"You're the expert," I say, closing my eyes and breathing in his scent. He smells nice. Sweaty and a bit musky, of course, but still…nice. "Thank you for saving my ass."
"It's what I do best—saving the day."
"I thought you were best at rushing off half-cocked," I joke, and a rumble of laughter moves through his chest, shaking my cheek. It makes me smile. "So what's the plan, then? Catch our breath and then fight more bugs?"
I shiver at the thought. The last thing I want to do is see more bugs, but I also know we might not have a choice.
"Stay here for tonight," Kaspar says. "We're safe from ground predators, and this high up, it'll give us a chance to observe our surroundings. If nothing else, it's a fairly decent defensible spot."
"Great," I say flatly.
His thumb strokes against my leg. "It'll be all right. I won't let anything happen to you."
"Unless something else shows up and you drop me on the ground in your haste to go fistfight it," I tease.
Kaspar laughs again. "I promise I won't drop you TOO hard. How's that?"
Fair enough. Before I can say anything else, a fat, warm drop of something wet splashes on my face. I squeal in horror, thinking that a bird just shit on me from high above. Then, another drop hits. And another.
Then water is pouring from the skies. It's an absolute deluge, warm and soaking wet and we've got no shelter from it. I moan in horror as my hair sticks to my face. "This planet hates us."
Kaspar sets me gently down on the slick rocky surface. "Actually, this is perfect. We'll set out our gear and see how much rainwater we can catch." He gets to work untying things in his pack and sets out a couple of nearly-flat panels, along with propping up our water container. "There. If this goes on for a few hours, we'll have a nice drink."
Ugh. I am such a baby, because I should be glad we're going to have something to drink. Instead, I'm wet and miserable, my clothes plastered to my skin. And this looks like a rainforest, which means it might rain for hours and hours. I picture this, and my heart plummets a little.
Kaspar sits back down next to me, his feet skidding on the wet rocks as he does. He just laughs as if this is something fun, and then pulls me into his lap again. "Here."
"I'm okay," I tell him. I'm not close enough to the edge to be in danger. "I'm not going to fall off."
He brushes my wet hair back from my face. "Maybe I just like holding you."
I blush but say nothing. What can I say? This is a man who asks me to masturbate in one breath and then cuddles me in the next. He's impossible to read. I just press my damp cheek to his equally damp chest and watch the rain pour from the skies.
17
KASPAR
The rain pours down for a few hours and then stops just as abruptly as it started. I don't mind it. It feels like a warm bath and cools the air around us. It reminds me that I'm alive and out in the wild having an adventure. A little rain never harmed anything. I can tell Alice is not a fan, though. She shivers against me, huddled under my arm, until she finally falls asleep.
Night falls, and I let Alice doze in my arms as I continue to keep watch. I keep the hunk of glass out just in case I need to use a weapon, but for the most part, it's quiet. The trees high above rustle with noise, and avians call to one another, but on the ground it's uneventful. I hear the occasional sound of loose soil, and I imagine that's our insect friends setting their pits up again. There are no other predators, though, no nighttime wanderers, and best of all, no pirates of any kind.
Dawn approaches, and a particularly loud avian screams high up in the branches, startling Alice awake. She rubs her good hand over her face, and her yellow hair is an absolute mess. It hangs in wavy strands in every which way, and when she straightens, there's a hump on one side of her head where her hair dried against my chest. She also looks adorably confused as she gazes around. "Is it morning?"
"It is. How do you feel?"
She shrugs, stretching her arms out to yawn. "I'm not bug food, so I guess I can't complain."
"That's the spirit." The human seems like she's in a better mood this morning, which pleases me. After all, this is an adventure for both of us, and ten times better than sitting in the pod for days on end. I reach over and pick up one of the now-full water containers and offer it to her.