Rushing to the edge, she peered down at him and hurriedly said, “Be careful.”
He offered her a vrix smile. “Nothing will keep me from you.”
Ah, fuck. I’m such a goner for this vrix.
As he dove beneath the water’s surface, Callie wandered back into the grotto, setting the dried meat down and digging through her bag until she found a spare piece of still-wet silk. She had other business to take care of before fulfilling her hunger.
Once she’d finished squatting in the back and emptying her bladder, nearly crying at the indignity of it all, she cleaned herself up and returned to her belongings. Strangely enough,Urkot’s cum hadn’t crusted on her skin like she would’ve expected. Instead, it seemed to have acted like a moisturizer.
She snickered as she brushed her fingers over her belly. “Wonder what Lacey would say to that little tidbit.”
Callie doubted her friend would be bottling up vrix cum and giving it out as lotion.
God, I’d love to see Telok’s reaction tothatrequest.
Snatching up the leaf bundle Urkot had untied, she drew back the leaves as she settled cross-legged upon the fluffed silk bed. She’d finished an entire strip of meat and had taken a bite out of the second when she heard splashing near the ledge.
She tensed, only now realizing that her knife—the only thing she had to use as a weapon—was buried in her bag, out of reach.
Fortunately, it was a vrix with black hide and blue markings who climbed up onto the ledge a moment later and not one of those freaky ass spiritstriders.
Water ran from Urkot in rivulets, catching and reflecting the cavern’s light, as he stood upright. He used his upper hands to wipe excess moisture from his face and chest. A pair of long, pale fish dangled from his lower hand, his fingers hooked in their gaping mouths.
Callie smiled. “Success!”
He held the fish higher. “You want?”
“Not unless you can cook it. They’re all yours.” She bit down on the dry meat and tore off a chunk, drawing it into her mouth. Her jaw ached as she chewed the tough meat.
Chittering, Urkot eased himself down onto the ground beside her and ate. It felt so normal, so mundane, that for a little while, she almost forgot they were trapped in a seemingly endless cave system.
CHAPTER 17
After eatingand drinking from the waterskin, Urkot and Callie packed her belongings—the blanket, her clothes, and her boots—into her bag. Though he knew they had to press on, to find their way out, to find their way home, he could not deny his reluctance to leave the grotto. It was a special place, just for the two of them.
He would remember what they shared here forever.
Pausing on the ledge, he studied the statues one last time. What hands had crafted them? How many years had their stone faces seen pass, how many generations of vrix had hatched, lived, and died while these monuments to the Eight endured in this dark, peaceful place?
Could Urkot’s kind have once lived here?
Callie’s gentle touch on his arm drew him back to what mattered—the present. His mate. She peered up at him with a smile, one that revealed those endearing dimples in her cheeks. She’d tied her mass of curls atop her head to keep her hair from getting wet.
“Ready?” she asked.
He raised his mandibles. “Yes.”
Urkot stooped so she could climb onto his back, then descended the cliff and entered the water. Callie hissed, herhold on him tightening as curses spilled from her in muttered breaths.
Yes, it was cold, and he would’ve spared her from it had he been able. But he did enjoy the way it made her press her body more firmly against his.
Urkot held Callie’s bag above the surface as he swam across the lake.
Should have done the same when we first swam to the grotto.
Fortunately, the only cost of that mistake had been some minor discomfort. The little food she’d been carrying had been wrapped well enough to keep out the moisture. That she had food at all was a point of pride for him. She’d taken the lessons she’d been taught to heart and had brought her bag, packed with necessities, even for what should’ve been a short trip to the cave.
Another tunnel came into view at the far end of the lake, accessible at the top of a rocky incline. Urkot drew himself out of the water there, and, keeping Callie on his hindquarters, picked a path up to the flatter ground at the tunnel’s mouth.
