Ankyra Sound hold our skin over the light to hold the heat

Footsteps in the sand; Marina's ears twitched, but she didn't look up to greet the man, nor did she stiffen with fear though she felt its spark in her gut. What could he take from her that had not already been taken? Yet the quiet sound of his mirth drew her gaze after a moment. The dark ocean eyes were guarded, critical.

Something funny? Marina questioned in a bristling voice, watching him as the hawk watches the fox, knowing that either might be a match for the other. Still, she remained where she was. In these late days of pregnancy, any injury might be the end of herself and her child. That stayed her, though she often questioned that sense of preservation; the point of it all.