Chapter 15:

He was absolutely correct when he said I wouldn't like the plan, considering he was going to essentially have to play the part of a dog pissing on something to claim it as theirs, but the alternative still sent a shiver down my spine just thinking about it. I lay back on my bedroll that I had placed as close to the fire as I dared, thinking back over everything he had told me.

Terrified seemed like far too mundane of a word to describe the feeling that coursed through my veins. Come to find out, he had spent the better part of over eight months sporadically throughout the last year at that camp, so the good news was that most of them should at least know and respect him, but when I asked him to explain a bit more about the whole female thing, he told me that they used to have them there. However, when the commander who now has control of the camp took control, he brought with him a far more merciless group of soldiers who essentially liked to treat women like toys. They were to be used, passed around, and cast aside whenever they liked. After he took over, all the women who had been sent there since were sold and traded between the men, and kept more like pets than people. Now, the only way to keep one in the camp was if you were scary enough to take on anyone else who wanted them, and on top of that, if I showed any type of backtalk or sass towards anyone, there was a good chance they would just outright kill me. The only good thing was that the vast majority of them would be gone all day long, and as long as I didn't do anything too out of line, I was relatively safe there as long as the soldiers weren't around, but when they were around, Xavier would be too.

I pulled at the tie that held my long auburn hair in the braid I had placed it in this morning as I watched the fire dance in front of me. I took a breath, knowing that there was no way I would be sleeping well until we were back at the academy, not knowing all of that.

The second day ended up going very similarly, but it was much colder on this leg of the journey. When we had stopped to water the dragons this time, I went off and changed into my winter leathers before coming back and climbing up onto Bane. Xavier was already sitting in his seat as he waited for me, having already come back from doing the same. He sat back, allowing me to step over him as I reclaimed my spot before we took off once more.

That night, when we stopped to make camp, I placed my bedroll as close to the fire as I could, but even as Bane lit the wood we had stacked, I shivered as I lay under the thick blanket. Even with all of my winter gear on, I was still freezing. I tried to curl in on myself as I ducked my head under the blanket, but nothing was helping. I looked up as I heard Xavier's boots crunching across the frosted grass as he came back from wherever he had gone off to. He wasn't even shivering, and he hadn't even pulled his cloak out, but then again, I guess if he spent that much time here last year, he was probably used to the temperatures.

He took one look at me as I tried to hide my own discomfort before coming over to kneel in front of me. "Let me see your arm." I gave him a questioning look for a moment before pulling my still-gloved hand out from under the blanket, holding it out to him. He pulled at the sleeve of my jacket, feeling the material they had lined it with on the inside, before cursing under his breath.

"What?" I asked as he let my arm go, and I quickly tucked it back under the covers with me.

"They issued you standard academy winter gear," he answered before getting up and going over to his bedroll that he had placed across the fire from mine. Was that supposed to mean something to me?

"Isn't that what I was supposed to get?" I asked as I watched him pick his bedroll up along with his bag before coming over and laying it back down right next to mine. "What are you doing?"

"I can go right back over there if you want and be perfectly fine while you freeze to death tonight if you would prefer," he said, raising one midnight eyebrow at me as I glared up at him.

Snuggling up with a sexy asshole, freezing to death, or spending the whole night shivering, at the very least, was a rather easy choice, but that still didn't mean I had to like it. "Someone must have rejected my order, considering you were supposed to get winter gear specifically for this region. It's thicker and much warmer, considering that the academy never actually drops below freezing like it does here. Therefore, you really only have one option if you actually want to survive this trip."

I sighed, but I wasn't about to tell him no. I just watched as he pulled his jacket off, leaving him in his long-sleeved undershirt and pants. As he lay behind me, I turned over to fully face the fire, but I still jumped slightly when his arm wrapped around my waist and gently tugged me back, tucking me against his large frame. My whole body went very stiff until my back was flush against his chest, and I felt just how warm he was. It only took a couple of moments for my body to override my mind, and I all but melted back against him as I fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up warm and so comfortable that I didn't even want to move. I burrowed in a little deeper under the covers only to feel my pillow breathe. That made my whole body freeze as I took inventory of exactly what, or rather who, I was using as my personal pillow as the events of last night slowly came back to me. Apparently, at some point while Xavier was "keeping me warm" last night, he had turned over onto his back, and I had turned over to where I was facing him because I was currently using his chest as my personal pillow, as one of his arms was wrapped around my waist, and flexed a little tighter as I shifted positions slightly. One of my legs had been thrown over his thigh as my other was stretched out under me. Essentially, I was half on top of the gorgeous man while he still slept, and he didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest. Hell, if the arm around my waist was any indication, I wasn't moving away from him even if I wanted to.

Accepting my fate, I tipped my chin up so I could look up at him, and couldn't help the small smile that pushed at the corners of my lips. He was always rather easy on the eyes, but in sleep, where all of his normally sharp, steely features were relaxed, he was downright breathtaking. He just looked so peaceful, nothing like the warrior I was getting used to.

"You know, some people consider it offensive to stare at them while they sleep." The deep, slightly rough tone made me jump slightly as I watched him crack those sharp eyes open, but even the normally stone-cold emerald was softened by sleep and seemed to almost melt into something molten as he looked down at me.

"Sorry," I whispered, ducking my head slightly to hide the heat that flared up in my cheeks at being caught, as I started to move away from him slightly.

His arm tightened around my waist once more before I could actually have the chance to pull away, holding me in place. "Relax, Ari. The dragons are still asleep, and you need to get as much rest here as you can before we get into that camp, considering there's no telling what's going to happen there."

"What, so you can get back at me and watch me sleep?" I teased, trying to keep the situation light, and not focus on the fact that he was actually holding me there against himself. When he grinned at me, though I couldn't help but to smile.

"Maybe so I can enjoy the last few hours of actual peace in decent silence before heading into that hellhole they call a camp." I just grinned a little wider at that. It wasn't his normally hard tone; it was far more playful at the moment, and like hell if I was going to waste a perfectly good opportunity like this.

"And you called me rude for looking at you while you slept?" He actually genuinely smiled at that, and my breath caught in my throat at the flash of those dimples, and perfect, white teeth showed for just a moment.

"I didn't call you rude, I said that some people find it offensive."

"And do you find it offensive?"

"It depends on who's looking." I raised an eyebrow at him, so this is how he wanted this to go.

"Do you find it offensive when I look at you while you sleep?"

"It depends on how you do it." I huffed, already starting to lose my patience with his little game as I glared up at him, but he just grinned at me, making it really hard to hold. "If you're just looking, not particularly, but if you're doing it with that cute little look that you think is a glare, then definitely not." I couldn't help the huff of laughter that fell from my lips as I shook my head at him.

"You're an ass."

"You're the one that asked." I just shook my head, but I couldn't help but to be happy as I just lay back down, completely at ease as he traced a lazy pattern over my side with the tips of his fingers.