Inside the cave.
Kiba and others took each step with care. Monroe was especially on guard after the recent attack by Rock-scaled Lizard.
He has brought a flare to help them see better inside the cave, though not everyone agreed it was a good decision.
As they walked ahead, from a wall on left said, a lizard’s mouth suddenly popped out. The lizard was camouflaged so it was almost impossible to mark out its presence unless one looks very carefully.
"Watch out!" Alexia shouted to warn Ruby and others, albeit a bit late. She believed the cave was made from special materials which reduced her senses.
"What?!" Ruby was on the extreme left and she was completely caught off-guard. The lizard was already above her shoulder and she has no time to back off.
As the mouth clamped its sharp jaws around her shoulder, the eyes of the lizard suddenly turned stiff before it could chew the flesh.
It opened its mouth and backed off, releasing helpless sounds.
"Huh?" Ruby looked ahead and noticed the lizard’s neck being grasped by Kiba. She understood the lizard didn’t back off its own, it was forced to.
The lizard tried to struggle with its tail whipping towards him, but Kiba just moved his other hand to block the tail.
"Not good manners to force yourself on a lady," Kiba said as he applied pressure on its windpipe. "Especially in front of the lady’s lover."
With a final grunt of helplessness and anger, the lizard’s eyes turned listless. Kiba threw its corpse on the floor like it was some chicken.
Alexia, Mina, and Monroe were stunned by the ease which he defeated the lizard. They have witnessed his powers before but didn’t realize he could do it so easily.
The one who was most astonished was Monroe. He wanted to cry since Kiba could save Ruby before lizard could bite her, so why didn’t he showed the same activeness when he was attacked?
Kiba ignored their reactions and brought his eyes on Ruby.
She was looking at him, her cheeks slightly flushed given the words he used when he killed the lizard. She obviously knew he was teasing her while fooling others, but as a young girl, he still got the best out of her.
"Are you fine?" Kiba asked with a faint smile.
"Yes," Ruby answered.
She knew the times he has this specific smile, and it made her tremble with excitement and nervousness. Her senses were tingling as if a bolt of lightning was coursing throughout her body.
"That’s good to know," Kiba placed an arm around her shoulders.
Alexia and others glanced at them as they resumed the journey.
"Such a devoted boyfriend," Mina thought with slight envy in her heart. "He is definitely more passionate than Amir."
"Protecting his girlfriend and thinking of her safety all the time...definitely a good boyfriend material," Alexia mused as she observed the closeness between the couple. "He is walking alongside her to defend her against any unforeseen danger.
If Ruby came to know her thoughts, she would disagree and say he was anything but a boyfriend material!
Only she knew why he was walking alongside her with such closeness.
While everyone noticed his arm over her shoulders, what they didn’t notice was how the end of his hand was wandering over her left breast. He would grope her breast and then rub her nipple in a teasing manner.
Ruby was sure this ’closeness’ was definitely not related to her safety.
"Ah!" Ruby let out a moan as he pinched her nipple between his fingers.
"What’s wrong?" Kiba asked with a straight face, his fingers pinching her nipple more tightly.
"Nothing..." Ruby stammered in between.
Her mind was a complete mess with the teasing he was doing in front of everyone while they remained oblivious to his real motives. The light from flare was not enough for everyone to observe his actions in the dark, and not to mention, he was in front so it further helped him.
"Is everything all right?" Alexia who was behind also enquired. She felt something amiss from her voice.
"Ah...yes," Ruby answered, her voice shaking and filled with embarrassment.
Kiba didn’t stop in the slightest as she spoke, giving her no time to relax.
"But your voice doesn’t sound right," Alexia said. "Maybe you were affected by some poison or something when the lizard tried to attack you."
"You are right," Kiba said as he stepped in front of Ruby, his hand on her forehead. "I will check."
"N-no need," Ruby didn’t trust his words in the slightest.
"Your body temperature is high," Kiba said in a heavy voice. "Are you sure everything is fine?"
"Yes," Ruby felt helpless. He was making her feel hot with all the teasing, and yet, he was being so shameless in front of everyone.
"The lizard tried to clamp on her shoulder so maybe..." Alexia reasoned from behind.
"Ah! You are right," Kiba’s hands moved on Ruby’s shoulder to check her well being.
Ruby gulped down as she observed the expression on his face. She felt his face was like that of a wolf at the sight of a helples sheep...