Against him, she sucked in a breath and went still as stone.
People were afraid of him. He was used to that reaction. But hers pissed him off more than most. Why, he didn’t know.
“I told you before, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, working not to yell as he pushed his pants down and wrestled his way out of them, leaving him in nothing but soaking-wet boxer briefs. “If you cooperate, that still holds true.”
He let go of her hands, pushed her arms to her sides, and wrapped his around hers, crushing her to his chest. She drew in another startled breath but was smart enough—this time—not to fight back. He turned them both around and sank down to sit on the rocks, holding her close as another shiver racked his body.
“Wh-why are you d-d-doing this to m-m-me?”
Now that the fight had left her body, the shock was crashing in hard. He loosed his hold, rubbed his hands up and down her arms to stimulate circulation. “I’m not doing anything but trying to break free. Just like you.”
“You d-did that.” She bent her elbows, drew her forearms up against his chest. “You d-d-don’t need me now.”
He didn’t, technically, that was true. At least not after he got warm. Keeping her around wasn’t an entirely ludicrous idea, though. There was no telling where this cavern let out, or who’d be waiting for them when they finally made it back to the surface. Any hostage was better than no hostage.
But dragging her along…he hadn’t planned for that, and it created a whole other set of problems. Problems he needed to work through in his head. And right now, though he didn’t understand why, the voice wasn’t screaming at him, so it was his best chance to think. “Shut up already and just”—he wrapped his arms back around her, tugged her head so it fit under his chin—“try to generate body heat.”
She shivered against him for several minutes, then finally drew in a shuddering breath and relaxed a few muscles at a time. But she kept her hands pressed against his chest, ready and waiting to push away as soon as she could.
Her warmth seeped into his skin as they sat in silence. Water gurgled nearby, and the green glow from the bottom of the lake gave the entire cavern an eerie feel. His mind drifted to where he’d go after he got out of this cave. If he let the voice guide him, he had no doubt he’d find his target. The question was…could he fight the voice? If he let it take hold, could he keep the darkness from consuming him?
Sensation came back to his toes, his knees, his arms and legs. Gradually, he became aware of Maelea against him, not only as a heat source, but as a woman. Warm breath brushed against his collarbone, slid lower to tighten his nipples. Soft breasts pressed against the underside of his pecs, making him wonder what they felt like without that bra. And everywhere her bare skin touched, heat erupted. Against his chest, his stomach, especially in his hips, where she was straddling him, nothing but her damp panties and his wet boxers separating their flesh.
His mind drifted to sweaty, wet, steaming flesh. Skin moving against skin. Eyes half-closed, hungry mouths, hands and lips and tongues touching, sucking, tasting…
Skata. Definitely not what he needed to be thinking about right now. Avoiding hypothermia. Escaping. Finding that fucking voice that had been haunting him for months.
The voice…
He hadn’t heard it since…the river. Since before he’d found Maelea. It was still there—he could hear the dull buzz—but it wasn’t the incessant screaming he was used to. Come to think of it, in the tunnels, before the ground had given out—something he still didn’t understand—when he’d pressed Maelea up against the rock wall and covered her mouth with his hand to keep her quiet, the voice had dimmed then too.
He thought back to Maelea’s curves locked tight against him. To the feel of her lips beneath his palm. Tried to remember if she’d done or said anything that could be messing with his concentration. But nothing came to mind. And though he fought it, he couldn’t help but compare how she’d felt then—completely clothed and trembling—to how she felt now. Half-naked, relaxed, all but melting into his skin, warming him in a way that left him burning.
Tingles started in his stomach, spread lower. He was suddenly aware of every detail. The jasmine scent of her skin, the way her nearly dry hair curled around her shoulders and brushed his arms, every curve and subtle softness. And how incredibly warm she was. Everywhere. Reawakening his body in ways he didn’t expect.
Her breath caught. She went still against him. And he realized, skata, she felt that reawakening too. Fucking fabulous. While he had no remorse about scaring the crap out of her to get what he wanted, he’d finally just settled her down by promising he wasn’t about to rape her. And here he was with a massive hard-on she definitely couldn’t miss.