Sun Catch Her (Book 1: Three Rivers Deep series) COMPLETE

Chapter Twenty-Nine | B

"Relax, little one," his honey-smooth tone hummed deep inside of me. "I'm not going to drop you. Look down there. See? Between the clouds? Everything is still where we left it."

"Clouds?" I gasped. My nails were probably leaving semi- circles in his back when a break in the dull white below gave a glimpse of treetops. "But we just left my shoes and your motorcycle back on the hillside!" I arbitrarily burst out, and then added, "and you can fly?"

"Before I could walk," he quipped. His hair was damp from the clouds and his scent smelled really good, enhanced, the farther up we were in the sky. "Gravitational manipulation, actually. I'm not as adept with it as a true gravity walker, but I've got control over myself and some limited influence on small-massed objects." He grinned at me when my eyes went wide with wonder. "How else did you suppose I got you out of the compromised building back in New Mexico? We certainly didn't use the front door."

Flying in the sky, people from another plane of reality, how many more things that were deemed impossible was I going to find out were real?

I folded myself a little more tightly against Micah when I looked around and realized the clouds were beginning to take on a gray pallor, one that grew more ominous the longer we sped on. The air became thick, substantial enough to give weight to my anxiety, and I put every ounce of concentration into trusting the hands holding me. He was my guardian. He wouldn't let anything hurt me, ever. But I couldn't help it when my heart gave a little leap as lightning flickered in the distance.

"Sorry about that. I'll keep my energy better contained," he apologized, closing his eyes.

A trembling I hadn't noticed in him before disappeared, leaving his face smooth and serene. The tension appeared to be directly connected to the sky, as the sky itself seemed to take a giant breath, relaxing.

"Just your presence can influence clouds to call up inclement weather?" I guessed.

"Yes. I didn't mean it just now; I was distracted," he said, opening his eyes to search my face.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. You are afraid of storms."

"I am..." But the smell afterward was different, amazing. Breathing it in, I enjoyed the sensation left inside me. "Your scent becomes enhanced up here. Though you always carry it with you, faintly."

"I carry the scent of what you are afraid of," Micah said, looking crushed.

I gripped the back of his shirt. "You smell good to me."

He made a sound of disbelief in the back of his throat. "I do?"

"Yes. I like your scent," I repeated without returning eye contact.

God, I shouldn't be telling him stuff like this, encouraging him. I loosened my grip on his shirt, hands shaking as I smoothed the fabric, and then went back to hugging him.

"I'm glad I don't scare you," he finally said, and I nodded. "You said so before, but it is hard not to think my nature doesn't bother you, as fearful as you are of the real thing." He looked off to the side then. The slightest hint of red rose in his neck. I was okay with him knowing the truth—that I was drawn to the way he smelled—but still, I shouldn't be saying such things. I curled my fingers against him. I'm too frail to be what you deserve.

With the clouds above and below us once again a serene white, I bit my lower lip as Micah inclined our forward progression to take us higher. We disappeared into the bottom of a thick cloudbank and I lost sight of everything. Only his touch against me remained. They said I would be stronger after my body adjusted to my new vitals, but even then, would that be enough?