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Aria smiled, then her gaze traveled to his waist. “Perry, did you know your pants are falling down?”
“Yeah. ” He didn’t have to look; he could feel them sliding down his hips. “I, uh . . . I took my belt off to make you feel comfortable. ”
“You took your belt off to make me feel comfortable?”
He nodded, trying to hold back a laugh. “I worked it out in my head that this would be more natural. ”
“Your pants falling down is natural?”
He grinned. “Yeah. If they fall any further, it’s going be very natural. ”
She laughed, her gray eyes shining as she shook her head. “So nice of you to think of me. ”
“Always do. ”
A blush crept over her cheeks as they stared at each other, one second giving to another. Her temper filled the small space, beckoning him closer.
“In the Komodo you said you wanted us to have some time alone,” she said.
He snatched his belt off the trunk and took her hand, darting out of the tent before she’d finished speaking.
35
ARIA
Perry, I can’t see where I’m going. ”
Aria jogged to keep up with him as he pulled her through the cave. He was barefoot, buckling his belt with one hand and holding on to her with the other, but she was still lagging behind. She didn’t have his eyes, and at this late hour the cave was nothing but blackness ahead of her, below her, everywhere. Every step she took, she felt as though her foot might never touch the ground.
He tightened his grip on her hand. “It’s even footing and I won’t let you fall,” he said, but she noticed he slowed down.
It was a relief when they left the dark hollowness of the cave. A relief to hear the waves and to have the Aether lighting the way. The reddish glow at the edges of the funnels seemed more vibrant now than just hours ago.
“Are we swimming?” she said as he took her down to the water’s edge. “Because the last time I did that wasn’t very enjoyable. ”
She’d been in the ice-cold waters of the Snake River with Roar, fighting desperately to stay alive.
Perry gave her a crooked smile. “Same,” he said, and she remembered how he’d almost drowned trying to save Willow and her grandfather. He put his arm around her shoulders, guiding her closer to the waves. “But it’s the only way, and it’s not far. ”
“Only way to what? Not far to where?”
He stopped and pointed down the beach. “There’s a cove on the other side of that point. ”
She didn’t see a cove. What she saw were waves pounding against rocks that jutted out of the ocean. “Aren’t we standing in a cove right now?”
“Yes, but the one around that point is magic. ”
She laughed, surprised by his choice of words.
He glanced down at her, his eyes narrowing. “Are you telling me you don’t believe in magic?”
“Oh, I do. But the way to the magic cove looks cold. And dangerous . . . and cold. ”
Perry’s hand slid to her injured arm. “You can do it,” he said, homing in on the real source of her apprehension.
Aria stared at the point. It was shrouded in darkness, and the tide looked rough, and she had no idea if she had the strength to swim all the way there.
“I’ll be right beside you if you need me, but you won’t. And I can’t do anything about the cold until we get there, but it’ll be worth it. There are no problems in the magic cove. Everything over there is . . . ” He paused, smiling almost to himself. “It’s perfect. ”
