Page 38 of The Artist
“Try to stay awake.”
“I’m so tired.”
I brushed my thumb over her eyebrows to wipe away the ice that had melted into water.
“You’re going to be all right. Do you feel the heat from Indiana and me?”
“Yes, but my feet are cold.”
Thor removed Indiana’s huge boots from her feet and moved closer. Lifting his shirt up he placed her feet against his stomach and covered them with his shirt again. “Don’t worry, princess, we’re going to warm you up.”
“Under different circumstances this would have been fun,” Indiana muttered.
Despite Belle’s cold body, it didn’t take more than five minutes before I was overheating from the adrenaline of lying chest to chest with her and the many jackets and sweaters that covered us. Not to mention that the heating system in the seats that served as a bed for us was cranked up on high.
“Are we there soon?” I asked Thor.
“We’ll land in eleven minutes, but Freya says that we should leave Belle to heat up in the drone a little longer before we carry her through a snowstorm.
“Then I’m staying with her.” My words came out as a non-negotiable demand.
“Yes, you two should stay with her while I go tell Victor what I think about him leaving her behind.”
Indiana was propped up on his elbow looking at Thor. “Maybe think twice before you rip him apart. If we’re honest, we wouldn’t have been able to get to her either without the laser and our wristbands. He saved her life by coming back for help.”
“Hmm.” Thor clearly wasn’t so quick to forgive Victor. As soon as we arrived at the cabin, he ran in while Indiana and I stayed behind. The cold breeze of air when the door opened and closed made Indiana and me wrap our arms protectively around Belle.
A few minutes later, the door opened again and this time Aubri came in and shut the door after her. “I brought blankets and some warm soup to warm her up from the inside.”
Caressing Belle’s hair, I spoke to her in a gentle manner. “Do you think you can sit up a little?”
“Mhmm.”
Indiana lifted his torso from the bed and together we helped Belle to sit up between us. I tried to cover her with one of the sweaters, but it slipped down and made Aubri gasp.
“You’re all naked.”
“We’re giving her our body heat,” I explained while doing a better job at covering Belle.
Aubri’s lips were in a tight line when she handed me the thermos flask with soup.
Unscrewing the lid, I put it to my lips to make sure it wasn’t burning before I gave it to Belle. The creamy mushroom soup tasted delicious and had a pleasant temperature.
“Here, try to drink as much as you can.”
Belle was like a rag doll, completely drained of energy. She opened her mouth when I told her to, but otherwise leaned against me as if all she wanted to do was sleep.
“Is she still cold?” Aubri asked.
“Yes, but it’s not as bad as it was. It’s going to take hours to heat her up properly, I think.”
“Maybe I should stay with her or someone might mistake the situation.” Aubri, who was closest to Indiana, let her gaze run up and down his naked chest.
“Stop giving me that blameful look. We would have done the same for you.”
“I’m sorry, but in my dream of a ménage à trois, my brother wasn’t present.”
Indiana chuckled and touched his trimmed beard. “But I was?”
