Page 35 of Ozma

Jack’s gaze traveled over Ozma, which earned him a scowl. He chuckled, keenly aware of the fact that he’d seen her naked already, and faced the opposite direction to undress himself. “Feel free to peek at me all you want,” he said with a laugh. When Ozma didn’t scold him like he expected, he started to glance back then stopped.

“Jack…” Her voice came out annoyed but he could hear something else there too. Desire?

She was able to see him in all his glory. Jack felt her eyes roaming his strong back, his firm ass, and his broad shoulders. Unashamed as he was, he wanted her to look. Wanted her to see more.

She’s lying to you,he reminded himself.She’s Tip and she’s lying.

But it didn’t stop his body from reveling in the fact that she was clearly still attracted to him.

When a freezing hand landed on his upper back, he yelped both from the temperature and the pressure against his raw skin. “Have mercy, Blossom. You’re cold as ice.”

“So are you.” Her breath was warm on his neck, sending shivers down his spine. “Turn around but keep your eyes on my face. We’ll warm each other up—not like that,” she added before he could make an innuendo. “Just … snuggling.”

“I can do that,” he said in a raspy voice. Though another part of his body was much less certain.

Chapter Fifteen

Ozma

Snuggling?Snuggling? Why had Ozma said that word? Gooseflesh covered her from head to toe, and her teeth chattered with a rhythmic pattern of their own. Jack’s were doing the same, his hazel eyes glowing beneath the bugs’ blue illumination.

Ozma had never been this cold in her life. Not in the dark place during the freezing nights, not when winter winds blew across the pumpkin patch while she’d worked alongside Jack.

She studied Jack for a moment and peered down at his chest, his stomach, his length, even though she’d told him not to look at her. Jerking her head up, she met Jack’s gaze again.

With a smile, he held his arms open as he settled on the ground. “You coming or not, Blossom? I’d suggest hurrying up unless you want us to die down here.”

Ozma wondered if anyone else had fallen in this hidden pit of a place. There weren’t any skeletons in sight, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any dead below the surface of the water. A shiver rolled through her, not from the thought, but the coldness.

Taking a deep swallow, Ozma lay down and shifted closer to Jack.Closer. Closer. She didn’t even know why she’d overreacted with him about her body—he’d seen her bare at the lake. Anyone else who saw her naked, she wouldn’t have cared about, yet this was Jack. Reva had seen her in a state of undress all the time when they’d bathed in murky lakes. But Reva hadn’t known Ozma before, hadn’t laid her eyes on every inch of her old body, to which she could compare things.

“You’re taking too long.” Jack wrapped his arm around Ozma and drew her the rest of the way to him. “I’m practically dead already.”

Neither said a word as he held her close, his chest to her breasts, his calloused hands pressing into her back, his forehead touching hers. Heat spread through her entire body as he rubbed soothing circles up the length of her spine. Her teeth slowly stopped chattering.

The bugs’ light seemed to have grown brighter, their steady soft glow shining across the walls. It was like starlight. If only there were a shooting star that she could wish upon to get them out of here. But in that moment, she didn’t want to be anywhere else, only in Jack’s comforting arms.

“How’s your back?” Ozma asked, not wanting to put too much pressure on it as she moved her hands to his neck.

“Perfectly fine,” Jack said. The hit to the water had rattled her entire body, stealing her breath for moments.

“If it changes, let me know.”

“Careful. I might think you truly care about me.”

Ozma felt her face grow hot. “You wish.”

He chuckled then, and it was the same musical sound that he only shared when they’d been alone in the past. She couldn’t help but smile in return because she loved that laugh.

They both stayed quiet, their breaths increasing. The expression on his face was much better than the somber one he’d held when he’d discovered his pack was long gone. She could dive into the water to search for it, but Jack had been right. There was no way they would be able to locate it, not with how dark the lake was or however deep it went. Her satchel was wet, but everything in there was still intact when she’d checked, including the ink on Mombi’s spells.

Their fruit wouldn’t last forever though. With no apparent way out, except for the hole practically a sky’s distance away, she didn’t know what they could try in the morning to escape.

All around her, the bugs’ light seemed to lessen, making the area dim, slowly descending into what she feared would be darkness. Every time the world eclipsed of color, she thought about the dark place. She wondered if she died, would she somehow be sent back there again. Her heart beat harder against her ribcage, slamming into Jack’s chest.

“Hey”—Jack shook her shoulders—“are you all right?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard being in the dark sometimes.” Ozma’s chest heaved as she stared at the fading blue color. She sighed in relief because it hadn’t eclipsed completely, but it still unnerved her that it could.

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