"You're losing too much heat," I say, my voice rough in the confined space. The words feel inadequate, but there is nothing else to offer. "Let me hold you. I can warm you."
Vaelis goes rigid. The shivering pauses for a beat as his golden eyes fix on mine. He looks at my chest, my shoulders, the sheer mass of me—his hesitation a palpable thing in the water between us. Then, slowly, deliberately, he extends a hand.
His pale, slender fingers brush against my forearm.
The contrast is a physical shock. His skin is impossibly smooth, like sea-polished glass against the jagged landscape of mine. He leaves his hand there, tracing the hard ridges of old scars with a curiosity that makes my muscles tense. I see the flicker of fear in his eyes, the instinctive recoil of a creature who has spent his life being taught my kind are monsters.
A sudden, suffocating wave of insecurity crashes over me.
I am a fool.
I am a creature of the trench, made of rough edges and violence. I have no business offering comfort to something so delicate, so perfect. My touch is meant to tear, not to soothe. Fear shadows his face, and the rejection burns hotter than the thermal vents I spend my days cleaning. The agonizing weight of my own ugliness crashes over me compared to his impossible beauty.
I pull my arm back, backtracking immediately. "No," I say, my tone turning flat and defensive to hide the sting. "It would be best if I didn't. You're not used to my kind. You should not have to force yourself."
Vaelis watches me withdraw. The fear in his eyes shifts into something else entirely. Something soft and piercing.
"Because you've been fighting the urge to kill me?" he asks.
The question startles me so badly I almost recoil.
I look at him, bracing for terror, but instead, the corners of his mouth curve upward.
He smiles.
It is a small, shy thing, but it changes his entire expression. A sudden, treacherous heat flares beneath my skin, rushing up my neck and burning directly into my cheeks. I'm blushing. The water around my face turns uncomfortably warm.
"No," I answer, my voice dropping to a gravelly whisper. "It's not that."
We maintain eye contact. The space between us charges, heavy with an unspoken pull. But the insecurity still stings. I can't bear to watch him endure my touch to survive the night.
I begin to float away ever so slightly, letting the ambient water push me back toward the cold stone wall to give him space.
The distance barely exists before Vaelis reaches.
His fingers close around my forearm, a band of sun-tanned silk against the scarred landscape of my skin. The grip is a deliberate, steady pressure that halts my retreat as if he's claiming a piece of the trench for himself.
I stop fighting the water's pull.
I let his strength guide me, returning back into the space I abandoned. The currents carry me until my side brushes against his, the first point of contact sending a jolt through us both.
At the touch, Vaelis flinches.
I hear the sharp hiss of his intake.
My skin is rough as stone, my body dense as the basalt we shelter in. The instinct to retreat flares sharp and immediate in my gut. I tense, preparing to pull away before my ugliness can mark his perfection.
"I'm hurting you," I mutter, the words gravel in my throat.
"No," he whispers, the sound fierce. "You're not."
He doesn't release me. Instead, he follows my retreat, closing the gap with a determination that steals my breath. His arms slide around my torso, pulling his chest flush against mine. He buries his face against my neck, his crimson hair spilling over my shoulder like fresh blood in the dark.
The heat transfer is immediate. A shudder wracks his frame as my furnace-blood warms him, the violent trembling of his limbs beginning to ease. He lets out a long sigh that tickles the skin above my collarbone. He's seeking shelter in the monster from his nursery tales.
I give in.
My heavy arms close around him, enclosing him in a circle of muscle and scar. I am terrifyingly aware of how fragile his ribs feel against the solid wall of my chest, but I hold him with a gentleness I did not know I possessed. I tuck his head beneath my chin, shielding him from the cold.
