His hands slid to her backside, molding, caressing. Terena dropped her hands to his shoulders, to his back, and groaned.
He shuddered as he tore his mouth from her, but she leaned in, hungry for his lips, for more.
He gripped her hips and set her away, his forehead dropping to hers as they panted. Her hands moved to his chest, flexing against the muscles under his leather, wanting to feel his flesh.
“Ren,” he gasped, his eyes closed as he shook his head against hers. “You’re hurt. We should stop. I don’t want?—”
Terena pulled back and nodded, closing her eyes. She opened them again to see his eyes searching her face. Those beautiful eyes she couldn’t stop looking at every time he was near. She gasped out a laugh and his lips twitched up in answer.
“I don’t… there’s no pain.” She laughed again. “At least, not there.”
His smile widened and the heat in her chest dropped low in her belly.
“All right, but,” he said, closing his eyes for a few seconds. “We can’t… here. Not here and not now with you… and your leg. Your arm.”
“Some god I turned out to be, huh?”
Terena tipped her chin up and kissed him again and for a minute she thought she’d won that argument, but he pulled back with a grimace. “And as much as I want to, as much as I’m dying to, if Rydon shows up and sees us like this, it’d be a pity to kill him.”
Terena threw her head back and laughed.
Daris, too, chuckled, hugging her close as he buried his head in her neck. She closed her eyes and savored him here, with her.
“You can’t kill him, remember?” she teased and stroked the back of his neck.
They stayed like that for a long time.
Forever.
And not long enough.
As if he’d conjured him, Terena heard Rydon and the others shouting from above, their voices faint. Daris groaned and pulled back. Terena lifted her hands to his cheeks, her eyes devouring his face, the powerful lines of his jaw, his brow furrowed over those gorgeous eyes narrowing on her as if she was the only thing that existed.
She pulled away slowly, his hands tightening at her waist for a moment before he let go. Daris ducked his head as he took a step back, then lifted his gaze as if bashful. The giddiness sweeping through her made her lightheaded, and she tossed her head, her wet hair slapping the side of her neck.
Terena frowned at how much of her hair had come loose from the tie, some strands stuck to her cheeks and neck. She undid the hair tie and lifted her arms to pull all of her hair up and retied it securely below the crown of her head.
“Ready,” she said.
“I need a minute,” he muttered. Terena laughed and put a hand to her mouth, even as her cheeks flamed when he shifted uncomfortably.
A long time later, he offered her his arm. She took it, hugging close to his side as they turned to leave the cave. Her leg didn’t bother her at all and neither did her arm, even after all that activity. Terena marveled again at the blood tonic Melanos had made for her. Glad Croak had made her drink it.
Terena looked up at Daris with a shy smile he returned.
“Say nothing,” she said impulsively as the voices of their friends became louder, singsonging her name or Daris’s. “Not about—I mean, about the vision. I don’t want them knowing. Especially Rydon. Or Croak. Gods know what he’d do.”
Daris scowled. “They know already. Croak… mentioned it yesterday.”
Terena swore. “Is that why Rydon looked like he wanted to murder you?”
“There you are!” Croak exclaimed, then frowned at Terena, arms crossed, when he saw how close Daris stood.
“You’re okay? Not hurt?” he asked her, his eyes searching her face. Gabriol and Rydon ambled over, but the natural beauty of the cave captivated their eyes, a sight she was sure they’d not seen before if the looks on their faces were any indication.
Rydon cast a wary glance at Daris, but had only smiles for Terena when he turned back to her.
“All good?” he asked.
