Rain.
Aesira took a deep breath, the scent of wet earth filling her. She hadn’t seen rain in almost two years, since the last time Celestria blessed the desert with a wet storm.
“Let’s go,” Bee said, pulling off her shirt.
“No way.” Birdie shook her head. “Mountain temperatures drop at night, you’ll freeze.”
Bee tossed her shirt at Birdie who of course caught it seamlessly. “It’sraining, Bird. Rain! I’ll keep you warm, I promise.” She winked then peeled off her pants until she was just in her underclothes and snuck out through the torches. Her happy squeals echoed through the torrent and Aesira couldn’t help but smile.
“If I’m going in, so are you,” Birdie said, tossing Stone a playful smile. She stripped off her clothes and ran through the gap in the torches. Another clap of thunder rattled the cave and Aesira sheathed her sword. “Get your ass out here, Stone!” Birdie’s shouts were followed by Bee’s laughter and for a moment Aesira’s racing thoughts slowed.
She honed in on the steady beat of rain on rock. The high pitches of Bee’s laugh and the low rumble of thunder in the distance. She could feel the anxious flow of her blood slow and the tightness in her chest loosen.
“Are you coming?”
Aesira was so wrapped up in the sounds around her, she’d forgotten Stone was standing so close. Except now he’d stripped down to just his pants, his chest bare. His muscles were lean, his arms toned. The same scarring on his face ran down his chest and over his arms. When he cleared his throat, she snapped her mouth shut. “I can turn around, if you’d like,” he said. “If you need privacy.”
“Oh.” She glanced down at herself, still fully clothed. “You go ahead, I’ll be right there.” Stone gave her a half smile, then left her to undress in the cave.
After meticulously folding and piling her clothes on the cave floor, she took a timid step out.
The rain bit against her warm skin. She flexed her fingers as the water seeped through her under clothes. She untied her hair, letting her dark curls spill over her bare shoulders, droplets of water clinging to each ringlet. Bee and Birdie were still laughing anddancing, though the rain was so heavy now she could hardly make them out through the sheets of water.
“Pretty amazing,” Stone shouted, his voice fuzzy.
“It is.”
And it was. There was something so healing about it. She closed her eyes and held her hands out, letting the rain soak her through, down to her bones.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The sound soothed her. It washed away the swirling thoughts in her head. The constant noise.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Her eyes flew open, the Strix and the blood and her brother forced their way behind her eyes. Stone’s fingers brushed hers. Her arms were still outstretched, rain dripping from her fingertips.
Just rain.
Not blood.
Her heart slammed in her chest when his hand closed around hers. Birdie and Bee laughed from somewhere behind them but Aesira honed in on the blurry shape of Stone’s face through the rain. On the heat of his hand in hers. On the weight of his other hand as it wrapped around her waist and pulled her into him.
“Is this okay?” His breath brushed against her ear. He was warm, despite the chill in the air, and she found herself resting her cheek against his chest. The bumps and grooves of his scars were roughagainst her skin but she closed her eyes and studied the beat of his heart.
Fast.
His heart was beating so fast and so was hers and she wondered what it would be like to kiss him again. Not like in the Phoenix when they’d both had too much to drink and she had something to prove. Not like in the Den when they were both pretending. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him for real. "Your hair is beautiful when it's down."
His large hands splayed across her back, pinning her close to his chest. He wanted to kiss her, too. There was no other reason he was always seeking her out. Grabbing her hand. Holding her close. Whatever this attraction was would never become more than that, but what would it hurt to seek some comfort amidst pain?
