I was becoming clingy, someone I never thought I would be. But with Vik, it just felt right. We both needed each other.
“You doing okay?” he asked again. He was always asking, always putting my needs above his own.
“Yeah,” I softly answered, trying to keep my body as small as possible to conserve warmth.
The sun was quickly fading, dropping the temperatures even lower and causing me to shiver uncontrollably.
“Inés, hold on. I know you're cold and exhausted. Hell, I am too, but there is our saving grace right there,” he said pointing up ahead with my hand still in his.
“You see that? there's a small opening in that mountain front. We can use that for shelter tonight. Ares and I will gather some firewood and we will be okay for the night.”
That name again. Maybe it was my hunger. Maybe it was the cold, but I was getting irritated with not knowing what the hell was going on.
“Who the fuck is Ares?” I asked, completely perplexed. There was no one here but us.
He laughed and I scrunched my face into a scowl. He lifted both our hands and ran it across the wrinkle between my brow. “I will explain that later. I met him…down there. He helped us escape. Now let's get to that opening before you freeze.”
We increased our pace and the mountain face seemed to only get further away with each step I took. My eyes were becoming heavier but at least I wasn't as cold as I was before with my blood pumping in my veins. Soon the white of the snow seemed to be wavering. I shook my head a few times, attempting to get control of my senses when blackness overtook me.
I was awakened by heat against my back and something heavy across my waist.
I tried to lift my head up. “Wha—”
“Shh…” Vik’s voice relaxed me as I lowered my head back down. He shuffled behind me until his warmth was to my front. I opened my eyes to see Vik’s face staring back at me.
He took off the googles and the mask. I was grateful. I missed him.
“Don't move too fast. You took quite a spill back there. Welcome back,” he said with a smile and I felt my face flush. “That pace was too much for you. You blacked out.”
How did he not? We were both starved, both tortured. How did he remain so strong after all that?
“How.. How long have I been out for, Vik?” I looked around the cave to see a fire and something cooking above it in a spit. The smell was delectable and my mouth automatically watered. I couldn't remember the last time I had been fed anything.
“Too long,” he whispered, pushing my hair away from my eyes. I stared at him then, truly stared at him.
When did I find my heart being pulled in his direction? Was it because of what we went through together or was there always something that simmered beneath the surface? Or was it the way he touched me so gently in moments like these, in moments where I needed it the most.
“Not for too long, but long enough for us to carry you and get a fire started and kill a rabbit.”
We?
“It’s nearly ready to eat,” His voice was calm and unreadable. Who did he keep talking about? There was still no one here but us.
That you know of. Maybe the other person is hiding in the cave.
My paranoia began to intensify. Maybe it wasn’t Vik who was going crazy. Maybe it was me. Maybe I wasn’t able to see what was right in front of me.
Words were lodged in my throat and my stomach grumbled. My face flamed as I covered my belly and looked away.
Vik grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him again. “It’s okay. We’re both hungry. Come on, let’s eat.”
The phantom sensation of his fingers on my chin remained long after he left me to get up and walk to the fire.
Inwardly groaning, I pushed myself up to sit and rubbed my head. Taking a deep breath, I got to my feet and made my way toward the fire as well. There was a nice warmth within the vicinity and I put my hands up toward the flame to warm them up.
Vik grabbed another stick and peeled some of the meat off with it then handed it to me.
“Thank you.” He must have been starving but chose to feed me first.
