Page 38 of A Little Campfire Blues

“I may have forgotten to pack enough underwear,” I admitted, giggling, which almost turned out to be our undoing.

Footsteps crunched over leaves, hurrying in our direction, while Axis tried to stifle my giggles with a scorching kiss that left us panting. Fortunately, the loud hooting of an owl drowned out his groan of need.

“Fuck you, owl, goddammit,” Roman murmured before the sound of his feet snapping twigs headed off in a different direction.

Axis tipped his head back, and I kissed his throat, nipping and sucking on the skin until he squirmed and gasped, clinging to me tight enough that I was certain there would be a handprint on my ass and a bruise or two from the knobs that pressed against my hip and thigh when I rocked over them. I was just about to beg for more skin when a low rumble of thunder reached my ears, followed by a flash of lightning so bright it illuminatedeverything. The hair on my arms stood up as I froze, trembling for an entirely different reason now.

“We need to get you back to the cabin,” Axis said, seeking his flashlight the same way my fingers were scrabbling against the bark, trying to find mine.

He remembered that I hated being outside in a storm. A close call with a lightning bolt in my childhood treehouse had left me terrified of it. He kept hold of my hand as we squirmed out, our flashlights in his other hand, the beams bright when he turned them on before handing mine to me.

The next roll of thunder made me flinch and squeeze his hand tighter as we made our way back towards the cabin, illuminated in the distance when the next lightning strike came and the sky unleashed a torrent of rain all over us.

“Boys!” Mackenzie bellowed, a beam of light cutting through the raindrops as he called for us. “Call out if you can hear me!”

“We’re here!” I hollered and sprinted towards him, tugging Axis now.

I forgot to be careful and fell, the collision with the ground just as jarring as the thunder. Axis’ hands were firm beneath my arms as he hauled me up and wrapped an arm around me, hurrying me towards the light and Mack.

“Have you seen Roman?” Mack asked.

“He ran past us right before the storm started,” Axis said. “I can find him if you’ll take Ezzy in; they’re scared of storms.”

Without even waiting for an answer, he propelled me into Mackenzie’s arms, whirled, and disappeared back into the woods as Mack bellowed, Wait!” Not that Axis slowed down, not even a little.

The next boom of thunder erupted in an explosion of sound, and I shirked and buried my face against Mack’s chest and sobbed.

“Let’s get you inside,” Mack declared, scooping me up and carrying me up the stairs and into the cabin.

Shaking, I clung to him as the cold air from the air conditioner hit like a slap to my face, making me shiver harder.

“Let’s get you out of those wet clothes and get you dry,” Mack said, carrying me into my room and the bathroom on the opposite side.

In no time at all, he had a warm shower going, my clothes off, and was easing me beneath the spray, now that I’d stopped clinging to him.

“Do storms always scare you this badly, Ezzy?” He asked as the warm water made it so I finally stopped shivering so hard.

“Only when I’m outside in them,” I explained. “It rolled up so fast, I never even heard it before the thunder was right over us.”

“There were rumbles in the distance, but when I called for you all, no one answered.”

“I didn’t hear you,” I said. “Axis and I were hiding in a hollow log and were too distracted to notice.”

“Too distracted, huh?” he replied, chuckling. “I can only imagine what you two were getting up to in that log.”

“Kissing,” I said. “Lots and lots of kissing.”

“Really. No wonder you hid yourselves so well.”

“It was his hiding spot until he decided to share it with me,” I replied.

Mackenzie chuckled again, the sound low and rolling over me now that I was warm beneath the spray and could appreciate the rumbly timber of his voice. “Guess sharing really is caring.”

“In this instance, it really was.”

“I just hope they bring their asses back here soon,” he said. “That storm outside sounds like it’s getting bad.”

“Axis won’t give up until he finds him,” I said.

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