by Holly Rayner
When I finally felt the sand starting to firm up beneath my feet, and the prickles of dry but living grasses brushing against my ankles, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I kicked off my shoes to feel the damp sand, stripped off my ragged scrubs, and ran straight into the water in my underwear.
The oasis wasn’t too impressive: perhaps a few hundred feet long and a hundred feet wide, with a deep patch in the middle that was several shades darker. It gave off sparkles in the blinding sun that stabbed my eyes—so I closed them and dove in. The water closed over me, tepid from the hot day but blessedly cooling after hours in the heat.
I stayed under as long as I could before straightening and poking my head out of the water to gasp for air. I could feel the moisture healing my parched skin and cracked lips; my headache was starting to fade before I took any swallows. I whooped and sucked moist air until my sinuses stopped feeling dried-up, then dove under again.
When I came back up, I moved back to the shallows a little and looked to see what Vincenzo was doing. He was standing there at the edge of the water, blinking at me as he stared, his mouth slightly ajar. My clothes, bandage, and shoes were hanging from his hands.
I looked down at myself, all wet, exposed skin save for my clinging underwear, and froze for just a moment. …Oh. Oh, boy. What did I just do?
But then I just decided to play it off as normal, to keep myself from falling apart in embarrassment. “What are you staring at? Leave the clothes aside and come in before you dry up like a raisin.”
He blinked and scoffed in surprise before setting my shoes down and laying my clothes on top of them. “Well, when you put it that way…”
I laughed and ducked under the water again, swimming out to the deep, cool spot at the very middle of the oasis. It was deep enough there that I could tread water without my feet brushing the sand.
I couldn’t feel the wound at all anymore, but I knew I needed to get out and clean it fairly soon to keep the scab from softening and falling off prematurely. My legs were still hurting some from the walk in the heat, but now that the sweat was washed off, I had enough to drink, and my temperature was down, the pain was all going away.
I heard a splash behind me and knew that Vincenzo had joined me. I kept swimming, giving him a moment to settle in before I turned around.
He was in up to his neck as well, beads of water glittering in his hair, smiling as he tread water perhaps ten feet away. “Well, when you’re right, you’re right,” he chuckled.
I looked past him and saw his clothes piled neatly next to mine.
We swam a little while and splashed each other playfully. As Vincenzo soaked happily in the deep middle, he sighed. “How I wish that we were simply on a beach somewhere, without a care in the world.”
“Yeah,” I retorted with only a little snark in my voice. “Well, I wish we had a beach house to go back to, instead of the desert all around and armed men after us.” I looked around and sighed. “But God, am I glad we found this place.”
The mention of our circumstances seemed to pull him back to reality. “As am I,” he said softly. “We’ll need to move on soon. I’ll get out first and keep watch. You stay in a minute and cool off.”
I wanted to stay there until the sun set and this brutal heat went away, but I knew better than to suggest it. If that insurgent commander was as smart as Vincenzo suspected, he would check oases along with villages.
“How many more hours do we have until dusk?” I asked as he started walking out of the water. But then the sight of him emerging stole my breath, and I forgot what I was going to say once he answered me.
He had stripped down to a pair of black boxer briefs, which clung to him as he stepped from the water. His whole sleek, hard body was exposed and gleaming save for what the briefs barely covered, muscles flexing under smooth, tanned skin and water rolling off every perfect curve and angle of him. Staring at him, I forgot to breathe until my lungs started to burn, then sucked air as quietly as I could.
I couldn’t remember when I had laid eyes on a half-naked man who wasn’t a patient, especially one who was this beautiful. As he bent down to retrieve his clothes, my mouth went dry again for the first time since I had gotten into the water.
Shut up, crush, this is not the time. We’re still technically running for our lives.
But I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him no matter how hard I tried.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, as he started pulling his pants up, he looked back and caught me staring.
Oh, crap! I thought as my cheeks burned from embarrassment.
I quickly tore my gaze away, but Vincenzo didn’t say a thing. When I looked back, he was smiling a little as he calmly went about his business.
Once he had his pants on, he walked away from my pile of clothes, keeping his back to me as he buttoned his shirt and tucked it in. Reluctantly, I got out of the water and walked to my clothes, carefully laying the bandage aside until I had a chance to tend the scabbed-over wound. I was less concerned about infection with the scab in place, but I wanted to keep things as clean and well-tended as possible.
I pulled my clothes back on over my wet underwear, pulled on my ankle socks, and put on my shoes. I checked the bandage and shook off a few grains of sand.
Vincenzo came over and heel-sat to examine the scab while he stood there. He rinsed sand from around the wound and retied my bandage. “There we are,” he said, straightening. “Looks better, and I doubt that swim had the chance to contaminate anything.”
“Good.” I watched him refill the water flask he had taken from the cottage and sighed, gazing out longingly over the oasis. I wanted to stay.
But we still had a very, very long way to go.
Chapter 20
Rose
The terrain got rockier the further north we went, until we were walking on firm ground again and stone outcroppings dotted the landscape. Now and again we caught small signs of civilization: a set of tire tracks leading out to a distant but forgotten-looking quarry, a dug-out clay pit, another abandoned village, this one half-buried in sand. There was something even lonelier about these small remnants: reminders that people had been here once, lived and loved, but had lost their homes and livelihoods to this drawn-out war.
Finally, the dunes gave way almost completely, replaced by low, scrubby hills and expanses of dry, cracked earth. The heat had gotten worse again, and I was starting to dry out. I very much wanted to drink from the water flask, but we had skipped a step when gathering it—one which was on my mind now that I had impulsively drunk from the oasis.
I shouldn’t have done that, thirsty as heck or not. It’s probably fine, but with contaminated water, it’s fine until it’s not. I’ll need to remember to take better precautions next time I drink from anywhere but town water.
Hours into the walk, though, I felt fine except for the heat and thirst. My stomach was simply hungry, not nauseated or queasy. As we picked our way through the boulders, dormant trees and dry brush, I found myself preoccupied with wondering what Karla would think of this whole situation.
If you’re watching, Karla, you probably find this whole thing very amusing. Here I am, running away from kidnappers in the company of the biggest crush I’ve ever had: an actual crown prince of a country I’ve barely heard of. Did I mention I stripped down in front of him without even thinking about it, and then got caught staring at him after he did the same?
It had been a wild few days. Yvonne and the others would probably hang on my every word when I told the story after we got back. But in the meantime, I had to focus on surviving—and that meant no more mistakes.
Vincenzo stopped short suddenly; I did as well, turning to look at him. “What is it?”
“Found another resting spot, I think.” He pointed out a rocky outcrop, larger than the ones around it, about a quarter-mile from us. I shaded my eyes and looked where he was pointing, and saw the dark hole of a cave partway up its side.
“Oh wow. That looks pretty big. Think they c
an notice it from the road?” I hadn’t even seen the road all day. I wondered if the sandstorm had covered it over, or if we were simply far enough off that we could no longer catch a glimpse of it. I was all right with that now that I trusted Vincenzo knew where he was going. If we couldn’t see the road, drivers on the road couldn’t see us.
“I doubt it. It’s too far off.” He took my hand again and we made for it, the shade of the cave looking more and more inviting the closer we got to it.
There was no sign of anyone around. When we reached it and peered inside, there was no movement. We were alone, and the interior of the cave was wonderfully cool and surprisingly damp. I felt myself relax as we moved into the dark space.
“Ah, this is lovely.” Vincenzo led the way, looking around. The floor was fairly level, sloping downward toward the back, where I could see a set of stalactites dripping water slowly and steadily.
I paused and listened, and heard them dripping into what sounded like a larger pool. “I think I found us more water,” I said quietly. “Give me a moment.”
I walked further into the cave and down the little slope. There I saw a bowl-shaped depression filled with cool water lying just beneath the cluster of stalactites. I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of it.
“Hey, I need the cooking pot.”
Vincenzo brought it over, and I filled it from the pool. Instead of drinking out of it, I walked back near the front of the cave and set it down, then went outside to gather some of the dry brush near the entrance. That done, I started putting together a small fire around and under the cooking pot.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Making this water safe to drink. Same thing I should have done back at the oasis, but the heat had me too impatient.” I lit the bits of wood with one of the matches and moved back, letting the fire catch and start heating the water.
Vincenzo watched with interest as I worked. “Where did you learn that?” he asked softly.
“Girl Scouts, believe it or not. They taught me you should always boil water first to kill the bacteria.” Too bad I hadn’t remembered that at the oasis. But then again…I had been soaking in that water too, and I must have gotten it in my eyes and ears. Oh well. At least I’m not compounding the error. “We’ll need to sterilize what’s in the flask too.”
“Of course. I’ll cook up some of the rice while I’m at it, neither of us has had a proper meal since before dawn.”
It took a while for the boiled water to cool, even in the depths of the cave—which went well beyond the tiny pond, I noticed. We each drank half, and then Vincenzo used the flask water for the rice. Finally, hydrated, cooled, bellies full, we sat against the cave wall relaxing and contemplating the still-bright day beyond.
“You know…I think we could likely survive alone for good out here, provided we were together,” Vincenzo said.
I blushed so hard that I was suddenly glad it was dim. “Well, um, thank you.” I fidgeted a little, then got up. “I need to stretch my legs, and I want to see what’s at the back of the cave. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I felt his gaze on my back as I walked away, my cheeks still burning. My crush on him was getting more and more distracting, and I couldn’t even really address it right now. How could I while we were running for our lives in a wilderness? But…here it was, tugging at me anyway.
We’re all alone in this cave. But they could come by and search the cave. We caught each other looking back at the oasis. But that doesn’t mean we should jump into caveman-style sex. I’d like to admit that I like him. But I don’t even know if he can stay after this.
I walked slowly, distractedly, letting my eyes get used to the deepening dark as I explored the back of the cave. A few sleepy flutters and squeaks near the ceiling alerted me to the presence of bats. I moved on, following the cave wall around and back toward the way I came.
I was so distracted as I moved back into the brighter area of the cave that I didn’t notice something moving near my feet until I heard an irritated hiss right in front of me. I stopped short and looked down—immediately freezing in horror.
A rough-scaled snake the color of sand coiled warningly at my feet, its pointed head sporting two horns. It glared up at me, tightening its coils when I tried to move back. I froze again, wondering if I could call out for help without being struck.
Suddenly, without my hearing him move, Vincenzo was behind me.
“Stay still,” he warned in a very soft voice. “It will strike if you startle it. Just stand there, breathe deep and slow, and try to stay calm.”
Only sheer terror kept me from saying something very snarky right then. Breathing in nervous little sips, I nodded as he slowly, slowly crouched beside me.
What is he doing? I squashed a surge of panic. Hold still. Hold still.
“This is a horned viper. They are common around here. It probably came here for the water. They’re not aggressive if you don’t startle them, and they’re nocturnal, so they’re sluggish during the day.” His voice was barely above a whisper. The creature turned its head slowly to follow his movements; he stopped, hands raised slightly.
“Good to know,” I mumbled through numb lips as I stared into the creature’s slit eyes. Vincenzo might have claimed it wasn’t aggressive, but its little horned head had a permanent death glare that was freaking me out almost as much as its proximity. “But viper means venomous.”
“Er yes, absolutely. Not as bad as some snakes, as I understand it…” He stretched his hands forward a little more. The snake tightened its coils, hissing aggressively, and he stopped again. “Hold steady. Whichever one of us moves most is likely to be struck at.”
My knees trembled. I had never wanted more to jump away from something in my life, but I held out as seconds dragged past. Vincenzo stared at the snake with total focus, his brilliant eyes narrowed and his hands spread.
Suddenly, Vincenzo slapped the ground with his left hand. When the snake struck at where his hand had been, he used his right hand to grab it behind the head. The snake thrashed as Vincenzo turned, took three quick steps toward the cave mouth—and flung it out into the blinding day.
As I stared, the snake recovered and hastily side-wound off, headed for another outcropping. The danger was over.
I collapsed with shock and relief, and Vincenzo returned from the cave mouth just in time to catch me.
Chapter 21
Rose
Vincenzo caught me before my knees could hit the ground. His arms tightened around me, and I hugged back, burying my face in his shirt as I struggled to get past my delayed attack of nerves. I had come so close to just stepping on that thing and being bitten—while we were literally days from help. We might both have been medically trained, but I doubted Vincenzo for all his resourcefulness could whip up an antivenin with no lab equipment.
I couldn’t catch my breath. My heart was pounding like it was about to jump out of my chest. Maybe it was the buildup of everything that had happened, and I just couldn’t take another shock. But I was shaking even harder than when I had been caught in the explosion. Harder than when we had been kidnapped. That snake was just the last straw. But knowing that didn’t help the terror one bit.
Vincenzo held me, his warm hand rubbing up and down my back soothingly. “It’s all right,” he murmured in my ear. “It’s all right. It’s gone. It can’t hurt you. It’s over, sweetheart. Just breathe.”
I nodded faintly against his shoulder and tried, but every gulp of air felt thin and cold, almost valueless, like the air at the top of a mountain. My throat was too tight for me to speak, so I simply nodded a little and clung to him, listening to his heartbeat and his soft words, feeling his hand slide over my back.
As I slowly, slowly calmed down, I realized I didn’t really know what to do. How long had it been since someone had hugged me? Since Karla. That was the last time anyone had held me, comforted me. And before her?
Tears prickled my eyes; suddenly I was hugging him back eve
n harder, pathetically grateful. It was like I had been starved for six months and had been suddenly handed an apple. I sniffled, and his hand slid up over my hair, then down my neck and back again, so soothing that I almost collapsed into relieved weeping. I sniffled quietly.
“It’s gone,” he repeated softly. “It’s gone. You’ll be all right. I promise.”
Finally, I got control of myself again. Wiping my eyes hastily, I looked back up at him with a tiny smile.
“Thank you for saving me,” I murmured. “You…you really do live up to the whole heroic-prince thing really well. Without it…I would have been bitten for sure.”
Vincenzo smiled. “I’m happy to have been able to help.” His gaze was soft as he looked down at me, and he made no move to let me go.
My mouth went dry; I swallowed hard. “I would never have believed that any of this was real if it hadn’t happened right in front of me. Not the snake, not this wild adventure…and not you.”
His smile faded, but the tenderness in his expression only intensified. For a moment, he leaned a little closer to me; my heart started beating faster all over again as I felt his warm breath on my face. I trembled slightly, sure for a few seconds that he was going to kiss me. But then he blinked and moved back a little, shaking his head slightly as if shaking off a dream.
He let me go with seeming reluctance, moving away from me. “We should really get going. We can’t afford to stay in this cave through the night. We’re still too close to the insurgents’ outpost.” It came out sounding like an apology.
I sighed very softly, not sure if what I was feeling was relief or disappointment. Maybe a little of both. But the absence of his arms around me hurt a little as I straightened, nodding. “Okay.”
After boiling more water for the trip, we packed up and set out. I looked back at the cave longingly once, remembering its gentle enclosure as well as the warmth I had found in Vincenzo’s arms. If I hadn’t forgiven him for his secret getting us kidnapped before, I would have done so now.