“The storm’s breaking,” he says as we search for whatever stream Bane had gotten our water from. “We’ll head back first thing in the morning. I’m sure Thorin and Khalil are losing their minds.”
“I feel likeI’mlosing my mind.”
“Join the club,” Seth retorts.
“So what’s the plan? We don’t even know where we are.”
“Bane wouldn’t have been able to carry you far after being in the river, so my guess is we’re on Maia. We’ll just have to keep heading south. Eventually, we should run into something familiar.”
The stream isn’t far away from the cave, and the moment I see the clear water, Seth and I drink our fill and then we tear off our clothes to bathe away the day. We even find some mint leaves growing by the edge of the stream and trout upstream hiding out near some log jams.
When we return to the cave, Seth pulls me close while we lie on the hard slab, and once again I have trouble falling asleep, but for a different reason.
“Sleep, Sunshine. You’ll need your strength tomorrow.”
“Promise me you’ll still be here when I wake up.”
“I promise. I’m not going anywhere until you’re safe.”
But if Bane is right about the cabin, who knows when that will be? I’m asleep before I can let the impending doom torture me further.
SETH
Ilie awake while Sunshine sleeps soundly in my arms where she belongs. Brushing off the alarming fact that Bane thinks the cabin isn’t safe wasn’t easy. Without any real answers to offer, I didn’t want to worry Aurelia, but now I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know if it’s Bane’s lingering influence, but I almost want to follow his lead and keep her here just to be sure.
I’m so lost to my thoughts that I don’t even notice Sunshine stirring until I hear her sleepy grumble. “Seth, you’re crushing me.”
“Fuck. Sorry.” I loosen my hold around her waist, and her head immediately pops up. I’m thankful for the lack of light because I feel her trying to study me in the dark. There’s a fire, but it’s small, so the warm, golden light mostly mingles with the shadows rather than casting them out completely.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful you are.”
“Flatterer. Now what were you really thinking about?”
“Bane’s warning.”
“Oh… And what have you come up with?”
I blow out a breath that’s part frustration and part amusement as I drop my head down on the slab. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Seems to me like you need a distraction.”
“What kind of distraction?” I ask absently.
“A thorough one.”
My head pops up again when Aurelia crawls down my body. I want to be gallant and tell her she needs to save her strength,but she makes quick work of unbuttoning my pants, and the moment she licks her palm and reaches a small hand inside to pull my dick free, I know I won’t. My breathing quickens as she strokes it to full hardness, and then I watch her kiss the flared tip and feel my dick jerk eagerly in her palm.
“Fuck,” I swear roughly. “You want to suck my dick, baby girl?” Aurelia nods, and then with her eyes on me, she opens her mouth, and I slip right in. My head falls back and I groan, but just as quickly, I’m lifting my head again to watch her try to take all of me. Her cheeks puff out as I slip farther into her mouth until I’m touching her throat. “Such a good girl, tasting that dick.”
I feel her tongue working me while her head bobs in my lap. Spittle and pre-cum leak down the sides of my shaft, but I’m stuck watching the way her long lashes fan her cheek and the way the firelight makes her golden hair burn like embers in the dark.
My attention shifts when I notice Aurelia sneaking a hand between us and down the front of her shorts. Her arousal is a wet sound in the dark, and there’s a wild desperation in her eyes while she greedily sucks me off.
It’s painful to do, but I stop myself just short of coming down her throat. I use a fistful of her curls to force her head away when she makes a sound of protest, and I free my dick from that sweet vise of a mouth of hers.
“What’s this?” I say as I watch her hand moving fast and unpracticed over her clit. “Has Zeke not been taking care of you, Sunshine?”
