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The heavyweight of sleep wraps its arms around me, caressing my eyelids to take a bow. I blink slowly and lean against the side of his body.
“You want to know something?” I ask like the words have been dipped in glue.
“Hmm?”
“You and DaiSzek are definitely my weakness.”
4. Friend or Foe?
My skin has absorbed a second skin, and it’s called dirt.
My hands feel grimy when I rub them together like I’ve been rolling fresh dough. The rest of my body is stiff from sleeping in the dirt. My muscles have hardened on my left side and moving them is like taking a bite of stale bread. And I dare not look at the bottoms of my feet.
Dessin pointed out a small lagoon I could bathe in. I hear the peaceful stream of water trickling over rocks and clumps of mud. The water is a sheet of black crystal.
I’m hesitant to climb in. What if there are dangerous beasts that lurk under its surface?
But I’m with Dessin. He’d never let anything happen to me. I slip off my clothes and toss them into the water. Dessin gave me a bar of soap that smells like honeysuckle and jasmine. I step in, feeling the sliminess and wet clay cushioning my feet. The water is frigid, lacking the natural rays of the sun that would keep it warm. Fog and darkness curl around the trees, slinking over the trickling waterfall like a predator.
I move through the dark lagoon faster, hoping my skin will acclimate to the temperature so this deafening urge to get out will disappear. It’s up to my neck, and my body trembles like a coward on the front lines of war. I hold my breath, buckling my legs against my chest so I will sink into the arctic ice batch. When I rise with wet golden hair sticking to my neck and back, my flesh now feels numb and at peace with the cool temperatures. With the citrus soap in my right hand, I get to work.
A ring of oil and dirt forms around my body as I scrub my face and neck, working the soap bar in my thick mess of wet hair. I bounce up and down in the water, feeling the cold atmosphere of the lagoon freeing my naked body. After cleaning down to my toes, I hold my breath to wash off the remaining bubbles. When I come back up, I see DaiSzek standing in a crouched position above me, where the top of the narrow creek turns into the waterfall that feeds the lagoon.
He’s facing something ahead, to my right. Low to the ground, he takes each step like the dirt is made of glass and can break at any moment.
“What’re you doing up there?” I say in a lighter voice how you would speak to a child. He doesn’t look my way. His stare is focused and precise.
Fear strikes a nerve in my spine.
Hands grip the caps of my shoulders and spin me in the water. I cover my breasts and almost shriek when I see Dessin, fully clothed, in the water with me. The scent of cedar fuses with the aroma of murky water.
He gently places a hand over my mouth and shushes me. His other hand shifts over my lower back. We’re treading toward a low-hanging tree, grazing the lagoon’s surface adjacent to the small waterfall. He angles us under the leaves to hide from whatever DaiSzek is creeping upon.
My eyes are searching his with panic. But his are calm, like a king so wise he’d reign forever. He rests his forehead against mine and closes his eyes. “Don’t move,” he whispers.
Footsteps shuffle around behind our heads. Whispers and the clinking of metal. Dessin’s breath brushes against my lips and cheeks. Just like that, the pull to be closer to him is palpable, burning at my fingertips.
That darkened gaze of his is an avalanche. Daunting, dangerous, and cruel. I lift the hand draped over my chest and relax it over his forearm.
His eyes open. And I can see the switch, the dissociation, the change in tension over his brow. It’s like watching the clouds clear after a hurricane.
It’s Kane. He shifts his hand to cradle the side of my face, and I lean into his subtle embrace. This spurs something to awaken inside of him. His body presses into mine, sandwiching me between him and the wall under the low-hanging tree.
I know they are two different people, and I shouldn’t be attracted to both. But they each hold something that draws me in.
He sighs, forehead still pressed against mine, lips so close I can almost taste them. And again, my pulse races, driving my need to press my lips against his.
“Kane,” I exhale, moving my lips closer to his if he would just close the distance…
Suddenly a snorting sound comes from above my head that makes me jump. DaiSzek’s big black nose pushes through the underbrush of the tree we’re hiding under. Kane releases a long breath and lets his head fall back. “They’re gone.”
I keep my gaze cemented on him. If I could have had a moment longer with him.
“How did you know it was me?” he asks, dropping his hands from my body. An empty, hollow sensation fills the spaces his hands once covered.
I wrap my arms over my breasts as I recover from the sudden distance.
“You’re cold. Come on, let’s get you dried and dressed.” He touches my shoulder blade and guides us to the edge. “Let me get out first so I can get you something to cover yourself with.”
