With the blanket covering her entire body, the girl's face immediately got the young man's attention. Excluding the clear signs of dehydration and exhaustion, Rose had a beautiful face, especially with that small, slightly arching nose, which looked like a work of art.
The girl's placid chest movement indicated that she was still alive. Still, the heat ruling over that place had ruinously dried her lips, so Atlas gently brought the mouth of his flask closer to the parched, crack-filled skin and slowly dropped a few drops of water.
The girl was still unconscious, so after wetting her lips with some water, he moved her lower lip with the help of his thumb, letting that refreshing liquid drip inside.
"Mmm..."
The young woman's response was quick. Although unconscious, her lips, accompanied by the young man's trembling finger, as if screaming hysterically.
The water mutated by the Chaos Runes inside the Artifact was not ordinary water. In fact, it also provided an abundant influx of Chaos Energy.
"Mmm..."
Rose's eyebrows flickered slightly, but her eyelids remained closed, concealing her resplendent irises beneath.
'It's going to be a while before she manages to wake up... I'd love to get out of this damn place, but if she wakes up while I'm holding her, especially when there's only a thin layer of cotton separating us, I'm sure I'd make my situation much worse...'
It was a difficult choice, but risking going down for hours with her in his arms was too dangerous.
Moreover, potions could not solve anything in this case because the ones he had on hand could not cure the problem of fatigue.
Therefore, the only possible solution was to stay by her side and hydrate her slowly until she woke up.
A long wait awaited him, and it was not a very attractive prospect in that hellish place.
|||
The moon passed very quickly for the second time, and at the first light of dawn, the young woman's eyelids moved again, and from the way they moved, it seemed to be time for her awakening.
"Mmm..."
A faint groan escaped her throat, and her eyelids slowly opened, showing the beautiful blue irises concealed within them.
They were a deep brilliant blue resembling two sapphires, so attractive that the young man lost himself in that colorful world for a moment.
"Mmm..."
Atlas drew closer, but his actions agitated the girl, who tried to distance herself from him with all her might.
After all, it was a more than normal reaction considering the situation.
Atlas was no fool, and rather than insist, he spoke very softly: "Calm down... I have no bad intentions... if I wanted to act like a bastard, it would be too late, don't you think?"
Different from the young man's predictions, Rose acted very strangely.
Her eyes widened, and instead of backing away, she moved closer to him, crawling her body on the scorching ground with her back exposed.
"Hey... Calm down!"
Atlas did not understand the girl's actions. Although he wanted to see that lovely body once more, he took the blanket from the ground and wrapped it tightly around her, clumsily rubbing his fingers in some places that were better not to touch.
"Let's try not to make things worse... shall we?"
Atlas continued to speak with a serious expression on his face, although, in truth, his body was literally breaking a cold sweat and not from the hot air roaring around them.
Strangely enough, the young woman's actions did not subside, except for noticing a slight change in her eyes. Indeed, now that their bodies were closer, she laboriously raised her arm, bringing her soft hand toward Atlas's face.
The young man instinctively drew back his head, avoiding those delicate fingers that now looked like deadly claws, and then admonished her with an irritated expression: "Calm down... or else I'll go away and leave you here to die..."
Of course, his words were all lies, but he hoped so much that the threat would appease that treacherous assailant.
Unfortunately, Rose shook her head insistently and clutched at his armor, reaching her target instantly.
Even though Rose was still weak, Atlas was caught unprepared, probably too sure that his lie could stop that madwoman, and he felt a delicate, soft object lock his jaw.
The situation was also becoming increasingly critical because of how he could react against her if his task demanded to bring her home alive.
Atlas and Rose stared into each other's eyes for a while, and both saw some anger and fear in the eyes of the person in front of them.
Atlas was inflamed by her action and scared that that viper would have vented her anger on his face for seeing her naked, defenseless body.
Instead, what was going through the girl's mind was a mystery.
Initially, there was a brief moment of peace, but then Atlas unsheathed his canines and bit down with all his might on the soft palm that prevented him from speaking.
"Mmm..."
The bite had definitely caused a lot of pain to the girl, but after shedding a few tears, she fixed him with a ravenous gaze and shook her head, bringing her other index finger laboriously over her lips.
"Shhh..."
A faint hiss came out of her mouth, and Atlas finally realized what was happening.
In fact, it was pretty obvious, especially thinking back to what had happened just now.
Embarrassed, he calmed himself to avoid causing more trouble.
Seeing his response, Rose nodded in satisfaction and let go of his jaw, but first, she repeated the concept once more by emitting a much more faint hiss.
"Shhh..."
Atlas responded by nodding slightly and smiled embarrassedly at her.
Not a sound came out of either of them for a while and probably exhausted from her repeated actions, Rose laid her body on the young man's armor.
With that damned armor on, Rose's sensuous curves were perfectly sheltered by his body, and in the meanders of his mind, the young man could not help but criticize that damned object.
Perhaps it was also for this reason that the girl had such a relieved expression despite being in the clutches of a stranger.
A few minutes passed, and Rose finally lifted her head and looked scrupulously at the young boy's face inches from hers.
Atlas found it challenging to decipher what the girl was thinking from her expression, disfigured by fatigue, but the little calm that shone through her eyes reassured him.
If communicating with words was impossible, what could they do besides continue staring at each other for a long time?
Perhaps they could use their lips?
Well, it seemed like a good idea to the young man, so he began to move his mouth, constantly keeping the sound chained in his mind.
Rose had discerned his plan and stared intently at the boy's lips.
Unfortunately, perhaps because her body was too exhausted or for some other reason, the girl did not answer his question, in which she asked why they were silent.
Instead, she directed her gaze to the right and pointed with her index finger to a specific spot in the magma lake.
Initially, Atlas found no answer by staring at that spot. Still, in the long run, especially after noticing the steady pace at which the lava bubbled up, he immediately understood the reason for their silence.
He could not be sure, but it was very likely that hidden in that inferno was a treacherous monster who guarded its territory so that not even a little noise could escape his hearing.
Thinking of that nightmare so close to them, Atlas felt his body shudder and instinctively moved his right hand to summon his faithful companion, crawling over the young girl's slender body.
He did not even realize his actions, which was fortunate since Rose was ready to bite him in the throat for his bastard behavior if she noticed even the slightest change in his body that did not reflect his actions.
Atlas stared at the beast's hiding place for a long time, giving Rose time to appease her wrath.
The temperature was boiling hot, and the sweat tripled with their bodies so close together. Yet, even that inferno could not prevent the blanket from becoming soaked, slowly exposing the girl's stunning figure.
Fortunately for her, that idiot an inch from her body was so fixated on that lava lake that he missed even that mind-boggling sight.
For some reason, Rose felt safe in that fool's clutches and fell asleep in his arms once again.
|||