Aldit leans back on his hands. “There are not many options for making a bed, but I recommend sleeping by the fire.”
I glance at him. He hasn’t mentioned the deal I suggested since we reached the top. To be fair, we were both thinking about water and food rather than sex.
And now?
I don’t know what’s coming tomorrow, and don’t won't to be fighting for my life with a regret weighing on me. Maybe he isn’t that interested or curious. Or he’s too tired. Now that I’ve had something to drink and eat, and we have fire, I feel better. Not revived or rested, but enough that I don’t want to waste this time while I feel okay.
“It’s a bit rocky.” I sweep some pebbles away with my hand. Under the trees isn’t much better. It’s not like there are soft grasses or dirt to sleep on. Everything growing here has sprouted out of cracks in the rocks. They have survived despite the odds, and so will I.
So will we.
He gets up and adds some more of the wood I gathered to the fire. “It will be out by morning.” He eyes the tree as if contemplating chopping it down so the fire will burn all night. “If the wind doesn’t put it out first.”
While I built it near a wall away from the trees and shrubs, the breeze has gotten stronger, and colder. “There’s nothing to cook in the morning, so I guess it doesn’t matter.”
“Spoken like someone who has never woken after a night on the ground to a cold fire. If nothing else, it keeps you warm.”
“We can cuddle up and keep warm together.” I smile, knowing that he can see me.
“Cuddle?” He squats next to me.
“Be close…” I stare at his luminous eyes. I need to say it. Make it clear for him. And if he says no? I’m worried that he might, even though he has hinted his interest. I want to believe that there’s always tomorrow, but there may not be. I’m sure flying through space is far more dangerous than sleeping rough and hiking a few miles through uncharted forest. I don’t know where this fear of death has come from, or how to shake it. I lick my lip. “Do you want to celebrate, or sleep?”
He considers me for several seconds.
My pulse is loud in my ears.
He’s big, and built, covered in tattoo-like markings that conduct electricity, and clearly not human. I shouldn’t want him. But I do. And that’s probably some weird survival instinct. Or simplify the need to connect with someone else.
What did he say, two warriors sharing a blanket and taking whatever pleasure they could out of life? It’s nothing more than that.
It can’t be, because I am not one of his people.
He inclines his head. “I believe the night is long enough for both.”
But still he doesn’t move.
The fire crackles, sending sparks into the air.
“What do you need me to say? That I want you to share my blanket?” That was the phrase he used.
His lips curve and glances away. “I do not know. You aren’t a Honey woman choosing a mate, and yet I was waiting as if you were.”
“And if I were one of your brothers?”
“Then I would know what to do. I have never been with a woman.”
“It’s all just rubbing and grinding.” I smile.
Aldit nods, then tears his gaze away from the flames. “That is true.”
He leans in and brushes a kiss over my lips.
“Do you kiss other warriors?”
“Sometimes.” His lips brush mine again, softly, as though he isn’t sure how much pressure to use. “Do you?”
“Always.” My fingers trace up his arm, and over his shoulder. I thread my fingers into his hair and tease his lips with my tongue until they part.
