Well, that and her niggling curiosity about what, exactly, he had hidden under the form-fitting black cotton. Much more fun to playthatguessing game than focus on her hunger, her thirst, her desperate need to be anywhere but this High-Gods-damned fucking desert.
Xenia had always tried to find the silver lining in any situation. And the tantalizing view of Cael’s nearly naked body was one of the best silver linings she’d ever found.
“It’s real,” he croaked.
His words snapped her sanity and she took off as fast as her weary legs could manage, her feet pounding through the sand as she shot past him.
“Blondie, wait!” he shouted, snatching her around the waist. “I need to make sure it’s safe first.”
“How will you be able to tell?” she asked.
“Predators can smell other predators,” he whispered in her ear, resting his chin on her sticky shoulder. She could hear the smirk in his voice as he held her against his sweaty chest. Her own chest heaved from her ill-advised sprint. “Let me check the water before you go plunging to your death.”
She should’ve been grateful when he let her go, not needing an ounce of the additional body heat provided by their proximity. But as he walked away, she leaned forward, lured into his gravity.
“Stay behind me,” he grumbled over his shoulder. “And don’t dip a fucking toe into that water until I give you the all-clear.”
She grunted her acceptance as she stomped along behind him, then nearly groaned with envy when he waded into the water. Watching the spray around his long legs spiked her thirst to unbearable levels.
He dipped beneath the surface, then pushed off the bottom, tucking his wing against his back and arrowing through the water as fast as a sea serpent.
He made several turns around the pool before the sun dipped behind an accommodating cloud and the water deepened to an opaque midnight blue.
Xenia moaned with relief at the absence of the sun on her skin.
The water simmered, stirred by the wind, but there was no sign of Cael. Her relief edged into panic as she realized he’d been under too long.
The feathery fringe of tall grasses tickled her bare arms as she tip-toed towards the edge of the pool, searching for any sign of disruption—a glimpse of a gray wing poking above the surface like a shark fin, perhaps.
She didn’t dare call out his name. It might draw the attention of the invented creature beneath the surface whom she was sure had eaten her companion.
She leaned out over the water, peering at her reflection, and was greeted by windswept curls, dust-stained cheeks, and splotchy, sunburned skin.
The portrait of the savage little desert creature staring back at her dissolved in a churn of bubbles as Cael shot through the surface and pulled her into the blissfully cool water.
She sputtered, laughing, and dragged her hand down her dripping face, her toes digging into the silky, sucking sand at the pool’s floor.
“Asshole,” she chuckled, pushing her sodden curls off her face. She cupped some water, but paused before taking a sip. “Is it safe to drink?”
Cael nodded. “There’s a hole in the depths. The water’s much colder down there. Probably run-off from the Dordenne. We must be nearing the foothills.”
She barely heard him as she began sucking down gulps of the sweetest water she’d ever tasted. Even sweeter than the liquid from those tall, spiky plants.
Once she’d slaked her thirst, she rubbed at her arms and legs, attempting to clean the caked grime from her skin.
“We’ll stay here until dusk,” Cael said, splashing water onto his bare torso and running his hands along the muscled dips and grooves. Xenia tried not to stare at the sparkling droplets trailing down his perfect form as the hidden sun escaped the rare pocket of clouds.
“Why only until dusk?” she asked.
“This is the only source of water we’ve seen for miles. As soon as night falls, we’ll be an easy meal for the creatures who’ll no doubt congregate here.”
Xenia shuddered, but a gnawing pain gripped her gut at the mention of a meal. They’d consumed all the food in the sack, hadn’t eaten anything other than a wedge of hard cheese and the last slices of bread this morning.
Cael’s nostrils flared, scenting her hunger, and he paused his hand shower. “We’ll stay a bit after dusk then. Make a meal out of one of those creatures ourselves.”
Xenia pulled at her filthy silk dress.
She cleared her throat, snagging Cael’s attention. “Can you, uh, turn around please? I want to clean my dress.”
