Chapter 14 Willow #2
Hawk makes the climb just as easily as Bo did. Clearly, carrying me didn’t hold him back at all. When we get to the top, Bo lifts me from Hawk’s back and sets me down inside the cave, away from the edge, as Ronan starts to climb up to join us.
“Whoa,” I whisper when I finally take a look inside.
It’s much deeper than I thought. I assumed it’d be similar to the other ones we’d stayed in.
This one has a small section that we’re currently standing in, almost like the cave’s lobby.
In the back is a short open doorway to a large cave, or rather, a cavern.
Bo holds my hand and guides me through, and my mouth drops open as I look around the large space.
The ceiling is at least thirty to fifty feet above us and even has an opening at least five feet wide, meaning we can have a fire in here.
There’s water gently trickling in from a small gap in the wall into a small stream that runs through a small section at the back of the cave.
Hopefully, that’s drinkable. It drips into a large pool of water that’s more than big enough for us all to swim in.
But the best part is the other, smaller pool of water. Steam rises from it, making it look incredibly relaxing to sit in, assuming it’s not too hot.
There’s no greenery in here. The entire cave is made of different types of stone, but it still feels like a little slice of safety from the outside.
“This is perfect,” Bo says, scanning the cave.
Ronan dips his head in agreement. “Yes, this should work well. Bo, do you want to hunt something for dinner? Hawk and I will start setting traps at the entrance so we don’t have to constantly stand guard.”
“I’m on it,” Bo says before turning to me.
His blue eyes bore into mine, his lips pressing together in a tight line like he wants to say something.
Then he spins on his heel and exits the cave.
I have no idea why he was looking at me so intently, but as soon as he’s out of sight, I feel a strange tightness in my chest.
I rub at it absently, as I watch the other two set down everything they’ve been carrying and start rummaging through their bags to pull out supplies. It bothers me that they are always taking care of me and I’m just sitting around, doing nothing.
“Can I help?” I ask, but Ronan shakes his head.
“You can relax. We’ve got this.”
My shoulders slump as I turn to the cave.
There must be something I can do? When Bo returns, we’re going to need a fire to cook the meat.
There’s no wood in here, but there are rocks.
I could create a circle for the fire pit.
I find an area with a bunch of smaller rocks, one's small enough that I can pick up, and start bringing them all to a spot in the middle of the cave, right beneath the opening way up above. After I’ve made the circle, I glance at Ronan and Hawk and see they are still busy creating some sort of contraption at the entrance.
I decide to look at our supplies, and when I find our water canteens, I decide to fill them up, pulling the straps over my shoulders and carrying them to the small stream. The trickle of water isn’t that fast, so it takes me a few minutes to fill all four of them.
After setting them near the fire, I walk over to the pool of water, the one without steam. I bend down and dip my finger in. It’s cool, but not freezing. Definitely suitable for bathing.
That reminds me that we left our homemade leaf coverings back at the last cave. Although we don’t have to contend with wet clothing, if we want to go in the water, we will need something else to wear.
“Would you like to go for a swim?” Hawk asks as I stand up. “I can take you in, if you wish.”
“Oh, I, uh, just realized we left our other outfits back at the last cave.”
He shakes his head. “The others packed them while you were relieving yourself.”
“Oh! That’s good. We can use those to swim in.” I glance down at his leather coverings before adding, “Or sleep in.” That thought has me wondering what they normally wear to sleep in at home. “What do you usually wear as pajamas?” I ask him.
“Pajamas?” he asks with a frown. “What’s that?”
I guess they don’t have that word here. “The clothing you wear to sleep in.”
“Ohhh,” he says with a nod of understanding. “We sleep naked.”
My eyes widen and my mouth goes dry as I try to picture that. “You sleep naked. Together?”
Shaking his head, he explains. “No, we each have our own bed.”
“How does that work then? With a mate? Does she rotate?” I ask, feeling a little bold since he doesn’t seem to mind my questions.
“Once we’re officially together, we would share a large bed, all four of us.”
I nod, picturing the three of them surrounding me in a giant bed, naked. “Is that normal?” I ask. “Sleeping naked?”
He shakes his head again. “I don’t think so, not on the mainland, anyway. But that reminds me, Ronan told me he found something in the supply crate for you.”
I follow him over to their packs, and he rummages through one until he pulls out some soft pink fabric. When he holds it up properly, I see it’s a simple slip, with spaghetti straps and a very short hemline.
“I think this is for you to sleep in,” he says in his usual stoic, husky voice.
“That will be much better than wearing this thing,” I say, plucking at the neckline of my dress. It feels dirty and heavy, and I’m pleased I chose the simplest dress I could find when I put this thing on for the first time. “Thank you.”
He carefully folds it up and places it back in his bag as he asks, “Would you like to go for a swim now?”
I glance at my empty firepit. “Shouldn’t I help with the fire?”
“Ronan is grabbing wood right now. We can’t do anything without it, and when he returns, he can build the fire.”
So Bo is hunting. Ronan is on fire duty… I glance up at Hawk. “So you’re stuck with babysitting me?”
His hazel eyes spark with something that sends my belly aflutter. “Watching you is the greatest task I could have.”
I bite my lip, and he turns to his bags again, pulling out a bundle of leaves. “How about that swim?”
I take the bundle from him and look around for a private place to change.
“Come here,” he says, gesturing for me to follow him along the front wall toward the corner.
Near the end, a rock juts out from the wall about three feet; it’s taller than Ronan, resulting in the very corner of the cavern being blocked off from the rest of the space, unless you’re standing right in line with the gap to see in.
“You can use this as your changing room while we’re here.”
“It’s perfect, thank you,” I tell him, feeling happy there’s some sort of privacy here.
“I’m going to change by our bags. I’ll meet you over by the water.” I nod, and he leaves me on my own. I don’t waste time, quickly removing my dress and foot coverings and putting on my leaf bikini. I forgot how little it covers, and feel nervous as I step out of my hidey-hole.
Hawk is already walking toward the water but stops short when he sees me, his eyes widening as they trail up and down my body. I drop my gaze as I wrap my arms around myself and step up to his side to stare down at the water.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers after a minute of silence. “You’re just so beautiful, it’s hard not to stare.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, when what I really want to say is ‘so are you.’
I don’t know why I feel so nervous, but when Hawk holds out his hand for mine, that simple action sends my heart racing.
These men are everything I never knew I wanted: protective, loyal, caring, and gentle, and I worry that if I give in to that thing inside me that’s telling me to trust them, to give myself to them, then I’ll never be able to tear myself away, and I’ll never see my sister again.
And as I stare down at his hand, I ponder the impossible question: what if finding my sister means losing out on love?