Page 57 of The Delver
She treaded water, easing closer to him. Her dark eyes were large and luminous as they met his, reflecting the cavern’s blue glow, much like they’d looked when he’d come upon her bathing in the temple a few days ago.
“Lead the w-way, big guy,” she said, lower lip quivering.
He caught hold of her backpack and drew her closer, guiding her to his back. “Hold on, Callie.”
As much as he loved the feel of it when she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and pressed her body against his, he did not care for the way she was trembling. He’d seen it from the humans before, when the rains came to the Tangle and the temperature dropped. Diego had said that being cold like that could be dangerous for a human to endure for long.
This way, Urkot could get her to their destination as quickly as possible while keeping his body between Callie and anything lurking below.
Urkot swam, doing his best not to think about the lack of anything solid beneath him, forcing himself to ignore the unknown and all the terrors it might’ve held. The statues, despite being partially submerged, loomed higher and higher as he neared them, coaxing another breathlessWowfrom Callie.
Were she not shivering in frigid water that was home to gods-knew what, Urkot would’ve liked to stop and examine the monuments up close. He would’ve studied their construction, would’ve guessed at the techniques used to shape them, would’ve tried to puzzle out the shadowy forms he could vaguelysee below the water’s surface, which hinted at a temple structure that had been swallowed by the lake.
He would’ve greatly enjoyed working with Callie to piece together an idea of what this cavern must’ve looked like in a time now forgotten.
But the water was overly cold even to him, and their lives were far more important than his curiosity.
When he reached the cliffside below the grotto, Callie tightened her hold on him and wrapped her legs around his middle without him saying a word. Welcome warmth bloomed in him. He grasped the stone and climbed, pulling them out of the water. Callie’s backside settled atop his hindquarters. His body felt heavier than ever, a fresh reminder of the lingering exhaustion in his muscles, but he forced his limbs to keep moving. Rest was only segments away.
Urkot hauled himself up onto the ledge with a grunt and crawled into the grotto’s shelter before letting himself collapse on the stone floor. Every muscle in his body burned. Callie didn’t release him as she lay upon his back, shivering.
“Y-You okay?” she asked.
He grunted in response, not sure himself if it was a yes or a no.
Her grip on him relaxed, and she extended her leg down. Once her boot was flat on the ground, she climbed off him and stepped away, drawing off her bag and setting it down before removing her boots.
“Jesus,” Callie whispered, briskly rubbing her bare arms as water pooled around her. She crouched, opened the bag, and pulled out a rolled-up blanket. It was soaked through. “Fuck.”
Urkot narrowed his eyes on her trembling hands as she wrung the blanket out. She stood, giving the cloth a flap to unfurl it, and held it up, examining it with dismay.
He knew it would not warm her. Neither would her dripping clothes, scant as they were.
He pushed himself upright, willing away those aches, and unfastened his belt and the attached pouch. Before setting them down, he took the pair of glowstones back out and placed them on the floor to either side of himself. Then he forced his legs to rise beneath him, extended a foreleg, and hooked it around Callie, drawing her toward him. Gently, he plucked the blanket from her grasp, turned, and used sticky silk to hang it across the grotto’s opening. That would help it dry faster and afford them a bit more shelter.
That done, Urkot set his spinnerets to work. He drew out fluffed silk, arranging it on the floor. Each pull was a little more draining, but he did not stop until he’d formed a large nest for himself and his female.
Finally, he turned to Callie again. Her arms were crossed over her chest, hands tucked beneath them, and her shivering was more pronounced. With a growl, he guided her closer as he ran his eyes over her body. The sopping material of her coverings left little to the imagination, clinging to her curves like a second skin. What was the purpose of such garments?
Modesty. Such a ridiculous thing. And yet…he understood the desire to hide aspects of one’s body. Understood the shame some of the humans seemed to feel at the thought of being exposed to the gazes of others.
He grasped her arms with his upper hands and drew them apart before seeking the tie on her top with his lower hand. Pulling the string between her breasts that held the material together, he undid the knot. Then he lowered his hand, brushing his knuckles over her belly as he slid his finger beneath the bottom part of the string. He pulled it free.
The material fell away, baring her breasts to him. Her dark brown nipples were taut, the hard buds begging for the touchof his fingers, for the sweep of his tongue, and the supple flesh around them looked so soft, so yielding…
Pressure built behind his slit as his stem stirred, making him clutch in his claspers tight.
Callie released a shaky breath, which made her breasts quiver. “I…t-take it you l-like them?”
Urkot flattened his palm on her belly, battling the urge to move his hand to those enticing mounds, to cup them, to squeeze and knead them, to claim them. “Yes.”
She let out a soft laugh. “So b-blunt.”
Growling low and deep, he forced his eyes up to hers and released her arms. “Take it off.”
“I like it w-when you’re b-b-bossy,” she said as she slipped her arms out of the holes of her top.
He clenched his jaw and dropped his upper hands to the sides of her skirt, which lay just above the flare of her hips.
