A second later, I feel hands fumbling over me, tugging at my clothes.
‘Rosey,’ Ruben says a heartbeat later, ‘we’re just taking your clothes off. You’re soaked through and we need to get you dry and warm.’
Cold air bites at my wet skin as they strip me down, and embarrassment tries to stir, but it can’t find purchasethrough the exhaustion.
‘I’m going to have to be undressed too or …’ Ruben begins.
‘Do whatever you need to do!’ Kyor’s voice cuts in with an impatient growl, and it’s followed by another noise that’s remarkably similar – a growl, but one that’s deeper than Elska’s.
Fen’s.
Fen’s.
I try to focus on the protective sound of it, on the strength of it. That means he’s all right, doesn’t it? Surely it must. Yet the question can’t form. There’s a fog filling my thoughts, my body. As I grapple to fight it, I’m struck with a sudden rush of warmth that seeps into my entire being.
The heat reaches every cell within me, enveloping me. Leaning into the warmth, a familiar scent fills my nostrils as I recognise the touch and aroma of the man who has wrapped his arms around me. A moan of relief flurries from me.
‘Not now, Ruben,’ I murmur, lost in the memories of the last time I felt this touch. ‘I’m too tired.’
A half-laugh judders out of him. ‘I know. It’s okay. I’m just holding you. Let me hold you, Rosey. Everything will be all right,’ Ruben whispers, his bare legs entwining with mine and warming my skin, his hands against my bare spine as he pulls me closer and soft furs are thrown over us. I can feel it’s helping. His energy flows deep into my bones, offering me a flicker of strength.
It’s enough for me to blink open my heavy eyes and look around for him. But instead, impossibly, I meet bright blue eyes.
Kyor.
Why’s it always Kyor?
The ghosts of old memories fade, and my mind sharpens to the here and now.
‘Kyor.’
‘Thorn,’ he says gruffly. ‘Come on, love. You’ve got this. You’ve been through way too much to let a bit of cold water kill you.’
He’s kneeling by my side, crouching next to me as I sit there, naked, with Ruben in a similar state of nudity, hugging me beneath the layer of furs that insulates us.
That Ruben still breathes is a miracle as he runs his hands across myskin, warming every part of me. I meet his eyes momentarily before my gaze shifts behind him to where a shaking Benny is pulling off his own wet clothes and determinedly pulling on dry ones with shaking hands, even as all eyes remain on me.
Poor Benny. He’s been a complete hero, and he is not getting any of the credit he deserves.
‘She needs dry clothes. Preferably warm ones,’ Ruben tells the group.
‘I’ll grab some from her bag,’ Caz says. ‘But I don’t know how warm they’ll be.’
A heartbeat later, a blast of thunder cracks through the air, and we’re all hit by a sudden wall of heat.
‘You can warm the clothes on that,’ Kyor says tightly.
‘You have to stop setting fire to things when you get jealous.’ The words croak from my throat, resulting in a laugh from Kyor.
The belly-deep release is possibly the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.
‘Yeah, well, you’re naked with another guy right in front of me. I think you can cut me a little slack.’
I open my eyes long enough to see the grin on his face, but before I can speak again, the energy drains and they fall closed again.
I’m drifting, floating. So snuggly.
‘Here, the clothes are warm now.’ Caz’s words cut through my consciousness.
