Page 120 of Skyshade
At that, she pressed her lips against his neck, and went lower. Lower. Suddenly, she was off him and removing the rest of his clothing.
“Isla—” he said.
“Oro,” she responded near his hips, looking up at him, before continuing her exploring.
The first press of her lips against him, he fisted the sheets in his hands, and they burned away beneath his fingertips.
The rumble of her laugh against him seemed to undo him, because he groaned.
She groaned too, the sound melting into a gasp. Her body twisted.
Only to scrape against hard rock. A dream. It had been a dream of a memory, and—
At once, she remembered herself. Where she was.
Who she was with.
Oro sat on the other side of the cave, watching her. His eyes had darkened to a shade she had just seen, in her mind. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all.
She opened her mouth. Closed it. “I—did I say anything....in my sleep?”
“My name. Constantly.”
Right. Her cheeks burned. “I—”
“Nothing I haven’t heard before,” Oro said, before standing.
Her eyes slid to the entrance, and she saw that the storm had cleared. “Why didn’t you wake me?” she demanded.
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself.”
Anger replaced any remaining shred of want. Then, shame. Enjoying herself.
The longer it took her to figure out how to close the portal, the more people would suffer. How could she be this guided by feeling?
What would Grim think, with her gone so long? Would he panic? Was he okay?
If something happened to him because she was taking too long, she would never forgive herself. She shook the sand from her clothes quickly, dressed, and met Oro outside.
The sun was gone, and part of the heat had lifted. The tooth in her pocket trembled. Still, even though it was supposed to lead their path, Oro stepped in front of her.
She frowned. “How—”
“There’s only one structure out here, past the gates. Unless your pages are buried in the sand, I know where we’re going.”
Oh.
In the relative coolness of night and after a bit of rest, she moved across the desert quicker than ever.
It was hours before her head began to throb again from dehydration. Her tongue felt heavy and rough in her mouth. It hurt to swallow.
Her eyes stung with every blink. Her sunburnt skin was painful to the touch. Everything felt dry, and she was desperate for the oasis Oro had promised.
By the time dawn broke, the tooth was practically shaking out of her pocket. They were getting close. Still, as the heat of the day intensified, her eyes began to close. She muscles went slack. She would have fallen right into the sand if it hadn’t been for a strong arm curled around her waist.
“Hey,” he said, somewhere above her. “The oasis is up ahead. You can make it.”
It was easy for him to say. He was Sunling. He was used to this unrelenting heat. It invigorated him, in some ways. She tried to reach for his power, seeing if it might give her a surge of energy, but she was too weak now. None of it held. It felt like she was falling again, and he jerked forward to catch her.
