Page 121 of Skyshade
Then, she was off her feet and in his arms.
Her eyes opened the slightest bit, crusted in sand that they had kicked up on their journey, only to see Oro above her, looking forward.
He didn’t slow in the slightest, even though he was now carrying her. If anything, his pace quickened.
She should insist he put her down. Instead, she almost melted into his touch. Being Grim’s wife made him her enemy, yet she trusted him more than almost anyone.
That trust made her body stop fighting. She went in and out of consciousness. Her senses were snuffed out, one by one. Sun seared her skin, burning it, until suddenly, she was plunged into water.
Isla gasped and gripped Oro in shock. Her arms curled around his neck; her chest went flush against his.
The oasis. The water was hot, but with Oro’s ability it cooled, and she almost whimpered in relief, clinging to him, afraid she would lose consciousness again and drown.
“May I?” Oro asked, a hand outstretched.
She nodded, and his fingers carefully slipped across her skin. She flinched, raw, burned red; but under his touch, her pain eased. Carefully, he healed her burns, using his limited strength on her.
Her eyes closed, and she tried to focus on anything else but the careful, practiced way he touched her, like he had done it a hundred times before, because he had. He knew her body...and she knew his.
He was just healing her, she told herself. Helping her. It was innocent.
But there was nothing innocent about her pulse quickening. Or the heat that dripped down her spine.
“Thank you,” she whispered, far too close to his face, when he finished.
Then she fell backward, and he released her into the water.
Isla let herself sink. She relished the smoothness, the cold, the way the roots of her hair were massaged, how the sand separated from herbody and clothes. She pooled water in her hands and drank greedily, quickly.
“Slowly,” Oro said. “You’ll make yourself sick.”
She wanted to drink the entire damn oasis, but she listened.
When she was satiated, she swam to the edge of the pool and turned away from Oro, then began stripping off her clothing. She rinsed each item and set them out on a cluster of smooth rocks to dry. It was only when she had sunk back into the water that she realized they were both naked inside of it.
Before—in the cave—that had been different. She hadn’t been herself. She had been fighting to survive in the heat. She’d been asleep.
Now she had most of her sanity back. She looked down. Her chest was nearly exposed, and she sank deeper. Covered herself with her arms.
Oro’s brows rose. She could practically read his mind. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, hadn’t touched before, hadn’t tasted before. But things were different now.
At least, they were supposed to be.
Traitor. The word echoed through her mind. In this very moment, she wasn’t quite sure who she was betraying. Maybe everyone, including herself.
His fiery eyes pierced right through her. “Are you happy?” he asked, out of nowhere.
Her answer came too quickly. “Yes.”
He looked unconvinced, and Isla almost asked him if it had been a lie. She was happy. She loved Grim.
But she loved Oro too.
The pool was shallow. She watched as he slowly approached her, water rippling around him, as if rushing to move out of his way.
Under the sun, in this place, he looked like a god. Golden hair turned darker by the water, wild strands clinging to his forehead. Sunkissed skin over rippling muscle.
He got closer, and closer, until he was towering over her.
