Chapter 4

It was late morning by the time the pair departed from Braidwood Inn, Jane's cloak wrapped tightly around her against the chill.

"You ready?" Bo asked, turning toward her.

"Definitely."

Bo had to admit she looked amazing with her new clothing and cloak, her longsword hanging by her side and a bow and quiver strapped to her back. Jane also thought that Bo looked great, his tight leather armor covered him like a second skin. She secretly enjoyed his backside in particular, the way it hugged his ass made her bite her lip to keep from giggling. He also looked like a true warrior, she had no doubt he was a talented fighter, and wondered why he did not wear Stormcloak armor.

They traveled through the snowy landscape of Eastmarch until the afternoon, when they stopped to have something to eat.

"How much farther do you think?" Jane asked, shivering. They had traveled around the side of a mountain and made quite it quite a good distance in her opinion.

"We'll have to make camp for the night, once the sun goes down. If we make good of time we should be there by tomorrow afternoon."

"Good," Jane forced her teeth to not chatter, she was ridiculously cold.

"You are very cold, I should have gotten warmer clothes, and gloves." Bo rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"I'm a little cold," Jane lied, "but I'll be fine."

"You're a terrible liar," Bo stated, receiving a light punch on the arm from the girl, which only made him laugh.

As the skies grew darker, they found a small outcrop of trees laden with snow, and decided to make their camp there. Bo broke smaller branches off trees and scavenged for wood in the snowy hills while Jane dug a hole in the snow so they could start a fire. Bo came back with an armful of frozen branches and dumped them where Jane had dug, and then Bo stretched his hand out and a burst of fire coursed from his hand until the ice had melted and the wood started to burn. Jane had almost forgotten about magic, and stared in pleasant surprise at what she'd just seen. They ate some fresh bread Bo had bought before they left, and some delicious cheese. After they were done Bo stripped down to his pants and shirt, wrapping a blanket around him and staring at the fire.

As it got darker, it got colder, until Jane was shivering uncontrollably. It shook her whole body, and her teeth chattered together. She loss the feeling of he feet and hands, and wondered how she would last the night.

"I've never heard of a Nord that could not handle the coldest of cold." Bo moved closer to her and wrapped his blanket around her shoulders. He felt her hands, and was shocked at how frozen they felt.

"I-I-I don't think I-I'm a N-Nord," Jane whispered.

"What are you then?"

"I d-don't know."

Bo looked at her thoughtfully, and then decided it didn't matter.

"Hold me."

Bo looked at Jane, who was watching him.

"What?" He whispered, thinking perhaps he misheard her.

"P-please lay down and h-h-hold me," Jane replied, her heart beats fluttering dangerously fast, and was afraid he would reject her. She had decided she wanted to keep her fingers and toes, and wouldn't mind being close to the Orc at the same time.

Bo sat unmoving for a moment, staring down at the ground, but then shifted further onto her bedroll and lay down. Jane let out a shaky sigh and then turned around to face Bo and lay down. Bo hesitated, and then reached out an arm and wrapped it around Jane's waist, pulling her closer to him. Jane leaned her head against his chest and nestled into him, trying to control her shivering. She could feel the warmth radiating off of his skin. Orsimer weren't as hot blooded as Werewolves, but their blood ran at a higher temperature than humans, and eventually she was able to stop shivering and was warm enough to fall asleep. Bo lay there with Jane for quite a while; hesitant to fall asleep and let his guard down when he traveled with another person he couldn't deny he had feelings for. However sleep won over, and the pair slept until dawn.