“Yeah, but what if I touch you on accident? I’m a bigger girl, Axon. What if I sit down and my thighs touch yours, or my hips brush against you as we pass each other in a narrow hallway?”
I honestly wouldn’t mind if our hips brushed, but thinking about Ashley’s hips had me imagining us in the furs, which was closer to a dream than reality. I would have better luck pulling one of the moons from the sky than being able to withstand the overwhelming pleasure that would come with mating with the most perfect woman on Valo Prime.
“I would rather experience the sensory overload of your accidental touch then to see you pull away from me every time I’m near.”
“But you said my touch burns you.”
“Ashley, let me decide how much pain I can handle. I can assure you, I’d rather endure a little pain than the loss of our friendship.”
“Okay,” she relented with a yawn.
“You’ve had a long day. I’ll let you get some rest.” I got up and smoothed out her furs where I’d been sitting.
There was still a pile of five furs on the floor between us. We both looked at the furs and then back at each other.
“I’ll take two more, but that’s it,” she warned, making me smile. I liked that despite everything, her inner fire still burned bright. I wanted to know what exactly it was that drove her to the kala in the first place, but I could be patient. Ashely would tell me in her own time.
“Fine. Here’s two for you and three for me.”
Ashley accepted the extra furs, and I placed mine on my bed as well.
I was not tired, but I decided to lie down, anyway. It might seem weird to have me just walking around the cave while Ashley tried to sleep.
When her breathing evened out, I got up and reinforced the entrance with more webbing and added a few more logs to the fire.
The cave was about as safe and warm as it could be, but it still didn’t feel good enough. I wanted to offer Ashley more. I traveled down one of the nearby tunnels and gathered a few small crystals that were growing on the walls.
Once I returned to the main cavern, I placed the crystals next to Ashley’s bed, so they’d be the first thing she’d see when she woke in the morning.
There, it might be a small gesture, but at least it was something.
I laid down for the night and let sleep overtake me.
Chapter 9
Ashley
The next morning, I woke to the sound of Axon making breakfast. He was roasting some meat over the fire.
My head ached from the emotional hangover from yesterday. So. Many. Feelings. I had started the day off crying in my bed back in the mountain, then I felt happy for the first time in weeks when I decided to leave for the kala. Then I was terrified that I might freeze to death in the rain, and then I was pissed to run into Axon of all people.
Finding out that Axon liked my touch was a nice surprise, but it didn’t exactly solve anything. I couldn’t touch him and he couldn’t touch me. Not that it was a big deal or anything. We’re only friends. It’s not like we’re dying to touch each other.
That was a lie. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to be able to brush his shoulder as I walked by or squeeze his hand for encouragement or hug him for no reason at all.
I opened one eye to see what exactly he was doing, and sure enough, he was sitting on his haunches flipping some meat that was lookingdeliciously medium rare.
You know what I really want? The thing I’ve been trying to deny the most because it hurt too much? I want to cuddle. I’m not sure that Axon even likes me romantically, but if he did and if we figured out this whole touching thing, I’d love to cuddle with him.
He had a nice broad chest and short white hair that I’d love to run my fingers through. I might not be super interested in sex, but damn, did I like a good cuddle.
“Breakfast is ready,” Axon called over his shoulder. I smiled to myself. He must have heard my change in breathing or something.
As I sat up and stretched, I spotted a row of crystals lining my bed of furs. They were purple and pink, similar to rose quartz and amethyst.
“Where did you get these?” I picked up a rose quartz cluster to examine it closer.
“There’s a cave not too far from this one full of crystals. There’s even really big ones growing from the ceiling.”
