Fates Fulfilled: Halven Rising

Lex rose the next day and felt a jolt of energy she hadn’t yesterday. She’d been eating more, and maybe that was the explanation. No matter what, she was determined to keep up with the guys today.

She stretched her arms above her head, and her back cracked like an eighty-year-old’s. A whiff of something less than pleasant crossed her nose.

She lifted her arm and sniffed her armpit. “Oh, that’s bad.”

Garrin looked up from packing their rations into the pack he carried. “What’s bad?”

“Aren’t you guys dying without a shower?”

“We’re used to our own smell,” Zirel said before ducking out of the igloo to join Amund outside.

“That’s because you don’t smell,” she called out, annoyed.

It had been several weeks, and her hair felt like butter had been smoothed down it. She needed a bath.

Garrin stopped what he was doing and stared. “You wish to bathe? We are on a frozen mountaintop,” he pointed out unnecessarily.

She shifted her feet, her breath visible in the frigid air. “I know, but the need to bathe is battling with the cold in terms of discomfort. How is it that Fae don’t have body odor?”

He lifted his eyebrow. “You do not smell.”

What was he talking about? She could smell herself!

She shook her head and went to leave the igloo. “Never mind.” It wasn’t like she expected him to do anything. They had their hands full trying to stay warm and sleeping in a Fae-made igloo without food or running water. Of course there was no way to take a bath.

Garrin caught her arm before she passed. “Wait a moment.” She looked up, and his gaze appeared hesitant. “I can offer you a shower, but I can’t guarantee you’ll be warm.”

She blinked in surprise. “How cold are we talking? Because if I get any colder, I might pass out.”

“I can warm the water—”

She held up her hand. “You can give me a shower and warm water?”

“It will not be a long shower. A minute and then you must put on your clothes. And it will delay us.”

The idea of getting naked in a freezing igloo did not appeal—until he’d mentioned warm water.

Thus far, Garrin had only given her cold water to drink. “If it’s only a minute and I dress quickly, I’m up for trying it. But you really expect me to undress?”

“Is there another way to shower?”

Good point.

What if this was her last luxury in life?

It turned out taking even a cold shower ranked high when things like food and proper shelter weren’t an option. “Okay, what do I need to do?”

Without a word, Garrin created an ice partition between him and Lex inside the igloo. It was about six inches deep and six feet high, and if she stood on her tiptoes, she could see his face.

“Undress,” he said, and a shiver ran down her spine.

That word spoken from his lips was distracting.

Was she really doing this? Getting naked in front of Garrin? True, he couldn’t see her through the foggy partition, and Zirel and Amund were out somewhere taking their morning constitutional, but… “No peeking.”

He made a sound in the back of his throat. “I assure you, I am capable of controlling myself.”

Lex frowned. Did he have to make it sound so easy?

“Fine.” She stripped off her clothes rapid-fire, tossed them over the partition—and thought she might turn into an ice cube on the spot.

Her teeth chattered and her body shivered uncontrollably, the snow beneath her feet burning, it was so cold. “This was a bad idea. I can’t do it. Too cold,” she said, but before she got out the last word, a rain of warm water drizzled on her head.

“Aah.” She reached up and rubbed the heated water into her hair and down her body, trying to soak up the warmth. “More!”

More warm water poured down her, and when she looked up, she saw that it was coming from the ceiling. Garrin was melting the igloo on top of her head.

Lex ran her hands through her damp hair and squeezed out whatever she could to clean it, and then he handed her what looked like a snowball. “You said you wouldn’t peek!”

“I’m not looking. That is to wash yourself.”

She stared at the snowball. “What, like an ice loofa?” She tossed it from hand to hand—the thing was cold, and her bare hands weren’t happy.

“I do not know what a loofa is. The shaved ice will melt quickly under the water, but it can be used to clean before it melts.”

She rubbed the ice under her arms and down her body, shaking and shivering at the warmth from above and the cold in her hands. “Okay, I’m done.” Even with the warm water dripping on her, the snow under her feet was freezing and now slushy.

The water coming from above her head stopped. Just in time, too, because she could see the hazy blue-gray sky. Garrin handed her a small rag. “Dry off with this first.”

She did as he said, and he handed her clothes piece by piece so they didn’t sit in the snow while she dressed.

Lex hurried around the partition and hopped on her bare feet. “Cold, cold. Shoes.”

But instead of handing over her shoes, Garrin picked her up.

“What are you doing?”

“Keeping you warm,” he said, and sank onto the blanket they’d slept on, with Lex in his lap.

The blanket was made of the same material their coats were and stayed dry on top of the snow.

He opened his coat and wrapped it around her, which put her flush with his superheated chest.

She felt the ridges of his muscles through the thick knit tunic he wore and cuddled into him, tucking up her bared feet.

“You’ll need to put on your boots,” he said.

“Can’t,” she said without moving. “Too cold, and you’re warm.”

He rubbed his hands in her hair, his fingers sifting through it and massaging her scalp.

“What are you doing?” she said, because his hands were like heating pads. She closed her eyes, and an uncontrolled hum of pleasure came from the back of her throat.

“Drying your hair.”

And somehow that seemed totally normal, a guy drying her hair with his bare hands.

He must have decided her hair was dry enough, because he stopped after a minute or two, and Lex frowned.

She reluctantly reached for her socks and the thick boots they’d given her after she’d stopped panicking in the Land of Ice, careful not to dislodge herself from the Garrin cocoon. Once her boots were on, she gripped the edges of his coat and pulled them together until she couldn’t see out.

“We should leave, Lex.” She shook her head, and he sighed. “Much as I am enjoying holding you, we must leave and make up the time we lost.”

Did he really enjoy holding her? As much as she enjoyed being held by him?

“What would happen if we didn’t go?” Staying warm and cuddling with Garrin seemed more important for survival at the moment.

She felt his chin rest on the top of her head. “We are running out of food.”

Until he said that.