Page 20 of Red Rabbit
9
KAELIN
I slung my backpack over my shoulders and looked one more time at the quaint little camping spot as we left it behind. We’d officially been out here a week. Yesterday was all about smoking as much fish as we could. The bear hadn’t returned and luckily Graham was able to produce enough fish to last us another week if we couldn’t find any other food source.
He barely paid any mind to the area as we walked away for the last time. I don’t know why I felt nostalgic about it but I’m glad I snapped some pictures the other day before my phone died. I wanted to remember the pristine, untouched nature we’d had the privilege of experiencing.
Well now I just sounded like Graham. Was I actually beginning to appreciate the forest? I wouldn’t go that far. I of course wanted to be out and back to safety but it was beautiful.
My body felt much better now and I could tell Graham felt the same as he set a moderate pace through the trees. My mind couldn’t help but wander back to the moment in the river. I felt a blush creep up my neck at the thought of how Graham saw me naked. I don’t know where that boldness came from but damn it felt good to be looked at like that. Like he couldn’t breathe because I’d stolen all the air. It made my stomach flutter evennow as I thought about how dark his eyes looked and the way his fists bunched at his sides as though to stop himself from touching me.
Tyler never looked at me like that. Ever.
My mind was so occupied with those thoughts I didn’t pay attention to where I was going and tripped over a tree root. I caught myself before I face planted and kept walking.
“Careful, you twist an ankle I’m leaving you,” Graham said with a glance over his shoulder.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh yes I would, sweetheart. I don’t keep dead weight around.”
“A plane crash didn’t kill me, a bear didn’t either—instead, the headline will be a woman gets taken out by a twisted ankle. Great,” I muttered to myself but I watched where I put my feet. I wouldn’t put it past Graham to leave me behind. A few drops of rain hit my face and groaned.
“More rain?” I whined. It rained all last night making everything damp and freezing cold.
It rained steadily for the next few hours until Graham called a stop for the day. We were both soaked and the rain was quickly turning into a full-blown storm. The wind whipped through the trees and cut straight through my clothes. Graham struggled to put the tent up while I tried to find dry wood to start a fire. I soon gave up and when I got back to camp, I saw Graham finally wrestled the tent up.
“We won’t be able to have a fire tonight,” he said, confirming my fear. We both got into the tent and I pulled off my wet parka. I’d be lucky if any of my clothes dried overnight in this weather. The blanket and sleeping bag were still thankfully dry but I didn’t want to get them wet with my clothes. We both seemedto have the same thought at the same time because we looked at each other and didn’t move or speak for a long minute.
“You’ve already seen me naked sooo—” I shrug like it was no big deal even though my heart was racing as I pulled off my outer layers. As soon as I got down to my t-shirt, he looked away and I peeled it off to reveal my only slightly damp bra. I was absolutely leaving that on. He took off his shirts and we both shimmied out of our pants at the same time. I tried not to stare at his chest but the tent was small and there were only so many places my eyes could go.
Once hidden under the covers we lay there awkwardly, extremely conscious of the inches of space between our nearly naked bodies. He radiated heat like a furnace though and I was freezing. I shivered and my shoulder bumped his sending heat shooting through me.
“How are you so warm?”
My teeth chattered so loudly I’m sure he could hear it over the wind. He didn’t say anything.
“Okay, I know you meant it in a sexual way when you said I’d beg you to touch me but does it count if I think I’m going to freeze and you feel like a heater?”
He still didn’t move or speak and in the dim light of the tent I saw him staring up at the ceiling with a frown.
“Okay fine. I’ll just turn into a popsicle and you can feed me to the bears. I’m sure that would make you happy.”
“Come here,” he muttered finally with an exasperated sigh. “Just shut up.”
He lifted his arm and I tentatively burrowed into his side. He hissed when my cold hands touched him.
“See? Already halfway to a bear popsicle,” I grumbled.
We finally settled into a comfortable position. His hand rested lightly on my side, in the only completely neutral place he could put it. I mean, he probably could have put it on the groundbut I wasn’t about to complain. His heat was already warming me up and I sighed as the shivering stopped. I tried not to enjoy how his chest felt under my hand, and I forced myself to keep my hand still although it took all my willpower not to run my fingers down his stomach and further to—Fuck. Stop it Kaelin. Apparently, I don’t have sex for almost a month—although it feels like an eternity—and now it’s all I can think about.
“If you keep fidgeting I’m shoving you back over there,” he said. His words rumbling through his chest under my ear. “And fuck, your feet are like ice cubes, don’t touch me with those things.”
I pulled them back, my laugh coming out a little breathless. It should have been even more awkward to be touching him but it wasn’t and soon I was blissfully warm while the storm raged outside.
In the night, I woke up to a crash of thunder. I was still warm and dry, curled up against Graham’s side. Only now his hand was over mine on his chest, his other hand was now down on my hip and one of my legs was thrown over his. His breathing was even and it sounded like he was asleep but I could never be sure with him. Either way, in our sleep, we’d glued ourselves closer together. I knew I needed to move away but his hand on my hip was killing me. His fingers were just under the band of my panties and pressed into a spot on my hip bone that was making my breath hitch. It was one of my most sensitive spots and he managed to find it accidentally in the dark while asleep. I tried to go back to sleep but desire made me ache with need and I either needed him to move his hand away from there or—I don’t know—but leaving it there was not an option. Did I want this to go further? Was it cheating if I was already going to break up with Tyler before we crashed? My mind tripped over itself in confusion.
“You’re fidgeting again,” he murmured sleepily.
