Grishma (Book One in The Necoh Saga)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but when she woke up, Ryder’s arm was draped around her.

Holy crap! Brooklyn didn’t move an inch. She just lay there with his arm around her. She closed her eyes and smiled. This isn’t so bad, she thought. She had actually slept well once Ryder was next to her.

Brooklyn stayed there, secure in his embrace until she felt him stir. She pretended to sleep as he whipped his arm off of her.

“Shit!” he proclaimed as he quickly rolled over to the other half of the bed.

She couldn’t take it any longer, so she rolled over. “Oh hey, you’re awake,” she whispered.

“Yeah, I ah, I just woke up,” he stammered.

“Hey, Ryder, this is kind of embarrassing, but do you have a bathroom or something down here?” asked Brooklyn.

Ryder smiled.

Ah! That smile made her knees feel like jelly!

“Yeah, let me show you where it is.”

After helping her up, Brooklyn realized her foot already felt ten times better. She was even able to bear weight on it.

As if he was reading her mind, Ryder asked, “How’s your foot feeling?”

“A lot better. That medicine is amazing,” she said.

The bathroom reminded her of an ancient Greek aqueduct. There was more or less a seat with a hole and running water flowing beneath. There was even a sink with clean running water you could pump from a different underground stream. At least Brooklyn hoped it was a different stream.

Brooklyn left the bathroom and managed to find her way to the kitchen, where Ryder was preparing breakfast.

After taking a look at her foot and applying new medicine to the wound, Ryder wrapped it in a clean bandage and served breakfast.

“Yum, this is delicious!” proclaimed Brooklyn. “What is it?”

“Lera berries with fresh cream and homemade bread,” replied Ryder. “If you’d like, we can go pick some today. That is, if your foot is feeling up to it.”

“Do they grow underground?” asked Brooklyn with a confused look on her face.

“No, silly, we would have to go up to the surface,” said Ryder with a smile.

His teeth are perfect, she thought as she tried not to stare.

“Does that sound good?” he asked.

“Yup, I would love to see what Necoh looks like on the surface,” replied Brooklyn.