“But you’re my only way home.”
His pants drop next to my head.
Oh god!
I flinch as the metal from his belt buckle clanks against the stone floor. His shirt. His boots. And suddenly, Niklaus is kneeling at my side, undoing my cloak, pulling it away from my body.
“Yout-tryingtok-k-illmef-f-faster?”
“I know your mother taught you about wilderness survival too. You’re just too fucking stubborn to offer the idea first.” He reaches under my thighs, pulling my dress up.
“H-hey!”
“Would you rather me rip it right down the middle? Because I will.”
Damn. I know what he’s doing. Body heat. And right now, I’m not in a good position to argue. To come up with a plan that doesn’t involve our naked bodies touching.
I stop struggling as he pulls my dress over my ass, tugging my arms to loosen as he unveils the rest of my body. I’m wearing red lace panties and a brassiere.Please. Please don’t remove them too.
Niklaus positions himself behind me, tucking his legs behind my own, circling his body around mine like a quotation mark. There’s a quick gust of air as he drapes our cloaks over top of us.
And for a quiet, awkward moment, he doesn’t know what to do with his arms. With his hands. They remain close to his sides, as if I’m made of poison oak, as if touching me will burn him.
The heat from his chest pulses into my back, cutting through the vicious shivers in my bones. I melt a little against him, going to mush as some of the discomfort passes.
“J-just put them around m-me,” I stammer.Coward.
Niklaus doesn’t move, though his breathing finds a faster rhythm. After a few seconds, he sighs, and his breath tickles my ear. Those lean, muscular arms slide around my waist, circling over my chest. He pulls me closer, hugging me against the flexed, shivering planes of his frame.
Krimson, you wouldn’t believe what I’m having to do to survive out here.
“We’re not going to last like this,” Niklaus breathes. “We need fire. Warm clothes.”
I nod, shifting under the cloak.
Body heat can only get us so far.
“Do you think you can control it?” he asks.
“Control what?”
“Whatever you did to get us here.”
I breathe hot air against my fingertips, remembering that strange onyx animal that helped us get away. Maybe Ididdo this to us.
I shake my head slowly.
Niklaus grunts, squeezing me tighter in frustration.
“Did you see that—thingthat came out of the darkness?” I sound nuts.
He’s quiet for three seconds. “Yes.”
“It helped us.”
He doesn’t respond.
“Maybe it will again,” I add.
