They kept walking through the caverns and winding ribs of the mountain until the wisps began blinking on and off. She noticed Gunnar looking at them a few times before blowing out a breath and turning to her. "Time to sleep."
She stared up at him, unsure that she'd actually heard him correctly. "Sleep?"
He pointed at the wisps. "They only do that when it's almost nighttime. They don't glow all the time, after all. So it's a warning that we need to find a place to rest before they go out for the night."
The idea of being in this cavernous maw made Rose want to scream. She hated the idea of sitting in the dark while listening to the sounds of the cave. Because they were, without a doubt, terrifying. She had been doing her best to ignore them. The wisp light helped.
But now all she could think about was the sound of slithering that had been following them for the better part of an hour. Not to mention the loud feet that moved to the side whenever theyturned a corner. The scraping sound of talons on the stones was enough to make her grind her teeth in fear. She was not going to do this. She couldn't do this.
Gunnar reached for her. His hand curled around her own, holding her hard and firm with all the confidence of a man who had survived this before. The feeling of his hand grounded her. She didn’t have to be afraid. He was here with her, and she wasn’t alone.
"We're going to make a small camp," he said. "The stone will be at our back, and I will find you a light. It won't stay lit the whole time we are down here, but if you touch it, then the plant will glow. All right?"
"We really have to sleep down here?" she asked, her eyes a little too wide.
"Yes. If you can." Gunnar stretched his arms over his head, all those twinkling wisps highlighting the muscles of his toned body. "I, for one, am very tired. I think I'll fall asleep as soon as my eyes close."
Her mouth dropped open. "Surely you don't mean that?"
He winked. "I do."
Apparently he wasn't as afraid of the dark as she was, or at the very least, he was used to sleeping in awful conditions.
Gunnar found her a nice place to rest, an interesting carved out space tucked into the stone wall. A channel, really, more than anything else. But they could sit there, not quite in the tunnel, but more in their own little space. The ground was covered with soft, plush moss. And if she had been in any other situation, she would have maybe been comfortable.
She wasn't, though. She could hear the creatures of this cave moving around. She could sense their eyes on her, she swore. Skin prickling, she sat there without blinking while he looked for one of those bulb plants to set right beside her.
Gunnar did his absolute best. They didn't have a fire, but he patted the moss next to him, and she sat down beside him.
"You don't have to cuddle me," he said with a soft laugh. "But I think we're both a little cold. It's fine if you want to put your back against me like you did... before."
Of course he was trying not to bring up the labyrinth. She didn't want to think about that place either, but might be right. The moment he said the words, she realized how freezing she really was. They had stopped moving, and her body now felt the chill of the cave.
"I..." She swallowed hard.
Because part of her wouldn't mind cuddling with him. She'd liked it when he'd hugged her. That had made her feel safe and comfortable. But the idea of him holding on to her was also terrifying. Or... maybe it made her heart beat harder for a different reason.
It was confusing. She needed to think about it for a little longer before she dove straight into this. Gunnar was her shield. Her protector. He would never hurt her. And maybe, just maybe, the thoughts in her head didn't have anything to do with fear after all.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "I'm going to lie down, but if you don't mind going back to back with me..."
Rose was aware that neither of them could control what happened in their sleep. She wondered if she'd wake to one of his arms over her torso, keeping her infinitely warmer than going back to back would be.
As they both lay down, she rolled the thought over in her mind, prodding to see if there was anything about the idea of it that made that ancient fear pop back up again inside of her, but it didn't.
She didn't mind the thought of him holding her. In fact, the thought was almost calming. She still didn't like the sound ofthese caves. She couldn't tell if that talon scratch was right next to her, or if it was so far away that the echo had brought it down the long chambers. What if there were more creatures coming for them? What if they weren't safe?
But the idea of him holding her, of his arm around her waist, made her feel like there wasn't anything to fear at all.
She almost rolled over and asked him to do it. It would be so easy. Just a quiet question, just a thought pushed out into the darkness, and she knew he would. Gunnar would do anything for her.
Rose didn't. Her bravery only stretched so far, and that didn't include asking him for something that she didn't know how to ask for. Yet, at least. So she just listened to the sound of his even breathing rather than the sounds of the cave. She listened to the calm stillness of his body and felt the heat radiating off him.
And she knew she was safe.
She knew it so deep in her bones that eventually she drifted off into a dreamless sleep as well. Meandering through the realms of dreams in which she was strong enough to ask him to hold her. Strong enough to want the feeling of his body wrapped around hers, and maybe even more.
At least until she snapped awake.
