So, he enjoyed the company of females, yet he’d never been in love before. She didn’t know how that realization made her feel.
“And you? Have you been in love,luxiva?” he asked next.
Her gaze slid past him, as she tried to keep the memories at bay.
“Yes,” she told him truthfully.
She plucked the water gourd from the ground with a little more force than necessary.
“And it was terrible,” she said softly. “So perhaps love isn’t necessary at all.”
Chapter Fifteen
By some small miracle, they got a fire started in the cave. Or rather, Cruxan did. She was relieved to see it, especially considering that the materials they’d gathered after the water gourds had been damp from the drizzle and endless rains from the night before. But Cruxan had managed to scrape enough bark from the inside of apillervatree and he’d expertly extracted some sap from one of the swaying blue stalks, which he told her was a good starter.
Just like last night, he’d hunted effortlessly. The rains had brought out more of the black spindly-legged creatures, which collected the rotting pods from thepillervatrees off the ground. Cruxan had dispatched not one, but three, and shortly after he got the fire roaring, he was working on skinning and cutting the meat.
Crystal watched him work as they waited for the water gourds to heat.
She was surprised when Cruxan murmured softly, “A crackling fire, a good meal,” he laid one of the fillets down on the hot rock and looked up at her, gesturing to their cave for the night, “a little home in the wild lands.”
Her lips parted and she couldn’t hide the little smile she gave him when she realized what he was saying. They’d hardly spoken since their strange conversation when they’d collected water gourds. Cruxan had seemed to be lost in thought and Crystal had felt a little emotionally drained from her admissions to him.
Cruxan was charming. That was a truth, not an opinion. She could see why he had many females at his beck and call.
“It is everything you wanted,” he murmured, though she could tell from his light tone that he was both teasing and serious.
“You’re forgetting my art studio,” she commented, playing along, “with my morning light so I can draw.”
“I cannot make it morning, but is this not enough light for your drawings?” he asked, tilting his head towards the fire.
She didn’t know who was more surprise when a small chuckle escaped her, her or Cruxan. It filled the small cave, which she saw didn’t extend that far back now that they had the fire’s light.
His eyes were soft as he rumbled, “I like your laugh, female.”
Her cheeks heated, not knowing how to take his compliment.
“And my animals?” she asked next, hurriedly, brushing his compliment aside.
He looked down at the creatures that would become their dinner. “Tomorrow, I will catch one for you to keep.”
She couldn’t help her smile. She hoped he was joking.
“You are persistent, Cruxan,” she commented. “I’ll give you that.”
That earned her a smile from him. She was, truthfully, a little relieved to see it. He’d been in a strange mood since they’d been gathering.
Once he laid out all the fillets onto the large stone slab, he looked down at his tunic she still wore. “We should dry that out while we have large flames.”
She nodded, reaching for the hem, before hesitating. It didn’t matter, considering she was wearing her own tunic underneath it, but she still hesitated.
Cruxan noticed and he jerked his head away, which made her both relieved and a little embarrassed. She felt like he had to tiptoe around her because of how she was around males.
She took off his tunic, peeling it from her body with some struggle since it was still heavy from the dampness. She was glad that he’d looked away because at one point her own tunic had slid up with it, exposing her completely.
With her cheeks slightly flushed from the effort, she finally had it off and she smoothed her own tunic down. It was even wetter than Cruxan’s shirt, considering its thin material, and to her dismay, it clung closely to her curves, her breasts. When she looked down, her nipples poked almost obscenely through.
Swallowing, she knew it couldn’t be helped and she shuffled closer, laying Cruxan’s tunic across the cave floor, which the fire had already heated.
