Becoming Her Knight

Chapter Seven

They rested for a while under the stars while Finn gorged herself on berries and tried to stretch out her muscles without flashing Adi too much. By the time the moon was rising in the east, Finn was ready to start walking and Adi seemed to agree.

They were able to walk for maybe six hours before Adi started to stumble dangerously along the bank edging the river. Despite not running during their flight from the humans, going through shock like she had would have been draining and Finn suspected that she had saved all the berries for Finn. Finn had only seen her choke down half of one of those spicy roots, so she was probably running on empty.

After one particularly close call, where Finn only barely caught her by her upper arm before she tumbled into the water, Finn suggested that they hunker down for the rest of the night.

The moon had narrowed even further since the night before, barely a sliver of moon illuminating the night sky. The two young women crouched down side by side against the trunk of a tree leaning heavily toward the river. It was wide and twisted and starting to develop a hollow right in the center. In a few decades it would be a real shelter, but at that time it was more like a divot than a real hollow. Still, if they huddled close it would work to hide them from view and protect them from the wind.

"We should try to sleep if we can," Finn said quietly.

"Hm," Adi grunted in agreement, rubbing her upper arms to try and generate some warmth. If they had clothes, the temperature wouldn't have been a problem. Unfortunately, their bare skin wasn't up to maintaining their body heat in the chill of the night.

They sat in a tense silence for a long time. They were pressed together from shoulder to knee, but it wasn't enough to warm them. For her part, Finn was weighing the merits of offering to cuddle up to Adi to help keep her warm. Finn always felt cold anyway, so it was hard to ignore how every breeze went right through her and how the dampness of the river at their back made everything worse. She eventually decided that it would sound like a come on. After all, it was unlikely they would actually freeze. It was just the tail end of summer and the nip of fall had just begun to cool the air. Asking to cuddle would have been tilting her hand wouldn't it? Or, was she being too self conscious? They were still in a life or death situation even though they had managed to escape their captors.

In the end, Finn didn't have to make a decision. Adi was the one who gave one large shiver and then snuggled down much closer to Finn, tucking her face into Finn's shoulder. Taking the opportunity for what it was, Finn turned herself toward Adi, curling around her so that she could protect her from the cold as best she could. They ended up chest to chest, Adi's soft legs tossed over Finn's nicked up and tattooed thighs. Adi was so incredibly soft and warm in Finn's arms. Everything about her was soft and warm and smelled good like wood smoke. Her thighs were thick and squishy and shapely just like her chest, but her back was tough and muscled. Her hair was a nest of soft waves and curls and Finn happily buried the lower half of her face in it.

"Every time I think things can't get worse, they do," Adi muttered into Finn's collarbone. Her breath was a wash of warm air across Finn's chest.

Finn rubbed her chin on Adi's head and rolled that statement around in her head. She wondered if Adi wanted to share and bond. Finn could do that if that was what she wanted. She was not emotionally constipated, despite the best efforts of her father and brother. She could share. She could be brave. If the shivering naked girl curled against her chest could do so, certainly Finn could do the same.

"Nothing ever goes right for me," Finn offered in the shivering dark they were crouched in.

Adi sighed heavily and snuggled closer, telling Finn that she at least hadn't said the wrong thing.