MATE AND HIS LOVER 11

14. Safe And Sound

It's erotic. Kind of. Him and her in a dark cave while the sun is about to disappear any second now. Not before glowing some light on his ripped biceps that are churning out every ounce of energy they can muster to get the fire started. Helena admires everything, lying on her side with her head propped up on her elbow.

Ethan stops. It's tiring, even for himself. He would've given up long before if she wasn't watching him. How come the spark doesn't appear no matter how fast he rubs the sticks?

"No fire?" She asks, shaking her leg.

"Why don't you give it a try?"

She shakes her head. "You should try harder. Or we'll freeze to death."

Groaning, Ethan sits up and picks back up the sticks. He won't feel the cold. His werwolf body can remain warm even through a frosty night. But she'll need the fire.

The last rays of the sun reach his toes. Helena turns her head towards the cave's entrance. There's still some light outside, but she has a feeling it'll be a very dark night ahead.

She turns back to Ethan. Sweat glistens on his arms. Poor guy, she thinks.

"Stop," Helena says. Ethan stops. "I can't believe your camping skills are even worse than mine, Mortimer."

"It's the sticks," Ethan says, throwing them away. He gets up.

"Where are you going?"

"To get some sticks that'll fucking work," he says, reaching the entrance.

"Save the trouble, Mortimer, I got this," Helena says and snaps her fingers. A hearty flame burns over the firewoods.

Ethan's mouth gapes.

Helena turns up towards the ceiling and lies down fully. It's his fault for forgetting she's a witch. To be fair though, she does that too sometimes.

Ethan walks back in with clenched jaws. There's no point in asking her why she didn't do that earlier. It was to make him miserable, of course.

He sits down opposite her, across the fire. The cave begins to warm up. He takes off his coat, then looks at her. She might need it. No, he decides. He puts away the coat to his side. If she wants it, she'll have to ask.

"I'm hungry," she says, still staring at the ceiling.

"What?"

"You're not hungry?"

Ethan sighs. "Even a six-years old would be less fussier than you. I don't have any food with me."

"Hmmm," she says and closes her eyes. She'll just have to skip dinner tonight.

After a brief moment of hearing nothing but the fire's crackles, Helena hears him move. Then his footsteps, going away. She turns and stretches her head back. "Where are you going?"

But he's already gone.

She looks at where he was sitting. His coat is here. He'll come back then. Must've gone for a bathroom break.

She closes her eyes again, hoping sleep will come soon. Even though it's nice to be alone with him, she doesn't like anything else about tonight. Not the snow. Not the storm. Not the darkness. Nothing.

About ten minutes later she begins to wonder if he had really abandoned her. But there's no way she is going to leave the safety of the cave to look for him.

After five more minutes, she sits up angrily. "Mortimer!" She shouts. Where the hell did he go?

She looks at the fire. She can take away one of the woods for light. But she very much doesn't want to leave, and is relieved when she hears footsteps.

"Where did you go?" She asks as he comes in. There's a skinned and cleaned rabbit meat in his hand.

"You caught that?" Helena says.

"No, it fell from the sky." He uses the logs to build a platform above the fire and places the meat on it. He can eat it raw. But she won't like it.

"We don't have salt though," Helena whines.

See? Ethan thinks. Fussy. He takes out the herbs he picked on his way to the river. They are spice herbs. Once the meat is warm enough, he crushes the leaves and rubs them over the meat.

As soon as she smells the aroma, her mouth waters, and she scoots closer to the fire.

When the meat's done he tears away bite-size pieces and places one on a large leaf and gives it to her.

She blows off the heat and pops the whole piece into her mouth. It's surprisingly soft and tastier than she'd expected.

While still chewing, she goes for the second piece, but he blocks her hand. "Who's got better camping skills now?" He says.

She slaps away his hand and picks up the second piece. He wins. But she doesn't have to admit.

The two of them finish the food in a matter of minutes. "Water?" She says.

He gestures her to follow her, and so she does, but stops at the cave's mouth when she feels the chilly wind. She hugs herself. Ethan goes back in and returns with his coat that he puts over her. She quickly inserts her arms into the coat's and closes it around her chest. The cold is gone instantly.

They walk down to the river. The water is clear enough to consume. She scoops it up with cupped hands and drinks it.

Finally, dinner is over.

She looks around and realizes it isn't as dark as she had thought. The moon is bright.

They head back to the cave. Watching his back, she stops for a moment. Then bends down and rolls into her hand a snowball. She aims it at his head and throws.

Just in time, his head calmly moves out of its way.

Helena gasps. "How did you do that?"

He smiles while continuing to walk. She runs after him, but stops as soon as they hear an unearthly howl. She turns around in fear, her heart beating faster.

He goes to her and gently grabs her arm. "That's nothing," he says and takes her towards the cave.

Something about the tone of his voice makes her think that was not nothing.

Once they are inside, instead of the other side of the fire, Helena follows Ethan to his side. "What are you doing?" He asks.

"I'm sleeping next to you," she says and lies down.

Ethan thought the day has been very testing. But really, it'll be the night that'll truly test him now. He would've gone to the other side if it weren't for that scared face of hers he just saw before.

An arm away from her, he lies down. "It was just a howl," he says, "Even I howl in my wolf form."

But he's not the same as others, she thinks and closes her eyes. This time, with a full stomach, warm coat, and with a mate who can see from the back of his head, she begins to sleep feeling safe and sound.