Page 44 of Mattox
Caralas smiled. “Why were you calling my name?”
“I was looking for you.”
“You came looking for me?” she gently asked, cupping his bearded cheek.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because I was worried about you. I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“What for? I failed. Fact is,youfoundme.”
“Maybe it was meant to be that way. Have you considered that? Maybe fate wants us to be together, whether it’s you finding me, or me finding you. It doesn’t matter as long as we find each other,” she confessed, and waited to see how he’d react. When he finally leaned closer to kiss her, she met him halfway.
23
Water
He wouldn’t let her go this time. He’d come too close to losing her, and now that he had his arms around her, he couldn’t let her go.
He pulled her tightly against him, and felt her arms circle his neck. Rolling onto his uninjured side, he gathered her along his body. She nestled comfortably against him, but their shared body heat quickly became intolerable. He sensed she was just as reluctant to bring the kiss to an end as he—
Mattox opened his eyes as Caralas pressed her forehead underneath his chin.
He’d sensed.He’d sensed.
“Cara?”
“What?”
“What were you thinking just now?”
“I’d love to kiss you again, but it’s too damn hot.”
He didn’t care that a shit-eating started spreading across his face.
Caralas released him and struggled to get to sit up. “Matt…I can’t…so hot.”
“We need water. We need to keep moving.”
She moved away from him, making him inwardly curse. As much as he needed the brief respite from her heat, he hated no longer having her stretched along his length. Worse, every time he touched her sent threads of sexual need through him, starting at the base of his dick and spreading through his balls and entire lower abdomen. Thankfully, his vest and the chainmail tied around his waist helped hide his erection that continued to press against his breeches.
Getting back to their feet, they continued westward. The going was hard, not because of the random debris they came across, but due to the extreme heat and their own dehydrated state.
They took frequent breaks, even though they weren’t making as much progress as they’d like, but it couldn’t be helped. They felt fortunate to be making any sort of headway. They spoke little, if anything, as they walked, and only conversed when they rested.
As the day progressed, it grew evident that they had exited the dumping zone, as Matt referred to it. There was little evidence of debris, and the foliage here didn’t appear to be wind damaged. However, there wasn’t enough coverage to protect them from the sun’s burning rays. Caralas tried holding up the shield as often as she could, bracing it with her good arm, to keep the sunlight from blinding them. It wasn’t until the sun started descending toward the horizon, and the coming evening lessened the temperature, that they began to feel any relief.
She was about to ask him if they were going to try to get another couple of miles under their belts before calling it quits for the night, when Mattox stopped. He stared into the distance, then began hobbling toward whatever had caught his attention.
“Matt, what is it?” She peered into the dusk, but couldn’t see anything. Hurrying after him, she tried again. “Matt?”
“That looks like a tarvid tree,” he told her in a husky voice.
“A what?”
