Chapter 20 #5
“You are.” Tavian agreed softly before pressing another kiss against the back of my shoulder.
Several quiet minutes passed with the waterfall rushing beyond the ferns and damp air moving across the edge of the blanket.
Tavian’s breathing gradually slowed against my back, but his hand never stopped its lazy path over my stomach.
“You smell like me now.” Tavian murmured eventually, satisfaction creeping back into his voice as he breathed near my hair.
“There he is.” I smiled, recognizing the smug edge returning to his tone.
“What?” Tavian asked as his thumb moved across my stomach again.
“The menace I recognize.” I told Tavian.
“I was here the whole time.” Tavian protested before pressing a kiss behind my ear and breathing in again. “Malek’s still there too.”
“What about him?” I asked Tavian, hearing curiosity rather than jealousy in his voice.
“I can still smell him on you.” Tavian nuzzled closer, taking inventory with absolutely no shame. “Mine’s stronger now.”
“You sound ridiculously pleased about that.” I observed as his purr grew louder behind me.
“I am.” Tavian answered without apology, tightening his arm loosely around my waist.
“I like both.” I admitted to Tavian as I rested my hand over his, the mixed cedar, citrus, and spice already beginning to feel familiar against my skin. His purr surged beneath my back.
“Do not make me regret saying that.” I warned Tavian when the vibration immediately became louder.
“I’m behaving.” Tavian promised into my shoulder, his mouth curving against my skin while he remained exactly where he was.
That was technically true enough that I let it go.
We stayed tangled together while his knot gradually softened, and when I eventually checked my watch, it was three twenty-nine.
We had enough time to clean ourselves up and make the return without rushing, but not enough that I wanted to waste much of it lying around.
“We’re good.” Tavian followed my glance toward the watch and checked the direction of the trail, already thinking about the return trip without needing to be reminded.
“We are.” I agreed with Tavian as I let myself stay against him for another minute, pleased that the schedule had become something he was helping me keep rather than something I had to defend.
Only after his knot had released did Tavian carefully ease away.
I felt steady until I tried to sit up and one thigh trembled enough to make me reconsider standing immediately.
“Give yourself a minute.” Tavian caught my forearm before I could push fully upright, his grip loose and supportive rather than trying to force me back down.
“I’m fine.” I assured Tavian while sitting back down anyway, stretching one leg carefully when the muscles protested enough to expose the lie.
“Your legs disagree.” Tavian glanced toward them, and the satisfaction crossing his face was impossible to miss.
“Do not start.” I warned Tavian before he could turn the look into one of the comments already gathering behind his teeth.
“I wasn’t going to.” Tavian lied as he reached for my water bottle instead, wisely choosing hydration over whatever joke had almost escaped him.
He uncapped it and handed it over, waiting until I had taken several long drinks before reaching for what remained of the lunch he had brought.
Tavian set the bundle between us, apparently deciding that if I wasn’t ready to stand yet, he could at least make sure I ate something.
“You really did bring enough food for the entire day.” I told Tavian after handing the bottle back, eyeing the remaining fruit and roasted meat while he rearranged the bundle between us.
“I told you I provide things.” Tavian reminded me as he offered another piece of fruit, looking far too satisfied to finally have evidence supporting his claim.
“Luca made half of it.” I reminded Tavian as I accepted the food and took a bite.
“I transported it through dangerous terrain.” Tavian rested one hand dramatically against his chest as though the hike had involved considerably more peril than the same route I had walked carrying thousands of dollars in camera equipment.
“You carried it in a bag.” I pointed out to Tavian, gesturing toward the small field pack lying beside the blanket.
“Exactly.” Tavian nodded solemnly, apparently deciding I had just strengthened his argument instead of destroying it.
I laughed and ate, letting the food, water, and a few minutes of rest settle me before I tried standing again.
Once my legs felt reliable, we cleaned up and started dressing.
Tavian found one of my socks beneath the angled root, where it had somehow escaped the rest of my clothing.
“Gift.” Tavian announced as he held the sock toward me with a perfectly straight face, pinching it delicately between two fingers like another valuable forest treasure.
“That is mine.” I stared at Tavian and held out my hand, wondering how he could possibly think this argument was going anywhere useful.
“I found it.” Tavian wiggled the sock slightly, his eyes brightening when he realized I wasn’t immediately amused by his logic.
“You are not giving me my own sock as a courtship gift.” I told Tavian firmly, keeping my hand extended while he continued considering the possibility.
“Still useful.” Tavian pointed out as he studied the sock as though usefulness alone might save his argument.
“Give me the sock.” I ordered Tavian, curling my fingers toward myself when he continued holding it just beyond reach.
Tavian surrendered it with a laugh, and I pulled it on before finishing the laces on my boots.
I repacked the blanket while he shook loose a few pieces of dried leaf stuck to one corner, then checked the camera body, verified both memory cards were secure, and made sure nothing had shifted inside the padded compartments before closing the bag.
Tavian reached toward the strap and stopped, his fingers hovering over the canvas rather than closing around it the way they had that morning. He looked at the bag and then at me, and the difference was small enough that I might have missed it if I hadn’t been paying attention.
“May I?” Tavian asked, his voice noticeably different from the exaggerated performance he had given at the station that morning. There was no joke waiting behind the question this time and no attempt to make asking sound ridiculous. He had remembered what I told him.
“Yes.” I answered Tavian as I lifted the strap from the rock and handed the camera bag to him.
Tavian took it with a pleased lift at the corner of his mouth and settled the strap across his shoulder.
His gaze dropped briefly toward the section he had scent-marked earlier, but he left it alone without being reminded.
We left the waterfall at three forty. The faster return pace was easier now that I wasn’t investigating every promising movement along the trail, although I still stopped when a motmot landed on a low branch with its long tail hanging cleanly against the darker vegetation.
Tavian checked the time, saw that we had room for it, and settled beside a tree without complaint while I took several frames.
I was reviewing the last photograph when a capuchin called down from somewhere above us.
Spotted one smells happy, the capuchin announced from behind a cluster of broad leaves, its voice reaching me from somewhere high enough that I couldn’t immediately locate it.
“What?” Tavian asked as he tipped his head back and searched the branches, his brows drawing together when the hidden animal remained out of sight.
“The capuchin says you smell happy.” I told Tavian as I lowered the camera slightly, looking up toward the leaves while he stopped beside me.
“I am.” Tavian answered without the slightest embarrassment, his easy expression proving the animal right.
Very loud happy, the capuchin added from its hidden perch before branches rustled somewhere above us. Tavian’s expression changed so quickly that I started laughing before he even found the animal.
“I can climb.” Tavian warned the capuchin as he pointed toward the shaking leaves, mock-threat entering his voice while my camera bag remained securely across his shoulder.
The capuchin vanished in a violent rustle of vegetation without bothering to answer, sending several leaves fluttering toward the forest floor.
“You threatened a monkey.” I told Tavian as we started walking again, still laughing while I stepped carefully over a root crossing the trail.
“I informed it of relevant information.” Tavian corrected me as he adjusted my camera bag across his shoulder, looking completely satisfied with the distinction.
“The relevant information being that you can chase it up a tree?” I asked Tavian while glancing toward the canopy where the capuchin had disappeared.
“It understood.” Tavian replied with a decisive nod before continuing along the trail, apparently considering the matter settled.
We reached the eastern fork a little after five.
Tavian had been keeping track of our pace for most of the return, checking the time whenever we passed a landmark he recognized without trying to hurry me over rough ground.
From there, the route toward the station became more familiar, and I knew we had enough time even with the slower sections ahead.
“We’re good.” Tavian glanced toward my watch as we moved onto the familiar trail, then looked through the trees in the direction of the station. “You’ll make six without having to rush.”
I turned toward him, unable to hide the smile that appeared when I realized he had been keeping track almost as closely as I had.
“What?” Tavian asked when he caught me watching him, adjusting my camera bag across his shoulder.
“You calculated it.” I told Tavian, nodding toward the watch he had just checked.
“I said I understood.” Tavian replied, a hint of defensiveness entering his voice as though he thought I might still doubt whether he had listened earlier.