Something stirred deep in my abdomen. There was nothing between her body, which I had failed spectacularlynotto notice, and the garment that had been touching my skin only moments ago.
It probably still held my body heat.
And now my mind was spinning off in the direction of body heat and all the various means of generating it.
I took a couple of long strides over to her and grabbed the wet clothes, turning away immediately and searching for protruding rocks from which to hang them.
“Thank you,” she said meekly. “And thank you again for the shirt. It’s quite warm.”
My eyes closed, and I inhaled a deep breath before turning to face her.
“You can thank me by not trying anything so foolish again,” I grunted.
“I won’t. I promise. And I… apologize.”
She looked so miserable about having to apologize, I almost smiled. But I didn’t.
Over the course of the past few minutes, it felt like the cave walls had moved inward, narrowing the already confined space. There was no room in here for friendliness.
Smiles were dangerous at this point.
Raewyn folded her legs and lowered herself to the spread cloak she wassupposedto have used earlier as a bed.
Instead she’d left it behind and run away, apparently preferring a dangerous storm and even more dangerous wildlife to my company.
Though my shirt was long enough to cover her decently, Raewyn’s feet and legs were exposed. I’d never seen them before, though Stellon probably had.
The thought caused a surprising surge of acidity to fill my veins.
Averting my eyes from the expanse of smooth skin, I rummaged through the saddle bag in search of another flask of saol water.
I took a drink then offered it to her. “Still cold?”
“No, actually. I’m quite comfortable. But I am thirsty.”
She took the flask and drank heartily. This time I didn’t caution her about not drinking too much. The best thing that could happen would be her passing out.
Then maybe I could actually get some sleep, and we could be ready to resume our journey at nightfall. I was now in a bigger hurry than she was to reach the village.
Raewyn stretched out, reclining and propping herself on one elbow as she gazed into the fire. The flames reflected in her captivating brown eyes like twin sprites dancing in the night.
“I had no idea how many dangers existed between Seaspire and my village. No wonder Stellon refused to let me leave the palace and attempt to walk home.”
Stellon. Of course she was thinking of him.
No doubt he was thinking of her, too, pining away in his chambers, eager for me to return and tell him she was safely ensconced in some far-away village where she belonged. Where sheshouldbe.
It would have been better for all of us if she’d stayed there in the first place, if she’d never come to the palace and disrupted all our lives.
“The road is a bit more civil,” I said. “But there’s still plenty of trouble to be found. The countryside isn’t safe at all.”
“So I learned,” she said thoughtfully. “It still gives me shivers to think how close I came to becoming dinner for a mountain lion.”
I smirked. “At your size you’d be more of a snack. Aren’t you going to scold me now for ‘slaughtering’ it?”
It still smarted that she’d called me a brute for slaying the Dryads.
“Of course not,” Raewyn said. “That thing was going to kill me.”
