Or our entire bodies. Points if he was on one side of the vine, and I was on the other.
Gavin removed his pack and dropped it into the hollow,giving us even less room. I swear he smirked when he did it.
“No. This is perfect. The sun’s going down and the wind is picking up. It’s going to be freezing up here. Less room helps us conserve body heat. Plus, the shape of the branch prevents us from falling.”
“How functional. You’re right. It’s a pragmatic haven.” I cringed internally. The man wasn’t affectedat all.It was infuriating! I might as well have been some stranger he met on the climb up. Meanwhile, I was contemplating building an elaborate hammock with our ropes so I could hang off the vine.Alone.That way, he wouldn’t witness me crawling into his lap when the weather turned.
Slipping off my pack, I held it against my chest like a bulky shield as I crawled into the snug space. The wind was muffled, and it was slightly warmer, but not by much. Contorting my body as close to the vine as I could, I made space for Gavin. Though space was a generous word, and he filled it completely after he eased inside.
Cue the awkward silence.
“Are you hungry?” I asked, my voice too high. Too fast. I was stiff as a board, my neck pinched, shoulders tense.
Gavin shifted beside me, his voice low and coated in rust. “Starving.”
Gods…the way he said it.
My mind didn’t just veer off the vine, it plummeted headfirst into the abyss.
“Me, too.”
I woodenly searched my pack and removed a selection of hardtack, dried apples, and some strips of meat. Anything to keep my hands busy.
We ate our meal in silence; the wind doing most of thetalking.
I chewed slowly, pretending I was as cool and collected as he seemed. The hardtack was way more enticing than the warmth emanating from his body. The apples were more delicious than the sturdy feel of his thigh pressed against mine, the way our shoulders touched. The meat—
For treasure’s sake, who was I kidding?
The food sucked. I wanted to crawl into his lap, let him wrap his arms around me, and soak up all his heat… and maybe do a few other things, too.
With a huff, I shoved my pack behind me like a pillow, giving it a good whack as if it could knock some sense into me. Then I settled in, determined to sleep. And it had better be a dreamless one! But the cold made sleep impossible. The sunlight was gone. All we had was the glow from our lights, casting eerie shadows over the vine.
I shifted slightly, trying to ease the ache in my spine, but cold air seeped in, and I shivered.
He didn’t move.
Didn’t even acknowledge it.
Probably because he was big as a bear and had more than enough warmth to keep him comfortable.
Wretched thief.
But soon, even the cold wasn’t a match for my fatigue-drained limbs. My eyes grew heavy-lidded, and my head dipped once before I jerked myself back up.
The second time my head dipped, it landed against something solid. Warm. I craved the heat, and I let it lull me deeper. All of my tension melted from the steady rise and fall of his breath. The way he didn’t push me away. And maybe, just as I drifted off, pulled me closer.
Chapter 29
Gavin
Marin’s head settled againstmy shoulder, and I forgot how to breathe. She’d gone from haunting me to ending me, and I welcomed every agonizing second.
I had pretended not to notice her shallow breaths. The twitch in her fingers. A shiver she tried to hide. The way she filled the space with her unique brand of resistance that only made me want to drag her against me until we fit.
Because we did—we fit perfectly.
She was a fighter. Everything was a battle: against me, the witch, the world that wasn’t fair. Except for this brief moment, when her head dipped against my shoulder, and she slept.
