She shivered, drawing her knees up to her chest and pulling the thin blanket closer.
Richard shifted behind her, the noise subtly echoing in the hollowness of the cave. She opened her eyes and stared out into the darkness, listening for the soft sounds of his presence, comforting even with the distance between them. Here came the scrape of his boot against the rock; there the shift of fabric as he moved into a more comfortable position. All of them told her he was there, right beside her, but still she felt the weight of his absence; it was heavier than any amount of rock towering above them.
She closed her eyes, her fingers curling into her blanket, and shivered again.
There was a soft shhhing sound as Richard poked at the dying fire and she turned her heard slightly, opening her eyes to watch the sparks spiralling overhead.
"You looked cold," Richard said, the sound of his voice drifting out of the darkness. It didn't startle her; it couldn't, not when every part of her was aware that he was there.
She didn't answer him, not at first. She didn't look at him either, her eyes following one glowing light as it spun upwards, higher and higher, driven by the heat of the fire. If it drifted too close, she'd burn. She needed to remember that.
"I'm fine," she said eventually, and her voice didn't echo. Instead it seemed swallowed by the depths of the cave, drowned out by the silence around them. "We shouldn't use all of the wood."
She hadn't meant it to sound like a rebuke but perhaps that was how Richard took it, because he once again lapsed into silence. And then he said, "You're right." Of course she was.
But that didn't make it easy.
She closed her eyes again, once more listening to the soft sounds as he moved. She didn't want to miss any of it, not when it was the only part of Richard she could allow herself when the ever-present night pressed in on her and stole her resolve. It would be too easy to turn to him in the darkness and hope it hid away everything she couldn't afford to let him see.
His boot scraped against rock again, much closer this time; she flinched at the sound, her eyes flying open. The shape of his body blocked out the light from the fire and she watched his shadow wavering against the wall, her fingers uncurling, reaching out as though she could touch that when she couldn't risk touching him. His shadow leant down when he did, and so she expected the weight of his thin blanket joining her own.
"Richard..."
"Shh." She watched his shadow shrink even further as he sank down beside her, the weight of his arm coming to rest across her waist. "It's all right, Kahlan." His arm lifted again and she turned her head, biting back on the urge to catch hold of his hand, pull him closer. But instead his fingers reached up to trace along her hairline, brushing her hair back from her face in that gentle way he had. It took everything she had not to lean into his touch; more than she had and she swayed, undone.
He pulled his fingers away again before she could stumble, but his arm settled back across her waist, pulling her closer to him. "If you don't want me to build up the fire, then I'll have to find other ways to keep you warm."
She should be stronger than this, strong enough to bear the cold; it was better than letting the fire consume them both. But she couldn't find the strength to push him away, not when his body was curled around her, warm and solid and there in a way she'd never known she needed until she'd met him.
"Richard..."
"Go to sleep, Kahlan." Maybe she imagined it, but she thought she felt his lips brush across her neck, and that stole away the last of her strength. She closed her eyes and listened to his breathing evening out behind her. Only when she was sure he was asleep did she let the darkness pull her down.