“Are you right?” His voice is rough. Eyes scorching.
I swallow hard. “Yes.”
Then he grabs my face and starts to kiss me, hard and slow. I pullback, just long enough to remove my goggles, then I start to kiss him too.
Adrenaline floods through me.
We are safe.
Safe.
He pulls me down into the wet sand, the roughness of it against my skin a sharp contrast to the heat between us. His kisses grow harder, deeper, like he’s trying to pull every bit of the tension from my body, to erase the storm that still shakes the world around us. The rain soaks us further, but it doesn’t matter. Everything feels alive, urgent, and real.
His mouth trails along my neck, my jaw, and then, once he opens my coat and shirt, my breast.
It’s overwhelming, in the best way.
The world fades, leaving only the sound of our breaths, the pounding of the rain, and my beating heart. He moves against me, grinding for a second.
Gods, this was a man who knew how to fuck. Sadly, something that would have to be discovered at a later time.
Who knows how much time passes, enough for me to be hot and wet in different ways across all of my body, but he releases me.
My forehead presses to him.
“Thank the gods you are all right,” I whisper.
He holds my wrist and the adrenaline starts to wear off, little by little. He closes my shirt, fingers trailing lightly over my skin
Vann finally takes his eyes off me and looks around. “We should set up camp.”
I nod, “Then we should use the map to see if we can find out which island we landed on.”
Chapter 34
VANN
The rain slows, but it does not stop. Heavy drops patter against the thick canopy above in a rhythmic beat that mingles with the distant roar of the sea.
The trees here are ancient, and their vast, gnarled trunks twist into the ground, roots coiling over one another like serpents. Their fan-like leaves spread wide, forming a dense ceiling that provides some relief from the downpour.
Mist curls through the undergrowth, carrying the mingled scents of damp earth, salt, and the sharp tang of something unfamiliar.
I stand at the edge of the tree line, staring out at the ocean. The waves are still violent, rolling and crashing against jagged cliffs, their white froth building over the sand.
I watch the water for a long time, lost in the rhythm of the storm. It seems to match the chaos inside me.
Since we’d gotten here I’d kissed Arlet. Held her. Been half mad with worry.
And… I’m not in pain. Haven’t been for the last day. Something is wrong.
Behind me, Arlet tends to Seraph. She runs her hands along the dragon’s golden scales, whispering words too quiet for me to hear.The beast exhales deeply, shifting her weight, her massive wings tucking closer to her body.
I take the packs from her leg, and return to the tree line. The underbrush of the jungle is dense, forcing me to hack through it with my cleaver.
Ferns as large as shields fan out before me, slick with moisture. Vines coil around the trees, some sprouting luminous flowers that pulse faintly like captured light. The land rises unevenly, jagged stone ridges carved by time and wind. Massive boulders, covered in moss, dot the landscape too.
Behind me, I hear Arlet’s soft steps through the underbrush.