Deadly Twist, page 25
part #2 of Maximum Exposure Series
Chapter Twenty-Two
After Lily had forced down two more bananas and ensured Carter did the same, they plucked as many as they could carry and set off again, following the river downstream. She tried to ignore all the aches and pains in her body, from the itchy mosquito bites to the dozens of scratches on her forearms and calves to the blisters on her feet. All of them were bearable; however, her hunger was not. The bananas had filled a void, but the lack of a decent meal had her both dizzy and slightly nauseous. It also meant she had no energy and had to stop more frequently.
A flat grassy knoll at the river’s edge became their next resting place. She tossed everything she was carrying onto the ground and crumbled to the grass. As she lay back, she wiped sweat from her brow and studied the fluffy white clouds swirling above her.
Carter crawled to her side. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Liar.” He kissed her forehead. “We need you to catch another one of those iguanas.”
She rolled to him, trying to assess if he was serious. “That takes time, you know.”
He nodded. “I know, but without decent meals we’re getting weaker, which is only making us slower anyway.”
The prospect of meat, even lizard meat, had her insides jumping for joy. “If you’re serious, I’ll set up a trap right here.”
“I’m serious, babe. Go work your magic.”
Babe. She liked that. Lily gave him a quick kiss and crawled over to their eclectic collection of salvaged utensils. She selected the four-pronged fork she’d found. The two outer tines were thicker than the two inner ones. She handed it to Carter. “Do you think you can bend back these two prongs?” She pointed at the two middle ones.
“Sure.” He took the fork from her, and she turned back to their things and fished out the other two forks and gave them to Carter too. She grabbed a tin cup and a metal spoon, and searched for a spot where the ground was soft enough to dig a hole.
She chose an area away from the trees so she wouldn’t risk hitting roots, knelt down, and using the spoon and cup, began to dig. It didn’t take long before the ground became as tough as rubber.
Once again her hands suffered, and soon the blisters and scabs started bleeding, but the thought of food kept her going.
Carter came and took over. He removed his shirt, and she watched, mesmerized, as the muscles in his back bulged and flexed with each attack he made on the dirt.
While he was digging, Lily rubbed the ends of sticks on a rough rock, fashioning each one to a point. It worked, but it was slow going. It seemed like an eternity before the hole was large enough for her trap and she’d made five sticks into spears.
Carter rolled onto his back, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. Every inch of his exposed skin glistened with sweat.
“You okay?”
“As okay as I can be.”
“We’re nearly finished. Just need to position these upright in the dirt.”
Carter reached for one of her sticks and secured it upright with the small rocks she handed to him. They repeated the process with the other four spears.
“How’s that?” he asked, easing back from the pit.
“Good.” She covered the opening loosely with twigs and leaves, concealing the hole beneath. When she stepped back to examine their trap, she hoped it’d work. And soon. “Time for a swim,” she announced.
“Hell yeah.”
The sun was a white fireball over the river when they stripped naked and stepped into the cool water. Lily dunked her head under, and when she stood up her breasts bobbed at the surface. It was delightfully wicked, yet utterly heavenly.
The sunlight caught in Carter’s beard, highlighting the red in it, and she wondered what he’d look like clean-shaven. She couldn’t see any gray hairs in his beard or hair. “You still haven’t told me your age, you know.”
“Guess?”
“This game is getting a little old.”
“So play.”
“It’s okay, I don’t need to know anyway. But I do wonder if you’re afraid to tell me.”
“Why would I be afraid?”
“Because you think you’re too old for me.”
He tilted his head, and the sunlight shining through his green irises had them shimmering like highly polished emeralds. “Okay then, I’m forty-two.”
“Hmmm, that’s what I thought.”
“You thought I was forty-two?”
“No . . . I thought you were old.” She splashed a wave of water over him. He laughed and pushed his hair off his face, and by the cheeky look in his eyes she knew what was coming. She squealed and made a dash for dry land.
Carter grabbed her waist. “Oh no you don’t.” He picked her up in a bear hug and dunked them both. She giggled and screamed, and when she came back above the water, Carter was laughing too. She wondered if that was the first time she’d heard him truly laugh. It was a wonderful, infectious sound, and she found herself chuckling along with him.
She wrapped her legs and arms around him.
He pushed a lock of her wet hair from her cheek. “So.” He waited till their gazes met. “What do you think of my age?”
Rolling her eyes to the sky, she feigned thoughtfulness. “Oh, I don’t know. You’re really old.”
She squealed as Carter dunked her again. They came up laughing. Seconds later, their lips met, gentle at first, but as she drove her fingers through his hair and pulled him toward her, it intensified. She wrapped her legs around him again, and their breaths became feverish.
Delightful shudders rolled through her, drawing her nipples out until they ached. As if he knew, Carter rolled her unrestrained bud between his thumb and finger with just the right amount of pressure.
Raw lust shimmered in his eyes and the bulge of his penis felt enormous between her thighs. She wove her hand down between them and as her fingers glided over that glorious organ, it grew thicker and longer beneath her touch.
The desire to have him in her . . . deep, deep inside her, couldn’t be ignored a moment more.
She guided him to her opening. He held his penis there and kept kissing her, touching her and drawing out the anticipation until she was ready to burst. Their mouths released and she gasped as his thick length filled her. His tongue lashed out to wet his lips, and as she studied every exquisite detail of his face, she knew she was making love to the most handsome man she’d ever seen.
Slowly, slowly he glided out, and without pause plunged again, pushing right up inside her until he could push no more. It felt so right, so complete, like the last piece of a puzzle finding its home.
She squeezed her legs, holding position, as he repeated the move over and over. When his eyelids flickered open, the raw passion she saw in his eyes made her insides blaze with delight. As her climax built to monumental heights, she turned her attention to his neck, trailing kisses up and down from his ear to his shoulder.
His moans matched his thrusting. His thrusts grew faster, harder. Pounding something deep inside her that begged to be pounded. With her arms around his neck, she hung on as he squeezed his fingers into her hips and drove himself into her over and over. They worked together, drawing out each other’s pleasure as if they’d done it a thousand times before.
Every nerve-ending tingled, driving delicious shudders from deep down within her to the very tips of her nipples. She felt incredible. Alive. Oh so alive.
Lily let out a cry as glorious shudders rolled through her. Carter froze, his entire body stiffened, and Lily knew he was at the point of no return. He released a primal groan as he plunged deep inside her, pulled out and thrust again. He repeated the move, three times, four, and twice more before he slowed. Finally, he wrapped his arms around her and clutched her body to his as if she was saving him. Maybe she was.
She waited until their erratic breathing returned to normal before she released her grip on him and smiled. “Wow. For an old man, you still got it.”
He laughed, loud and hearty. “You’re cheeky.”
“I know.” She reached for his hand, wove her fingers into his, and then kissed him. It was just a brief, tender kiss that said so much more. But her grumbling stomach couldn’t be ignored any more. “I’m starving. You ready to help me catch dinner?”
“You bet.”
As Lily stepped up onto the rock to get out of the water, Carter cupped her bottom. “Are you all right there?”
“Yes. Just helping you out.”
She giggled. “Really?”
She used her shirt to dry herself, and as she picked up her underpants, she had second thoughts. “I think I’ll give these a wash. In this sun, they’ll be dry in no time.”
“Good idea. My jocks could just about walk on their own too.”
“Ewww, too much information.”
“Oh, and yours aren’t like that?”
Just as she was about to step into the shallow water, she froze. “Stop!”
“What?”
She pointed toward a rock that protruded above the water. “A fish, near that rock. See it?”
“Shit yeah, it’s a big one.”
Lily had an idea. “Did you bend those forks?”
“Yeah.” Carter followed her back up to the grassy knoll.
“I need a spear.” Naked, she headed toward the trees, searching for a long stick. She found one quickly. Now she needed some kind of rope. She collected her bra from the grass and as luck would have it, the straps were removable.
Sitting back on the grass, Carter sat to her side and although she found his nakedness incredibly distracting, the thought of getting that fish up on the riverbank drove her on.
“I need a small, flat rock, about the size of a coin,” she said.
“I’m on it.” She watched the muscles in his bottom glide up and down as he walked away.
She reached for the forks, and holding one on the side of the stick, she wrapped her bra strap around it twice. Then she held the second fork on the opposite side and repeated the move with the strap.
Carter handed her a rock. “Will this do?”
“Perfect.” She pushed the rock between the two forks, wedging them apart, then she wrapped the rest of the elastic around and around and tied it in place. The finished weapon was a four-pronged spear.
“That’s fantastic. Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
She giggled. “Hopefully it works. Do you want to do it?”
“No way, you’re the Tiger Lily.”
Lily held the spear, assessing its weight. “It’ll be a miracle if this works.”
“I’ve already seen a couple of miracles in the last week, so I’m betting it will.”
Lily returned to the riverbank, and to her surprise there were now two fish swimming near the rock. Easing up to the edge, her breath trapped in her throat. She held the spear above her head, then using all the energy she could muster, drove it at the fish. An explosion of water erupted near the rock.
She squealed and Carter dived for the stick. When he pulled it above the water, a fat, foot-long fish writhed on the end.
“Holy shit, you got it!”
The fish flipped from side to side as he brought it up onto the grass.
Lily could only stare openmouthed. She’d never caught a fish that way before.
“You’re amazing.”
“I can’t believe that worked.”
“I can. Now we need a fire.” He put the fish on the grass, and Lily salivated just looking at it.
Carter trotted to the tree line and began gathering wood. She dressed, no longer bothering with washing her underpants, and then set about building up the kindling.
Within minutes, the fire was blazing and the fish had stopped moving.
“Do you know how to gut a fish?” she asked.
Carter shook his head. “Sorry. Never had the pleasure.”
“Okay.” She reached for the butter knife she’d found in the mud slide. “I wish we had a sharper knife, but this’ll have to do.” She ran her thumb over the blade. It was completely blunt. “Can you find me a couple of large leaves, please? As big as you can get.”
She waited until he returned before she tugged the fish off the prongs and placed it onto one leaf. As she began cleaning the fish, she was reminded of her father. After her mother had insisted that Lily join her brothers on their quarterly camping trips, or maybe because of her mother’s persistence, her father had demanded that she learn how to catch, kill, and prepare her own food. To the point where he sometimes reduced her to tears with his yelling.
Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined those lessons would save her life.
The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if the death of her father’s first wife and child had something to do with his unwavering commands.
“What’re you thinking about?” She jumped at Carter’s voice.
“Oh, umm.” She cleared her throat. “My dad. Do you think it’s weird that he made me learn survival skills?”
“I’m bloody grateful he did.”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I am too, but I was just wondering if he had other reasons for doing it.”
“Like what?”
“Well, maybe he was lost out here with his wife and child. It’d explain why he gave me such a hard time about learning them.”
“Maybe.”
She shoved the unanswerable questions aside to concentrate on dinner.
After scaling, gutting with the blunt knife, and skewering the fish onto two sturdy sticks, it was slightly mangled. But still looked mighty tasty. “Dinner is prepared.”
Carter rubbed his hands together. “Yum, I can’t wait.”
She handed the sticks to him. “Hold it over the flames, but don’t let the stick burn.”
“Yes, boss.” Carter beamed as he sat naked by the fire, following her instructions.
While her hands were bloody, Lily divided the fish remains into smaller portions onto the additional giant leaves. She carried one of the leaves to the pit they’d dug earlier, and carefully positioned it over the leaves on top of the trap. With a bit of luck, something would sniff it out and they’d have red meat very soon.
Lily returned to the fire and put the three other bundles of fish guts high up in a tree branch. Other than ants, which seemed unavoidable, she hoped no other creatures would find their bait.
By the time the fish was cooked, the sun had begun its slide down behind the trees on the opposite side of the river. Her mouth watered from the delicious aroma as Carter divided the fish between them. Even though it was steaming hot, she couldn’t wait, and scooped a chunk of white flesh into her mouth. She sucked in air, trying to cool it on her tongue as she chewed and swallowed. “Oh my God. This’s so good.”
“Sure is.” Carter had the leaf up to his mouth and scooped the fish in by hand. His eyes rolled and he moaned as he swallowed.
“We’ll have to get ready for the night after this.” Lily didn’t want a repeat of last night’s insect attack and would make sure their bed was closer to the fire this time.
“I’ll be ready for anything after this.”
By the time they finished the meal and had a cozy bed made of dry fern leaves, the sun had disappeared behind the trees. Sunset had been a magnificent display of reds and purples, and was promptly replaced with a near full moon that lit up the night sky.
Carter lay down on the crunchy leaves, and Lily eased in next to him, turning her attention to the fire. She sighed deeply and he draped his arm over her. “This’s nice.”
“Mmmm. Who’d have thought we’d be this comfortable?” He trailed his finger up and down her arm.
“Food helps.”
A loud crack echoed about the trees and Lily jumped. Carter squeezed her wrist, indicating he’d heard it too. Crack. Crack. Crack. Several more rounds split the silence.
“Gunfire! Shit!” Carter launched to his feet. “Put the fire out.” As he tugged the nearest log from the fire and dragged it toward the river, Lily grabbed the tin cup, scooped the water and tossed it onto the flames. She repeated the move at a frantic pace, tossing cups of water until only minor coals glowed in the bottom. The fire hissed and smoke spiraled upwards, but the flames were gone.
Exhausted, she went to Carter, and as he wrapped his arms around her, they eased back against the large tree. A light breeze drifted off the water, rustling the leaves around them. Monkeys howled somewhere in the distance, and other animals continued their usual nightly chorus, but other than that everything seemed normal.
“You sure it was gunfire?” Lily’s heart was an urgent beat in her chest.
“I’m pretty sure. What’d you think?”
Suddenly there were more loud cracks, and Carter’s grip around her tightened. They seemed closer this time.
“That’s gunfire,” she said. “Do you think it’s those guys from the cave?”
“No idea.”
“What do we do?”
As she listened to his breathing, she heard something else. “Is that music?”
“Oh yeah. It sounds close.”
Clutching his arms around her shoulders, she strained to hear the music that echoed through the jungle. She heard shouts followed by laughter. “Sounds like a party.”
“It does.” It was a long moment before he shifted. “I have an idea. But you might not like it.”
She turned to him, but could only just make out his shape in the filtered moonlight. “Try me.”
“There’s a chance it may not be them. It could be just a farmer or villager or something, right?”
“I guess so.”
“I think we should go to them. While it’s dark we have the upper hand. We can sneak up and see exactly who we’re dealing with. What do you think?”
She was silent for a bit, but as she weighed up his idea, it seemed like this was an opportunity they shouldn’t miss. “Okay,” she finally said.
“Okay, okay?”
She squeezed his hands. “I think it’s a great plan.”
“All right then. Grab that spear of yours and anything else we need, and let’s do this.”
