The Cave & The Consequences
646 Words
The cave was too small.
Lira pressed her back against the cold stone wall, fingers flexing around the hilt of her dagger. The storm outside raged on, wind howling through the narrow entrance like a living thing, but it was nothing compared to the tempest brewing inside her chest.
Across the flickering firelight, Kael stretched his long limbs, the muscles of his bare torso rippling in the orange glow. Water droplets still clung to his skin from their mad dash through the rain, tracing slow, torturous paths down the hard planes of his abdomen.
Stop looking.
She looked anyway.
(Kael's POV)
He knew she was watching.
Every hitch in her breath, every subtle shift of her weight—he catalogued them all. The way her silver eyes darkened when he rolled his shoulders. The way her teeth worried her bottom lip when she thought no one was looking.
The fire popped between them, sending embers swirling into the damp air.
"You're staring, princess."
Lira's spine straightened. "I'm assessing threats."
Kael smirked, dragging the whetstone down the length of his blade with deliberate slowness. "Find any?"
"Just one." Her gaze dropped to his mouth. "And he won't shut up."
(The Tension Builds)
Ryn cleared his throat loudly from his bedroll. "Jarek and I are going to... gather firewood."
Jarek blinked. "In the storm?"
"Yes." Ryn hauled him up by the collar, shooting Kael a look that promised retribution later. "Lots of firewood. Very far away. Might take all night."
The cave mouth swallowed them whole, leaving only the crackle of flames and the heavy silence between two people who very much wanted to kill—or kiss—each other.
(Lira's POV)
The air grew thicker the moment they left.
Kael set aside his blade and stood in one fluid motion, all predatory grace and barely-leashed power. Lira's pulse jumped as he prowled toward her, each step measured, deliberate.
"You should sit," he rumbled, nodding to her injured leg—the one she'd been favoring since their fight. "Before you fall."
"I don't need your—ah!"
Strong hands caught her as her ankle gave way, hauling her up against a wall of solid muscle. The contact sent electricity skittering across her skin. His scent enveloped her—pine and winter and something uniquely male that made her mouth water.
"Stubborn," he murmured, his breath warm against her temple.
Lira shoved at his chest. "Arrogant."
His grip tightened. "Liar."
She could feel every ridge of his abdomen through the thin fabric of her tunic, the hard press of his thighs against hers. His golden eyes burned with an intensity that stole the breath from her lungs.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, her wolf howled in recognition.
Mine.
Kael's nostrils flared as if he'd heard the thought. His fingers flexed around her waist, thumbs brushing the sliver of bare skin where her shirt had ridden up. A shudder raced down her spine.
"You're trembling," he observed, voice rough.
"Anger," she lied.
His lips curved. "Lust."
The accusation hung between them, undeniable.
Lira's claws pricked his skin where her hands had somehow fisted in his waistband. His heartbeat thundered against her palm, rapid and strong.
Somewhere outside, thunder cracked like a whip.
Kael's gaze dropped to her mouth.
Lira's breath hitched.
A hair's breadth apart, the world narrowed to the space between their lips—
CRASH.
They sprang apart as Ryn stumbled back into the cave, arms full of soggy branches. "So! Found some firewood!" His grin was downright diabolical. "Miss me?"
Later, when the others slept, Lira lay awake staring at the cave ceiling.
Across the dying fire, Kael's eyes gleamed in the darkness. Watching. Waiting.
Her skin still burned where he'd touched her.
This changes nothing, she told herself.
But the way her wolf paced beneath her skin, restless and wanting, told a different story.
- Writer
