Page 118 of The Hunter's Empire

The kiss is slow. Careful. Hesitant enough to feel like a question rather than an answer, as though we're both waiting for the other to pull away. Neither of us does.

Chapter 25

Zora

The first thing I remember when I wake is the kiss. The memory returns with embarrassing clarity before I even open my eyes, pulling me back to the warmth of his lips and the quiet challenge in his voice. Heat creeps into my cheeks as I slowly open my eyes.

"You shouldn't put weight on it yet." Nico's voice pulls me back to the present.

He's already awake, crouched a few feet away, watching me with the same calm expression he always wears. There isn't the slightest hint of awkwardness on his face. No smug remark. No teasing smile. Nothing to suggest that we'd crossed a line neither of us should have crossed only a few hours earlier. For some reason, that bothers me.

I push myself upright anyway, only for pain to shoot through my ankle. I hiss and sink back onto the rock before I can stop myself.

"And what's the alternative?" I ask, trying to ignore both the throbbing in my leg and the strange disappointment settling somewhere in my chest. "Stay here until they find us?"

"There isn't one." He replies evenly as he offers me his hand.

For a second, I hesitate, wondering if he'll say something. Anything.

He doesn't.

I take his hand instead and let him pull me to my feet. The moment I stand, pain radiates through my ankle again, hard enough to blur my vision.

"You alright?" He asks.

"I've had better mornings."

"That's not what I asked."

I force myself to straighten. "I'll manage."

He studies me for another moment before giving a small nod, his attention already drifting back to the jungle surrounding us.

"Come on. We need to keep moving."

That's it. No mention of the kiss. No acknowledgement that it ever happened.

As we disappear into the trees, I can't decide whether I'm relieved... or strangely disappointed that he's pretending last night never existed.

The jungle is still damp from the night's humidity as we make our way east, weaving carefully between towering trees and tangled roots. Every few minutes Nico stops to study the ground or listen for movement before choosing another direction. He's quieter than usual this morning.

We walk in silence for what feels like twenty minutes, weaving through dense undergrowth while Nico leads us steadily east.

"Why east?" I ask.

Nico steps over a fallen log before answering without looking back. "The cliffs are higher."

"And?"

"If anyone's still searching offshore, they'll have a better chance of seeing us."

I glance through the trees toward the distant coastline, though the jungle is too dense to see much of anything.

"You still think someone's coming?"

He shrugs lightly. "I think it's worth planning as though they will."

The answer is so characteristically Nico that I don't bother arguing.