Burning Time (Snake River Prison Camp Book 2)

by Jules Tyler

  “Just about,” he smiled back, “I figured we should stop for food. Are you hungry?”

  “Starved. All I had on the plane this morning was one of those little packets of cookies and a coffee.” She clutched her stomach to exaggerate her hunger.

  “There’s a nice little diner up here. They have the best blueberry pancakes. I’ll buy.”

  Alicia’s eyes lit up, “Are the blueberries fresh?”

  “Sure are, darlin’. They even make their own syrup to go with them.”

  “Better stop there then. I love blueberry pancakes!”

  Her excitement was music to Duke’s ears; he loved it when she was happy. “I remember,” he said as he pulled the truck into a parking spot in front of a small building with a sign that read Gramma’s Family Restaurant.

  “Awe, it’s so cute. It looks like an old-fashioned diner.”

  “That’s exactly what it is, beautiful.”

  Alicia popped open her door and slid out onto the pavement before casting him a skeptical look, “Are you trying to bribe me to forgive you with pancakes and cute small-town eateries, Duke Michael Irving?”

  He walked over and wrapped an arm around her waist before nibbling on her ear as he whispered, “That depends; is it working?”

  She giggled like a lovesick schoolgirl, “Let me try those pancakes, then we’ll talk.”

  About twenty minutes later, Alicia was digging into her last bite of blueberry soaked goodness as Duke sat back with a smirk on his face, “So can we talk now?”

  Alicia looked up at him with a small stream of syrup running down the corner of her mouth as she pushed her plate away, “I suppose.”

  “You’ve got a little runaway syrup there, beautiful,” Duke chuckled as he stood and leaned across the table. Trailing his tongue along the syrup before running it across the seam of her lips, he could hear her breathing speed up with pleasure.

  The waitress dropped the check on the table as he sat back down, “Well, aren’t you two just the cutest? How long have ya’ll been together?”

  Duke smiled at the older lady, “I lost track a long time ago, ma’am.”

  “Awe, long-lasting love is the hardest kind to find anymore. I wish you both many years of happiness.” She smiled as he handed her payment, “Do you need change?”

  “Nah, you keep it. The food was good, as always.”

  “We do our best.”

  “Your best is definitely good enough.” Alicia rubbed her full stomach, “I’m pretty sure I just gained ten pounds.”

  Duke wrapped his hand around Alicia’s as they walked out of the diner to the truck. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him before backing her up against the passenger side door. Slipping his hands around her round bottom, he lifted her up and held her against his muscular chest.

  “I missed you. I missed this. Let me show you how much you mean to me. I can’t lose you again. I will fight until my last breath to win you back. I don’t want to burn any more time than what I’ve already wasted. Life is too short,” he whispered into her hair as his lips caressed her neck.

  “I missed you, too,” her voice caught in her throat.

  Duke eased back enough to look at her face. Her normally green eyes were a glowing gold color right now, showing that her animal was near the surface. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers. This kiss was much gentler than their earlier embrace. It wasn’t an angry kiss; this was about their two souls connecting again, trying to stitch the torn pieces back into place. Their tongues danced together before she tugged tenderly at his bottom lip with her teeth. He groaned with pleasure, leaning his forehead against hers.

  “We should get going,” he sighed as he set her back down on the ground.

  Alicia’s pleasure melted from her face, “Why do you say that?”

  “Because if we keep this up, poor Muriel, the waitress, and the entire town of Cascade is going to see us naked.”

  Her eyes rounded with shock, “Yeah, I don’t think that’s the best idea right now.”

  “Glad we both agree,” he chuckled as he pulled her in for another hug. Opening the door, he watched as she climbed into the truck. Maybe time was on his side, after all.

  Chapter Six

  Alicia’s phone buzzed in her pocket. It was Candace.

  Dude, where did you go? I just showed up at your house and you weren’t here. You didn’t even bother to call and tell me what was happening! What the French, Toast?!

  Alicia smiled at her phone before glancing over at Duke. She was debating about whether or not to tell Candace where she really was. Chewing her lip, she typed out her response, I’m in Idaho. Last minute business trip I found out about last night. I’ll fill you in on more later.

  Her phone buzzed, signaling another message from Candace, IDAHO?! Since when do you just up and go on a business trip without telling your best friend first?

  Candace was Alicia’s longest friendship. They had met in high school and bonded instantly with each other. They were soul sisters of sorts, but still polar opposites in more ways than one. Candace was reserved, calculating, and slow to trust. Alicia was a risk taker, loud, and impulsive. Their differences didn’t stop there, either. While Alicia had fiery red hair and a tall, lean body, Candace had a short, curvy frame with deep chocolatey brown hair and the most luminous skin Alicia had ever seen.

  Candi, I’m fine honey, I really am. I’m sorry I didn’t text you to give you the heads up. I got the call at 3 this morning and packed my shit so I could get out the door and catch the next flight out this morning.

  If you say so. Let me know if you need anything, k?

  Will do, Sparkles. Give Okami a snuggle for me, would ya?

  He’s not speaking to you because you left without saying goodbye to us.

  Whatever, that furkid of yours loves me unconditionally. I’m about to lose service. I’ll call you from the hotel when I get there.

  “Man, you’re Little Miss Busy Fingers over there, aren’t ya?”

  “Yeah, sorry. Candi is texting me and asking me where I’m at.”

  “I didn’t realize ya’ll were still friends. What did you tell her?” Duke raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at her.

  “I don’t know what I’d do without her. We’ve been friends over ten years now. She’s gonna kill me when I tell her where I really am.”

  “Where does she think you are?”

  “On a business trip,” Alicia whispered as she locked eyes with him.

  “Don’t want her to know you’re here with me, do you?”

  Alicia grew quiet for a moment before responding, “Duke, she had to pick up the pieces you left behind and glue me back together. No, I don’t want her knowing I’m here helping you with the very thing that made you leave the last time. She may be a quiet person, but she’s more like the calm before the storm. Once she loses that calm, she’s like a freaking hurricane. She’ll destroy everything in her path.”

  The air in the truck grew so heavy that Alicia had to roll down the window. Duke’s tiger was more dominant than the fox that resided in Alicia’s middle, and it made her sick when it got upset like this. Duke pulled the truck off the side of the road as they passed a sign that read, Sugar Loaf Island Turn Left. Alicia kept her eyes lowered; she knew this was a sore spot for both of them, but she couldn’t help getting it out there in the open. It’s who she was.

  Duke turned to face her with sadness written all over his face, “Will you ever be able to forgive me for leaving?”

  “Are you ever going to tell me why you left in the first place?” Alicia was sure her eyes were glowing gold. She could feel her fox close to the surface; they both needed answers. It had been far too long without them.

  He stared off down the road a way, “Someday.”

  “Why not right now, Duke? You were gone for five days before you came home and picked a fight over some stupid dirty dishes in the sink, then disappeared out of my life for four fluffing years! You didn’t call. You
didn’t write. Hell, you didn’t even bother to give me a reason. You just disappeared!” Alicia’s voice caught in her throat.

  “That’s not fair, Alicia,” he whispered, reaching forward to brush her loose curls behind her ear before she jerked away from his touch.

  “No, don’t touch me. Not fair? Not fair? Duke, I deserve some form of answers from you. You walked out of my life and didn’t look back until you needed me again. Do you know how hard it was for my fox to function without her mate all this time? Shifters like us can’t just rip away from a bond like you did.”

  “I didn’t have a choice, Alicia.”

  “How did you not have a choice?” She demanded.

  “The men we were working with weren’t the Firebirds. They were people they had paid to pretend to be a part of the Firebirds, so that we would think we were working with them. I started figuring it out about two weeks before those five days I was away from you. I had been trailing them, watching them, anticipating what was going to happen next. I followed them to the meeting point they had set up with the real Firebirds. But it was a trap. They knew I was onto them, so they were gonna take care of the problem by taking me out of the equation.”

  “Duke…” Alicia’s heart dropped. This isn’t what she had expected to hear.

  “They chained me up in a warehouse and tortured me for days; beating me until I’d pass out, keeping me drugged so I couldn’t shift, telling me they were looking for you so they could force me into talking since beating me wasn’t working…”

  “How did you get away?” A tear ran down her face.

  “One of the uppers offered to stand watch for the night on that fifth night. He was a part of my mum’s friend’s crew when I was a kid. He had kept quiet all of that time, hoping that he could keep me alive. He set me free that night while everyone was gone, told me to run. Since they still didn’t know where you were staying, he told me to lie to you; to leave you in the dust, to protect you the best I way I could. So I did.”

  Tears were pouring from Alicia’s eyes as she forced down her sobs. He had been protecting us. His words had rang true; she could hear the honesty in his voice, “You left so I could stay safe.”

  As she wrapped her arms around his side and cried into his shoulder, he nodded and said, “I kept tabs on you, too. Made sure I knew where you were and what had become of you. I had to make sure it had worked.”

  “All this time I didn’t know what to think. I thought maybe you were dead. Or that our bond had been one sided. Or…” she choked on the sobs bubbling out of her throat.

  Duke placed his hand under her chin and guided her lips to his. Alicia’s sobs melted away slowly as their lips remembered what it felt like to work together. This kiss was like the earth right after the rain washed away every impurity. It was fresh. It was new. It was hope.

  Chapter Seven

  Duke turned down the dirt road that lead towards home and turned down the Lee Brice song that was playing, “Welcome to the Snake River Prison Camp, beautiful.”

  “Where is it?” Alicia looked at him with a confused look before looking around at the cabins that were on either side of the road.

  “It’s right here. It’s kind of like a glorified summer camp. We don’t have a compound. Instead, we have the mess hall, the gym and pool building, and cabins for everyone to sleep in.”

  “Are you sure it’s a prison then?”

  Duke chuckled, “Well, that’s what the government tells us this is. But we just call it home.”

  “Home,” Alicia tested the word before continuing, “Do you think your friends will like me?”

  “Where’d that never-ending confidence go, huh?” He teased. It wasn’t very often that Alicia let her confidence waiver.

  “Well, given that you’ve been up here four years, I would assume the men you work with are important to you.”

  “Yeah, they are. They helped me stay sane without you by my side. They’re gonna be surprised, though.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I didn’t tell anyone I had a mate. I just told them I’d call my friend with intelligence experience from the military.”

  “Ha! This should be fun then.”

  “That should be an understatement. Just ignore Elijah, okay? He’s an incessant flirt with raging hormones. He means well, but he’s hurting for a mate something awful.”

  Alicia giggled, “Let me guess, he’s a wolf shifter?”

  “How’d you guess?”

  “Remember Jackson?”

  “Hell, I forgot all about Jackson,” Duke chuckled, running a hand over his head.

  “Yeah, it’s a wolf thing. They come of age and then their animals yearn for a mate. They’re pack animals, Duke. They need a mate to feel like they have that pack environment.”

  “I guess that makes sense, but shouldn’t we be his pack? I mean, we live up here with him.”

  “In a way, yes, you are his pack. But even an omega wolf needs a mate. It’s purely instinct. The females protect the males from danger in the wild, so your young pup needs to get himself a mate. It’ll help him calm down and feel more secure.”

  Duke pondered a moment, “I’m not sure if these mountains could handle mini-Elijahs running around. The mountains might explode or something.”

  Alicia burst out laughing, which was music to Duke’s ears, as she said, “I’m sure he’s not that bad.”

  “Oh, just you wait,” he winked.

  Duke pulled up in front of cabin number six and put the truck in park. Turning to Alicia he smiled, “Here’s my love shack.”

  “Love shack?” Alicia raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

  “Yep.”

  “What makes it a love shack?”

  “Because this big mug of hot cocoa is gonna make you feel all warm and tingly inside.” Duke winked making Alicia’s insides melt.

  “That still doesn’t explain why it’s a love sha…” Duke’s truck door opening from the outside distracted her. There was a man with shaggy brown hair and a patchy beard standing on the other side.

  “Duke! Why didn’t you tell me you were going to Boise? I needed to go with you,” the shaggy-haired guy whined.

  “Elijah, this wasn’t a grocery run. I had to go get Alicia from the airport,” Duke said, leaning back so Elijah could see Alicia on the other side of Duke.

  Elijah stepped closer and his smile fell, “You smell like Duke.”

  “Um, I’m sorry?” Alicia wrinkled her forehead in confusion.

  “Duke…Why does she smell like you?” Elijah cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy.

  “I’ll explain tonight, Elijah. Let me get her settled in first. By the way, you’re being rude. You can’t just go around telling women what they smell like. No wonder you’re still single,” Duke teased, giving Elijah a playful push.

  Elijah frowned, “No, I’m single because I live in Bum Fuck Middle of Nowhere, and until McKinzy showed up a few days ago, this was a woman free zone.”

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Elijah. I’m just being honest.”

  Alicia stifled a laugh as she slid out of the truck, “Duke and I have known each other a long time, Elijah. We go way back. He called me up here so I could uncover some information on Cole’s laptop and help ya’ll track down the person behind Cole sneaking his way up here.”

  Elijah gave a knowing smile, “How far back?”

  “Far back enough you’d see your own asshole if you tried,” she taunted.

  “Ooo, I like her, Duke. Can we keep her?”

  “Elijah, yet again, that’s something else you don’t go around asking,” Duke shook his head in embarrassment.

  “Elijah! Leave poor Duke and our guest alone, would you?” A dark-haired woman in cut offs and a purple tank top that read Dirt Track Divas called from the steps of cabin number four.

  “But McKinzy…” Elijah hung his head in disappointment.

  “No ‘buts’ about it. Go up and help Jasper and Desmond run the dinner p
rep crew, please,” the woman chastised as though she were the mother of an unruly toddler.

  Duke turned to Alicia and grabbed her hand to tug her next to him as she came around bed of the truck, “Alicia, this is McKinzy. She’s our warden. She’s also a big part of the reason you’re here.”

  Alicia offered her hand to McKinzy, who smiled a polite smile and shook it as she said, “Duke never mentioned the friend that he was calling was a woman.”

  “Duke never mentions a lot of things, like how beautiful it is up here.”

  McKinzy’s smile grew, “Men, right?”

  “Right.”

  “You’ll have to excuse Elijah; he’s still early into his manhood years.” McKinzy shook her head as they all turned to watch Elijah’s wolf form tossing itself a rock and chasing after it.

  Alicia giggled, “I understand. Duke and I used to work with a guy named Jackson who was just like that. It takes a special touch for sure. I’m sure it’ll get better once he finds a mate.”

  “Oh god, please no! I don’t think we could handle anymore Elijahs around here!” McKinzy shook her head furiously to exaggerate her displeasure with the thought.

  “Duke said the same thing when I mentioned it in the truck.”

  “Only because it’s true!” Duke chuckled.

  “Alright, well, we will let you get settled in. I’m sure that you’ve had quite the morning already. Feel free to stretch your legs and poke around, if you so choose,” McKinzy turned back towards her cabin and walked away.

  “She seems nice. Are you sure she’s a dragon?” Alicia turned to Duke as he pulled her bag out of the bed of the truck.

  “Absolutely, she’s magnificent with vibrant blue and white scales. I definitely wouldn’t want to end up on her bad side, though. Those talons looked sharp!”

  “That’s badass,” she murmured, following Duke into his cabin.

  “Welcome to Casa de Duke,” Duke gestured to the living room and kitchen areas.

  Alicia soaked in the details. Duke’s guitars sat leaned against the wall next to the piano. On the opposite wall where the window was, there was an oversized green sofa. A flat screen television was mounted to the wall facing them with Duke’s collection of old western movies stacked neatly underneath. The kitchen was small with a single sink and an oversized oven next to the equally oversized refrigerator. The house as a whole was tidy. Not that that was a surprise; Duke’s animal didn’t tolerate messes.