It almost sounded insulting.“Right,”she said.
Sofia looked up at the sky. From the clearing, she could still make out the stars directly overhead, but as her gaze inched along to the horizon, she could see the stars fading away with the dawn. They only had an hour at most before it would be too bright to sneak through the woods.
“Let’s go.”
They madethe trip in silence, Sofia making Fox navigate in front of her, following the scraps of fabric still left in the branches to mark the path. She needed to know he’d be able to make the journey without her for the next few nights until she returned. It gave her too much time to think—too much time to watch the way he moved through the trees, more comfortable than he’d been when she’d first met him. He looked at home out here—at home in the resistance. His hair was growing out, tied back in a loose bun, but stray hairs escaped and brushed against his neck where his tattoo was just visible beneath his tunic.
They’d been wearing the same outfits for a week, and yet, the dirt and wrinkles only made him more attractive. She’d known he was handsome from the first time he’d captured her—once she looked past his resemblance to his father. But now, with his skin tanned from weeks in the sun, his hair curling from the humidity in the air, and the softness around his eyes when he looked at her, she realized he looked more like his mom.
It was more than just the physical changes. He had softened over the time she’d known him. There was something vulnerable in the way he looked when he didn’t know he was being watched. He looked so young and so hopeful.
But she’d been mistaken before. She’d been betrayed before.
“I can feel you staring,” Fox said after nearly thirty minutes ofsilence. They were approaching the camp, and his voice was barely above a whisper.
“I wasn’t?—”
He stopped, turning and striding toward her in one swift motion. She retreated until a tree blocked her path. He pressed in closer until his front barely brushed against hers, his face in shadow. Her stomach swooped as he smiled, white teeth flashing in the dark.
“I can feel your eyes on me.”
“I was just making sure you were going in the right direction.”
He leaned forward, nose running along her jawline and into her hair until his breath was against her ear.
“Liar.”
She closed her eyes and breathed him in. He smelled of the forest and the mountains. He smelled familiar in a way she hadn’t recognized until this moment, as if this scent had always been hers—part of her.
She’d been betrayed before, but Fox was nothing like Gabriel.
“Sofia,” he said, voice earnest and low. She looked into his face and saw such raw yearning that her chest felt flayed open. She pulled her lip between her teeth.
The bark cracked above her, and she looked up to see his hand gripping a branch in the tree, knuckles white.
“We should go,” he said, voice aching and low.
She could only nod and swallow.
Once he stepped away, she was able to take a deep breath of icy air, colder in his absence.
“We’re only a few minutes away.”
She moved to take the lead for the last part, pointing out the tree she’d originally found and climbed. The small fabric she’d tied was blowing in the wind between the branches.
They returned to the clearing, walking in silence. Sofia was tempted to stay longer, but she knew if she stayed, she’d fall asleep, and there were plans to be made. But she wanted to fall asleep—she wanted desperately to spend another night in Fox’s arms. They had built a small oasis here—two days. But it was done.
She would always want more. Even when she couldn’t have it.
She took a deep breath, making sure once more that Fox was set up for at least two days alone. He’d be rationing the food they’d brought, but she planned to be back.
“Okay, time to go,” she said, half to Chalia and half to Fox.
They stood staring at each other, neither moving despite her words.
Fox opened his mouth at the same time she opened hers, and he snapped it shut. But she didn’t speak. She just swallowed.
“Right,” she said after another beat. “Going.”