Page 34

Wyatt

F inn and I had made love the night before and, honestly, I hadn’t expected to still be here, holed up in a cave—together.

The sex had been epic between us and I really wanted to do it again, but I also had real feelings for him.

There’s definitely sex and then there’s sex with feelings.

Something I hadn’t really had with anyone before. Quite frankly I don’t know how to act.

It feels weird, but also kind of awesome.

I step over to the entrance of the cave to check out the latest developments with the storm.

Fierce winds continue to howl, picking up snow and drifting it in large unnatural mounds.

There will be spots out there that might look like solid ground, but could potentially be twenty-foot deep drifts.

One false step and we could be swallowed whole, never seen again until the big thaw the following spring.

“How’s it looking?” Finn asks as he comes up from behind me to look outside. “Damn, will it ever stop snowing?”

I shrug. “Eventually… but it might be longer than we can wait. Any chance you’ve picked up a few positive updates on the weather radio?”

Finn pulls the handheld device from his coat pocket and shows it to me. “The battery died this morning, but the last report I heard, they’re calling for a rapid decrease in precipitation, improved temps, and low wind speeds.”

“Oh, that’s great news… when?”

“Sometime late tonight, into tomorrow morning,” he says. “How accurate are these forecasts?”

“They try not to predict too far ahead up here,” I say. “People’s lives are at risk if they get it wrong. I think we can rely on it.”

“Great,” Finn says, resting his hand on my lower back. “Wyatt?”

The gentleness to his voice makes my heart race. This man makes me feel such a belonging, such a peace, I fear it coming to an end. “What’s up?”

He reaches around me and hugs me from the side, pressing his cheek into my shoulder. I reposition us so we are facing each other and pull him into a firm and all-encompassing embrace. “What’s this for?” I ask.

Finn looks up into my eyes and smiles. “Last night was so much better than I could ever imagine. Here we are stuck in a fucking cave… deadly storm raging outside. And somehow, I still manage to have the best, most heartfelt sex of my entire life.”

I’m falling in love with you , I want to yell from the top of my lungs, but I’m too scared to admit it out loud in the light of day.

For some reason, I want to hear him repeat his love for me first, make sure I hadn’t heard him wrong.

God, I’m such a fucking coward. But, damn I don’t want to screw this up.

“Finn, you made me so happy last night. I’m glad we were stranded here together. ”

“Me too.”

We embrace and I slowly rock him in my arms as we stand at the entrance to the cave. The wind howls and whistles, snow piled up in huge mounds as far as the eye can see, and yet, I stand here, warm, happy, and content. And, then my stomach growls.

“Hungry?” Finn asks. “I have a protein bar in the backpack.”

I nod. “We can split it,” I say as we walk deeper into the cave together, holding hands. “Best to conserve the rations we have left… just in case.”

“Good idea.”

He takes the bar out of his bag and tears it in two, handing me one half and nibbling on the other. After we eat, I watch as Finn packs some of his belongings back into his pack. “Going somewhere?” I ask.

He laughs. “Just making sure I have everything in case the weather breaks and we get to leave in the morning.”

“Good idea.” I was about to turn away when an old notebook caught my attention next to Finn’s backpack. “Are you journaling?”

Finn’s eyes go wide and his face flushes, red and blotchy. I’ve clearly hit a nerve, but what nerve… I’m not sure. “You okay?” I ask.

He nods and shoves the notebook into his pack and zips it closed. “I’m fine. It’s just something private to me. Not a big deal, though.”

“Cool,” I say, more than willing to let the uncomfortable feeling pass.

I’m curious what he’s hiding from me, but also don’t want to bring up feelings that might ruin what we’ve created out here together.

If it is indeed nothing important then it won’t matter anyway.

And, if it is important, I’m sure I’ll find out eventually.

We settle into a comfortable silence, listening to the crackle of the fire.

The twigs pop and set off sparks that suddenly turn into momentary infernos before either extinguishing or dimming to safe levels.

There isn’t much wood left to burn, but it will get us through the night.

One more night together out here in the wilds.

My cock grows hard simply thinking about what happened last night and with what I hope might happen again this evening, once the sun goes down.

I look toward the entrance to the cave and I’m shocked to see it has already gotten late.

Where has the time gone? By how dark it has become, I estimate the time to be seven or eight at the latest, but considering we haven’t eaten anything for dinner, I suppose the later the better so we can go to sleep and eat in the morning.

“How are you feeling?” I ask Finn. “You getting tired? It’s dark outside again.”

“I noticed that,” he says. “Snuck up on us.”

“Sure did.”

He rolls out his sleeping bag and unzips it. “I’m going to hit the hay. Sooner I fall asleep the sooner morning will be here.”

“Agreed.” I take my bag and unroll it next to his. I get inside and wrap my arm around him and he snuggles into my embrace.

Our bodies are warm inside our own sleeping bags, but I can still feel the warmth between us as my front presses against his back.

He takes hold of my arm, pulling it tight against his chest, like he is using me as a body pillow or teddy bear.

Either option, I like. I press my hard cock against his butt, hoping to get a reaction from him.

Unfortunately, the only sound that meets my ears is the soft, deep, breaths of Finn’s sleep.

I smile. This is nice. Real nice. “I love you, Finn,” I whisper in his ear and then snuggle against him.

I don’t know how long I lie there, with him in my arms, but the pull of sleep calls.

My eyes are closed and I imagine myself floating to the top of the cave, weightlessness taking any and all hardness of the ground away from my body.

I sigh one last time before sleep takes me, my thoughts drifting from the here and now, to somewhere far away.

A grunt pulls me from the exquisite dream I’d fallen into. Without opening my eyes, I know I’m still in the cave, lying on the hard stone floor, with Finn in my arms.

Another grunt, this time with an accompanying odor. What the fuck is that smell? I pry my eyes open. The fire still blazes, the warmth hot against my face.

Loud sniffing, snorting, and huffing comes from deep in the cave.

What the fuck? My heart suddenly begins racing as my foggy brain catches up with what my instincts are already telling me.

There is a goddamned bear in the cave with us.

I freeze for a second, and then lean into Finn’s ear and whisper, “Finn, get up. Finn.” I shake him by the shoulder.

His eyes pop open and he smiles, grogginess and confusion crossing his face. “Is it morning already?”

I shake my head. “I need you to get up… now.” I look on the other side of the fire, a fresh pile of bear shit sits, steaming.

The odor is pungent and turns my stomach.

Somehow, we’d managed to be ignored by the bear.

Maybe he went farther in to look for something easier to eat?

I don’t know, but from the sound of it, he is on his way back.

Finn sits up. “What is that smell?” he whispers.

“There’s a bear in the cave. He should be hibernating but he’s not. He’s hungry and we are food. On the count of three, as silently as possible, get up, get your coat and boots on and grab your bag. There won’t be time for anything else.”

He nods. I silently count off on my fingers and we both move as quickly as possible. It takes an agonizingly long time to get our boots and coat on. As I reach for my pack, I hear shuffling behind us. Out steps the largest bear I’ve ever seen up close.

Finn and I freeze. We slowly back toward the entrance of the cave and stop. The bear steps over to our sleeping bags and sniffs them. His head wobbles from side to side as he mouths the fabric and tears into it with his huge claws.

“We need to run,” I say.

Finn nods. Without a second to waste we both turn and run for our lives.

We scramble down the side of the steep embankment, the entire landscape looking completely different than when we arrived a couple days prior.

Now huge snow drifts cover everything in sight, large trees buried half way up their trunks.

We run side-by-side, our breaths coming in ragged gasps as the cold thin air seems to suck the strength out of us.

Suddenly, my right foot hits an unseen rock under the snow, sending me tumbling down the side of the ravine.

As I roll, I hear twigs snapping and the disappearing voice of Finn calling out to me.

It’s dark, the ravine is deep, and there isn’t any way for us to find each other when there’s a bear in hot pursuit.

My only hope is Finn will understand that and do everything in his power to find safety for himself, and not worry about me.