“No, I can’t wait that long.”
I cant my head at Piper’s phrasing. “We will not, then.”
“Good, thank you.”
“So we have three tasks to work on and hopefully we will complete one of them this turn.”
Piper turns her smile on me again. “I hope so, too.”
Chapter 6
Piper
Crossing things off my list has been far too easy. At least that’s the way it feels. I mean, I expected it to be much harder. Granted, we haven’t even made it to the place where we’re supposed to see this ocean-like body of water so maybe I’m jumping ahead of myself. Especially as I tip my head back and see how far we have left to go to the area where Katem pointed out that we’re headed. Already my breathing is growing heavier and we’re not even a quarter of the way there. I never should have agreed to this.
“Let us take a short break and have some water,” Katem suggests.
I want to protest, but my burning lungs say otherwise. At least the surrounding trees are keeping most of the sun from shining down on us. For the moment anyway.
We stop beside a large stump that’s the perfect height to rest on. I sit and try to measure my breaths so I’m not panting like a dog. I’m not ready to share certain secrets with Katem yet. Idon’t want the way he looks at me—or the way he treats me—to change.
He hands me a water skin and our fingers brush, causing a shiver to run across the back of my neck and goosebumps to erupt down my arms. His gaze penetrates right through me like he knows the effect he has on me.
I quickly take a drink to distract myself from doing something totally out of character like press my body against his and beg him to touch me. A small amount of water misses my mouth and runs down my chin. Katem tracks its movement and I’m breathless for a whole different reason than hiking up a hill.
“Thank you for stopping and resting.” I guess we both need distraction.
“We are in no hurry. Plus, I worry that when we get there you will be disappointed that we were unable to remove an item from your list.”
Right then and there, I decide that even if this thing he’s taking me to see doesn’t resemble an ocean, I’ll never tell him. The fact he’s worried about my feelings or that this trip won’t meet my expectations fills me with so much…I don’t know, hope, maybe.
“It’s going to be perfect.” I just know it.
Katem laughs. “You are for more confident that me.”
He’s close enough to me that I’m able to reach out and squeeze his fingers. “We can be confident together.”
He brings our clasped hands up to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. First my forehead and now my hand. Will he kiss my lips next? Do the Tavikhi know what kissing is? I shouldn’t be thinking about kissing Katem, because that leads me to thinkingabout other things. Like how sexy his hands are and how I touched myself last night, imagining all the while it was him.
“Are you ready to continue?” he asks.
I nod since I don’t trust myself to talk yet. He helps me off the stump, but doesn’t release me. Together, we walk along the narrow, switchback trail. Katem may call it a hill, but it resembles a mountain more than anything. Our pace is slow, and I’m grateful he’s adjusting his stride to mine without making a huge deal about it.
Soon, though, we slow down even more and with each breath I take, the pain in my chest grows until I’m barely able to pull in any air. I hate this. I fucking hate this. My vision blurs and I stumble. Katem sweeps me up into his arms. I’m so weak I don’t even protest.
Instead, I lay my head on his shoulder and try to catch my breath. I’m thankful the coughing hasn’t started. Fatigue weighs me down, but slowly I’m able to draw in air. Even once I’m breathing close to normally again, I don’t ask him to put me down, although I should. It’s nice having someone take care of me.
Katem is almost to the top of the rise when the land levels out and a small clearing opens up. He comes to a stop and carefully sets me on my feet. He cradles my face and gently brings my head around so he can look at me.
“Are you well, now?”
I nod slowly.
“When you are ready to tell me what happened, I will be ready to listen. There is no rush, though. I am a patient male and will give you all the time and space you need.”
Tears burn my eyes, but I blink them back. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Katem echoes. “We have only a short distance left to go and it is mostly flat. When we get to the best spot to climb, you will need to get on my back and hold tight. Are you able to do that?”
