“I’m going to need you to be alert when looking for Jelly. It’ll go much faster if I can scan one side of theforest while you look at the other.”
Drovo looked down at the ground, avoiding my gaze. He was lying, and he was bad at it. He didn’t need me to find Jelly, but it did show that he knew me well enough that I was too stubborn to admit when I’m tired. I would typically make up some vague reason to excuse myself when I was tired and go lay back down in my cave.
Maybe Drovo had been doing more than flirting with me this past month. Had he been observing me?
“Fine, I’ll stay.” I relented, and Drovo nodded in approval.
“Here, you hold on to the extra travel rations and water, and I’ll be right back.”
He handed me a bag of nuts and fruit bars along with a skin of water.
“How long do you think it’ll be before you come back?” I’d be more at ease knowing how long I was supposed to wait for Drovo before I should start worrying if he got hurt or not.
“Oh, it won’t be long. The sun won’t even be high in the sky before I return. Why? Are you worried about me?” His normal sly grin faded as he realized he’d flirted with me and how that might have not been the right thing to do now that we’d established our new friendship.
“Of course not. I just wanted to know how long I should wait before I need to go searching for you in the forest.” Not that I could move the boulder, but I wouldn't mention that. “You may be lord of the trees, but I’m sure even you could get lost or wounded.”
I softened my words with a smile and he smiled back, letting me know he’d gotten the message. I wasn’t mad at him for flirting. It had been an accident, a mere slip up, and I couldn’t be mad at him for that.
“Oh I see,” he grinned. “Well, this lord of the trees is going to get your chariot, and be right back.”
With that, Drovo left the cave, and rolled a boulder over the entrance, leaving me to sit in the dark that was only broken by small cracks at the top of the rock ceiling. I didn’t mind the dark, I was happy for it actually. It was perfect for falling back asleep.
I woke up to the sound of stone scraping against stone and was blessed with the sight of a sexy dryad shifter looking down at me, holding the empty reins to my beloved chariot.
“Rise and shine, my little lu-” he cut himself off before he could finish the pet name he’d given me.
“I, uh, we’re all set. You can hop in and we can find Jelly.” He rushed on.
“Sounds good.” I yawned and stretched, feeling much better after getting some more sleep.
I sat down on the bench seat of the chariot as Drovo suggested, but then belatedly remembered that without Jelly, my fancy ride had no way to move forward.
I swallowed hard as I drank in the sight of Drovo tightening Jelly’s harness over his own bare chest. It took my brain a minute to catch up to my eyes and realize that Drovo was taking the buffalo’s place.
“Ready?” the blue alien asked over his shoulder, clearly having no idea how much the sight of him inleather straps had on me.
“Ye-yes,” I squeaked out. “I’m ready.”
“I scented Jelly a little downwind from where I found the chariot. I don’t think he wandered far.” He informed me as he began to walk forward with his blue tail swishing behind him.
Drovo normally had a tall, lean muscle look to him, but with the brown straps cutting across his shoulders, he suddenly looked more broad.
Was it hot today? I fanned myself as I nearly drooled over the sight of Drovo’s black glistening in the sun as his legs worked to pull me forward one step at a time.
A cool breeze blew across my face, confirming that it was indeed not hot today. It was just me. Gabby and Julie told the rest of us that the guys could scent arousal. God, I hoped Drovo couldn’t scent mine. I would die of embarrassment if he knew how attractive I found him. Our newly established friendship would immediately be put into jeopardy.Would that be such a bad thing?Ugh, stop it Kayla. Friendship is good. Friendship will give you time to sort out how you really feel about him.
Drovo
Kayla has been giving me peculiar looks and I don’t know why. Every time I turned around, her eyes would dart away as if she’d been staring at me the moment before. It was strange. I’d never caught Kayla looking at me before.
I was happy to find the chariot untouched and in the same spot we’d left it the night before.
We found Jelly grazing in a clearing near where we’d slept last night.
“There,” I pointed to a spot next to a tree where I’d scented Kayla’s pet.
“There?” Kayla looked confused. It was impossible to see the bafilo with one’s eyes when he was camouflaged as he was.
