Page 15 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

He scowled at me.

I met his scowl with my unyielding stare.

It was his turn to give in.

He made me wait a long, long while before he finally jerked his head in a nod. “Fine.”

“Fine,” I repeated.

We washed up quickly before we went to bed together, and I didn’t acknowledge his erection at all.

Or the way his arms wrapped around my back.

Or the way I wanted to grind up against him when I woke up.

Maybe my sex aversion wasn’t real after all.

When we entered the Timeless Sands, I quickly realized how much I hated sand. It got in my eyes and constantly stung my skin as we ran, making me agitated. That agitation led my power to drain my energy faster as I radiated more heat, making all of us miserable.

“We need to stop at an inn or something. I need a break,” I rasped to Ravv during one of our short food breaks. He had filled a large bowl with water for Gleam, and passed me one of his many water skins, making me grateful he had a bag full of supplies.

“We can’t stop,” he said.

I waited for an explanation, but it didn’t come.

“Ravv,” I protested.

“Laeli,” he mimicked my tone.

I gave him a dark look.

He mirrored that too.

“You said you’d find me something better to wear.” I gestured to my undergarment. “That requires going into a city, at least.”

“The Timeless Sands aren’t safe,” he growled back. “You’ll stay far outside the city—even while I get your clothes.”

I heaved a sigh.

He really wasn’t going to change his mind on that.

So finally, I agreed.

We rode for a few more hours before we stopped, and he built an ice shelter for me. After he herded me inside it and threatened not to give me my new clothes if I tried to leave, he headed to the nearest city on foot.

Gleam and I chatted for a few minutes before my exhaustion lulled me to sleep. It was only the middle of the afternoon, but veil, it had been a long few days.

A strange soreness and then pain in my arm woke me up shortly after Ravv left. It started as an ache, but graduated into a painful throbbing—and then an excruciating stabbing.

The pain was so bad it became a struggle just to breathe.

My heart pounded rapidly, and the heat radiating off me swelled.

The shelter was already dripping all over me. I didn’t know how long it would last before holes started appearing in the structure, giving way to the heat of both the suns and me.

My mouth dried, and sweat dripped off me alongside the water falling from the ceiling like rain.

Veil, it was scorching.

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