Korrin

KORRIN

" H ush." Denna laid a finger over my lips, silencing me. "You would never hurt me. Not even lost to the Valti. Not in your deepest sleep." Determined, she pushed to her feet. "I'll find more of these reeds and grasses. Fashion you a dark, cozy den to speed your healing."

She glided off into the foliage, skirts swishing. I watched her go with a pang, already missing her nearness, her easy affection. The dress she wore was sadly begrimed, hanging in tatters, spotted with mud and torn by stone. Still, she moved with fluid grace, an unconscious sensuality in the roll of her hips, the arch of her back...

Groaning softly, I reached for another fat asviloon, knowing I'd need the energy to summon my Valti self. Denna's dulcet voice wafted back to me, lilting words to a tune I didn't recognize. The soft scuff of her boots, the whisper of greenery as she worked lulled me, a balm to my ravaged senses.

But I couldn't afford to drift. Not yet. The task before me loomed, daunting and inescapable.

Settling against the trunk of a glowing tree, I closed my eyes, turned inward. Drew a deep, centering breath. Let it out slowly. There—in a shadowed corner of my psyche, I sensed the omnipresence of the Valti. Waiting. Watching.

Strange. The beast constantly strained at its fetters, fighting for dominion. But now, as I reached for its wild power... it balked.

With infinite patience, I approached my untamed self. Coaxed it. Soothed it. Freedom called, a siren song, the promise of unfettered release. Never before had I needed the Valti this desperately, and it sensed my urgency.

Gradually, I felt the change overtake me, savage glory flooding my veins. Bones snapped and realigned. Muscles bulged and rippled. As my crushed leg knit itself whole, the anguish of transformation nearly undid me, the Valti howling and thrashing in my mind.

I rode out the metamorphosis, teeth and fists clenched, until finally, an eternity later, it was done. But even the monstrous strength of my altered form had limits. A day of brutal combat, disaster and torment had left the Valti as ravaged as the man—a husk, hollowed out and aching.

Panting, I collapsed amidst the mossy ferns, dimly registering that Denna had returned. She must have finished her foraging, because a curtain of woven fronds now enclosed our shelter, dimming the cavern's spectral glow.

With a groan, I heaved myself upright, gingerly testing my leg. The angry throb had downgraded to a dull, persistent ache. An improvement. I would be mobile, at least.

Blinking as my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I realized that Denna lay curled against my flank, fast asleep. Soft. Warm. Trusting. Desire, hot and urgent, swept through my battered body.

In the hush, I allowed myself to study her—really look in a way I never dared when her eyes might catch me staring. The delicate fan of her lashes against her dirt-smudged cheek. The copper glints in her riot of curls. The lush, rosy curve of her parted lips. She made a small sound, halfway between a sigh and a mew, and nestled deeper into the hard wall of my chest.

Instinctively, I started to wind an arm around her supple waist, to gather her close... but wrenched myself back. Ruthlessly tamped down the need clawing at my gut. This was neither the time nor the place to indulge my baser urges. Not with Denna depending on me to see her safely home.

Still, I was helpless not to look my fill, committing every beloved inch of her to memory. The sweet weight of her breasts, their rounded slopes visible above her ruined bodice. The dip of her waist flaring out to gently curved hips. With each steady rise and fall of her chest, the frayed fabric inched lower, revealing another tantalizing glimpse of creamy skin.

Gritting my teeth, I wrenched my gaze away from the tempting view. Tried to focus instead on the finer details—the smudge of berry juice staining her chin. The constellation of freckles dusting her bared shoulder. A single leaf tangled in her hair...

It would be so easy. To roll her beneath me, claim that lush pink mouth in a consuming kiss. To skim my hands over her sleeping body, learning her curves and hollows until she awakened with my name on her lips...

I squeezed my eyes shut. Drew a ragged breath. Held it until my lungs burned and released it in a controlled stream. I would not risk our friendship, our alliance, for a moment's satisfaction. Denna deserved better than a quick tumble on the cave floor—even if my mind and body cried out for her with every fiber of my being.

No. Best to surrender once more to the Valti's restorative sleep. Conserve my energy for the trials ahead. Gathering the tattered threads of my control, I willed my breathing to even out, my heart rate to slow. Let the deep, dull ache in my bones drag me down into unconsciousness. This time, I did not dream.

When next I swam up from the depths, it was to the homey crackle of fire, the mouth-watering aroma of cooking food. I cracked one eye open to see Denna crouched over the cookfire, tending a makeshift spit. Skewered on a stripped branch were fat mushroom caps and gleaming chunks of pale fruit, sizzling as they roasted.

As I watched, Denna turned the spit with deft hands, humming to herself. She'd scrubbed the worst of the grime from her skin and hair, though her dress remained a lost cause. In the flickering firelight, her stormy blue eyes sparkled, more vibrant than any gemstone.

Sensing my regard, she glanced up and met my gaze with a radiant smile. "Don't even think of getting up. Let me help you."

"I can manage?—"

"Please don't." She cut me off, expression brooking no argument. "You need to heal fully before we attempt finding a way out. For now, we have food, water, warmth. Everything we need."

While I spluttered, trying to formulate a rebuttal, Denna fetched the hollow shell of a giant nut and carried it to my side. It sloshed with clear water. Grudgingly, I accepted the crude cup and drank deep, suddenly parched.

Wrinkling her pert nose, Denna pursed her lips. "It has an odd, sulfurous aftertaste. The lake water. Not unpleasant, but..."

"How did you—" I gestured to the merrily crackling fire. Last I remembered, everything in this subterranean world was saturated with dampness.

"Oh, that." She looked absurdly pleased with herself. "When I went foraging for bedding, I discovered pockets of dry tinder and wood. Not much, but enough." Her gaze cut to the roasting food and back to me, pensive. "I thought it best to cook the mushrooms through. Just in case."

Draining the last of the water, I passed the makeshift cup back to her, our fingers grazing. I had to press my lips together to contain a wholly inappropriate noise. "My thanks. I'm famished."

"I'll just top this off." Denna rose in a whisper of tattered fabric, hips swaying as she picked her way to the lakeshore.

I couldn't tear my eyes away, utterly enthralled by the flex and roll of her sleek muscles, the way the firelight gilded her skin, limned the delicate line of her back...

Heat pooled low in my belly, need a throbbing ache in my veins.

This forced idleness was a unique torment, an exquisite torture. Alone with my fevered thoughts, I fixated on nothing but Denna—the intoxicating nearness of her. The ripe curves of her body. Those nimble, knowing hands. That melodic voice. Her gentle kindness and steadfast loyalty...

I wanted her. Craved her with a desperation that terrified me in its intensity. I yearned to lay her out on our bed of moss and fern, to worship every inch of her silken skin until she shattered apart in my arms, keening her pleasure. The Valti clamored in the recesses of my brain, roused by the force of my desire.

But I was in no condition to slake my baser lusts. Instead, I thanked Denna quietly as she served me a nutshell of steaming mushroom and cool, crisp fruit. We ate in companionable silence, knees brushing as she settled beside me. Close. Too close. I could feel the warmth radiating off her, smell the clean musk of her hair.

Every so often, I'd catch her stealing glances from beneath lowered lashes, a pretty flush painting her cheeks. After a few charged moments, she cleared her throat, setting her empty shell aside.

"You slept as the Valti all night," she observed, studying me intently. Searching for what, I couldn't say. "Do you... feel improved?"

"Greatly." I rolled my shoulders, testing the range of motion. "I believe I'll have strength enough to help you search out an escape route come morning. Though, I'd not turn down another bout of healing sleep before then."

Then a thought occurred to me. "You dared sleep next to my Valti?"

Her eyes went wide at my question.

"Why, when he sleeps, your Valti is hardly scary. I found him rather cute," she said.

"My Valti has never been described thus," I said. But in my head, the creature mentally rolled on his back, wanting a belly rub. This was hardly the savage monster I needed to fight impossible battles.

What was she doing to me?