Page 81 of The Lottery

But for now, we have each other and nowhere else to be but here.

We dress and Marek hands us beanies with lights attached.

He hands me a flare, and tucks one into his pocket. “In case of bears.”

“Why is it always bears with you?” I ask, shivering at the thought of running into a giant beasty.

He shrugs. “Wolves, then. Is that more to your liking?”

“Oh yes, much better. I’d definitely rather be eaten by wolves than bears.”

“Very well, wolves it is,” he says with a wink.

I nudge him, and he takes my hand in his as we walk.

A narrow passage leads to a wide cavern not far from the main entrance where we made camp. As we move deeper into the cave, the sound of water becomes undeniable. The air around us thickens and warms.

When it comes into view, a steaming pool the size of a jacuzzi, I clap my hands. “Oh my god, it’s an underground hot springs!” I lean down and dip my hand into the clear water, sighing at the glorious warmth. “It’s incredible. We have to go in.”

I don’t wait for Marek to answer.

I strip down to nothing and dip a toe in, sighing in delight before letting my whole body sink into the warm water.

Marek follows me in and I splash at him, giggling like a ridiculous school girl and not caring at all.

He surprises me by dunking underwater and grabbing my legs, sliding his hands up my thighs. When his head pops out of the water, his lips find mine, his kisses hot and hungry, his fingers already expertly playing me like an instrument, making my body sing for him as I wrap myself around him, opening myself for him.

The heat of the water and the warmth in the air are nothing compared to the fire in our bodies as we come together yet again, our gazes locked, souls merging.

He fills me.

All of me.

I can’t get enough.

* * *

We spend the day in the water or laying on the rocks by the side of the hot spring. We talk and laugh and share our dreams.

“What would you have been if you hadn’t gone the path you did?” I ask.

He glances at me, a shy grin on his face. “You will find this amusing.”

“Okay?”

“I always wanted to be an astronaut. And go to Mars.”

I laugh. “Looks like you got your wish!”

We both laugh, but it dies down as a serious expression crosses his face. “If only it had not come at such a cost.”

We are quiet for a moment, then he asks me, “And you? What would your alternate life have looked like?”

I purse my lips, thinking. “If I hadn’t been a Botanist, I would have gone into Marine Biology. I was always fascinated with the ocean.”

He grins. “A scientist through and through.”

“I suppose I am.”

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