Not a word passed between Nova and Yoa as they moved through the shadowed passageway of his hideout. The silence between them was loaded with unspoken fears, anticipating the impending encounter at the lake, each consud by their own thoughts, their steps growing heavier. The tension was thick, and the only sounds were their breathing and footsteps—scratch that, it was only Nova’s breaths they could hear.
The entire journey through the secret passageways and caves was all uphill. Apparently, the StairMaster machine at the gym did nothing to prepare her for this. Obviously, Yoa was breathing just fine. Long legs. Athletic build. Unfair advantage. He was just so physically fit...
Nova’s eyes lingered on his back, those muscles, just so firm and—alright, less of that.
She pouted. One taste, one touch of him from the night before, clearly hadn’t been enough. She could still feel the way he touched her, kissed her like he couldn’t breathe without her. The phantom touch of his lips still lingered, his sll, his hands climbing up her backside and—STOP!
This is not the ti for this! You might be heading back ho through so magical galaxy lake or sothing—calm the f down, vagina. You, too, eggs!
As though Yoa could hear Nova’s thoughts, he chuckled and glanced over his shoulder at her. His eyes danced in the dim lighting. She narrowed her eyes on him. You better not hear my thoughts...
There was no response. "Everything okay back there?" Yoa’s amused tone did not go unnoticed.
"Yes..." Nova drawled out the word, suspicious of where this was going.
"I can scent your arousal..." Yoa smirked, that smile growing even more as Nova gaped at him, cheeks flushing brightly.
"I-I, everything is fine!" Nova stuttered.
Yoa chuckled, his gaze lowering over her body, slowly taking her in then looked away with a sigh, dragging a hand down his face. Nova caught him looking pained, clenching his eyes shut and inhaling deeply like he was trying to control so urge to do sothing. It only made Nova’s thighs tense, reminding her of last night and how things had beco so heated.
Yoa was right to stop it, though, even if, at first, it was because he worried he’d hurt her. The big hunk of a man was actually so sweet at heart. It reminded her of Bruce, minus the part where she was almost salivating at the lips because of Yoa’s hotness. Nova’s heart squeezed tightly at the last mory she had of Bruce.
It was highly likely that he was dead. It was also highly possible that Chad died as well. That brought a damper to her mood. There was also a small voice in the back of her mind, telling her she should be sadder than this, sobbing, really. She’d been with the man for two years, and she did love him... didn’t she?
She’d said the words. They both did. But was it so sort of surface love? Not deep. Had she not been in love with him? Or was it because the last monts she’d been with Chad had been probably the worst in their ti together? That shouldn’t erase the good tis, though.
Chad might be dead, and it did make her heart sink. But she wasn’t here sniffling about it. Maybe when she returns ho, it will hit her properly? Like being away from ho when on holiday, she doesn’t miss the apartnt, but once she is in the comfort of her own ho, sothing comforting settles over her.
That was possible. Nova internally shook her head. She didn’t want to think about any of that. Right now she was following Yoa through the passageways and from the way his muscles were tense, he too, was lost in thoughts of a different nature and not about what almost could have happened between them the night before.
As they ventured under the glow worms still casting an eery blue light over them, their faces cast in shadows and blue lighting, Yoa finally broke the silence again, his thoughts already on the short journey to the lake and although it wasn’t far from his hideout, anything could happen.
"The Silver Feather tribe has eyes and ears almost everywhere. This hideout is safe, but Vulcan caused trouble yesterday after almost taking you last ti. You said the eagles followed you from the lake... they might be keeping it under watch." Yoa was all business now as he focused on the task ahead. Nova could see it from the furrowed brow, set jaw and sudden tension between his broad shoulders. "They control the skies. Vulcan had figured out that you are still around. So we will need to sneak around, stay out of sight and be quiet."
Nova nodded. Yoa paused by the rock that would move aside for them and looked back at Nova, hands clamping down on her shoulders. "Do you understand? Be quiet. I will carry you." Nova started to part her lips in argunt, but he continued, his voice steely and commanding. "Listen to , Nova.
Then his lips quirked up in amusent, those golden eyes swirling and twinkling as he mused, "Your stubbornness is cute, but not right now. We both know you like it."
Nova’s lips parted and clamped shut, pouting and blushing at the sa ti. But their lighthearted mont fell away as his features hardened again. "If you need to speak to , whisper. But try not to speak if you can."
Nova nodded, pushing her shoulders back as though readying herself for what was to co. Yoa’s seriousness and behaviour radiated off him in small waves, and she matched his energy.
"Fortunately, nobody dares to rest around the Sacred Lands. Not even the birds. We will use that to our advantage," Yoa explained as he crouched slightly, extending his arm for Nova.
Climbing onto his arm and hooking her arm around his neck, ignoring the tingling sensation of their skin touching, Nova asked before she couldn’t speak again. "Why is that? What makes them Sacred?"
Yoa stared down at her, their faces closer together but not like the night before. He refrained from looking at her lips. "The tribes use it for rituals. The lake and the Sacred Lands contain powerful energy. Many sacrifices have been made there, but it has been a hundred cycles of the sun and moon since they used their tribesman to appease the gods."
A shiver ran down Nova’s spine, and she gulped. These people didn’t ss around, and a hundred cycles of the sun and moon were still too soon for her. Sohow, she could also understand certain terms, like the language she could suddenly understand, and Nova didn’t bother trying to figure it all out. She could understand, and that was that. A hundred cycles of the sun and moon was one century.
Yoa’s hand instinctively stroked her thigh, a comforting gesture after seeing her shiver. "Nobody is sacrificing you, little mouse," he smirked, trying to lighten the mood again.
Nova nodded, smiling a little, though it was forced. She focused on Yoa’s hand on her thigh instead. The sensation both tingling along her skin, heightening this tension between them, yet it was also soothing. "Even if they did try to sacrifice , you’d protect , right?" Nova whispered jokingly, though searching Yoa’s eyes for clarity.
Yoa’s eyes burned into hers, a fierceness settling over his features. "Nobody would dare touch you so long as you are with . If they do..." His voice was a low growl, backed by a ferociousness Nova didn’t expect. "Their screams would be the only thing this island can hear for days."
Another shiver tickled down Nova’s spine. It wasn’t in fear. She didn’t know what this sensation was. This fierceness and protectiveness from Yoa stirred sothing in her. Every word he spoke was never just empty. If Yoa said he’d do sothing, then he will.
Yoa noted her shiver. "Does that frighten you?" He searched her eyes.
Nova nodded, and Yoa’s brows furrowed, glancing away, face hardening. "You don’t scare ," Nova explained quietly, his head whipped back to look at her, brows still furrowed, trying to read her aning. "No one has ever said they’d torture another for before..." She murmured, processing that fact and how she really wasn’t scared by what Yoa said. That was what scared her. How quickly she seed to be... accepting of such things. "It’s intense."
Yoa was intense, and she couldn’t deny disliking any of this.
Yoa watched her expression, listening to her racing heart. He did not sll the scent of fear or hear a lie from those sensual lips. His gaze lingered on them and then road back to her eyes, those eyes that could reflect back the stars in the brightest of seas. "I’m intense," he said, his voice gravelly as they stared at each other, the silence thick with unspoken words.
"Yes, you are," Nova whispered, gulping at the sudden dryness in her throat.
Yoa broke the rising heated tension between them and looked back at the rock. With a fist, he smacked it a little too aggressively on the rock like he was releasing the restlessness coiling in his soul. "Rember, quiet, like a mouse," he mused, lip curling into a smirk before it dropped, and his expression hardened with the focus of a man on a mission.
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