by Bella Blake
Chase and I spent the entire day yesterday exploring Megan, directing our energy toward her instead of trying to confront the nature of our predicament. I discovered that if I avoided looking out the windows to the charred hills below the ridge, I could almost forget that spending time here wasn’t in my original plans and that my crew isn’t battling the blaze without me, or wondering where I am.
Megan has been a very worthy distraction.
She grabbed hold of me in ways I didn’t expect. And even though I can’t offer what she deserves—a comfortable place to sleep and a proper meal—she’s been an amazingly good sport about everything.
I look up from the assortment of supplies to where Megan lies curled up, her head pillowed on Chase’s chest. My brother’s arm hugs her close, even in his sleep.
A woman has never affected us both like this, and I know in my gut that it’s more than the circumstances that led us to this. The fire might have sped things up, but from the moment I laid eyes on Megan, she captured my attention in a way no other woman ever has.
Already, I’m thinking about ways that we can get her to stay with us.
Our house has three bedrooms, after all.
The third one is supposedly a guest room, but it’s mainly become a spot to store our gear. She could have that room, but... I’d struggle to stay in my own bed if she’s just down the hall. I’d say my brother would, too.
Other than our seasonal camping trips, Chase and I haven’t shared a sleeping space since we were kids. But with a big enough bed—and Megan in between us, I think we could make it work.
I pull in a deep breath and try to redirect my attention to the task at hand. I’m getting ahead of things. Before I can make plans to get a larger bed, or talk Megan into staying with us, we’ve gotta get back to civilization and make it out of this wildfire intact.
I run my hands through my hair, rubbing my fingertips against my scalp, longing for a shower. My traitorous thoughts immediately jump back to Megan, imagining her in a shower, naked and wet, water cascading down her curves and my lips on her...
I shake my head to clear the image, but my cock’s already responding.
Damn, I have got to fucking focus here.
Between Chase and Megan’s packs, we have six dehydrated meal pouches left. It’s fucking fortunate for us that both of them decided to over-pack food for some reason, maybe out of an abundance of caution, but still… six meals between the three of us isn’t going to go far. Especially not if we’re burning calories like crazy hiking through steep terrain.
If we ration them, and share a pouch between us once a day, that’s six days. That would keep us from starving, but it’s not much fuel for the brutal conditions of these mountains.
Sharing two pouches a day takes us down to just three days worth of food and that’s too big of a gamble to risk. It’s hard to tell how long we’ll be out here.
I look at their water bottles next. One is empty, the other one is about half full. Both Megan and Chase have water purifiers for their bottles, but without a way to fill them up, it doesn’t matter how much food we have, and dehydration is a bitch.
We can survive without food if we have to—but we’ve gotta have something to drink. Finding a source of water has to be our first priority.
The rest of the stuff laid out before me includes first aid supplies, paracord, clothing, headlamps, a fire-starting kit, a few small tools, and some toiletry items. All things that will make survival easier, so long as we have water.
I haul myself off the floor and finally look out over the surrounding landscape.
Everything below the ridge is a jagged black scar on the earth. The once lush forest is now skeletal, though there are dots of green here and there, from a handful of giant evergreens that survived the hellish inferno.
Even from where I am, I can see none of them have escaped unscathed. They might have refused to fall and succumb to the fire, but the few branches that remain are high above the ground, and their trunks are badly blackened from where the flames licked around them.
Stepping outside as quietly as possible, I survey the area anew as I make my way around the catwalk outside the tower. Although the sky is choked by smoke, I can see the White River snaking through the base of the mountains in the distance. At least five miles of charred, rugged terrain lie between us and the water.
It won’t be easy going, but it’ll have to do.
No one knows we’re here, so no one will come looking for us.
Hell, my team probably thinks I’m dead. I know the drill—they have to focus on controlling the fire. But it still makes my heart ache in an unfamiliar way.
As I ease back inside and close the door quietly, I hear Megan let out a soft moan. My attention is drawn to her, wondering if Chase is once again waking her up with suggestive caresses and teasing kisses.
Yesterday, we couldn’t keep our hands off her, but today a part of me wants to scold him for having a one-track mind, because we need to start worrying about what we’re going to do. At the same time, another part of me wants to cast aside my worries and bury myself between Megan’s welcoming thighs. Licking her until she climaxes with her legs squeezed against my face would be a hell of a lot more enjoyable than dealing with our shortage of food and the rough hike we’re facing to get to the river.
She’s stretching, and Chase is awake too, but to my relief, neither of them are restarting anything from yesterday. If they were, it’d be damn hard to resist joining in and letting myself forget the world for another day.
Last night was on the chilly side, so we shared the one makeshift blanket we have. I’m thankful as fuck to the genius who’d designed the poncho liner, because it’s thin and lightweight, but incredibly warm and water resistant. It sure did help make things more comfortable, even though it was a tight squeeze to get all of us underneath it.
Megan pushes the blanket off and does the sexiest stretch I’ve ever seen. But truthfully, I find everything she does damn sexy.
The sight of her right now—in only a thin white tank top and panties, her strong legs fully in view, her hair tousled and tangled from our hands—it nearly steals my breath away. It takes everything I have not to dive on top of her and cover her in slow, sensual kisses from head to toe.
My brother slips out from under the blanket, too, and leans over to press his lips to Megan’s forehead before standing up. I’ve never seen Chase this besotted, but I can’t even give him shit about it because I know I’m just as bad.
He pulls on his shorts and scoops up one of the water bottles as he walks the short distance to join me at the window. As he unscrews the cap, I incline my head towards it.
“Careful,” I say, not bothering to lower my voice. There’s no point—Megan needs to know, and she doesn’t seem the type to appreciate being kept in the dark. “That’s all we have until we find more.”
Chase hesitates as he brings it up to his lips, his eyes going to the precious water sloshing in the bottle. He drinks, but it’s a measured swallow rather than a full mouthful.
Megan walks up behind us, leaning her head against me, the blanket pulled around her shoulders. Chase offers her the bottle, and she takes a small sip as well, not a single complaint coming from those kiss-swollen, slightly chapped lips.
God, I think could love this woman.
She hands it back to Chase, who caps it carefully before she turns to me. Her bright green eyes are mesmerizing as she studies me, drinking in the seriousness in my expression.
“So... unless the magic spring from Tuck Everlasting is hiding at the base of this tower, we’ve gotta find some water and pretty fast, yeah?” She poses it like a question, but I can tell she already knows the answer.
I point out the window at the sliver of the river visible below us. “That’s about five miles away. It’s the closest water source, unless there’s a storm that’s going to dump rain on us.”
Chase scratches his fingers through his scruffy beard as he stares out the w
indow and muses on our situation. I run a hand over my own cheeks—bristled now from several days without shaving.
“Well, that’s five miles over recently burned forest that you’re talking about. It could be a death sentence trying to get through there,” he says in an instructive voice, as if I hadn’t considered that already.
He gets this lecture-like tone sometimes that irritates me to no end, as though he’s the smartest man in the room. I grind my teeth, trying not to let his words get under my skin. He might be the survival guru, and hell, he might even know the contours of this land better than I do, but wildland fire is my life, my career.
If anyone is an expert about the perils of hiking through an area recently decimated by raging flames, it’s me—and my brother would do damn well to remember that.
But I also know we’re all hungry and stressed.
Snapping at him won’t accomplish anything.
Megan must sense my irritation, because her arm sneaks out of the blanket and wraps around my waist, her hand rubbing soothing circles on my back.
“What do you think we should do?” Megan asks.
She looks up at me again, and I can tell by her expression that she’s trying to play the impartial mediator, wanting both Chase and me to have a chance to give our input.
“It’ll be slow going,” I admit before looking out again over the black expanse between us and the water that’s the key to our survival. “There will be a lot of hot spots we’ll have to avoid. It won’t be a straight shot to the river, and any trails are going to be destroyed. But I think we can make it.”
“And what then?” Chase’s voice holds the same frustration I feel. “We make it to the river, we get half a gallon of water between our two canteen bottles, and then what?”
“Then we hike out,” I tell him with a bristling tone as my hands ball into fists. “Or we hike to the next tower and hope we find working equipment there—whatever. We can reassess and come up with the next phase of the plan.”
Our competitive nature has always made us challenge each other, and we often push each other’s buttons as brothers do, but now is not the time. Not when our lives are on the line.
Chase lets out a snort of dissent. “Look, I’m not disagreeing that we’ve got to do something, but I’m not sure that heading further into the backcountry is the right move. We’re already a hell of a long way off the beaten path from the hiking plan I filed. And this fire is still spreading.”
I tip my head back and let out a short, humorless laugh. “You don’t think I fucking know that? It’s not going to be a stroll on a yellow brick road, no matter which way you cut it. But heading toward the river is better than sitting on our asses here, hoping for a rescue that’s not coming, slowly dying of thirst.”
“Then maybe just one of us should go get water—the other can stay here with Megan, instead of dragging her through a fire-riddled mine field.”
Both my eyebrows go up. “And I suppose you’re selflessly volunteering to stay with her, right?”
He scoffs at me, and I swear I would punch him if it wasn’t for Megan between us.
“Whoa now,” she interrupts in an annoyed tone, stepping away from me. She puts her hands on her hips, the thin blanket falling off her shoulders and down to the floor as she glares at us both. “Let’s get one thing clear—I am not some helpless damsel that needs to be coddled. I don’t have as much experience as you two, I’ll grant you that. But you don’t get to use me as a reason to argue with each other. Or stand around making decisions for me, like I’m not right here.”
Chase and I blink at her in surprise. Finally, I stutter, “That’s… that’s not what we meant, Megan. It’s just...”
Chase gets a hint of a smirk on his lips as I stumble over my words, clearly entertained that Megan’s staring me down. I shoot a glare at him, but fall silent, because she’s right. Our protective instincts took over. We’re acting like it’s all up to us, but she has a voice in this, too.
Megan turns her gaze to Chase, crossing her arms while giving him a dead serious look. His smirk falls away instantly, and he straightens his spine and shoulders like he’s bracing for her reprimand.
“Whatever we decide, we’re staying together,” she says, her voice firm. “All three of us.”
Chase draws in a deep breath, letting it out with a long sigh of resignation. “You’re right. Unless there’s no other choice, it’s best that we stick together.”
“So,” she says, turning her gaze out the window, looking towards the river. “Five miles of hiking through dangerous ground to get to water, which puts us further into the wilderness, or sitting here twiddling our thumbs as we quickly run out of water.”
Megan doesn’t seem to expect a response as she captures her lower lip between her teeth, thinking hard.
“Yeah, that about sums it up,” I say evenly, feeling the tension ease from my shoulders a bit. I glance at Chase to see if he’s willing to drop the fight, too, and after a moment he nods silently in agreement.
“Tell me about the risks of hiking through that,” Megan asks, pointing at the charred landscape, where puffs of smoke are still streaming into the sky. “Give it to me straight.”
“Hot spots are the worst,” I answer without hesitation. “You can’t see them until you’re basically in one, and they’re just as deadly as an active blaze. It turns the literal ground into a coal oven. Some you can even fall into, the ground giving way to a giant caldera of burning earth.”
“Jesus.” Megan blinks as she processes the information. “That sounds… real fun.”
“Then there are dead falls,” I continue, pulling no punches. In my opinion, heading to the river is our only viable option, but she needs to know the risks. “A lot of the trees are still standing, as you can see. But they’re not stable. We’ll have to walk around piles of fallen trees, or maybe even climb over them. All while hoping none of the ones that are standing decide to fall or drop dead branches on us as we pass.”
“Hmm, okay,” Megan says, pursing her lips in thought.
Not a single sign of trepidation comes across her face, just focused contemplation. But I’m not done laying out all the things that could go wrong.
“It’s going to be hot—stupid hot,” I say, crossing my arms. “Even without being in a hot spot, the soles of our shoes could begin to melt. The air is going to be dry and hard to breathe. The smoke can choke us, and we’ll need to cover our nose and mouth before going in.”
“We don’t have much water as it is,” Chase pipes up. “If we can’t get through and need to turn back before making it to the river, we’ll have dehydrated ourselves to a dangerous level. Which means we might not survive waiting for a rescue, which could be… who knows how long. The park service knows we’re out here, but like I said, we’re already miles off course from the route I filed.”
Megan is quiet as she returns to looking out the window, digesting everything we’ve said. I glance at Chase, and he eyes me in return, a silent conversation passing between us. He knows the river is our best chance, but I can tell he’s decidedly unhappy about the danger the hike poses.
He doesn’t want Megan exposed to those elements. I feel him on that.
Throughout the years, we’ve each been through our share of troublesome situations, and we’ve always managed to make it out. But this time, it’s not just about us. I’m not a damn bit thrilled about the idea of Megan being in harm’s way, either.
I wish we could whisk her out of here without risking a single hair on her pretty head. That’s something I know Chase and I agree on.
Megan lets out a big sigh, pulling our attention to her. She turns her back to the window and looks as us with a determined expression.
“I say we do it,” she announces. “Sitting here waiting to die seems worse than trying to survive. Like you said, Chase, the odds are no one’s looking for us in this area. Which means we need to save ourselves. And if getting to the river for water is the best chance we have,
then we need to take it.”
I can’t say anything right away. I just pull her into my arms, and her hands come around my waist.
It’s then I can feel the slight tremble in her body, the fear that wasn’t present in her voice. I press a long kiss to the top of her head and look over at my brother.
He steps behind her, pressing her between us as he brushes her hair to one side and nuzzles her cheek. The same determination and tenacity I feel deep in my core is shining in his expression, too. We’ll do whatever it takes to get Megan to safety. We can’t have just found her only to lose any hope of a future with her in it.
Right now, in this moment, she’s safely in our embrace. I wish we could keep her here, just like this, where nothing can harm her.
I tighten my grip around her, drinking in the scent of her hair, the way her body feels pressed to mine, the rise and fall of her chest as she snuggles between us.
All I can think is how much I need this—today, tomorrow, every day for the rest of my life. Fuck everything else, as long as we survive.
The three of us in this room is all that matters.
It takes everything I have to release Megan from my arms, but we’ve gotta get moving to make the hike before sunset. I take a deep breath as I let go of her.
“Then let’s pack up and head out,” I say.
12
MEGAN
Damn, I’m already thirsty and we’ve only walked roughly a half a mile down the ridge to the burn line. The charred forest in front of us grew more imposing with every step closer and now that we’re here, I’m wondering if we’re all off our rockers to be attempting this hike.
From the fire watch tower, the forest was nothing more than a huge swath of black, but here at the edge it’s clearly so much more.
Looking out the window, the area seemed like a void of nothingness. It was empty compared to the view I was used to—when the mountains were covered in a canopy so thick it was like an emerald green carpet stretching as far as the eye could see.
