Page 51 of Small Town Beast

The color of the earth began to change. The ground turned yellow and the soil became clay. The trees thinned out and their twisted roots now wore a chalky residue.

And then Saverin stopped. “We’re here.”

But where washere?

A magical sound drew her attention to her feet. Right there, a mountain spring bubbled up out of the ground in a steady flow of sparkling clean water. Following the trail she saw a green pool that could have fit the both of them. It also looked freezing cold.

“Wow,” she said, wondering wherewarmfit in to the equation. But then Saverin pointed to another place, andTanya’s amazement climbed impossibly higher. Because the water overtherewas milky white, plumes of steam clouding the surface. She caught the strong smell of eggs.

“Fancying a dip?” Saverin asked as if this was all very ordinary. “It’s so cursed cold I think we better.”

“You can get in there? Like abathtub?” Tanya backed up a step. She’d heard of stuff like this but seeing it in person wasn’t too inviting. If only it looked more like the cold spring and less like a bowl of ramen missing the noodles.

“They say it washes away all hurt and pain,” Saverin said.

“I don’t have anything to swim with.” He couldn’t be serious. Did he mean for her to get in there naked?

Apparently he did. Saverin flicked the hem of her sweatshirt, the point of his rough finger finding her bare skin. “Just like God intended,” he teased.

“Why does it smell like that?”

“Sulfur. Iron. Some other minerals.”

“That damn near looks ready to boil us alive.”

He went right up to the natural spring and put his hand in it, to show her. “Hot enough to melt chocolate,” he said, and she rolled her eyes, which made him smile.

Still Tanya hesitated. Should she really be doing this? Maybe she should just go to Rowanville now instead of fooling around with this man

Not letting her spoil the fun, Saverin stripped off his hoodie and then his shirt– but stopped when he saw Tanya’s expression. It was one thing for her to feel his scars in the sacred darkness of a night-time tryst. It was another to see them in broad daylight.

To Tanya’s fascination the blush that crept up his neck and chest never reached the scars. They remained deathly pale, the flesh twisted and ruined beyond all recognition. He didn’t have anipple, and the pectoral muscle was dented as if a man’s fist had collapsed it. The ruin spread down his waist…

Saverin just stood there, his shirt half-off, rigid under her stare. As Tanya searched for the right words he turned around abruptly and removed the shirt, jacket, everything. His pride would never let her see him weaken.

She thought about how he must not ever be touched. Two years, he’d been up here?I wonder what happened…

“You getting in or not?” he asked calmly, his back still turned.

Instead of answering she took a step forward and just wrapped her arms around his bare torso. Just like how he had held her a few minutes ago. He stiffened, but then allowed it.

Skin to skin. Her cheek pressed against his back. Listening to his heartbeat like a steady roll of thunder.

A shudder passed through Saverin. He pulled away from her, untying his boots, working his jeans off his narrow hips. He shucked down his black boxers and then climbed fully naked into the spring.

Well, she wasn’t about to just stand there watching him like a billy goat.Tanya whipped off her hoodie and T-shirt.It’s not like he doesn’t know what I look like.

She stripped down in a hurry, even taking off her panties. Saverin had vanished into the steam.

They were completely alone and the thrill of being naked was a new experience she soon became lost in.

The water closed around her foot and it was so deliciously warm…

“Tanya,” came Saverin’s voice somewhere to her left. “Tanya, wait–”

She dropped the rest of herself right into the spring.

Water closed over her head but her panicked struggle lasted only as long as it took Saverin to lift her up above the surface. She thanked him by coughing water all over his chest.

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