“Now what?” I asked, breaking the silence.
He glanced around. “We try to find our way back to our things. Do you have any idea where we are?”
I shook my head. “If we can make it back to the poacher’s camp, I think I can get us back to our supplies from there. I paid attention when they dragged us there. Before we leave, let me heal your head.”
“All right.”
I stood from the log, Liam still seated, and faced him. Carefully, I placed my hands on the back of his head and closed my eyes again, concentrating on alleviating his headache and any potential issues from being hit so hard.
I felt Liam’s hands on the back of my knees and my breath caught. Slowly they moved higher, stopping just below the curve of my behind, his thumbs swiping back and forth.
My fingers dug into his hair as I pushed the final bit of magic into his head. His grip on my thighs tightened and he released a quiet groan, nuzzling into my stomach.
My core filled with heat and my breathing sped up. I couldn’t bring myself to let go. I wanted him. I wanted him so badly, Iached.
But we were absolutely disgusting, had just escaped a kidnapping and were lost in the jungle.
And I had stopped this morning’s kiss for a reason, right?
Though now, I couldn’t seem to remember what it was.
“Cerise.”
“Hmm?”
“We should get going before it gets dark,” he said.
I released his hair and backed away. “Yes. Of course.”
So much forgetting to our stuff before dark,I thought.
We walked for hours, Liam assuring me we were headed in the right direction.
The reality of all that had happened today was slowly crashing down upon me, and I couldn’t stop myself as I blurted, “Liam. We killed people today.”
He stopped walking, turning to face me.
“We’re murderers…” I whispered.
“No.” Liam took my hand in his. “No, Cerise. We are not murderers. The chance of death from that plant is fifty-fifty. For all we know, they may not be dead. We did not kill those men. We led them into something harmful so we could escape.”
“But—”
“But nothing, sunshine. They were going to kill us. The moment they realized we were lying, they would have slit our throats and left us to rot in the jungle.”
I balked. “That’s a terrible thing to say.”
“It’s true. You know that as well as I do.” He squeezed my hand.
“I know…it’s just…”
He brushed the hair from my face. “It was traumatic. For both of us.” I nodded, throat tight. “But we must focus ongetting our supplies and finding somewhere safe. We can’t fall apart right now, okay?”
“Okay.”
We resumed our trek, Liam holding onto my hand to comfort me, and I reveled in his quiet steadiness, so different from the boisterous jokester side of him he usually showed everyone. Perhaps he was in his head too.
We stepped over more fallen trees and climbed across a couple of boulders before Liam stopped us and pointed ahead.
