by Redding, Mae
“I can’t take yours…” I tried to object as he gave me a stern look but my heart wasn’t in it and I slipped my arms inside the sleeves, warmed by him. “Thank you.”
I glanced up and met his eyes as his hands cupped my cheeks. He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead.
“You ready to move?”
“Yeah…”
His muscled arms wrapped with ropy veins and goose bumps, flexed and grew taut as he tied my jacket to the pack. We moved on. My own muscles, stiff from the cold, wouldn’t work. Every move caused pain and I had to focus on each step as we climbed to the top.
We stood over the vast openness with a sense of accomplishment as we recovered from the monumental climb. Gage scanned through the trees with the scope to see if he could spot Damian. I felt relieved when he said he couldn’t but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there. Dusking skies made it hard to see as fallen trees, rocks and unknown objects blended together into the bluish grey hues cast by the approaching night. If Damian tracked us to the falls, he would have to wait until morning. They might not even find the trail. We were lucky to have found it ourselves, and I looked forward to our time to rest.
The trail wound along the mountainside, which we followed through thick pines and large rocks. I stopped, stunned, unsure if my eyes played tricks on me, unsure if I dared believe we could finally rest. My throat tightened and tears welled in my eyes, thankful for shelter. A cave, smaller than the inside of the cabin, but big enough to get us out of the wind.
I worked quickly, shuddering from the bitter chill as I gathered wood for a fire. Gage pulled a few larger dead branches with protruding limbs to the entrance of the cave to cover the opening. Then, he broke off pine tree branches and placed them strategically over the others to insulate the cave from the wind.
Surprised at the difference it made, the air seemed much calmer and I felt hopeful that we might be okay tonight. I knelt next to him as he worked next on the fire and I tried to calm my trembling body.
“Where’s… The… Matches?” I clenched my teeth tight as I searched aimlessly in the pack. My jaw ached as I tried to stop the chatter. Gage stopped suddenly, tinder in hand and stared at me.
“Don’t tell me,” he fumed as he dropped the sticks and grabbed the pack, rummaging through it, “they’re at the cabin.”
Gage drew a quick deep breath and exhaled quickly as he looked around. He searched through the wood for the right pieces as he attempted to start the fire another way.
Still encased in his jacket, I watched him as he worked hard for a much-needed fire. Goosebumps rippled on the flesh of his arms as his biceps bulged and flexed while he rubbed the sticks together vigorously on a flatter log with the dried grass at the base.
The fifteen minutes seemed like an hour but soon a small ember emerged. A flicker grew as Gage blew on it softly. Chills rushed through me as he looked at me over the small flame. A crooked smile curled at the corner of his lip as he fed dried grass and twigs. Carefully laid sticks snapped and popped and before long, he had a strong fire.
While he established the blaze, I filled the small pan at the stream and placed it amongst the coals. Time moved slowly as the water warmed and a faint cloudy vapor rose up and dissipated into the frosty air as I waited impatiently for hot tea.
We hadn’t eaten since yesterday and my stomach growled in protest. With the cans of soup and stew gone, I pulled out the remaining jerky and trail mix. The only food left was some rabbit and dried soup mix but we decided to save it.
Steam grew from the pot as little bubbles lined the bottom of the pan. One by one, they started to rise to the surface through the gentle rolling boil.
“I’m… So… Cold.” My hands trembled as I puffed a warm breath over them then reached for the pan. I decided it was warm enough and poured us a cup of tea. I took a sip then handed it to Gage as white steam with the scent of mint wafted into the air.
“You drink it… We’ll share the next one.”
“No, we can share this one.” I held the cup close to my face as the steam rose and slightly warmed my nose.
“Your lips are blue, beautiful.”
I smiled inwardly at his endearing concern. He knelt in front of me as I sat on the log and glanced into the softness of his eyes encompassed with worry. I dared not move as he wrapped an arm around me.
“Your lips are as blue as mine, just have a drink,” I pleaded. He ignored me as he pulled me close but I insisted as I passed the cup to him and reluctantly, he took it.
“Jade… Your clothes are wet. You’ll never warm up… You’re going to get sick.” Even with the tea, the cold grew bitter and the thought of freezing to death crossed my mind.
“Well, I don’t have anything else to wear.”
My wet clothes pulled away every ounce of warmth my body tried to generate. Gage looked through the bag. He pulled out the blanket and found my shorts.
“Where's your tank top?”
“On me, it's under my shirt and it's soaked too.”
“I’ll go outside… Take them off and wrap up,” he said. I nodded, too cold to speak or disagree. I slipped off his coat and handed it to him.
I watched him walk outside into the cold air and disappear in the darkness. I fumbled to remove my clothing down to my bra, which was going to have to dry on me. My pants clung to my trembling wet legs red from the cold as I peeled them off. I managed to pull on the shorts with stiff, frozen fingers then wrapped myself up in the blanket. I felt a little out of sorts by my lack of clothing, as I looked dressed to go swimming at the lake, if it were only that warm, I mused.
The soft, sandy floor numbed my frozen feet and found its way between my toes as I walked across the short distance of the cave. I draped my clothes over the wall of craggy branches close to the fire.
“Okay.”
I kneeled close to the fire but I couldn’t shake the chill from my bones. Gage returned and sat next to me on the cave floor, after he put a few more logs on the fire.
I listened to the wind howl as he poured more tea. With worry in his face, he looked cold but wouldn’t admit it as he handed me the cup. Reluctantly, I took it. He continued to add wood to the fire. The flames took on a life of its own as it flickered and danced, reflecting on the cave walls.
“The wind is picking up,” he said, as he took off his shirt and knelt down in front of me. Stunned by his actions, I gave him a questioning glare.
“What… Are you… Doing? You don’t… Need to… Freeze… With me,” I said, my teeth chattered.
He slipped under the blanket and vigorously rubbed my arms, then moved in closer to warm my back as I pulled the blanket around him. “You need my heat.”
My smile faded with apprehension as he put an arm under my knees. I felt his hand on my icy thigh with the other wrapped around my back. He moved me closer to him onto the floor of the cave.
Tangled in the blanket he pulled his coat over top of us. I felt myself slowly thaw. With our eyes locked on each other, I laid back as he lowered himself cautiously over me. With the weight of him and the flesh of his chest next to mine, my breath caught. I closed my eyes and turned my head. Not even at the springs had we been so close, and he must have sensed my unease as he touched my cheek softly.
“Hey…Look at me…Please,” he asked, and I turned slowly to see him above me. His eyes pleaded with mine as he rested on his elbows. He leaned in, his hot breath warmed my neck and chest as he deliberately breathed on me, while his fingers combed gingerly through my damp hair. “I’m sorry.”
His voice low, just barely above a whisper calmed me, from an unknown place in my heart, afraid to have him kiss me like this due to where it might lead, but he didn’t try. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be so close, so intimate. But, I needed to. We needed to. He was just as cold as I was, and we needed each other.
His blue eyes, soft and comforting and I felt my heart relax. His warmth touched me deeply, and I suddenly felt safe underneath the weight of h
im.
The cave finally warmed some and gradually, my shivering stopped but my tense muscles still cramped and ached from being so cold.
“You didn’t think I could get that fire started, did you?”
“I did. It just never crossed my mind to rub sticks together… I wouldn’t know how…I’m glad you did,” I said, as I gazed into the comfort of his eyes.
“Are you getting warmer?”
“Yeah… Thank you.”
“You’re good with a gun… Where did you learn to shoot?”
“My dad…” The thought of our last hunting trip brought a smile, which quickly faded with the realization there would never be another. I used to love to go hunting with him. It never seemed to bother me to shoot an animal as long as it was for food, but shooting a man was different, and today I shot two. There was no purpose to shooting them other than preventing them from shooting me, and it seemed senseless, avoidable. I sighed.
“You didn’t do anything wrong by shooting those men today.”
I looked at Gage through the firelight, surprised he knew what went through my mind. “I felt sick after.”
“I know, that’s the difference between you and them, you were just defending yourself and there is nothing wrong with that. Don’t ever hesitate to protect yourself, Jade.”
“Okay,” I faltered, as I tried to expunge the reluctance, evident in my voice.
“I don’t think Damian will find us up here… Not tonight… We slowed him down.”
“Good.”
“You tired?”
“Yeah,” I answered sleepily, as I stifled a yawn, exhausted, as my eyes grew heavy.
“Go to sleep...”
“Okay.”
I curled up into his arms. His hands fanned out across the bare skin of my back as he rubbed my body. Each spot he touched, my arm, my hip, my thigh, thawed by the warmth of his hands. I felt myself calm and as if all I needed was for him to say, it was all right, I fell asleep shortly after my eyes closed.
***
Suddenly, I gasped for air. My body jerked into wakefulness and sent me upright with a start. The faint dying glow of the fire, barely visible made everything else look pitch black. I couldn’t see a thing or hear a sound through the eerie quiet. After a moment, the bitterness of the air grabbed my attention, compounded by my clammy skin. I wiped the beads of sweat off my chest as one escaped and ran down under my bra. I drew the blanket over my bare shoulders and glanced at the near dead coals.
“You okay?” He asked, as he leaned on an elbow to the side of me. With a hand that slipped gingerly across my bare waist, he pulled me back under the blanket and curled himself and the blanket around me. The warmth of his breath on the back of my neck sent shivers down my spine.
“Sorry I woke you…I just had a terrible dream.”
“Oh… I hope it wasn’t about me.”
“It was... I had a dream that I had almost no clothes on… And you were chasing me.”
“Really?”
“No,” I laughed and he nudged me as I settled closer to him, “it was just weird.” I pulled his arm tighter around me as I glanced back over my shoulder. “I just had a dream that I was being chased by this vicious massive wolf with a huge head. It didn’t matter where I went… It always found me... I tried to run but... I was stuck and couldn’t move... He got closer and towered over me. Then his face turned into Damian’s, and … Like I said… Weird.”
“That wasn’t a dream... That nightmare was real.”
“Yeah, I guess it is. He is haunting my dreams now.”
“I liked the dream with me chasing you better,” he teased.
My smile grew and I bit my lip to contain it. “Yeah, me too.”
I twisted around to face him. His face barely visible under the dark shadows of night. He gave me a mischievous grin and winked at me. The look on his face alone warmed my insides and I suddenly felt braver and far more daring than I should have. My eyes followed as I let my hand graze his muscled arm, his shoulder and his warm bare chest. The pads of my fingers feathered over each ridge of his rippled abs as I studied every inch of him. His skin smooth and taut forever branded in a spot in my mind.
He gingerly touched my cheek with his fingers as mine migrated back up his chest. I hooked my finger around the pendant that dangled over the soft spot on his neck and pulled him close. His forehead pressed against mine. I combed my fingers through his hair and erased the space between us, pressing his lips to mine. The velvety give and pull of his lips sent a tingling through me that stole my breath. Sensationalized warmth intensified inside me as he tightened his arms around me and deepened the kiss, then softly pulled back and positioned a kiss on the lobe of my ear. Chills prickled my skin.
“I need to put more wood on the coals before they die,” Gage whispered, while he placed little kisses on my neck as if to finish off any reservations I might have had.
“Not yet,” I pleaded, as I became comfortable with him close. My fear of being close to him last night dissolved with the security he provided and left plenty of room to solidify my feelings for him. “You are so warm. I don't want you to get up.”
A throaty growl emerged from deep in his chest and I giggled as he flung the blanket over our heads and buried us beneath it. His fingers brushed lightly against the sensitive skin on my belly. His lips traced down the line of my collarbone with soft kisses and whispered with great warmth over my heart. “There will be a day, where I won't be able to stop myself.”
I smiled. “And that will be the day I won't want you to.” Whispery from his effect on me.
He gave me an all-knowing smile, as if he saw my thoughts, as if we both agreed that even though we both wanted each other desperately, tonight wasn't the night. I smiled as he propped himself onto his elbow and pulled an arm out of the blanket. He reached over me and stacked some small twigs and logs on the near-dead coals to revive their flame.
“Do you want something warm to drink?” He asked, and then chuckled under his breath as he displayed the tin canister that held the remnants of our only drink. “We have tea… Or tea, what would you like?”
“I think I'll have tea,” I said as I looked up at him. I giggled at his exuberant charm and he flashed a rather amusing, contagious smile. I bit my lower lip to contain my grin that brimmed with buoyant wonderment at how easily he captured my heart.
“You shouldn't do that.”
“Do what?” I asked, as my smile waned.
“Bite at your lip,” he said, with a low, husky voice that sent my heart into a flutter. “That's my job. You do know that it drives me crazy when you do that, don't you?”
My chin dropped slightly, fascinated with his wit. “Are you always this charming?”
“I try,” he said with a coy smile, apparently a little reserved when talking about him.
“Thank you, again, Gage. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too… I wouldn't have it any other way.”
He poured us some tea, still hot from the fire. Billows of steam rose in the cool air. He handed me the cup. I sipped slowly, only to find the heat of the liquid perfect so I took a bigger swallow, then another and handed it to him to finish off.
“How long do you think we’ll have to stay here?” I asked, as I lay down and let my eyes drift closed.
“We’re going to go home tomorrow.”
Contentment swept over me as he put my mind at ease. I wanted to go home and couldn’t wait for tomorrow.
CHAPTER 19
I woke to the smoky scent of cooked rabbit with a hint of minty tea that wafted amongst the damp, stone walls of the cave and pulled me from my sleep. I stretched the stiffness from my muscles as the heavenly aromas stirred my stomach and it growled in hunger, angering my taste buds. Gage must have woken early and I smiled at his thoughtfulness as he handed me a cup.
My throat stung, almost to the point that I couldn't swallow, as I attempted to drink the soothing liquid. My chest burned all the time but worsened
when I coughed, which increased over the last two days. The usual fatigue that accompanies the common cold settled in as well. “Thank you,” I whispered to hide the raspy, hoarseness in my throat.
“Are you ready to go today?” Gage asked. I glanced at the entrance of the cave and couldn’t hide the disappointment on my face that we were supposed to have left two days ago. The snow began that first night, and continued to fall, while we waited impatiently for it to stop. “I think once we get down past the tree line it won’t be so cold. It’s probably just raining at home.”
“I don’t want to stay here another night… I don’t care what we have to walk through,” I pleaded.
“I thought you might say that.”
His comment made me smile.
After a minute of searching through the pack, he pulled out a small tin container that he grabbed from the cabin that looked like it contained breath mints once. With his knife, he stabbed two holes in the tin, one in the lid, one in the bottom then cut off a piece of my old shirt that was already in rags and put it inside the tin, tossing it in the fire. It smoldered and burned for a while and then he pushed it out of the fire with a stick into the icy sand. Curious, I watched him.
“My dad showed me this once when we went camping, just before he died. It was the last trip Joel and I had with him before he left for the war,” he said, and stared into the fire as he talked. “He said that if you ever need to start a fire and you don’t have a light… This will make it easier.” He picked up the charred tin and opened it after it cooled down. Inside, the shirt was burned black, but not into ashes as I thought.
“You take sticks like before and put this charred piece on the flat wood, and set it at the base of the stick. Rub them together over the dried grass… The char acts as an igniter and the fire starts a lot easier. My dad used one similar to this one to light our fire so he could show us,” Gage said, as he put the tin in the front pocket of the pack.
“That’s good to know.”
“Yeah, you ready?” He asked, as he stood.
