The male himself was leaning against the mouth of the cave, looking out towards his drenched base. During the night, he’d propped the door up to help shield the entrance from rainfall, but it was morning now—a dark morning—and he’d moved it out of the way again.
Erin bit her lip, rising slowly, a shiver prickling its way up her spine. The muscles in Jaxor’s back contracted when she approached, as if his body sensed her near. She didn’t look at him as she stepped beside him, inhaling a long breath when she saw the state of his base.
Most of it was flooded, the water a foot or more deep. The waterfall to the east was pouring down twice as much as it’d been yesterday—though now the pool’s bank had all but disappeared—and when she looked up at the mountain it came from, she saw the tips peaked in a cool blue. Frost? Snow? She couldn’t be certain.
The rain was loud. It was a thunderous roar that she’d gotten used to in the middle of the night. She’d never quite seen anything like it. It looked like solid sheets of water as it poured. It had even drowned out the shrieks of the kekevir, which seemed like an impossible feat. If she concentrated hard enough, however, she could still hear them.
The cave was high enough off the ground that flooding inside wouldn’t be a concern for quite some time, even if the downpour continued at the same rate. The entrance was sloped downwards, so the rain sluiced right off the stone.
“Will we be okay?” she asked quietly, surveying the base. A fur floated near the fire pit. Just last night, they’d been sitting there, dry.
“It will take another three spans of this until it will become a problem,” was what he replied, his voice surprisingly…gentle.
Erin tilted her head to look up at him. She appreciated his honesty. It also told her that he’d experienced this type of storm before.
Those electric blue eyes were on her. They scanned her face, as if searching for something. When he moved, his arm brushed her side and Erin realized how close they were. The entrance to the cave wasn’t that spacious.
“What do we do?”
“Wait,” he said. “There are drainage lines. It will take time.”
“What about all your things?” she asked, nodding down below, into the crater. Chests and weapons. His crops. The tanning station, the furnace.
“The stores beneath the ground are sealed tight. Everything else will keep until the storm passes.”
He was being oddly calm about this. But it was obvious he’d been in this situation before, perhaps many times. Maybe it was Erin who was more concerned than necessary.
“Alright,” she said quietly.
“You are worried?” he asked next, his voice gruff but soft.
Was she?
Erin met his eyes and said slowly, “I trust that you’ll keep me safe.”
It was only after she said it that she knew she honestly believed that. At least, in regard to the storm. Beyond that…Erin didn’t know.
His pupils darkened at her words. They flickered back and forth between her eyes, as if he was trying to discern the truth. His full lips were pulled down into a frown. His jaw tightened.
He really is handsome, Erin thought, almost sadly. His hair was a little wild, knotted in places—she itched to give it a long-needed trim—but there was a strong elegance to his features that she thought seemed familiar.
His gaze changed from suspicious to something else that threatened to consume her. She exhaled a small puff of air as his eyes went to her lips. She was getting dizzy again, the rain roaring in her ears alongside her heartbeat.
“Rixella,” he rasped, the word almost an accusation, whatever it meant.
This is madness, isn’t it? she wondered. She thought that if he reached out to touch her right then, she might start trembling. The strangest part was that she wanted him to…just to see what it felt like to let that madness consume her. She wanted to feel wanted, needed.
He reached out and touched her cheek. Her lungs filled with crisp air, with relief—
A familiar hissing sound echoed and Jaxor broke her gaze, his hand falling away. His head snapped towards the entrance of the main tunnel. Splashing came next and Erin gasped when she turned her head and saw a kekevir.
On all six of its legs, it paced the edge of the entrance tunnel. The water came up to the middle of its thighs and it squinted its four white