Page 24 of Red

His body shook with silent laughter at her response but then veered sharply to the side when a heavy body rammed into them and yanked them out of the way as a whip-like frond extended out just short of snaring them. Arie’s blood ran cold and even Kyx yelped when the vine came within inches of his face, the tiny barbs attempting to hook into his fur and skin.

Rager growled just behind them. Arie couldn’t see his black silhouette in the dark. All she could see were the four flashes of blue from the eyes narrowed on them.

“Cease your foolery, Kyx, and pay attention to where you are going,” the lead snarled.

Warol muttered a curse from up ahead and Arie heard a crash. Rager immediately sighed and Kyx called out an insult in Ragii in a low voice that had all three males sharing a quiet laugh. Arie’s recognized that one as a familiar insult thrown back and forth between them. She didn’t have an exact translation, but it was something about the male being a one-footed rog—or clumsy.

She wondered if she would be able to understand Ragii if she spent enough time with the Ragoru. Speaking it would be a lot harder. Their language had a lot of growled consonants and strange shifting vowels that she wasn’t entirely certain her vocal cords would be able to produce accurately.

Arie had to give Kyx credit though. After their close encounter with the carnivorous plant, his pace became a lot more cautious than his previous carefree trot. The rhythmic movement of his body might have even lulled her to sleep if she wasn’t so terrified. Every sound from the woods made her heart feel like it was about to burst from her chest. Even the croaks of frogs, which had always been a comforting sound as a child, seemed threatening in the deep gloom. There was no way she was going to be able to fall asleep.

Three times they stopped in small clearings. She couldn’t see Warol, but she tracked his position by the yellow glow of his eyes. She immediately demanded that Kyx take her over to him and set her down. With a healer’s efficiency, she ran her hands over his chest and shoulders to check his condition and found him near shaking with exhaustion. She turned toward the blue illumination that marked Rager’s position.

“We need to stop soon. Warol is clearly exhausted, and even Kyx is starting to tremble with the exertion of carrying me so far.”

The eyes blinked at her, but she couldn’t tell if he gestured any sort of agreement or not. Instead, they shifted as if he were looking around and getting his bearings.

“Another stretch and we will arrive at a den suitable for resting in for a few days while Warol finishes recovering.” His eyes shifted over to Warol. “Will you make it, brother?”

“Yes,” Warol rasped. “I am a little tired, but I can continue.”

Arie thought he was more than a little tired, but also knew he was too proud to ask for a longer rest. She also knew him well enough by now to know that if she attempted to force the issue, he would resent it.

“It really isn’t a good idea,” she said.

“I’m fine, Arie,” he soothed, his muzzle brushing her cheekbone. His fur was damp with sweat, but when she sat her hand on his chest his primary and secondary hearts did not feel as if they were beating too quickly with overexertion. She decided to trust his judgment. As if to prove his point, one of his large hands shot out. She heard a crunch, and he brought his hand between them. Fingers uncurled to reveal the mangled pure white corpse of the sleep-bite-insect. A single black stripe bisected its abdomen. He dropped it and brushed off his hand.

If Arie could have willed herself to either pass out or throw up right then and there, she probably would have. Anything to settle the sudden fear-riddled churn of her gut. He leaned so close to her that she could almost make out the corners of his mouth twitching up.

“No matter how tired I am, I am never so tired that I can’t face a little physical exertion.”

His husky voice caressed her, and warmth sprung up inside of her from a hidden well. Heat stained her cheeks. Just that quickly, the insect was forgotten, and her focus shifted to him, her nerves singing and on edge with some sort of unknown erotic anticipation.

Had Arie been anything like some of the women in her village, she would have had a perfect reply ready. But she was not like them. She was not bold, or flirtatious. But she doubted any of the women she knew would have had the nerve to flirt with Warol, if that was even what he was doing.

Although she’d become more adept at reading the Ragoru, she didn’t assume they flirted and played games like humans did. Their social relationships were, for the most part, straightforward. To a degree, she found that disconcerting despite her preference for honesty in matters of courtship and friendship.

She grimaced. Joshu was a glaring example of her failure in both areas of her life. He was a human raised with the same social cues and standards as her, but still she hadn’t anticipated how he would turn his back on her. Never mind her failed attempts to flirt with him. That was embarrassing enough. The last thing she wanted was to compound her embarrassment by assuming that Warol had meant something more than the obvious.

She was able to avoid overthinking Warol’s questionable flirting when Kyx suddenly hauled her into his arms once more and the males spread out from their relaxed cluster to resume their positions. Branches rattled as each took off, one at a time through the trees ahead. Arie pulled her fur tighter around her as the cold air nipped at the parts of her face that she couldn’t completely bury into Kyx’s fur. Over his shoulder, she watched the gradual path of the moon as it rode through the heavens and sank once more.

She was barely clinging to wakefulness when the sun began to ascend and peek through the trees. Arie didn’t even notice the rocky entrance to the new den until Kyx slipped inside of it and her entire body jerked in alarm, utterly unprepared for the change in environment. Two of his hands ran down her back in soothing motions as he crooned a gentle rumbling sound to her. She relaxed once more against him, her eyes fluttering closed, only to jerk open as he laid her on a soft fur.

Three large bodies dropped down beside her curled around her comfortingly. Their firm weight and warmth lulled her back toward slumber. The last thing she was aware of was a hand stroking down cheek and a soft rumbling voice.

“Shh. Sleep, rya.”

All the Beautiful Flowers

Chapter

Fourteen

Kyx woke with the weak sunlight streaming into the cavern and glared at Warol before kicking him in the shoulder. The loud growling sounds coming from the other male died off as Warol’s body relaxed back into deep slumber. Kyx grunted and settled his jaw once more against Arie’s hip, inhaling the sweet musk of her fragrance with pleasure. He lost track of how many days they’d been in the den since Warol had half-limped, half-dragged himself in with the rest of the triad following behind him.

He’d been concerned for his brother, as had Rager. It was obvious that Warol had pushed himself far too hard to reach the den. Thank Ewa that Arie had demanded that they seek shelter. She’d been right to be concerned, but they’d all taken him at his word that he would tell them when it became too much. Kyx was just glad that Arie had been too exhausted to notice just how bad of condition Warol had been in when they arrived. He knew that their tender-hearted female would have pushed herself to stay up all night so she might care for him. Rager had been furious, however.

As soon as Arie was settled into the furs, their triad lead had ordered his second to the furs beside her. To Kyx’s surprise, Warol hadn’t argued. Instead, he slipped in around Arie when she began to toss and turn. The weight of his body gave her some comfort but, in the end, it had taken the press of all three of their bodies crowded in close around her to convince her exhaustion-addled mind to allow her body to rest. Not that she hadn’t had plenty to say when she woke up and saw the pitiful condition Warol was in.

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