Thread: Life's Journey (The_Gladiator & darkangel76)

Taurean could feel her obeying his command as her eyes met his, giving him her trust in those eyes. It was too dark to see the color of her eyes, however his still glowed with the warm red hews of his heat seeking sight. She cuddled close to him there was no real other way to describe it. In any other circumstance, this had the potential to be a very intimate position. He could feel the clamp of her bare thighs around his waist as she pressed her cheek into his neck. He wondered if she wore smallclothes, did she have an under garment? He told himself he wondered for her sake, so perhaps she was not so freezing under that gown, he told himself it had nothing to do with his own curiosity. This train of thought was only allowed to continue for a few heartbeats, an almost infinitesimal span of time before his control shut out such distracting irrelevant thoughts, they would deal with the fallout of hypothermia in due timeone calamity at a time. She lifted her head and he felt the full softness of her lips press to his. Again, one might wonder how he had any time to remember the small details like that, but as mentioned before it was strange the details that stuck out to you when your life was threatened. He didnt so much kiss her back as not turn away. It happened so quickly that she did not really give him a chance to react, and if she had kept up the kiss, let the heartbeats it lasted stretch into seconds his reaction might have been different. He felt the corners of his lips twitch so slightly upward, he doubted she could see it though. Whether the smile was from the kiss, or from her words, no one could say. Im not sure its Brigantia I should be praying to, something tells me my doing such could only make things worsesomeone that pure wants nothing to do with me. His words were a sardonic mutter as he swung his legs up and prepared to launch them into the current. As she tightened her grip, and indicated her readiness he let go with his hand and planting his booted feet on the rock shoved them out and into the current. He adjusted his body so he would cut through the water as best he could, hoping the added drag of rhonwhyn wouldnt hinder progress. Rhonwhyn could feel his every muscle tensed under her, in the position they were in, her feminine core was pressed to his abdomen, whose muscles were tight as a board, providing her a stable platform to lie against. He had opted to do this on his back, doing his best to keep her out of the water. Waves continued to splash over her, but for the most part she remained out of the water, save for her arms and legs. Taurean could sense the edge approaching, could feel the water becoming more shallow as they neared the edge, the water transforming from a deep channel to a wide fan of falls, the water running over a smooth lip of eroded stone, pounded by thousands and thousands of gallons of water. Taureans muscles tightened even farther. He would have one chance for this to work. He could feel his back slam into the rock bottom before the water tried to carry them up away from the rock ledge he desperately needed. He couldnt just let them flow head first over the falls on top of the water, he somehow needed to launch himself outward. Luck was with them as the wave they were riding crested and they were dropped again towards the bottom. Taurean took a deep breath and purposefully let himself go under the water, taking Rhonwhyn with him and sincerely hoping they would come up again. Taurean could feel the backs of his hands scraping over rock and then nothing. The nothing skimmed down his body. Shoulders, where the stone lip brushed Rhonwhyns hands. Then then down to where he had curled up his legs. Taureans entire body flexed with the shove as he slammed his boots down onto the rock lip changing their trajectory into out and down rather than just down. Suddenly they came free of the water, its pounding fury reduced to a wave of chilling mist. Taurean had to admit those first few seconds were frightening as he waited, holding his breath, waiting for the jagged rocks to tare through his body, and impaling him on their unyielding fury. However the expected end did not come and they lived for a few more precious seconds. Taurean began to angle his body, using in air acrobatics to angle his body in a smooth arc, turning their fall into a back dive into the water, or so he hoped. Again, he had no way to know if they would miss the rocks at the bottom until they hit. Call it luck, call it the goddess, call it Taureans skill, but they did not hit rock they impacted the surface of the pool, their elongated shape cutting its waters like a knife. The impact was jarring but they had achieved an angle that meant they did not strike the surface flat on, a proposition that could have broken bones. Even so their momentum drove them deep under the water. The impact pealed Rhonwhyn from Brandon like the rind off an orange. However he was able to catch her around the chest with one strong arm once again, towing her towards the surface as he kicked towards fresh air, his lungs beginning to burn with the need for oxygen. Breaking the surface Taurean gasped for air, his legs working to tread water as he pulled Rhonwhyn up as well his arm still locked solidly around her, like a band of steal around her front, pressing into her breasts and pressing her back into his chest. Despite the location, there was clearly nothing sexual about the way he held her, it was simply a way to keep her up while they both tried to catch their breaths. Taurean allowed himself one brief second of relaxation, his forehead pressing into her back, nestling in the nest of sodden curls as he fought for air. They were hardly out of the woods yet, but for that single stolen handful of heartbeats they were safe.