I raised one brow. “Exactly.”
Her gaze left the fire to meet mine. “I’m grateful to you for saving my life. I don’t think I’ve said that.”
Bowing my head toward her, I twirled one hand in an overly done flourish. “It was my honor, Wildcat.”
She smirked at my facetious tone and the new nickname, but then her expression changed, a spark of understanding lighting her eyes.
“Is that what the Dryads were planning?”
“Yes, but worse,” I said. “They weren’t going to kill you quickly. Unlike mountain lions, they like to play with their prey first.”
Raewyn’s big eyes grew even bigger. “Oh my. I didn’t know. I could have sworn they were terrified of you. So that’s twice now you’ve saved me. Thank you, Pharis, truly.”
No room for friendliness, remember?
I marshalled my tone into something less than friendly. “Yes, well, I need some sleep. And now that you’ve drained my flask, you’re probably tired as well.”
She yawned and sat up, stretching her arms overhead, which raised the hem of the shirt to her upper thighs. I snapped my eyes back to the fire.
“I am,” she said in a drowsy voice. “I guess near-death experiences are rather draining.”
Lying down, she shifted onto her side, facing the fire and closing her eyes with a sigh. They flew open again when she heard my footsteps close to her.
“What’s happening?”
She sat up, her eyes darting around wildly as she saw me on her side of the fire. “I thought you were going to sleep.”
“I am.”
Settling myself on the cloak beside her, I pushed her flat again and turned her on her side, draping an arm over her waist so she was trapped against me, back to front.
“What do you think you are doing?” she demanded.
Raewyn began wriggling, trying to free herself from my hold.
Riding horseback with both of us fully clothed had been a bit of torture. This was torment on a whole new level.
I was clad only in my underwear, and though she was covered by my shirt, the Elven silk fabric felt like almost nothing. We might as well have been naked.
“I’m making sure you stay put,” I said, the words coming out a bit strained as she continued to writhe against me. “I’m too fatigued to sleep with one eye open.”
“I told you I wouldn’t try to escape again.”
“Forgive me if I don’t just take your word for it,my lady,”I said. “You have been known to say one thing and do another. You did this to yourself.”
“No, you are doing it to me, and it’s completely unnecessary. Stellon would be furious if he could see you treating me this way,” she hissed.
She was right about that. Still, I couldn’t take the chance of her sneaking out again and putting us both in danger.
And after going so long without sleep then battling four Dryads plus chasing her down in a storm and carrying her back, I was on the verge of passing out.
“Your honor is safe with me,” I assured her. “It would be even safer if you’d stop squirming and rubbing against me.”
Instantly Raewyn went still, her breaths fast and audible in the quiet cave. She had finally caught on.
I wondered if she was doing a mental inventory of the male body she couldn’t see but felt pressed along her back side.
I wondered what she thought of it.
