Page 53 of Ten Kisses

Her skin was soft.

The contact was so necessary.

He had been aching to touch her, and he smiled at the fact that she held onto him tightly.

"Can I please get a round of applause for the Kennedys? We are so grateful to you guys!" Everyone clapped, and Salem grabbed her hand when the guy continued. "This camp is just beautiful, I've never been here before and I love it! Thank you to the Kennedys for opening your property to us and allowing us all to be here… And now that we're shrouded under the cover of darkness…" the guy made a voice like Dracula and widened his eyes at them. "I will take my revenge on Ms. Amy at a winner-take-all game of capture the flag! Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha! She and I are going to be team captains and I can assure you whoever's on my team is going to be led to victory."

"Boooo!" It was a lady's voice that booed him, and we all assumed it was Amy. She got some laughs.

"It's going to be epic, it's going to be scary, and there are going to be woods involved. So, if you're a little scared-y pants, you do not need to play. If you do not know the rules of this game, you can get that information from your neighbor or the team captains once teams are made. There is a line painted on the ground, dividing the two playing areas. I made it myself by spraying neon orange spray paint onto the grass. It is highly visible. There will be no complaining about where the line is because it is obvious. There is no jail. If you get tagged in the other team's territory, you stay where you are. You can go into the woods behind us, but not into the next clearing." He pointed to his right. "The tunnel is out of bounds. Ms. Rita has stuff stored in that, and there are no lights. You can trip and get hurt. It's off-limits. Obviously, the fire is off-limits, too. If you end up at either of these places, you've gone too far. You're not just frozen, you're out of the game. The playing area is from here over!" he said, gesturing behind us. "Does everyone understand? Because if some people on my team get called out of bounds and come out of the game, and you will be boiled in hot oil." He laughed like an evil villain, and we all laughed. "Does everyone understand the boundaries?"

"Yes!" we all replied.

"Okay, if you are playing I need you to stay out here and we will assign you a team. Play at your own risk. I do not recommend this game for anyone under the age of twelve. There will be high-speed chasing. If you are not playing, you need to go stay by the campfire or go to the cabin area. Ms. Renee will be over there with a few other games. Again, do not enter the area of play if you do not wish to be chased."

Molly turned to Salem when the guy finished talking. She was nonchalant, pretending they hadn't been secretly holding hands. The whole thing was reminiscent of the way they used to act when they would sneak off together.

"Are you and Phillip staying to play this game?" she asked.

She looked hopeful and Salem tilted his head at her. "Do you want to play?" he asked. He knew his brother wanted to get back to Addie and the baby, but she was so beautiful and sweet that he hated to leave her.

"Not really, but…" she whispered to him, flashing a wide-eyed, knowing expression.

"Do you want to play?" Salem asked his brother.

Phillip laughed. "I'm not saying we have to leave right this second… I'm sure Addie's fine. But I'm not up for an intense game of capture the flag. My shoulder is killing me after work today. Alex is sleeping in a little crib by the bed, and he's been up every two—anyway, my shoulder hurts. I don't think I'll be doing any high-speed chasing right now."

Just as Phillip was talking about not playing, others came up to them. They were all gathering around with smiles, deciding who was going to play.

"I'll play," Salem said. He saw Sara give Molly a worried expression when he said that, and she noticed their proximity. Salem liked Sara, and he cared about her, but he wasn't about to sacrifice his own happiness to make her comfortable. He had compassion for Sara, but compassion was not going to stop him from pursuing something he thought was right.

All of the players headed toward the field, and Phillip stayed back with some others who sat out. It took ten minutes to make teams and re-explain the rules to those who couldn't get it. Salem and Molly ended up on different teams. They drew colored marbles out of a bag, and he pulled blue for Ms. Amy's team, while she pulled orange.

"Play for ten minutes and then meet me at the tunnel." Molly had whispered that statement as soon as they drew marbles. There were people all around them, and he gave her a nod to let her know that he would be there. They would play for ten minutes with the teams and then disappear into no-man's-land and find the tunnel. Being on separate teams was honestly a best-case scenario because each team would be down one player. Each team would lose a player and it wouldn't matter.

Salem did his best to show his face and help his team for the first ten minutes. It was a good group of people and a fun game. Salem was able to get one of the flags and help his team before disappearing through the woods going around the back way, and finding the far side of the tunnel. He was out of breath when he got there, and he approached it carefully, smiling at himself as he regulated his breathing.

"Psst! Salem."

He heard her whispering at him. It was dark in the tunnel. There were lights on it, but the family didn't have them turned on at the moment. It was a long, heavily wooded tunnel and it was very dark inside. Outside had been bright with moonlight, but the tunnel was covered in vines and it was dark inside.

Salem could see the other end of it now that his eyes were adjusted, and he could make out Molly's form on the right-hand side. She was moving toward him.

"You scared me," She whispered as he caught her in his arms. I thought you were going to come in from the other side, I was waiting at the other end."

He kissed her instantly. He couldn't wait. They were finally alone. She was in his arms, and just like that, his mouth was on hers. She was anxious to see him, and she came up next to him, getting closer. Molly. He kissed her deeply for a few heartbeats and then pulled back. He could hardly make himself break contact.

"Whoa, hello to you, too," she said. She curled up next to him, hugging him, tucking her face into the sensitive spot on his neck. She stretched up and kissed him there, her precious, soft mouth touching his neck three or four times.

"I missed you," she said.

He sighed, holding onto her. "Yeah, I know. Me too."

She kissed his neck again, and he felt like he might explode. "You made this tunnel with your own two hands."

"At this moment, I'm really glad I did."

"Oh, me too. But even if this tunnel wasn't here, you know we could've found a spot. We could just disappear behind a tree somewhere. We got good at that when we had that contract going."

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