“I got out of the clanhall barefoot, probably cut the bottoms up a bit then. And then there was the fourteen-hour walk without socks in ill-fitting boots . . . Wading through creek water teeming with bacteria probably didn’t help any either but there was nothing I could do. I didn’t steal myself any medical supplies,” she admitted. “I didn’t even think of it before I left and I sure as hell wasn’t going back.”
“What about—” He hesitated, his vibrant gaze meeting hers seriously. “Do you have other hurts? Other wounds I have not seen?”
“Bruises, cuts, scrapes on my arms and upper back. My feet are probably the worst of it.”
He gave a huff. “I have supplies to treat your injuries at the shelter.”
“You might want to hold off on the Band-Aids till I can get some of this muck off,” she said, indicating her matted hair. “I don’t think I can stand this crap on me a minute longer.”
“The water of this river is safe for you to wash in,” he agreed. “Wait here. I will return soon.”
He was gone before she could say anything more. Scooting forward on the rock, she carefully lowered her hurting feet into the cool water. It stung like hellfire at first but she’d been expecting that and once she withstood the initial shock the chill felt fantastic. Summer, her hands behind her, leaned back and let her head fall back in relief.
The splashing of his boots alerted her to his return.
“I have brought cleansing lotion and a cloth for you to dry yourself.” He placed them beside her on the rock. “After you have bathed I will carry you back to the shelter and then tend your wounds there but I am here if you have need of me.”
Summer heaved a sigh and began unfastening the filthy shirt she wore. “Peep all you want, warrior. Just keep it in your pants, okay?”
He scowled. “It is not my intention to ‘peep’ at you,” he said shortly and turned his back to her.
Summer kept one eye on him as she finished opening her shirt. G’hir females wore short halters to support their breasts but she hadn’t put one in her pack. Since she’d originally thought to disappear right after the morning meal, she’d mistakenly assumed that her breakout from the enclosure would happen at a time when she was wearing day clothes. Her nighttime escape left her without a halter or bra but a suspicious glance his way showed that—true to his word—he wasn’t even trying to peek. She eased off her mud-encrusted pants and carefully stepped into the water, trying unsuccessfully to hold back a groan.
“Are you all right?” Ke’lar asked over his shoulder, but he didn’t look at her.
“Yeah,” she said, wincing. “Just hurts when I walk.”
The last thing she needed was yet another bruise and she took a few steps deeper into the river, cautious about her footing. The water was cold but not fast moving. She wasn’t worried about getting swept away by the current.
Anyway, he’d probably just jump in after her and haul her out with one burly arm if she did.
A half-dozen paces in she found a little depression where the riverbed fell away and the water was deeper, a little pool she could lower her body into by halfway bending her knees. She dipped down, spreading her arms out for a moment in the water till she was submerged to her neck.
She put her face in the water, rubbing at the dried mud with her palms, then tilted her head back. It was a weird but welcome feeling to have the mud soften and float from her hair. Summer used the pads of her fingers—she’d broken a couple of her nails off short since last night—to scrub at her scalp, loosening the dirt and muck there.
When her hair was good and drenched she waded back to grab the cleanser. She lathered her hair, rinsing the long strands and lathering again. She washed her face and body of the dirt and sweat and scrubbed off the mud caked behind her ears.
She washed her lower body and legs and, gingerly, her heels and feet too. Then she waded back to the depression to rinse. For a few moments she just relaxed there, letting herself float, letting the cool water soothe her aches and bug bites, letting the river’s currents carry away some of the terror she’d known since her abduction . . .
“Are you all right?” he asked again, his tone urgent. “You are not moving.”
The warrior still wasn’t looking at her but his sharper g’hir hearing would let him listen for her movements, even above the gentle sound of the slow-moving water. He shifted his weight restlessly, his upper body already half turned her way.
Summer sighed. Break over.
“I’m fine,” she said aloud. “I’m going to be dunking my head so don’t panic if you call out to me and I don’t answer immediately.”
“I would not ‘panic’ in any case,” he grumbled, folding his arms and firmly turning away
She dipped her head back to rinse, the strands of her hair billowing out around her, feeling so much lighter and cleaner.
In fact, Summer felt cleaner than she had since Ar’ar had first put his meaty hands on her.