Drantos(54)

A soft crunch noise made Dusti blindly snap her head in the direction of the sound. She hugged her waist hard, pressing tighter against the log, praying it wasn’t some animal on the hunt for an easy meal. She silently swore to fight if anything tried to eat her.

Exhaustion had caught up with her while she’d tried to get warm and she’d dozed off. That little nap had turned out to be a mistake, one she only realized now. It was impossible to even see her hand in front of her face. The treetops above entirely blocked the moon, if it was even out. Her plan of climbing a tree wouldn’t happen until morning. She’d even debated on stumbling around in the dark but fear had kept her in place.

She imagined falling into a hole or worse, off a cliff. All the unseen dangers filled her thoughts. She could stumble right into a nest of sleeping snakes. Or a bear. She shuddered, hugging her waist a little tighter. Animals wouldn’t have to hunt for her if she found them first. It was best to just stay still and quiet.

No other sounds scared her so she started to relax. Her head lowered to rest on the tops of her drawn-up knees, her breath the only source of warmth against her chest where she trapped it there with her bent body. She was cold but she doubted she’d freeze to death overnight. Things could be worse.

“I should have climbed a tree,” she muttered aloud, the sound of her voice her only comfort.

“That would have been a good plan,” a deep voice stated from behind her.

Dusti cried out, startled, and nearly toppled over.

Firm hands suddenly curled around her shoulders and a big body eased down along her back, his thighs caging her body. “Easy. It’s Drantos.”

“Damn it! You scared the shit out of me.” She twisted though, grabbing hold of him. “I’m so glad you’re here. You’re alive!” She latched onto one of his arms. The warmth of his skin made her shiver again. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I couldn’t find you faster. You stayed in the river longer than I anticipated so it took time to track you.”

She managed to wiggle enough to get to her knees, leaning heavily against his chest. Warmth radiated off him as if he were a living heater.

“You’re freezing cold.”

“Why aren’t your clothes wet?” She touched his chest to assure she hadn’t imagined the dry feel of his shirt.

“One of us got to use that raft I built. Strip down now, take it all off. I’ll give you my shirt. I had to unfortunately leave the jacket behind.”

“Why?”

“Remove your wet clothes, Dusti. They’re just making you colder.”

She only hesitated for a second. The lure of something dry against her skin was too much of a temptation to resist. It took effort to back away from him and rise to her feet. She instantly missed being against him. His big hands helped her tug the still very damp clothing from her body. The chilly wind seemed a bit colder without the thin barrier when she stood naked. Drantos tugged his warm shirt over her head.#p#分页标题#e#

“Can you see anything?”

“Yes,” he admitted softly. “Don’t worry. You’re just an outline and I’m not enjoying it as much as I wish I could. Are you okay? I don’t smell blood.”

“I’m frozen and terrified but fine. What happened? Is that thing still out there? Is it coming after us?”

“He’s no longer a threat. I handled it.”

She allowed him to pull her into his very warm arms as his words sank in. His bare chest radiated wonderful heat that had her hugging him as tightly as she could. His big body felt heavenly while he cradled her against his front.

“Handled it?”

“Yes.”

“You got away from that thing?”

“You could say that. That particular enforcer of your grandfather’s won’t be a problem to us again.”

“How? You grew claws, didn’t you?” Her mind was fraught with questions and her sanity depended on getting answers she could understand. “Drantos, is that what you look like when you shift?”

“Yes. I told you what my people are.” He rubbed her back. “That really was one of your grandfather’s enforcers. It’s what we look like in our other form.”

She shivered again but it had nothing to do with being cold anymore. “That didn’t look like a wolf.” She clutched at him tighter. “You don’t look that scary, do you? That thing looked like some kind of hell beast. It’s because he’s evil, right? I totally want to believe that.”

“Damn it, Dusti. Don’t make things up to account for what you don’t want to believe. We’re half-breeds. Part Vampire and Lycan. It’s why we don’t look like wolves. We’re more.” He sighed, sounding frustrated. “Let’s talk about this later. I’m just glad you’re safe. Right now we need to find shelter and get you warm. We’re in no immediate danger.”