Page 15

PATRICK

Hickeys bruised her neck from my lips, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. The moment she started stripping, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold back any longer. I thought she was beautiful before, but the moment I saw her body on display, I knew I was a goner.

I stepped back and pulled up my drenched pants.

Maybe I should have taken them off before I devoured her, but I was thinking with something other than my brain.

I ran my fingers through the cum on her stomach, wishing I had been able to come inside her, but without a condom, that was just a terrible idea.

I had no desire to become a father anytime soon, and I wasn’t sure I was even up for a relationship.

Which was why this was a really bad idea. She’d just broken up with her boyfriend and now she was fucking me. She was probably going to latch onto me and think of me as her…oh, fuck. I was her savior.

Clearing my throat, I decided to put as much distance between us as possible. “We should get cleaned up and get out of here. We need?—”

I turned just as she opened her mouth and let the water flow inside.

“No! Don’t do that!”

She choked, then spit out the water, glaring at me. “What the fuck was that?”

“You can’t drink the water,” I snapped. “Ever heard of bacteria?”

“Ever heard of dying of thirst?”

“Yeah, but trust me, you’ll feel a lot worse if you drink that. Stomach cramps, diarrhea, and?—”

“I get it,” she sighed. “I’m so fucking thirsty! And you fucking me didn’t help.”

“About that,” I said, taking her given opportunity to clear up a few things. “What happened…It was just sex. I know you’re probably latching onto me because of what happened, and you’re looking for someone to make this shit better, but?—”

Her eyes crinkled with humor the longer I talked, and as the smile split her lips, I realized she was fucking laughing at me. “Are you done?”

“Are you laughing at me?”

She nodded furiously, still grinning at me. “I’m sorry, but the panic-stricken look on your face is just too much.”

“I was not panicking.”

“Uh, yeah, you were. You had that look like I was going to go all swoony and beg you to marry me.”

Okay, I had assumed that’s what was going to happen. “Well, you just never know. I mean, things happened and…you just broke up with your fiancé.”

“Exactly!” she laughed, sliding her fingers over her wet hair, brushing it out of her face. God, she was so fucking gorgeous. “I literally just found out my fiancé is a cheating asshole. Do you really think I’m moving on to someone else already?”

“I mean…that’s what I would probably do.”

“Well, women aren’t like that. Most women,” she clarified. “You know, I have these feelings and things that get in the way.”

“But you can fuck another man?”

“Well, that was about attraction. Feelings weren’t involved. Besides, somehow, it seems like a bad idea to fall for a man I jumped out of a plane with. Doesn’t bode well for a relationship.”

“I guess not. So, you wouldn’t be opposed to going another round?”

She rolled her eyes at me as she shoved past me and headed over to her clothes. “We’ll see, Casanova.”

“Hey, I resent that. I happen to be better than Casanova.”

“In what way?” She glanced over her shoulder at me as she tugged on her sopping-wet underwear.

I couldn’t help but let my eyes linger on her fine ass and beautiful thighs. How could any man in his right mind cheat on a woman like this?

“You know, I’m more than a piece of meat.”

“That’s my line,” I corrected, “and there is definitely more here than meat. I just happen to like staring at you.”

“Well, why don’t you figure out how to get me water. I’m thirsty.”

“That, I can do.”

As she pulled on her clothes, which should be illegal, I went in search of a birch tree that had the right amount of bark for me to strip. We didn’t need much, but it had to be solid. When I found the tree I needed, I pulled out my knife and started peeling the bark off the tree.

“What are you doing?” Piper asked as she walked over, buttoning her blouse.

“Making a pot for us.”

“Out of bark?”

Grinning, I bent the bark enough to make a pouch, then went in search of some twigs. “We’re going to boil water.”

“In bark.”

“Yep. It’s a thing. Didn’t you ever learn about this?”

She shook her head slowly, watching as I cut small slices in the ends of the twigs to make clothespins out of them. Then I tucked the sticks over the ends of the birch, keeping them together and forming a pouch.

“See?”

“That is so cool.” Her eyes twinkled as she stared at the contraption. “So, we just pour water in there and drink it?”

“No, we’re going to boil it so it kills the bacteria. Technically, I could make a filter also, but I don’t want to impress you too much.”

“At this point, I’ll take water that doesn’t make me shit myself.”

“Well, we don’t have any garbage cans around here for you to shove it into,” I noted, earning me a smack to the arm.

“Just get me some water.”

“And food,” I added. “We’ve already been walking for a while. I have no fucking clue when we’ll come across civilization.”

She shot me a curious look. “Aren’t men supposed to say they know exactly where we are and how long it’ll take to get to our destination?”

“If we were in the city, sure. But we’re in the middle of the Catskill Mountains. You’d know I was lying if I said that.”

I found a relatively clear area and started building a fire. The sooner I got this water boiling, the sooner we’d feel better. “Alright,” I said as I got the fire going. “I’m gonna grab the water now.”

Heading back over to the stream, I took directly from the trickle of water falling from the rocks and filled the pouch. Then I set up some sticks to act as a holder for the pouch and balanced it over the fire.

“Keep an eye on this. I’m gonna see if I can find a rabbit.”

Her nose twitched in disgust, forming a cute little wrinkle between her eyes. “Rabbit?”

“It’s like chicken,” I reassured her. That’s what everyone said about wild animals, so I figured it worked for this as well.

“And what am I supposed to do?”

“Make sure the fire doesn’t spread.”

I got up to leave when she stopped me with a hand on my arm. “Hey, you know, don’t take too long.”

“Scared?” I smirked.

“Well, I’m not exactly a country girl.”

“Noted. I won’t take too long, but I do need to look for the guys.”

“Okay. I’ll be here.” Her smile was forced, but she didn’t complain.

“Hey, I’ll get us out of here. I promise.”

“People get lost in the mountains all the time.”

“Not all the time,” I reassured her. “Besides, I have a fancy tracker in my arm that lets my guys know where I am. They’ll find us before we starve to death.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about that. If I get too hungry, I’ll just slit your throat while you sleep and eat you for dinner.”

A bark of laughter burst from my lips at her wit. “I’ll be sure to sleep with one eye open.”

“Won’t do you much good if I stab that out the day before.”

“You know, I’m starting to get concerned that I didn’t go down in a plane crash with a normal person.”

“You absolutely didn’t, but you already knew that from all my secrets.”

“I did.” She looked so damn nervous about being left alone. Before I knew it, my feet were carrying me over to her and I was pressing a kiss to her beautiful lips. “I’ll be back soon.”

I ducked down behind a tree and waited for the deer to pass.

As much as I would love venison for dinner, it was way too much for just the two of us.

There was no way we’d be able to eat that much meat, and until I had a better idea of how long it would take to get us the fuck out of here, I wasn’t going to kill anything we couldn’t eat.

Slowly, the deer moved on and my real target came closer.

A nice, fat rabbit hopped out from a bush and made its way closer and closer to the trap I’d set.

While it was nothing sophisticated, I hoped it would be enough to slow him down so I could snatch him before he hopped away. The last one got away way too quickly.

“Just another few steps,” I whispered. As soon as the rabbit fell into my trap, I rushed out and caught the fucker by the foot, slitting its throat instantly and ending his pain.

Holding it up, I grinned to myself and headed back toward camp where Piper was waiting, looking just a little too terrified for my liking. As soon as she heard the rustle of leaves, she twisted her head in my direction and relief flooded her face.

“I got dinner,” I said, holding up the dead rabbit.

The grimace on her face was enough to make me laugh. Being in the wilderness was not for everyone, but especially not when you were dressed in a stewardess outfit. “Delicious.”

“Are your clothes drying?”

“Uncomfortably, so. I swear, I’m never stepping foot outside the city again once we’re rescued.”

“You’ll have to get a pedicure or something.”

“Is that all men think women do? Go have spa days?”

I started skinning the rabbit, preparing it for our meal while she stared at me expectantly. “Of course not,” I lied. “I’m sure you have more important things to do.”

“Such as?”

I quickly scanned through my memory of the women at OPS and what they did with their spare time. Somehow, I didn’t think Piper spent her days in competition with other ladies throwing knives.

“Well, obviously, you go shopping, too.”

“Obviously,” she burst out laughing.

“Okay, so what do you do in your spare time?”

Her teeth sank into her lower lip as her eyes turned sort of glassy. Was she fucking daydreaming? “I read books.”

I let out a sigh of relief. That couldn’t be too bad. “Yeah? What sort of books do you like?”

“Fantasy.”

I nodded. It figured she’d like that shit. “So, Harry Potter .”

“Sure. I like Harry Potter ,” she said with laughter in her voice.

“What does that mean?”

“It means it’s cute that you think Harry Potter is what I meant.”