"Sure."
It only takes a few minutes to get to the river. I set her down on a tree trunk.
"Can I please see your wounds?"
She wipes her face and looks away.
I touch her cheek, and she recoils. I freeze.
What did they do to her?
I'm not sure what to say, and sorry seems like overkill at this point, so I wait for her to speak.
"Can I show you after I wash up?" she asks.
"Of course."
"Will you let me have a few minutes to myself? I... I just need a..." She lets out a big breath.
Is she okay?
Of course she isn't. She's been traumatized in so many ways.
I hesitate but then force a smile. "Sure." I take the flip-flops out of my bag and place them by her feet. "I'm going in the river. Take as much time as you need."
I'm totally screwing this up.
This? What is this?
She doesn't owe me anything. Last night doesn't mean she wants anything more.
Don't think about it. Just concentrate on what's happening with her right now.
I pull my toiletries pouch out of my bag and strip down. I peek over at her, and she has her hand over her face.
An internal pain that I've never felt before seeps into my bones.
She's in such agony.
I don't know how to stop it. I take a step toward her but stop.
She asked me to give her space.
Go wash up, and if she's still there when I'm done, then I can go to her.
As hard as it is, I go into the water and wash my hair and body. When I finish, I stare across the river, wondering how to approach her when I feel her lips on my back and hands wrap around my waist.
Slowly, I turn to her.
She scrunches her face. It's red, as if she's embarrassed or guilty. "I'm sorry. I... I—"
I put my finger over her lips.
"Don't ever say you're sorry to me. You have nothing to apologize for."
"I do."
"No. You don't."
"I... I've been taught to hide things. And..." She exhales, and her blue eyes fill with tears.
The river is deeper where I stand, and she treads water to maintain her position near me. I reach for her waist then wrap my arms around her and position her legs around my body.
She continues, "...when the rest of the women were getting first aid last night, it was okay to let Malin look at my wounds. But..." She turns away from me.
"But what, Flower?" I quietly ask.
She turns back. "It's hard for me to let you look at them when we've been together."
"Because of your fiancé? He hurt you?"
Her lip quivers, and tears fall from her sad eyes. She looks away again. Shame radiates off her.
I palm her head and murmur in her ear, "He will never touch you again. I will kill him."
She shudders.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to scare you."
She strokes my cheek. "Please don't keep apologizing to me. You haven't done anything wrong, either."
"No?"
"No."
"I'm around a group of guys most hours of my day. My tone isn't always coming out how I want it to around you. When I sound gruff, I don't mean to."
She holds my face firmly. "Hunter, you haven't done anything wrong," she repeats. "I don't want you to stop being you."
The noise of jungle animals fills our silence.
"I won't ever hurt you. Not by my hand or any other part of my body. And if I say something that does, I need you to tell me so I don't make a mistake twice," I blurt out.
Tears drip again, but she leans forward and kisses me.
If I could bottle up her kisses and live inside that container, I would. It's like an epiphany of everything I've been missing in my life.
They're soft.
They're intense.
They're the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that doesn't exist but everyone is looking to find.
It takes only a few steps to get to the angled, flat rock that juts out of the water. I use her kisses as permission and bend over until she's lying on top of the rock. I set the soap and shampoo on it.
And all the things I wanted to do to her last night, I do now. I tear my lips from hers and travel to her nipples. They are already pebbled, as if waiting for me to devour them.
I lick and suck them as the sound of the birds' squawking mixes with the moans coming out of her glorious mouth.
Her fingers slide into my hair, and she grips my ears, massaging them and arching farther into me.
Every part of her makes my mouth water for more, and I dip down and throw her thighs over my shoulders.
The moment my mouth hits her pussy, she cries out, and her clit pulses against my lips.
She tastes like a ripe pineapple with a bit of salt. Sweet. Juicy. A concoction so delicious, I'll never get my fill.
"Ahhh...ahhh...ohhhh," she screams as her body convulses on my face.
The rush of the water and the sounds of the animals intensifies. It's as if nature is aware of our carnal savagery.
She barely comes down before I'm sliding into her. My testosterone flares and body buzzes, ready for her to bring me to life.
I tuck my arms between her and the rock, suck on her neck, and thrust in her as she clings to me.
"Hunter...oh God..." she cries out before grabbing my face and flicking her tongue urgently in my mouth.
Monkeys howl in the trees and jump on the limbs. Birds answer them back in loud caws and chirps.
"I will kill anyone who touches you," I promise her again.
She's mine. I'm claiming her, but I'll never destroy her. And I'll not show my hand of mercy to anyone who attempts to harm her in any way.
God help those who have hurt her. Their day is coming. I will see to it.
5
Vanessa
Hunter murmurs against my lips, "I will kill anyone who touches you." He thrusts harder, filling and stretching me to the point I'm dizzy with adrenaline and digging my nails so deep in his back my fingers lock.
The cries of my ecstasy echo in the jungle, and his groan sends new heat to my loins. His body pushes mine past the point of anything familiar.
It starts in my toes and fizzes, rippling, then turning into a tidal wave of endorphins and tremors so consuming, there's nowhere he ends and I begin.
In our aftermath, the coldness of the rock hits me for the first time. It's a contrast from Hunter's warm arms and body that pretzel me.
He tucks my hair behind my ear and cockily smiles. "I thought you said you weren't a screamer?"
I smirk. "I can be, either."
"You're the sexiest woman on earth."
"Now you're trying to get bonus points."
"Nope. I speak the truth." He kisses me again and continues lighting me up. "We should finish and get back to camp before someone catches us down here."
"Oh. Sorry," I quickly say and try to sit up.
His warm flesh and muscles stay hovered over my body. "What are you sorry about?"
"Just that someone could see us."
"That doesn't bother me, Flower."
"Then why—"
"I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable or embarrassing position."