The Hunt (By Kiss and Claw #2) - Melissa Haag Page 0,73

talk me out of my panic. It just wouldn’t work as well.”

I pulled back to peer up at him as he sat, cradling me in his lap.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“Never.

“Better not be.”

He grinned down at me.

“I thought you came here to relax. Questioning me is not the way to relax.”

I sighed and leaned against him, languid no matter what he said. His hand smoothed over my back and my arms. I loved Fenris time.

Another sigh escaped me, and I turned my head to press my lips against his skin. His hands only paused slightly before continuing their repetitive journey. Slowly, the heat dissipated, and my head cleared.

Cringing, I pulled back from him again.

“Sorry about that.”

“About what?” He lifted his brows innocently.

If he wasn’t going to talk about the chest kiss, neither was I.

“Nothing.”

He chuckled and released me.

“That glow doesn’t seem to be fading, does it?” he asked as I stood.

I looked down at my bralette. The valley between my breasts and Piepen’s hideous glowing splat were clearly visible. As were other details thanks to the thin, wet material.

Gods, I wanted to cross my arms. Instead, I fisted my hands at my sides and forced myself to stay where I was rather than running away.

My will lasted two seconds before I scurried for the tunnel.

“I’m just going to change.”

Fenris’s chuckle echoed off the walls, but he didn’t try to stop me. I followed the passageway to the first set of pools where we’d lit a torch and set the bag. Though there was a significant amount of steam in the air, and I knew anything I put on would just get wet, I still grabbed Fenris’s borrowed button-up and tugged it over my wet clothes.

“Claiming that for your own?” he asked.

“For now.”

Not only did I wear it outside, but I also used it to dry off. Fenris held the damp shirt I’d tossed back at him and arched a brow as I scrambled to tug my own shirt on so my frozen hair wouldn’t hit my back.

“What? You’re always warm,” I mumbled, grabbing my jeans. “You’ll be fine.”

“I can smell where you rubbed it.”

I turned away from him to do a little jump-shimmy to get the jeans up my wet legs. And also to hide my smile because I’d scrubbed his shirt over Piepen’s mark hard enough that my chest was red.

“It’s the gift that keeps giving,” I said. “You’re welcome.”

When I faced Fenris again, he was already dressed. I sat on the patch of ground he’d cleared for us and put on my socks and shoes. Not that they helped much. Despite being dangerously warm while in the pools, my fingers and toes were already numb.

As soon as I finished dressing, he wrapped me in the blanket and started for the car. Even in his arms, surrounded by his warmth, my ear stung with cold by the time we reached the road.

“We need a better way to enjoy those caves,” I chattered.

He started the car, closed all the vents so they weren’t blowing cold air at me, and grabbed my hands, warming them with his.

“Like what?” he asked.

“A heated changing booth like those things the humans used on the beaches in the 50s.”

“Aren’t they still used?”

“How would I know? Even before I was stuck in Uttira, all I saw was ‘appropriate’ movie reruns.”

“What was it like, living with a dad who had such strong religious beliefs?”

I blinked at him. In four years, he was the first one to ever ask me that.

“It was hard. Conflicting. Confusing. It still is.”

“How?”

“I was told to dress lady-like, be modest, respectful, quiet. But Dad loved a woman who wasn’t any of that. He had pictures of them together. What Mom wore wasn’t modest, and she had a presence, even in photos, that said she wasn’t quiet.

“It wasn’t just how to dress. It was the way I was supposed to think. On Dad’s bad days, he wept for Mom like she’d died. I could hear him praying, begging his god to bring her back to him. On his good days, he’d write sermons about the devil and how temptation can come in many forms.

“When I started to have thoughts and feelings that were far from what Dad was teaching, I thought I’d been corrupted by the devil. I’d have nightmares of burning in hell. Sometimes, though, I’d have dreams where I did the things I was told I should never do.”

I swallowed hard and gently tugged my hands from Fenris’s and folded them