cursed loudly behind her, the water splashing violently as he threw more rocks in her direction.
Lidia ran.
Again.
But this time?
This time, she was laughing.