Page 101 of Crossbones
“Like what?”
I shake my head, my eyes drifting to the body. “Look at his face.”
Blackwell’s lips thin when he sees what I mean. We leave the chamber with the corpses and enter into a long hallway. Part of it is collapsed, which involves us spending some time shoveling snow and moving frozen rocks enough to make a hole to crawl through. It’s bone-chillingly cold down here and soon we’re all shivering. The ice reflects light strangely, and while we’re descending deeper underground, the walls seem to glow with a low blue light—probably refracting the light from the ruins above.
There are more bodies the deeper we move through the fortress and the mood of our party drops as realization sets in—something happened here—something bad. We pass a group of soldiers looking up with terror on their faces, clutching each other.
“Jesus—” Van mutters behind me. “What could have done this?”
I shake my head. I haven’t a clue. We enter another large room and spread out. Blackwell is walking a few feet in front of me when he slips. A crack races across the ground, the sound of crumbling stone and cracking ice echo around us.As Blackwell falls, I hear the roar of water explode up from the fissure in the floor. I don’t think as I see him disappear—I dive for the edge, sliding down into a chute. Blackwell is several yards down a natural ice tunnel, half submerged in rushing water. He’s gripping the hilt of his dagger that he’d driven into the ice to stop his descent.
“Rope!” I shout.
I wedge myself a few feet above him, using my own dagger to stop my slide. The rope whispers against my shoulder and I toss it to him. He grabs it, and together we climb out of the chute. I’m immediately at his side.
“Fuck—we need to start a fire,” I order, ripping off his soaked jacket. “That’s enough for today. Let’s camp here.”
We’d brought enough supplies for several days, including things to make a long-lasting fire, warm furs and changes of clothing. Blackwell is rapidly descending into a shivering mess as I tear off his layers as quickly as possible.
“Take it all off, Captain,” I demand.
His teeth are chattering too hard to speak but he looks at me with a glimmer of amusement at the order. A small smile tugs at my lips but I’m in no mood for humor. I know how deadly frostbite can be. Van quickly helps Harrison build a fire while the other three crew members set up furs and several canvas tents. I wrap Blackwell in a few furs and put him near the fire. Harrison shoves hot stones underneath him.
A bowl of warm broth later, Blackwell’s shivering stops and he waves away my attention.
“I’m fine,” he insists.
I frown down at him. “You’re already frosty enough—I don’t need you actually freezing over on me.”
A ghost of a smile crosses Blackwell’s face as he pulls the furs tighter around his shoulders. I look around at the space that is rapidly darkening as night falls.
“I’ll take first watch,” Van says.
Harrison scoffs. “First watch? For what, ghosts?”
When no one says anything, Harrison’s humor fades and he rubs the back of his neck.
“Fine, I’ll sit with you,” he grumbles.
While I don’t think there’s any danger to us of the human kind, I’m noteager to spend the night with the dead. I’m also not sure if any animals live down here, or how stable everything is. So while keeping watch might be an unnecessary precaution, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
While Harrison and Van sit down beside the fire, the rest of us retire to the tents. I follow Blackwell through the canvas tent flap into the warm, cozy interior. Furs and warm stones have warded the space against the icy chill, and I tug off my shirt and boots with a sigh of relief.
Blackwell is still naked when he crawls under the furs. My hands run across his abs that bunch harshly under my touch.
He hisses. “Fuck—your hands are like icicles!”
I chuckle and kiss his shoulder. “Then warm them up for me.”
He shivers and grumbles under his breath but turns into me. I revel in the knowledge that he’s not shying away from the intimacy of curling up together. I yank him closer and his eyes drop to my lips. I close the few inches separating us and suck his lower lip into my mouth, dragging it through my teeth. He groans softly. I bite down, and the sharp intake of his breath is everything.
His hips press into mine and his hand grabs a fistful of my hair and drags me closer, kissing me in the unrelenting way that speaks of a desperation to be one. I can’t fucking get enough of this man—his kiss is electrifying and I can feel myself grow hard, my cock pressing against his thigh. He drags my leg over his hip and shoves against me, his cock slides over mine still covered by way too much clothing.
His hand rests on my face and as his thumb brushes over my skin, the fierceness of his kiss says more words than he could ever speak. And lately, there have been a few words I’ve definitely wanted to say to him, but the idea of spooking him scares me into silence. Not to mention the unknown of what’s to come. What happens after this? What happens when we get out of here and have to go back to reality? I don’t know the answers. So instead of speaking, I put all my emotions into my kiss, into my touch, and into the small looks filled with all the intensity I don’t dare say aloud. For now that will just have to be enough.
In the early morning hours, I wake up and realize sometime during the night I’ve wrapped myself up in Blackwell. My arm is draped across his chest with one leg wedged between his. His lips are in my hair, soft breathbrushing against my temple as he sleeps. I don’t want to get up, convinced his heartbeat under my cheek is what kept the shadows at bay, because for once the nightmares didn’t visit me.
I reluctantly extract myself from his arms and slip from the tent. My breath fogs in the air immediately, and the chill sinks into my bones, even through my layers of clothing. I nod to the two men on watch before heading off across the room to take care of the call of nature. Part of the hall we’re in has crumbled away, leaving it open to a vast labyrinth of ruins and fallen towers. From where I stand, I can see across a large part of the fortress. The ice glistens, and a single shaft of light streams down from far above my head where there’s a large gap in the ground above me. It cuts through the air and lands amidst another small garden preserved through the ages. It’s beautiful and haunting—speaking to a part of me that expands across time and space, and connects me to the humanity of this place.
