Page 41 of A Second Dawn

“No. That was my stomach,” Ella says. “I’m a bit hungry.”

“A bit?” I joke. “That sounded like a bear attack.”

“Ade, why don’t you follow those signs to the lookout?” Claudette suggests.

“Hmm, it’s dark, Claude,” Ella points out the obvious. “You won’t see a thing.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m aware of that, darling. But I think we should cook dinner.”

“Cook dinner?” Ella sounds confused.

“Yeah, I bought some hotdogs.”

“But we have nothing to cook them in.”

Claudette looks pointedly at me in the mirror as I turn onto the dirt road as requested.

“Well, we have a special forces man with us. He knows how to rough it. Surely, he’ll be able to build a fire. We’ll roast them on sticks… I also got marshmallows for the ultimate camping experience.”

Aiden parks the car when the path ends.

“I know we agreed to drive through the night to get to Montreal by the morning. But I suggest we all get some sleep and continue on at sunrise,” Claudette proposes.

“Where would we sleep?” Ella asks.

More eye rolls from Claudette. “I understand now why it bothers Rhia so much,” Ella mutters under her breath.

Claudette ignores her and replies, “Under the stars, of course. Though it might get cold. But lucky for us all, I picked up emergency blankets when we got supplies.”

“Emergency blankets?” Ella questions, her face blank as she tries to work out what Claudette means.

“Yeah, the silvery space sheets?”

“They retain heat,” I explain. “In fact, they can reflect up to ninety percent of a person’s body heat back onto them.”

Ella looks at me, grinning. “Well, are you aware that on average, the human body generates enough heat in just thirty minutes to bring a gallon of water to a boil?”

Now I grin. I like this game with her. Looks like I found my match.

“I’m all for dinner,” Ella says, getting back to Claudette’s suggestion. “But I prefer to keep going. As much as I love sleeping under the stars, I want to leave this area just in case Tiero somehow tracked us. We also don’t know how long this car will last. It might break down a few more times and set us back further. I’m happy to drive for a few hours so you both can rest.”

“Ella is right,” I say. “The old Ford Taurus is unpredictable, and it’s best to keep moving while we can. But we’ll have dinner first. I’ll get a fire started.”

“I’ll help you find some wood,” Ella offers and starts walking to a row of trees. Kneeling down, she picks up any branches she spots. I groan internally.

The dirty part of my mind jumps to far more x-rated images. Ella on her knees, unbuckling my pants, my hands in her hair, directing her to where I want her.

Fuck!

Now I’ve got my own wood. And it’s already on fire.

Chapter Eleven

Aiden

MymusclesburnasI push myself up onto my elbows and then stretch all the way up for some push ups. Shifting my weight onto one arm, I lower myself until my nose is about to touch the forest floor. The smell of damp soil mingles with the invigorating fragrance of towering pines.

For five days now, I’ve been doing my workouts in the forest. I’m digging the serenity of this setting. It helps my mind to stay sharp. When I get back home, I’ll ditch my workout studio and go outside too.

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