faced the pass again. Jaxor stood still a moment more before she sensed him moving again, leading her down between the mountains, cutting through a slim, jagged alleyway.
They were quiet the whole way. Erin guessed they walked another ten minutes, going over rocks and boulders, and navigating the maze of the mountains. Erin wondered how long it had taken him to learn it. She wondered if he’d ever been lost.
Finally, they reached another cave entrance, though it seemed to lead down, not through.
Erin was a little nervous as she watched Jaxor jumped down through the hole first. But the drop was short and she could still see the tops of his horns in the darkness.
He held out his arms for her and she slid down inside. He caught her easily, his arms wrapping around the backs of her thighs before letting her slide down his front. Her tunic rode up on the way down, their eyes locked because he knew it too, and Erin’s brain felt a little muddled afterwards.
From the entrance, the hot springs weren’t far. The ceiling was low, however, and Jaxor had to crouch, though Erin could stand. From his travel sack, he drew a lantern and lit it easily. Warm, golden light illuminated the cave and just feet away, there was a pool with steam curling from its surface. It wasn’t as large as the bathing pools in the Golden City, but it looked deep.
For a moment, an image of an alien creature swimming up and snagging her down to the depths made her swallow.
“There’s nothing in there, right?” she asked quietly. The surface was black and inky, but it was nice and warm inside the cave. Humid. Her cold feet were already beginning to thaw on the warm floor and the healing cut on her sole gave a small throb in response.
“Nix,” he said. But he tilted his head to her and asked, “Would you like me to check?”
“I have a fear of sharks,” she informed him, which seemed ridiculous to say out loud, on an alien planet, after everything she’d experienced. “And heights,” she added.
He paused. “Sharks?”
“They’re a type of creature on Earth,” she explained. “In the ocean. On occasion, they attack people in the water.”
Erin would’ve laughed at herself, but Jaxor’s expression was serious. He looked at the hot springs, then back at her. “There are no ‘sharks’ in there, rixella. No creatures of any kind. It is too hot. And we are underneath the mountain, so you have no reason to fear heights here.”
“Okay,” she whispered, feeling foolish despite Jaxor’s attempt to assuage her fear. She dropped the blanket from her shoulders, then paused.
She hadn’t really given thought that she would bathe in front of him. Or that they would bathe together. After all, she’d knowingly washed herself in the waterfall the afternoon after they’d kissed. After he’d told her that it had been a mistake…after he’d made her feel surprisingly rejected. A reckless part of her had wanted him to eat his words, had wanted to test his restraint.
Yet, he hadn’t made any advances towards her since. Neither had she. So it didn’t really matter if they bathed together, right? He’d already seen her naked. Twice. The first time had been in the Golden City. He had kidnapped her and Crystal while they’d been bathing, after all.
Erin had never been so liberal with her nudity before Jaxor. She’d rarely shown much skin. Back on Earth, she taught second graders for a living. Her wardrobe consisted mostly of midi-length dresses, cardigans, and blouses that revealed only her collarbones. After work, her choice of clothing mostly consisted of pajamas. On the rare occasions when she went out at night, her most scandalous outfit was a black sheath dress that hit just above her knees with a sweetheart neckline. Her friends had all lovingly teased her about her grandmother-esque wardrobe, but Erin liked her clothes.
So Erin thought she’d be more shy about her nakedness around Jaxor, but she found the opposite was the case. Parading around in nothing but tunics, sans underwear, had certainly helped.
“Will you go in first?” she asked.
The corner of his lips quirked. “Still do not believe me about sharks, rixella?”
Was he teasing her?
Erin suppressed an amused smile before he could see it. “Well, if there are none, then you don’t have anything to worry about.”
Erin’s mouth went dry when Jaxor loosened the tie around his waist and stripped out of his pants. Her eyes swept over his firm ass, solid