“Wait,” I call to him. “My shoe.”
He pauses, and I backtrack to the muddy glop where my flat is now making its home. Not that it’s much use against a jungle, but it’s all I’ve got. I stick my hand in and retrieve it, and it’s positively slimy. And because I have no other shoes, I have to stick this stinking thing on my foot. I resist the urge to cry, though my face scrunches up as I slide it back on.
“Got it,” I say faintly. “Thanks.”
Maybe Rafe notices that my stiff upper lip is now soggy with misery. He comes to my side and rubs my arm to encourage me. “You okay, Ava?”
I nod. I’m not okay. I want to throw my shit down and flop on the ground and wait for a rescue, but I can’t, because there isn’t one. We’re in the middle of nowhere, and the only people that might come looking for us are the bad guys. So I suck it up. “I’m fine.”
“Not too much longer, and we’ll find a place to stop for the night, all right?”
I nod, my head bent so he won’t see my red-rimmed eyes and know I’ve been blubbering. I don’t want him to think I’m weak, so I save my sniffle until he turns away. He’s the one with the eye patch, after all. I’ve got two good eyes. If anyone should be weeping about their fate, maybe it should be him.
We trek for maybe a half hour longer before Mendoza raises a hand in the air, scanning the brush. “Wait here.”
“Why?” I ask wearily. My teeth have started to chatter again.
“Just trust me, okay?” He pulls out his knife and disappears into the brush.
I panic for a moment because the downpour is muffling his footsteps. “Say something if you’re not okay,” I call after him.
There’s no answer. Just when I start to panic, I hear a crashing through the leaves and a curse word. “Rafe?” I cry out, clutching my walking stick. “If you don’t answer me in two seconds—”
He appears triumphantly through the bushes a moment later, holding out a limp snake as long as I am tall. There’s a grin on his rugged face and I swallow my cry of alarm. “How do you feel about snake for dinner?”
Probably the same way I feel about the jungle. But my stomach growls, reminding me that we don’t have any other food. So I eye the snake. “It’s really freaking big.”
“It is,” he says proudly. “Almost lost him.” He points at his eye patch. “This is fucking with my depth perception.” Rafe grins and then gestures behind him. “You should see what else I found.”
“If it’s another snake, you’ll have to forgive me if I scream and don’t sound excited,” I say, following close behind him.
He laughs. “No, this you’ll like.”
I sidestep as Rafe slings the headless snake over his shoulder. “After you.”
He steps forward, pointing ahead with his now-dirty knife. “I was hoping that would turn out to be what I thought it was, and I was right.” He pushes through the underbrush to a small cliff overhanging with tree roots and half-exposed rocks. Ahead, there’s a break in the cliff wall.
A cave.
I gasp. “Please tell me that’s not inhabited by lions and tigers and bears, oh my.”
“Not from what I can tell, but if you can hold a few things, I’ll check it out again.” He holds the snake out to me.
I stare at him, then at the snake, and gingerly take it in hand. “You’re lucky I’ve already rumbled with a bigger python in this jungle,” I tease him. When I get nervous, I fall back to cracking jokes, and it seems that Rafe’s going to be the recipient of my humor.
He gives me a weird look, then hands me the bag of wood and clothing and disappears into the cave.
Way to go, Ava, I tell myself. Just can’t help it with the dick jokes, can you?
I sigh at my inappropriate humor and hold the snake, and it’s so big the weight of it hurts my bad hand. How on earth did he kill this with his tiny freaking knife? He’s a badass. That he found me dinner and a cave makes him ten times sexier than if he was the most gorgeous, most normally hung guy in the universe. If he can cook this for me, I’d happily show my appreciation with a bit more hanky-panky.
Then again, I’d probably hanky-panky with him again anyhow. Last time was pretty intense. I squeeze my thighs together at the memory of him, his fingers inside me. If the rain wasn’t so miserable—
“It’s safe,” Mendoza calls, jogging back out to see me. He takes the snake from my hands, and as he does, I notice that he’s affected by my earlier words, too. Godzilla’s making his presence known.
Of course he is. I’m such a jerk, teasing the virgin. I feel guilty as I follow Mendoza into the cave.