CHAPTER 12: WHISPERS IN THE DAWN

Xitllali De La Rosa 

The world vanished. The kiss was hard, desperate, and filled with two years of buried feelings and pain.

His lips were warm against mine.

A helpless gasp escaped my throat, and for one terrifying second, my body completely betrayed me.

My heart flared with wild heat, and my fingers gripped his bare shoulder as I kissed him back, letting the familiar feeling pull me under.

He let out a low growl against my lips, his grip on my neck tightening as he pulled me closer against his chest.

The heat between us brought me crashing back to reality.

No.

Panic filled my chest. I placed both hands against his chest and pushed him back with all the strength left in my arms, breaking the kiss.

"Guillermo... no!" I gasped, my breath coming in rough breaths as my lips burned from his touch.

He stopped, his chest rising and falling heavily, his hazel eyes dark with desire.

"We aren't doing this," I whispered, my voice shaking with anger at him and at myself. "I'm fixing your arm so you don't bleed out. That's all this is. Don't touch me like that again."

He looked at me for a long moment. I could still see the fire in his eyes, but he didn't force me.

Slowly, he lowered his hands to his sides. "Okay," he whispered. "Okay."

I quickly finished wrapping a fresh piece of clean cloth around his shoulder and tied it tightly.

When I stepped back, he stood from the cot, grabbed the heavy wool blanket at the foot of the cot, and gently wrapped it around my shoulders. His hands stayed on the blanket for a second before he let go.

"Take the cot, Xitllali," he said softly, his voice low and firm. "You're not sleeping on the floor."

"Guillermo, you're injured..."

"I'm fine," he interrupted quietly. "Go to sleep. You need to rest."

He walked to the far corner near the wooden door and sat down on the cold floorboards, resting his back against the wall.

I pulled the blanket around myself and lay down on the cot, watching his broad shadow in the dim light until my eyes grew heavy.

2:00 AM

The fire in my dream was deafening.

I was back in my room in Guadalajara. Glass shattered all around me as flames climbed the walls, turning everything black.

Through the smoke, a shadow stepped forward, holding a rifle to my forehead. I turned to call for help, but Guillermo was lying on the ground in a pool of dark blood, his eyes wide and lifeless.

"Guillermo!" I screamed, but no sound came out.

"Xitllali!"

My eyes flew open with a gasp. Cold sweat ran down my neck, and my chest heaved as I struggled to breathe.

In the faint red glow of the dying fire, Guillermo was kneeling beside my cot on the floorboards. His hands rested open on his knees so he wouldn't scare me, and his face was filled with concern.

"Hey," he whispered softly. "Breathe. Look at me, mi vida. Look at my eyes."

I clutched the wool blanket to my chest, my hands trembling. "I thought..." My voice cracked. "You were dead and I... I thought I was going to die."

He looked down at me, his eyes filled with deep emotion. He placed his uninjured arm against the cot beside me, keeping me between his body and the wall.

"Nothing is going to happen to you while I'm breathing," he whispered. "Go back to sleep, Xitllali. I'll stay right here."

I pulled the blanket up to my chin and closed my eyes. He stayed sitting on the floor beside my cot.

Suddenly, a loud snap came from outside the cabin window.

It was the sound of a dry pine branch breaking under the heel of a heavy boot.

I froze under my blanket, my heart dropping into my stomach. In the darkness, Guillermo's hand immediately moved toward the floor, his fingers closing around a nearby piece of wood before I could even take a breath.

He didn't make a sound as he rose from the wooden floorboards.

His movements were quiet and careful. He held the wood low against his thigh and moved toward the narrow wooden shutter near the fireplace, his dark eyes fixed on the cracked wood.

I held my breath, my whole body was completely stiff.

Guillermo pressed his back against the timber wall and looked through a small gap in the shutter.

Ten long seconds passed.

Slowly, he relaxed his shoulders and lowered the wood. He looked back at me through the darkness and gave a small shake of his head.

"It's just a mountain deer," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "It was passing through the trees."

A huge wave of relief washed over me, and I let out a long, shaky breath as I sank back onto the cot. But even as my heart slowed, the reality of our situation settled over the small room again.

I pulled the blanket up to my chin and closed my eyes. Guillermo stayed beside my cot, keeping watch as I slowly drifted back to sleep.