Leah's Hero - Miranda Martin Page 0,36

moves his arm across me—then stops.

“Okay?” he asks.

“Yes, please,” I say, cheeks burning red hot.

His body presses against me and he drapes his arm over me. He’s cool, not warm like a human, but I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. Zmaj are similar to lizards in a lot of ways. I would bet, on an educated guess, that they share a lot of DNA with some native species of lizard here on Tajss. Similar to the way we humans share DNA with apes back where we came from. Science for the win.

He may not be warm, but it does feel protective. Secure, the safest I’ve felt in a very long time, having him pressed against me. His body is full of hard muscles and his crotch is on my ass. The instant I think of it, my lower stomach clenches tight and my pussy grows wet.

Good grief. What am I thinking? At a time like this and my thoughts turn to sex. To what end? Am I going to bring a baby into… this? We have no home, no safety, we’re surviving day to day and that’s it. This is no life for a baby.

But my thoughts spin out of control as he shifts and presses into my back more. Allie is in front of me and she shifts also, forcing me to press back against him more firmly. His body responds, and I can’t miss it.

The hardness pressing against my ass now is a lot more than muscles. It’s massive, insistent, and I’m so not ready for this. As if my thoughts weren’t already going there, now I’m consumed. My nipples stiffen, rubbing painfully against the rough fabric of my shirt.

Breathe Leah, one breath, then the next. I close my eyes, squeezing them tight and try to will myself to sleep. I am exhausted and sleep hits in fitful spurts. Momentary lapses in consciousness interspersed between acute awareness of his breath on my neck. His arm across my body and his… member hard against my ass.

I jerk awake, eyes open and heart racing. It’s light enough to see Allie stretching next to me. The pressure is gone from behind me, so I roll over. Urukol is up, standing at the opening of the cave talking with Angota.

I sit up and stretch, then get to my feet. Sore muscles complain. Sleeping on a cold, hard floor is rough. I stretch, raising my hands over my head. I lean from one side to the other, and then my stomach gurgles embarrassingly.

“Me too,” Charlie says. “Anyone got anything to eat?”

“I’ve got a little bit in the pack I was carrying,” Eve offers.

“Oh, great!” Belle says.

We gather around Eve as she opens her pack then hands out a single piece of smoked, dried meat to each of us. I chew on the tough meat, doing my best to be thankful I have food at all. It’s not easy, but I’m trying.

“We’re getting close,” Riley says. “Urukol says we should be there by tonight.”

“Really? That far?” I ask.

“Apparently we’re going the long way,” Ziva says. “That tree blocked the short path when it got hit by lightning.”

“Of course it did,” Mick says.

“Hey, it’s not raining as hard,” Lisa says. “That’s good, right?”

“I’ll take it,” Ziva says. “This rain has been hell on my hair!”

She primps her hair, and we all laugh in response. The laughter is hollow but better than the alternative. Tears aren’t far away. They’re building behind my eyes, waiting to burst. Putting a good light on things is all we can do. That, and keep going.

It takes some time for us to get ready. The Zmaj insist we tie ourselves to each other, which is probably smart. It may not be raining hard right now, but we’ve seen how fast that can change. Once we’re all bound one to another, Urukol leads the way. I’m still second behind him, which Ziva and Allie made sure of before we left.

I don’t mind really, but I would also prefer to not be the center of attention. We walk in overall quiet. Everyone is focused on one foot in front of the other, leaving me too much time with my own thoughts. Only now does it hit me that I didn’t dream last night. No nightmare.

This is the first time since we crashed here that I haven’t woken up screaming. I’m exhausted, which is probably why. Or… I did feel safe, also for the first time. Safe and, not warm, but comforted? Something like