“And you are not? You need your cloak. Take it,” she said, going to pull it off her.
He stopped her, his hand resting on hers. “It will worsen before dawn. We will share it and our heat.”
She should have protested when he stretched out beside her. She should have moved away when his arm settled around her and tucked her against him, drawing his cloak over them both.
Instead, the warmth of him reached her instantly, strong and steady, easing the chill that had worked too deeply into her bones for the fire alone to touch.
“This should not comfort me so much,” she admitted softly before she could stop herself.
“And yet it does,” he said, feeling the same.
She lifted her head slightly to look at him. “I barely know you.”
His arm tightened faintly around her before easing once more. “There are some things you are not ready to understand.”
The answer should have frustrated her, but it didn’t. Perhaps because she sensed no deception in him, only comfort, a touch of pleasure, and some restraint.
Bria rested her head cautiously on his chest growing too tired to understand anything and to seek any more answers. Her eyes closed on their own, exhaustion taking hold, and she slept.
Kaelan had taken a chance climbing in bed beside her and taking her in his arms. It wasn’t that he couldn’t resist her, though that was growing more difficult, it was that she had shivered so badly he couldn’t let her suffer.
Every instinct within him sharpened at the feel of her wrapped in his arms, resting against his side, and trusting him despite her uncertainty. It took more restraint than she knew not to pull her closer still.
In time, she would understand what she was feeling. With that thought easing his own, he settled into a light sleep.
Bria stirredand seeing how much the fire had faded, she knew sunrise couldn’t be far off. She had slept well in Kaelan’s arms, their shared heat making for a pleasant sleep. Even now she was reluctant to leave the warmth that wrapped close around them.
It had been a necessity, she told herself.
So, why then did she want to linger there in his arms, keep her head rested on his chest, and enjoy not only his warmth but the earthy scent of him that somehow felt familiar.
Thankfully nature called and she reluctantly and gently began to ease herself out of his arms.
“Where are you going? Dawn has yet to break,” he asked, his voice free of sleep.
“Nature calls,” she said quietly, embarrassed to say more.
Understanding touched Kaelan’s expression at once. He rose with her. “You need not explain.”
The cold struck as soon as they got out of bed and again once they stepped beyond the ruins.
Night still ruled Driochmor, though she wondered if night ruled more than day here.
A normal mist, if anything could be considered normal in Driochmor, wound low through the trees, pale beneath the darkness. Ravens no longer watched from the branches, yet Bria somehow found that even more unsettling, the silence too heavy.
Kaelan stepped a short distance away to see to nature’s call, while she moved behind a thick cluster of twisted brush.
He kept watch over the area and kept a keen ear as well.
Bria finished quickly and went to turn and step back toward him—then froze.
The massive beast, its white fur pale against the darkness, stood amongst the odd-shaped trees. Its strange eyes, gold in color, remained fixed not on her… but on Kaelan.
It stood perfectly still, enormous and silent between the trees while Kaelan slowly turned toward it.
Kaelan stared directly at it. Neither moved. Neither appeared startled.
Bria’s breath caught as something strange passed between them, something she felt deep within her.
