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Chapter Six
Garin tried not to stare.
He tried to look at anything else.
At the beautiful bioluminescence arcing over their heads, at his boots crunching over the gravel-y dirt of the cave floor, at his dirty fingernails, at their six and twelve in case any more of those horrible creatures were about.
Anything.
Anything but how the green light drew out the green of curiosity swirling over Sazahk’s high cheekbones, or how it reflected in his dark eyes. Anything but the way Sazahk’s hips swayed as he walked, the way his fingers tapped excitedly, or how his plush lips parted on a delighted gasp every time he came to a fungus polyp that looked ever so slightly different from the last.
More to the point, Garin tried to resist the urgent yearning those sights filled him with.
He didn’t understand it.
He was attracted to Sazahk, sure. He’d been attracted to him from the moment he saw him ambling down the street, obsessed with his colorful test tubes. But the attraction had been more of a passing observation. It wasn’t something that overwhelmed him as they set out together into the Dead Zone. Garin had looked appreciatively at his traveling companion a time or two, but he hadn’t pined.
Things had gotten a little dicier when they’d started sharing a bed. Garin knew his treacherous sleeping self crept closer to Sazahk in the night. He kept being woken up by Sazahk tactfully disengaging himself. And his morning wood had been more insistent than appropriate. But still, Garin’s urges had all remained perfectly under control.
So, what the hell was happening now?
Garin tugged at his collar as his throat beaded with sweat. The cavern had been getting steadily hotter, despite the occasional cool breeze. His skin prickled with the heat and an uncomfortable sensitivity.
“Garin?”
Garin’s eyes dragged from Sazahk’s pouting lips to his dark eyes and furrowed brow. “Yeah?”
Sazahk tilted his head and stood slowly, somehow more interested in Garin than the bright orange sponge at his feet. “Are you alright?”
Garin nodded jerkily. “Fine.”
“You’re sweating.” Sazahk left the funny-colored fungus and approached him. His intense focus diverted from their fascinating surroundings and pinned all on Garin made Garin’s lower belly swoop.
He stepped back. “It’s hot.”
“It’s not, actually, it’s quite cold, and considering your higher body temperature, it should feel even colder to you.” Sazahk continued his advance, lime green and a stripe of orange tracing up his throat. “Your body shouldn’t have any need to discharge excess heat.”
“It…” Garin forced his feet to stop retreating and pushed away the defensive argument that it was stifling. It wasn’t stifling. He knew that. He was burning up from the inside in a way that didn’t feel entirely natural and hiding that from his companion was foolish and dangerous. “It feels hot to me.”
“Fascinating.” Sazahk closed the distance between them and grabbed Garin’s wrist, tugging him down to the ground with him. “Sit. Let me take a few measurements.”
Garin bit back a groan at the feel of Sazahk’s cool fingers, which both soothed his overheated skin and sent excited sparks up his arm. He sat hard on the ground, his feet flat and his knees bent up to hide the problem developing in his groin.
“Open.” Sazahk held a thermometer in front of Garin’s lips, and Garin obediently opened his mouth for Sazahk to slip it under his tongue. “Temperature first, obviously, but I want your core and surface temperature.” He pulled a mishmash of tools from his bag, as well as his lantern, and arranged the tools all within the circle of the lantern’s light. Then he plucked out a device small enough to fit between his thumb and forefinger and pressed it to Garin’s temple. After a few seconds, the thing beeped and Sazahk hummed. “Elevated. Both of them, but particularly your skin.”
Sazahk peered into Garin’s face, sending his headlamp beam into Garin’s eyes, and Garin winced and looked away.
“Sorry.” Sazahk pulled his headlamp off, leaving his pale hair mussed, but he didn’t bother fixing it. He shined the light onto Garin’s face again, but at an angle that didn’t blind him. “Your skin is flushed, which explains the higher temperature. Your throat, cheeks, and ears especially. Do they itch?”
Garin shook his head. “No, they feel fine. Just hot.”
“And your pupils are dilated, but we are in a dark place, so that’s not entirely unexpected.” Sazahk flashed the light into both Garin’s eyes. “Still, it’s noteworthy.”
Garin dug his fingers into the dirt at his sides and tried to ignore Sazahk’s proximity and the slightly chemical tang that suffused his clean scent and made Garin want to bury his nose in the qesh’s neck and inhale him.
“Your heart rate is higher than expected as well.”
Garin’s breath caught when Sazahk suddenly pressed two fingers to his pulse point. He wanted to fall into the other man’s touch so badly his mouth watered. “Sazahk.”
