72 Hours

“I’m going to—”

I throw my head back and it bumps against the cave wall behind me. I cry out his name as an orgasm rips through me, hard and fast. My entire body shakes with pleasure as his thrusts become quicker, until he’s driving in and out of me. Holding me up couldn’t be easy. A few thrusts later, he explodes, gasping my name and dropping his forehead against mine. A fine layer of sweat covers his skin, and we’re both panting.

“Well,” I say, voice breathy. “If that’s my last time, it was totally worth it.”

He chuckles and gently releases me.

“Are you okay?” I ask when my feet hit the ground.

“Better than okay.”

“I mean your leg.” I smile wryly.

He runs a hand through his hair, and I can’t help but notice his biceps and how they flex as he moves. God he’s perfect.

“It’s fuckin’ killing me.”

My smile dies. “Then we shouldn’t have—”

He cuts me off with a kiss, rough and quick. “I’d do that to you given the chance even if I was missing a damned leg. I’ve missed you so fucking much, Lara. Being away from you killed me.”

My heart hammers. “I’m sorry. I’ve missed you, too.”

He grins.

“I don’t know how long we’ve got, but I think we can safely say we’ve got the rest of the night. Let’s get some sleep. We both need it.”

“First let me look at your leg. I want to make sure it’s okay.”

He gives me a look.

“What?” I protest. “I don’t want it to actually drop off.”

He finds a spot and lies down. I get to work on checking his leg. It’s still fairly clean and oozing a little. It could be worse, but he was right earlier. It desperately needs medical attention. He’s not going to last the next few days. I go over to the waterfall and dip a shred of what’s left of his shirt into the water before moving back and gently cleaning off his wound. Then I find a small rock and raise his leg a little, hoping it’ll take some of the pressure off and he’ll manage some sleep.

“I don’t have anything to take the pain away, but I hope you’re tired enough that you manage to get some rest even through it’s probably killing you.”

He smiles weakly. “I think I’m tired enough.”

I take some of the dry clothes and roll them up, tucking them under his head. Then I lie down beside him. He pulls me into his arms and I throw mine over his stomach, nestling into his chest.

In a matter of seconds, we’re both asleep.





TWENTY-ONE

Noah is in agony.

There is no denying it. He winces when he moves, he woke up numerous times groaning in pain, and he’s got a constant sweat shimmering on his skin. He’s suffering with a pain I can’t fix. I hate knowing I can’t help him, that no matter what I do I can’t take it away. We’ve been in this cave an entire day, and while we haven’t been found, we’re going to have to leave soon to get food. We’re both hungry. Noah is in no state to do that right now, and that leaves only one option.

I have to do it alone.

The idea of going out there by myself terrifies me, but I don’t let it show. I’m trying to be strong. He needs me to be strong. He’s been my rock, a tower of strength, but he needs a little more time to rest and I need more plums so we can eat while we have a chance. So I’ve made the choice to go when he falls asleep next. He won’t let me go otherwise. He’s outright refusing.

“How’s the pain?” I ask, kneeling next to him.

“It’s a little better,” he says through clenched teeth. “But not much.”

“You need to rest, Noah. If you don’t, we’ll never get out of here.”

He looks up at me, and the pain in his eyes hurts me to see. It fucking hurts.

“I know,” he rasps.

“I’m going to rinse one of these cloths and put some water on it. The cold might help relieve the pain.”

He says nothing, just closes his eyes. I walk over to the waterfall and run part of his shirt underneath it, then carry it back and press it over his wound. He sighs, with relief or pain, I don’t know. I’ve been doing this on my own wound and it’s been helping. I have no idea if it’s useful or not, but the cold seems to take away the pain for a few seconds. We both likely needed stitches, so our wounds are healing wrong, but there is little we can do about it.

Noah’s breathing deepens after a few minutes and I sit back, just watching him. He made me promise I wouldn’t go out of this cave without him, but I need more food. The water will help and we both need to eat. If we’re going to get our strength up we need to eat, pure and simple. He’s not going to be happy with me, but I’ll be in and out so fast, he’ll probably never know.

I wait another ten minutes, until I’m sure he’s asleep, then dress in only my bra and panties, because those are the only clothes left in one piece, and head toward the waterfall. I reach it, take a deep breath, and start shoving through. Just as when I came in, my lungs scream and my body begs for air as I push my way out. I reach the edge and topple downward, not realizing I was so close. It isn’t a high ledge, but it’s enough that I hit the water with a fair amount of force and a loud splash.

I surface, gasping for air, eyes darting around to make sure Noah didn’t hear me—and mostly to make sure I’m alone. I wait a few minutes, and nothing happens. My heart pounds as I swim to the side of the dam and climb out. I look left, then right, and decide on going back the way we came. I know the plums must be that way.

I find one of the created paths leading to the water after I’ve swum for about fifteen minutes. I climb out and move down it until I find the plums. Panting, I hunch over and catch my breath. It was hard work swimming that fast, but I need to be quick. My leg throbs and my head is a little light from lack of food. I study the trees.

I peer up at the shortest of the four trees, which seems to have the most fruit.

I reach for one and pluck it from its branch.

“Hello, Lara.”

That voice sends chills right up my spine. I turn slowly, plum in hand, to see Bryce stepping out from behind a cluster of trees. My heart launches into my throat and I can’t breathe. For a few seconds I just stand there, unable to move.

“H-h-h-how did you find me?” I gasp.

A stupid question, but it gives me a chance to think.

“The plums you found were strategically placed. There’s only so much food out here, and I knew you’d have to find some soon, and I took a guess that you’d be near the stream. I saw your attempt at throwing me off guard, by the way. It was pathetic. I knew you’d go in the water, it’s rule number one of survival when you don’t want to be tracked. I figured you’d end up around this area and I was right. And your boyfriend said I couldn’t hunt.” He throws his head back and laughs. I stare at the weapon in his hands. It’s a knife, a big, big knife. I swallow. “How is Noah, by the way?”

“Go to hell.”