Page 31 of Light the Fire
Arousal had to be a primal thing. Not something we could control. That must be it. I’d also never liked the way anybody at the compound looked before. Nobody’s appearance had ever made my pulse race or my mouth go dry. Yet all three men were nice to look at, with and without clothes on. I’d definitely never seen anybody with bodies like theirs, though. Not even close.
“That’s settled then,” Rix said. I’d apparently tuned him out and been staring at his Adam’s apple while thinking of Zane and what was between his legs. “Jorik and I will go ashore with Haina, set some traps, find some water and do some compartmentalization training. Zane…” A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Get some rest, you grumpy fuck.”
Jorik snorted a laugh and stood up from the table, slapping Zane on the back before he bent over and started pulling artillery out from beneath the cookstove and sink. “Can’t be too prepared, Angel. Gear up.” He handed me my dagger and blade strap, an automatic rifle, the Filton 390 handgun and my bow.
I strapped everything on and nodded. “Ready.”
Rix grinned, then winked a light brown eye. “Yeah, you are.”
Butterflies took flight in my belly, and my cheeks grew warm.
We used the smaller boat that we’d rowed out to the sailboat to take us to shore, dragging it up onto the beach and hiding it beneath some overhanging tree branches.
Since it was daytime and not nighttime, the cacophony of life in the forest was even wilder and louder than it had been when we’d been ambushed.
Jorik led the way into the dense forest, while Rix stayed on my six.
My heart pounded. Excitement, fear and the keen sense of having thousands of sets of eyes on me were making my palms clammy and the hair on my arms lift up.
“Easy, Wildcat,” Rix murmured behind me, his heart rate still steady and even. “We’re right here.”
I swallowed and nodded.
“It’s just bugs, birds, squirrels and frogs. They’re not important. You don’t need to hear their hearts, smell their farts or listen to their songs.”
A burst of a laugh snagged in my throat, and I glanced over my shoulder at Rix. His smile was big and beautiful. The man really did have a gorgeous smile and it instantly helped calm the brewing storm inside me.
“Focus onmyheartbeat and my heartbeat alone,” Jorik said, craning his neck around to look at me. “Focus on the crunch of Rix’s boots on the dead leaves. That’s it. Tune the rest out. Tune out your own heartbeat and keep your attention on two focal points.”
I nodded and squeezed my eyes shut, but that only caused me to trip over a root and stumble headfirst into Jorik’s heavily armored back.
Rix’s throaty chuckle behind me made the fire in my cheeks burn less hot.
Big, powerful hands came up under my arms and helped me back to my feet. Those hands moved to my shoulders. “Here,” Rix said. “If you need to close your eyes to focus, then let me keep you from eating forest floor. I know those food packets tasted like puke, but you can’t tell me dirt and rotten leaves will taste much better.” He snickered at his own goofy joke, but there was no teasing in his tone. He was merely trying to make me feel more comfortable and at ease with everything.
I murmured a small thanks, then closed my eyes and started walking again.
“Tune it all out,” Rix murmured. “Focus on Jorik’s heart and my footsteps. That’s it. Then slowly, pickonething and tune out the other.”
His grip on my shoulders was firm but not painful. I trusted that if I stumbled again, he wouldn’t let me fall.
With a deep breath and way too many sounds and sensations cannoning around in my mind at once, causing that painful pressure to build behind my eyes like it had before, I squeezed my eyes closed even tighter and focused hard on Jorik’s heartbeat ahead of me. It was a little faster than Rix’s, but not much. Rix’s gait was slower since he was leading my blind behind. The crunch of the leaves and twigs beneath his feet held no rhythm, unlike his and Jorik’s heartbeat. It was an interruption to the ebb and flow that I needed to account for and the first thing I planned to tune out.
“There you go,” Rix said softly. He could obviously sense my heart rate and the fact that it was calming down. “Breathe deep. Focus on Jorik’s pulse. Nothing else matters. In through the nose. Hold for four. Out through the mouth. Hold for four. And repeat.”
I smiled to myself. They’d obviously been taught the box breathing technique, too.
The buzzing sound in my brain began to fade away, taking with it the overwhelming sounds, smells and heartbeats until all that was left was Jorik’s pulse. The pressure eased.
Thump thump. Thump thump.
“That’s it,” Rix said softly. “Good girl.”
I didn’t hear it, but I felt the rush of air shift in front of me, the slight vibration of the ground, and the way Jorik’s pulse picked up.
I didn’t even open my eyes as I lifted my arm up to block his first strike.
My eyes flew open as I blocked his second strike and countered with three of my own, taking him down and holding a dagger two millimeters from his throat.