Julia and I disappeared inside the trailer to change and I said to her, “Is everything all right?”
“Fine, it’s nothing.” She sighed. “Buddy was a bit of a jerk last night. Did he prank you guys?”
“No,” I said. I could feel my cheeks heating up but sometimes, because of my dark skin tone, people didn’t notice when I was blushing.
She didn’t notice. “Buddy was nervous last night and then he said he was going out for a moment. I wanted to come with him but he wouldn’t let me. I mean, this wasn’t just asking, this was an outright order to keep my ass in the trailer. He never talks to me like that!”
“I didn’t notice him,” I said. “Maybe he was just going to the bathroom.”
“He was gone an awfully long time to be going to the bathroom. That’s why I thought maybe he was going out to prank you guys, but if he didn’t, I don’t know where he went.”
“Maybe he was looking for cell reception.”
“And he didn’t want me to come with him? I don’t know, Emily. Look, don’t worry about it, okay? You’re right, it’s probably something harmless and stupid. I’m more upset with the way he was talking to me. I’ll get over it. Come on, I don’t want to ruin this camping trip for everyone else.”
The dishes were drying and Buddy and Joel were wrestling the kayaks down from the roof of the SUV. “Are you two ready to spend some time on the water?” Joel said.
“I still don’t know where you got two double-seater kayaks from,” I said.
“I know a guy who knows a guy,” Buddy said.
“Gee, now they sound like drugs,” I said dryly and the guys laughed. Julia and I fetched the life jackets and paddles and soon we had the boats on the edge of the water and everyone was ready to go.
“Have you guys ever used kayaks before?” I said.
“Oh yeah,” Joel said. “Lots of times. This is going to be fun.”
We got the kayaks in the water and climbed in. As the boats glided along the water I started to relax. We raced the kayaks up and down the river back and forth past the campsite, splashing each other and laughing.
“Come on!” Buddy shouted, laughing. “Ready steady go!”
We took off down river, paddling hard. Joel and I shot past our regular turnaround spot and he raised his paddle in triumph, whooping at our victory.
Our boat twisted sideways as the current pushed it further down river. “Come on,” I said, “Let’s get this thing turned around.”
He nodded and then we hit a rock that knocked the kayak over. It rolled and I got a mouthful of water. I pushed out like I’d been taught at summer camp some fourteen years earlier and then the current grabbed me. I popped up and gasped for air. I saw Joel clinging to the boat. I went under. I fought upwards. The current pulled downwards.
I felt something hit the back of my head and then there was blackness.
CHAPTER FOUR
I woke with a gasp and sat bolt upright. Consciousness brought with it the panic I’d felt when I’d been pulled under. I was on a narrow bed in a simple cottage. Probably a forest ranger’s cottage or something. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and yelled, “Hey! Is there anybody there? Joel? Buddy? Julia?”
The blanket fell away and I realized I was completely naked. I was looking around for my clothes when the door opened and I yanked the blanket over my body. The man who walked in was certainly not a forest ranger. He was rugged, weather worn, and dressed in a worn button down shirt and old jeans. He had heavy duty hiking boots on. He looked at me and frowned.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
“What?”
“You nearly died out in the river. It’s not a man-made lake in the middle of a man-made campground. She’s dangerous, the river, dangerous and unpredictable, but you idiot kids don’t see that and you come out here to play and end up dead on my doorstep.”
“You don’t know …”
“I know you were drifting downriver, unconscious and on the verge of drowning completely. You were stupid and reckless. You have no respect for the river or these woods.”
“And you have no respect for other people,” I snapped back, trying not to cry.
“Just enough respect to save their lives,” he replied. “Here’s something to eat. Your clothes are out on the line, I’ll go see if they’re dry.”
The plate he’d carried in with him had slightly burnt toast and a scrambled egg on it. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been out but I was starving. I was finished eating before he got back with my clothes, which he dumped on the floor before walking out again.
When I was dressed I went out too. The cabin was small, just the single room I’d been in. Outside there was a fire pit, a clothes line, a corral where a beautiful horse grazed, a stack of fire wood, and a small shed. “What is this place?”
“My home,” he said from his place by the fire.
“How do I get back?”
He pointed off into the bush. “That way. Follow the river back up to where you were camping.”
“Alone?!”
“I’ve already saved your life, lady. I …”
“Emily,” I said. I walked over to him and held out my hand. “I’m Emily.” He stared at my hand but didn’t take it so I dropped it again. “Thanks for saving me. You’re right though, I have no idea what I’m doing out here. It wasn’t even my idea to come here. My boyfriend and his friends are going to be worried, if they don’t think I’m dead. I need to get back to them.”
“I don’t like people,” he said. “I came out here for a reason. But if it gets you and your friends out of here, fine, I’ll take you back. But you do as you’re told, you keep up, and you don’t complain. Do you understand?”
I nodded. He pulled a pan off the fire and dumped the contents on a second plate which he then picked up and started eating from. I sat down on the other side of the fire and waited. He didn’t look at me or say anything.
“So,” I said, “When do we leave?”
“In the morning.”
“Morning! What time is it now?”
“Late enough that we won’t get far before sundown. Better to leave in the morning. Besides, your shoes aren’t dry and walking with wet shoes isn’t pleasant.”
“Oh.”
I studied him while he ate. He was obviously well muscled in a hard, lean, way and younger than I first guessed. He was older than me but only by five or so years, not ten or fifteen like I had originally thought. His brown hair was slightly shaggy with natural curls brushing the nape of his neck but poorly cut and he likely hadn’t shaved in a few days. The yard around his cottage was tidy even if he had dirt under his nails and scruffy clothing.
The more I studied him the more attractive I found him. He was handsome in a way Joel could never be, but then I didn’t think this man, whatever his name was, could ever be good looking in the way Joel was. I found they were both attractive and left it at that before I started asking myself which one I liked better. This man was a stranger, it was like staring at celebrities in magazines – they may be hot but even if they’re better looking than Joel I’ll never meet them, get to know them, or date them, so what was the harm in thinking they were hot?
He stood up, breaking my chain of thought. “I have things to do around here, especially if we’re leaving in the morning. Don’t touch anything, don’t break anything, don’t make a mess of anything.”
I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t a child but I held my tongue and nodded. He didn’t like company but had saved me anyways. I could at least be polite. He dumped water on the fire and walked away.
We had rabbit for dinner. I’d never had rabbit before and watching the skinned animal on a spit over the fire almost had me swearing off of meat for life but when he handed me a plate the smell was so good that it made my stomach cramp in hunger and I ate every bite without complaint.
“That was really good,” I said, staring at my empty plate. “Thank you.”
He studied me for a
moment. “You’re welcome.”
“What’s your name?”
“Ryker,” he said. “You can have the bed. I suggest you get some sleep. We’ll be walking a lot for the next day or so.”
I didn’t know what else to say so I handed him my plate and went back inside. I didn’t feel tired but I crawled into his bed anyways. I hadn’t noticed when I first woke up but the blankets and pillowed had an unfamiliar smell. I didn’t smell my own bed at all and Joel’s bed smelled like his shampoo and his Burberry cologne. These smelled of fresh air and campfire smoke and something I could only describe as male. It was Ryker’s smell of course, and as unfamiliar as it was to me it was comforting and oddly sexy.
I fell asleep amid thoughts of him coming in and crawling into bed with me.
CHAPTER FIVE
When I woke up the sun was up but the sky was still that pale grey-blue of early morning. Ryker was already awake. There was food cooking on the open fire and he was splitting fire wood. His shirt was tossed over his stool and I could see just how well muscled his back was. I stood watching. My heart was suddenly racing and my mouth was dry. There was a tightness down low, right between my legs, and it was hard to breathe.
He turned, saw me watching him, and I saw the corner of his mouth tug upwards into the first hint of a smile before he frowned. He buried the axe in the chopping block and came towards me. His chest glistened with sweat and I bit my lower lip. Here I was, stuck in the middle of the wilderness, with a sexy bush man, and all he wanted to do was get rid of me!
“Good, you’re up,” he said. “Eat and we’ll get going.”
“I know we’re headed upstream,” I said, “But how are we going to cross the river? We were camped on the other side. And how do you know how far away my camp is?”
“Given how much water came out of your lungs and how long it took you to wake up I can guess how long you were in the water. And if we can’t find your camp we can find the highway. Now eat. Your shoes are there by the door, they’re dry.” He grabbed his shirt and disappeared into the cabin.
When he reappeared he was in fresh pants and a fresh shirt. He had an old canvas hiking pack with him and while I ate he loaded the pack with food and other supplies.
He set a gruelling pace through the trees and I was almost jogging to keep up with him. I was huffing and puffing and he hadn’t even broken a sweat yet. We stopped twice for short snacks and once for lunch and before I knew it the sun was disappearing behind the trees. He set his pack down and said, “We’ll have dinner and then camp here tonight.”
I dropped to the ground, breathing hard, while he built a fire and pulled out some dry ration bars. He tossed one to me and I scrambled to open it. It was bland and dry but it was food.
I scooted closer to the fire, holding my hands out to feel the warmth of the flames. It was nice here, quiet, I could hear the birds. We had scared off most of the birds around our campsite, aside from the crows. The river sounded distant through the trees, a gentle bubbling, like a quiet brook and not like a powerful river capable of sweeping a person away. I glanced around seeing beauty in the way the fading light and deepening shadows shifted around us. As my gaze passed over Ryker I realized he was staring at me. I looked back down at the fire.
“You’re stronger than you look,” he said.
I looked up, startled.
“Most people wouldn’t have survived. It’s easy to drown, it’s hard to survive. Most people don’t have enough fight in them anymore.”
“Oh, I …” What could I say? I didn’t think of myself as particularly strong.
“Civilization takes that out of a lot of people, they can’t survive without their luxuries, they have no fight in them, they’re always afraid.”
“Doesn’t this place scare you?”
“Of course it does, I’m not stupid. But it’s a respectful wariness, it’s knowing that something bigger and tougher than me is likely to leap out and try to eat me and I have to be prepared and alert.”
I shivered.
“You’re cold. Here, it’s not much, I had to pack light.” He came over, handed me a light blanket and sat down next to me.
“I could have helped you carry stuff.”
“Who would have helped me carry it back?”
“Oh. You know I am sorry I’m causing you so much trouble.”
For a long moment we both just stared into the flames.
“I’ve never met someone like you,” he said. “You’re from the city and yet you respect this place, I can see it in the way you look around.”
“Yeah, I don’t really fit in anywhere,” I said. The blanket wasn’t doing much so I scooted closer to the fire again.
“You’re going to catch on fire,” he said, “And then you’ll be complaining that you’re too warm.”
“I’ll take that chance.”
“Come here.”
He was holding his arm out, offering me the spot right beside him.
“Body heat is a powerful thing,” he said. “We’ll keep each other warm, that’s all.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” I said.
“Come on, you don’t want to be cold and neither do I. Come here.” His gruff manner actually made me smile, and it was easy to tease him because of it.
But I slid back and over and let him wrap an arm around me. He smelled of man and wild and real, none of those fake smells that came with colognes and aftershaves, just fresh air and pine trees. I snuggled in closer and rested my head against his shoulder, relaxing against his body. He was stiff, his arm rigid, but he stayed. I needed one hand to hold me up but the other I draped over his stomach and I sighed.
Slowly he relaxed and settled a little.
I tipped my head up so I could see the side of his face. The firelight played over his rugged features. I wonder … I sat up taller and kissed him.
He pulled back as if I had slapped him.
I started to pull away, I knew I was blushing and I was thankful for the deep shadows. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m …”
He roughly pulled me close and kissed me so hard and so suddenly that my head was spinning. Joel’s kisses had been demanding but Ryker’s kisses, for all their roughness, were almost nervous. When he released me I touched his weathered cheek and smiled. I kissed him tenderly, letting each kiss linger. Somehow I ended up sitting in his lap, his arms tight around my waist and my arms around his neck.
I ran my hands down over his shoulders and started fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. He pushed my shirt up and laid his worn, calloused hands on my sides. I wanted more so I left off the impossible buttons and grabbed his wrists, guiding his hands up under my shirt until they were over my breasts. He caressed them, his calloused palms made my nipples harden.
I went back to the buttons and managed to undo enough of them that I could get my hands against his muscled chest. He was warm, but then I could feel my whole body heating up as well. Somehow I managed to twist around so I was straddling him, a feat made more impressive by the fact that we didn’t stop kissing, or touching, and neither of us toppled over.
He was hard and straining against his jeans. I pushed down against him and he groaned into my mouth. His hands slid down to my hips and he ground me against him. The seam of my jeans rubbed against my increasingly wet womanhood, which was still tender from the night before and I whimpered.
“I want you,” I whispered between kisses. I reached for the button on his jeans.
“Your boyfriend,” he said, trying to pull back but I kept kissing him and I kept fumbling with the button. It was not my night for buttons.
He stopped kissing back, even when I wrapped myself around his neck again. “Ryker, don’t stop, please.”
“I don’t want to, god it’s been too long. But this isn’t right, Emily. You have a boyfriend.”
I fought to calm down but my body didn’t want to. I tried touching his chest but he caught my wrist.
“Don’t, please, I need to ca
lm down.”
I nodded and slid from his lap. “I’ll behave,” I said. “No more kisses, no more touching. Can we at least keep each other warm?”
He studied me, wary.
“I got carried away, I’m sorry. I … I’ve never met anyone like you before either. Let’s get some sleep, okay?”
I stretched out on the ground with the thin blanket over my shoulders. For a long moment I waited, refusing to look at him, pretending to settle down to sleep. Finally he stretched out behind me, his back to me, and said, “Good night Emily.”
“Good night Ryker.”
CHAPTER SIX
I woke up the next morning with my face buried against his chest and his arm draped over me. I knew as soon as he woke he’d move so I stayed still and enjoyed the feel of him so close. I didn’t get to enjoy it for long. He woke, sat up with a start, and scrambled to his feet. I stretched slowly, pretending I was only just stirring, and said, “Is it morning already?”
“Yes. Come on, we can eat while we walk.”
After finishing the ration bar and some water I said, “You’re not pushing as hard today.”
“I’m betting we’re pretty close to your campsite,” he said. “If we don’t find it by tonight we’ll push hard tomorrow and get you to the highway.”
A few hours later we came to a low spot and I said, “You know, we were camping at a low spot like this, but on the other side of the river,” I said.
“I know the place,” Ryker said. “We’ll be there today.”
“I didn’t think I’d drifted so far down river.”
“It’s harder to hike than to be swept away,” he said, smiling at me. There was something sad in his smile. “Let’s get you back to your friends.”
We broke through the trees and came to the river bank about a hundred yards upstream of the campsite. The SUV was gone but the camper was still there and there was smoke drifting up from the campfire pit.
“That’s it!” I said. “We found it!”
“There are some rocks just upriver,” Ryker said. “You can wade across there and then trek down to the camp site.”
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