“I told you I wouldn’t let you fall.”
She couldn’t help the smile that curved her mouth. “No, you didn’t let me fall. But you do that daily?” She looked up at his face. “You risk death going down that treacherous path?”
Styx ginned, and the break in his hardened exterior looked really good on him. “As time passes you, too, will be able to go down it with ease.” His expression became very serious. “But only with me.” He undid the rope from around their waists and held his hand out. She slipped hers into his much larger one.
How strange she was starting to feel at ease after such a short time. But Audrey knew about survival, maybe not in the way Styx did, but enough to know that it was hard trying to do it on her own. Yes, this man had taken her, scared the shit out of her by saying she would stay here with him, but as the days passed she realized it wasn’t so bad. He wasn’t so bad. She also couldn’t hide how she felt anymore, but wasn’t sure how she’d ever express it to him.
“Come,” he said and then started leading her through the forest. She took in everything, the sights and the sounds, even the smells surrounding them. The trees were massive, towering above them hundreds of feet, and the thick canopy of leaves making this blanket. Despite it being morning the sun had a hard time piercing through and reaching them on the ground.
After about a ten-minute walk they reached a clearing with these beautiful blue bushes. She assumed they were where the berries she’d be picking.
Styx stopped, his sword now unsheathed and in his hand, his head moving back and forth as he looked around their surroundings. She watched as he inhaled, as he tilted his head to listen better, and when he relaxed she felt herself doing the same.
“My female, if you want to pick the berries they are there. I’ll hunt for meat once that is finished.”
She nodded and moved over to the bushes, and started picking the almost neon white berries. The fragrant sweet scent of the berries washed up and surrounded her, and she took that scent into her lungs, as well as the freshness of just being out in the open. The air was perfect, wild and clean, and the temperature, although a little breezy with a chill to it, felt incredible on her skin.
The outfit she wore was intricately laced strips of animal hide. Over the last couple of days Styx had been working on clothing for her from the stockpile of animal furs and leathers he had stored. The dark leather covered her breasts and the majority of her belly, and the pants fit her pretty snugly. She was covered, but was able to move freely, and the flesh that was covered in leather was warm, protected. It went a long way from the slavers’ gown she’d worn, or the tattered outfits she’d had back at her home.
She took her time picking the berries, and once she was finished and her bag was full, she looked over at Styx. He was on alert, his body tight, corded, his stance protective just a few feet from her as he scanned their surroundings continuously.
But then he snapped his head to the side, inhaled deeply, and this low sound came from him. “Come here, mate,” he said in a deep, urgent voice. Audrey was by his side a second later, looking around, but not seeing anything. He reached behind with his hand not holding his sword, and pulled her even closer to his body. And then it was like everything around them became deathly still and silent. It was clear something very dangerous was close by, and Audrey felt her heart start to race, felt sweat bead along her body, and tried to see what the threat was.
She hated not knowing what was going on or what was about to happen.
“What’s going on?” she whispered.
“We must be quiet, my mate. I need to see how many threats are out there.”
Audrey closed her eyes, slowly counted to regain her thoughts, and when she got to ten she opened them once more, knowing if she had to fight—even if she didn’t know how to fight, not really—she’d defend herself and the male she’d grown to care about.
And then it was like everything stilled: the sounds, and the very air around them just stopping. And slowly, after a few moments it was like being in water and hearing faint noises, but it was distorted. The first thing she heard was the hissing coming from the thick line of trees. And then she heard twigs snapping, more hissing and growling, and finally this blood-chilling screech.
“I thought you said no predators were out in the daylight hours?” Her heart was beating fast, hard.
“It is either hurt or sick, because nothing of that nature should be out here.”
Fantastic.
Styx shifted on his feet, and she leaned to the side until she could see exactly what had emerged from the tree line.