“Considering the alternative,” she offered with a glance at the wall of water at the cave entrance, “I’m willing to share.”
“I am not,” he growled, pulling a luma from his belt to reveal the rock walls, the ceiling rising high above them. The cave extended many meters into total darkness. “Wait here.”
“You got it. Not big on bats, personally. I bet on Hir they have glowing eyes too. Do me a favor, ’kay?” Summer, trembling a bit with cold and exhaustion, wrapped her arms around herself. “Don’t find any bats.”
“I do not think we have that creature on our world.” Ke’lar advanced into the cave, his blaster in hand as he explored.
She watched him go, his movements lithe, catlike, until the light he carried vanished and he was swallowed up by the darkness, leaving her alone in the gloomy, chilly cavern of an alien world. He moved silently, of course, a true g’hir warrior, but that was hardly reassuring. She’d feel a hell of a lot less creeped out if she could see or hear him.
What if they weren’t alone in here?
Crap, maybe I just should have gone with him and screw whatever Hir’s equivalent of bats is . . .
Summer chewed her lip. Should she call out to him? Go after him? She didn’t even have a luma and her blaster was in her pack back on the multari. Her glance darted around, seeking a rock she could take along to defend herself if she had to go in search of him.
“Are you okay?” she demanded at first sight of his light as he finally emerged from the cave’s depths to join her near the entrance. “You were gone so long!”
He gave a short huff of disbelief as he joined her near the cave’s entrance. “A few minutes at most. Not long enough to distress you.”
“Sorry, we humans have something called a horror movie.” Summer pushed her hair back behind her ears. “And trust me—being the braless blonde in the wet shirt is always fatal.”
Ke’lar’s vibrant gaze dipped to her breasts for an instant, to her nipples taut and apparent under the soaked material.
Summer’s face went hot. Why the hell had she been talking about her boobs anyway? She might as well have just pointed at them.
“This cave ends many meters from here,” he growled, looking back toward the darkness of the cave. “But there is no chance we would become disoriented or lost and we are alone here, thank the All Mother.” He holstered his blaster. “You are shivering, little one. I will set the heater to maximum when I return.”
“When you—?” The cave opening showed nothing but gray rain and bursts of lightning. “You can’t go back out into that!”
“Our supplies are out there.” He raised black eyebrows. “I think you will want to have food, a bed, as well as warmth tonight, will you not?”
“I’d rather have you not dead.” She folded her arms. “You are not going back out there. We’ll just suck it up till the storm passes.”
“I must find shelter for Beya as well,” he reminded with a gesture toward the downpour. “I will not leave her in this.”
Summer shifted her feet. Leaving that poor creature out in that kind of weather wasn’t just cruel, it was criminal.
“Can’t you just bring her in here? This place is huge.”
“A smaller cavern would make Beya feel more secure. There are other caves nearby. I will find one to house her, settle her there, and return as soon as I am able.”
She had barely started to warm up a bit but she gave a reluctant nod. “Okay, but I’m going with you.”
“No, you will not,” he growled. “I cannot tend to a skittish multari and guard your safety as well. Going back with me endangers us both. You will remain here, where you are safe.”
“Oh, yeah, nothing safer than two people trapped by a storm, miles from any help and with no comm, deciding to split up,” Summer snapped. “You know, you g’hir could learn a lot from watching a few human horror movies.”
He bared his fangs. “Our agreement was that you obey me during this journey. You stay here.”
“You’re crazy!” she burst out. “It’s a goddamn tempest out there and it’s getting dark. How will you even find your way back here?”
He offered her the luma. “You will guide me.”
Summer glared but he met her look for look.
“Thirty minutes,” she warned, her own voice almost a g’hir growl, the luma’s bright beam illuminating the floor as she snatched the light from him. “You have thirty minutes to get back here. I’m already soaked, hungry, and cranky so you sure don’t want see how ticked off I’ll be to have to come after you.”
“I imagine that is true.” He gave a human-style nod. “I will return as soon as I am able.”
“Good,” she grumbled as he went out, ducking his head against the gale. “I’m timing you!” she called after him.