Chapter 26
Treacherous Embrace

"Why didn't you go with them, Freckles ?" Eli asked, rubbing her hands before the fireplace.

"You want me to go ?" Ace raised an eyebrow.

She frowned at him. What kind of answer was that ?

"Anyway... I'm off !" The girl put her book back in her bag, slipped her hands into her gloves, got up, and put on her coat.

"I'll go with you."

Eli swung around and looked at Ace from toe to head scornfully. "I don't think so...." She walked out of the house, soon followed by the young man.

"And may I ask why ?" Ace hurried on, holding his hat to his head.

"You'll fall asleep, or you'll try to stop me from doing things you consider 'reckless'.... Maybe both."

Vivi and Usopp were outside having a quiet discussion with Dalton. Eli informed them that she was going to go explore a bit, waved them goodbye, and started marching toward the place where they had met the hiking bear.

She sighed seeing Ace still following her. "Can't get enough of me, can you ?"

The young man laughed childishly, speeding up his pace to walk by her side.

That's when she noticed something under the young man's cloak, but as she couldn't quite believe what she saw, she decided to check it out. Lifting it slightly, she couldn't help but gawk.

"How can you walk around in the snow only wearing a cloak ?" she asked, staring in disbelief at his shirtlessness.

His only answer was a face-splitting smirk.

"This is truly outrageous.... Truly truly truly outrageous !"

After about fifteen minutes of an intensive search, the two explorers finally found the trail of the hiking bear. Ace had proved himself worthy of the expedition, being the first to spot the bear's spoor.

They were now following the trail laboriously as the snow's endless descent did its best to hinder them.

Suddenly, Ace pulled the girl's arm and crouched to hide behind a rock.

"What ?" she whispered.

"I think I heard something...." he said, looking above the rock carefully.

Eli joined him, her face lighting up with delight as she spotted a hiking bear. He was a bit smaller than the first one they had met. She turned around and sat against the rock, giggling.

Ace smirked. "Am I good or what ?"

Yes he was, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of agreeing. He was already arrogant enough for her taste. Eli turned and looked once more above the rock. She could still spot the bear, and he was now far enough for them to start following him.

"Let's go," she said, standing up.

The girl started walking toward the bear, but upon hearing only her own footsteps in the deep snow, she turned around, wondering what was holding back her partner.

Of course...

Eli slapped her forehead seeing Ace deeply asleep against the rock. She sighed, pondered a few seconds, and decided to follow the animal alone considering that his narcolepsy shouldn't get in the way of her pleasure.

After about ten minutes, the girl wasn't regretting her decision since the bear had taken her to his den. Yelps of delight escaped her mouth as she watched two cubs play in the snow.

Oh god, it's too cute ! she thought, biting her bottom lip.

Lying in the snow, Eli giggled watching the lovely baby bears. She produced her book and pen from her bag and started sketching the precious scene.

"You're going to catch a cold."

"Shhh !" The girl grabbed Ace and pulled him down to her side with a frown. "They'll hear you," she whispered, annoyed.

"Your nose is red and-" The young man's lecture was interrupted as Eli slammed her hand against his mouth. He sighed and put his bright hat away so that the animals wouldn't spot them.

Her gaze once again on the lovely scene, Eli's smile made its way back onto her face, now reddened from the cold. "Aren't they the cutest...?"

After a few minutes, the large bear, probably one of the cub's parents, walked away and disappeared behind a bunch of trees. Without wasting a second, Eli put her stuff back in her bag and stood up.

"Oh no, you're not..." Ace said, frowning at the girl.

"Try to stop me !" she taunted, walking rapidly toward the cubs.

When the two little bears heard the footsteps, their wrestling stopped instantly and they stood up to look questioningly at the two tall humans walking their way.

As she was only a few meters away, Eli bowed politely before them like Dalton had taught her to. Seeing the cubs bowing back, her insides melted instantly.

Awwwwww...

Eli's already weak restraints completely vanished before the way-too-frakingly-cute animals. She knelt and hugged them tightly in her arms. They were so warm, and soft, and cute.... The girl's train of thought was lost in this complete ecstasy.

"Twig !" Ace called out urgently.

She looked over her shoulder at the young man, her eyes hazy from the blissful hug.

"We have to leave... now !" he ordered, staring behind the girl with anxiety in his dark eyes.

Eli followed the young man's stare sluggishly.

Uh oh...

Her eyes snapped wide open upon seeing that a large group of hiking bears were glaring at her, holding their ice axes rather belligerently. When she let go of the two cubs, they ran and hid behind the adults. Eli stood up and bowed... but this time, the bears didn't bow back. Instead, they started marching toward the pair, growling angrily.

Ace and Eli were lying in the snow, panting heavily from the frantic run to escape the bears' fury. They exchanged a look and burst out in laughter. Running in the snow like two stupid kids while chased by a dozen armed bears was indeed quite a funny experience in hindsight. When the laughing fit finally died out, they got up, brushed the snow off their clothes, and started walking away from each other.

"Where are you going, Twig ? The town is this way...." Ace pointed a thumb in the opposite direction of where Eli was heading to.

"Didn't Dalton mention snow rabbits ?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"Oh, please...." Ace brought his hand to his forehead and started rubbing it. All of a sudden, he jerked his head toward the mountain. "What is that sound ?"

Eli strained her ears to hear a distant rumbling. "Wind ?" The girl shrugged.

However, it was becoming louder by the second. Ace and Eli looked attentively toward the sound, their eyes widening as the incoming danger in the form of an enormous white fog was coming at them, fast.

"That's bad...." the girl muttered. "That's extremely... very... not good...."

Grabbing Ace's wrist, Eli started running as fast as the young man could. Her ears were filled with the thundering of the mass of snow threatening to engulf them. She took a look over her shoulder and gritted her teeth seeing the avalanche getting closer....

Ace stopped running, making the girl almost trip over her own feet.

"What the frak are you doing ?" she yelled bewilderedly as the young man ran in the direction of the avalanche. "ACE !"

"RUN !" he shouted back at the top of his lungs.

What ? How could he ask her to run away now !

Eli saw a wide fire circle spread around him before disappearing in the white mist.

And, unexpectedly, the thundering stopped at once.

How ? Why ? What ?

The sudden silence was deafening. What could possibly have stopped an avalanche ? Eli felt a heavy and unbearable heat enveloping her for a second before hearing the sound of torrential rain cascading down on her.

"He evaporated the avalanche..." she muttered in disbelief.

The girl started wading toward her friend with difficulty, submerged under the exceptionally heavy rain. She smiled with relief seeing he was unharmed.

"Atchoo !"

"I I ccan do itt myselffff." Eli's teeth were chattering so loudly, the sound resonated through the cavern they were in.

Ace frowned. "Really ? Do it then," he said, taking a small step away from the shivering girl.

She tried to grip the zipper of her coat but her numb fingers didn't seem to be very cooperative.

"Frr Frakkk !"

"See ?" He grabbed the zipper, undid it, and took off her coat. "The sweater and the trousers have to go, too. They're completely drenched."

And whose fault is that ?

Eli slowly raised her trembling arms a bit so that he could remove her sweater. Bending a little, he then slipped her pants off.

"Thisss iss sooo emmbabarasssssingg."

"Well, get used to it 'cause I have to take off your t-shirt, too."

"Dddon't !" She covered her chest with her arms.

Ace sighed deeply, rolling his eyes. "This is not a good moment to be prudish, Twig."

"I ddon't wearrr brrra...."

"Oh...." He blinked. "Never ?"

Pervert...

"It'sss nott likkke I neeed onnne, anywayyy." She sat down and curled up into a tight ball next to the campfire.

After a few minutes Eli was feeling a little better. Her skin was slowly beginning to dry. Extending her fingers to the fire to warm them faster, she felt her fingertips tingle. She gritted her teeth as the increasing pain spread through her hands. It felt like they were burning now, and tears began to flow from her green eyes. She jolted away from the campfire with a whine.

Ace rushed to her side. "What's wrong ?"

"Itt burnsss !" she sobbed, clenching her fists.

He knelt down and took her hands in his, gently opening them, and looked worriedly at her bluish fingertips. This wasn't good. Eli knew that she was suffering from frostbite and maybe even a mild case of hypothermia, but she couldn't bear seeing Ace worry, and his unnaturally warm and tender touch was even less bearable.

The young man looked surprised when she took her hands back.

"It'ss okkayyy noww, thanksss," she said, staring at the flames.

He sat next to her and put his hat on the floor. "Come here, I'll warm you up. Body heat is best in this situation."

Eli rolled her eyes. Of course... body heat...

"I don'tt thinkkk ssso...." she said, wrapping her arms around her legs. "Thisss iss ssoooo ccliché...."

On top of cliché, this was, above all, dangerous. The girl was aware of her current state of vulnerability and remembering the 'wrist incident', she was afraid of what she might feel, or worse, do in his arms.

"I don't care if it's cliché, Twig," he scolded harshly, glaring at her stubborn demeanor. "Stop acting like a brat !"

Eli abruptly stood up and glared back down at him, her fists clenched in anger. "Yyou sstopp accting likke a ffrakking knightt in sshining arrmorr !" she snapped. "Jusstt go andd fffind some helpp !"

"I won't leave you alone, idiot...." he said softly.

Standing up as well, Ace firmly pressed her shaking form against his bare chest. A soft moan escaped her mouth when her cold body came in contact with his warm skin. It made her feel dizzy and... good. Eli didn't struggle, for all of her fears instantly vaporised. It felt so good, how could it be wrong... ?

As Ace slowly stepped back to sit on a large rock, she followed him instinctively, not wanting to leave the warm embrace. He grabbed her legs to wrap them around his waist and gently rubbed her cold thighs. Eli closed her eyes to fully enjoy his captivating touch.

Ace...

It felt so good.... His warmth was so bewitching that her weary body started moving on its own, placing her arms around his broad shoulders and burying her face in his neck. Ace gently wrapped his arms around her thin back and rubbed her cold shoulders.

He was really... "Warm..." she murmured drowsily.

Within Ace's warmth, Eli's mind went blank. The world could have crumbled, she wouldn't have noticed. She didn't even notice that the young man's heating massage had slowly turned gentler as time passed. His thumbs slowly drew firm circles in her cold skin. The girl forgot who she was, where she was, and everything else.... All that remained was his skin, his touch, his warmth, his scent....

Ace...

Eli took a deep breath to fill her lungs with his delicious scent. "You smell good...."

The young man gasped. "Wha-"

Ace was interrupted by the soft pressure of her cold fingers crawling up the back of his neck and through his silky hair. Of course, before this, Eli had always been carefully avoiding any close contact with the young man, for he was her friend above all. But her weakness and his unnatural body heat broke down her moral restraints. She vaguely felt his neck tense under her grazing touch, yet she didn't care. It felt so good....

Eli's lips lingered over his broad shoulder for a few seconds, her breath caressing his tanned skin.

After inhaling deeply once more, the girl's lips sluggishly moved on their own, absently kissing the young man's skin. If Eli had been aware of what she had just done, she would have rather ran off in the snow, but unfortunately, she was very much unaware, and her cold, needful body had the upper hand on her sleeping mind. Her lips gradually trailed up his neck lasciviously....

Ace...

to be continued

Betaed by Iwin Ulose.

I like this chapter (a lot) I hope you like it too ;)