Chapter 12 - Kelsey #2
I drag my eyes off him with great effort and put all my focus onto unpacking the little bag of essentials we brought along for the night.
It’s still bright enough not to need to light, but I hook them up over the tree branches closest to the tent.
Then I set the meat on a rock in its sealed container along with our metal camping plates and the cutlery.
I jump when Miles slips his hand around my waist and leans over my shoulder.
“You look like you’re a natural out here, like you know exactly what you’re doing,” he says, complimenting me. But instead of feeling complimented, I feel agitated that he’s so close to me, and it feels too good.
“Well, it’s not exactly rocket science, is it?” I snap abruptly.
Miles frowns and cocks his head to the side.
“Do you want to set the chairs up and read a bit while I get the fire going. It’s so peaceful out here, you could…”
“I’m pretty sure I am adult enough to figure out what I want to do without you telling me what to do all the time.”
I sound like a bitch, and it’s not helping the situation at all.
Kala is whining in my thoughts, begging me to give him another chance and see what happens. But I’m not that stupid. I was stupid enough to agree to come on this trip, and now I’m stuck here.
“Can I help with anything?” Miles asks as gentlemanly as ever, instead of scolding me for my bad attitude.
I sigh and shake my head. “No. Thanks,” I huff.
But no matter how off I am to him, he keeps coming back to hover around me and ask me if I need something. I want to shout, yes, actually. What I need is space!
But I don’t.
Miles is about to start the fire when I unconsciously let out a very agitated sigh.
Why? I’ll tell you why. It’s because he took his damn hoodie off, and now, he’s wearing nothing but a very tight black t-shirt, and he looks even fucking hotter than before with his muscles all bulging and strong, and I couldn’t even look away if I wanted to.
“Aren’t you cold?” I snap, annoyed.
“No, chopping the wood warmed me up nicely,” he smiles at me.
Dammit. That smile. Those eyes. Those perfect lips. That perfect fucking jaw line.
“Hey, Kels, why do you look like someone ran over your cat?”
He walks over to me and pulls me into a hug. The fresh scent of his salted skin and masculine sweat washes over me like a drug.
Oh, for fuck sakes. I can’t actually do this.
I push him away before I literally grab his face and kiss him. I’m on the cusp of giving in to my hormones, and once I’ve done that, there’s no going back. I don’t think it’s a good idea at all! And what? I’m going to sleep in that miniature tent with him tonight. Right! Absolutely not.
“I want to go home,” I blurt out.
“What?” He asks, confused as he pulls me back to look down at my face. I take a breath of fresher air that doesn’t smell of him, but he’s still too close, and I get another lung full of his drug-like aroma. My legs go weak, and my anger triples.
“I want to go home. Right now,” I snap.
I set my hands against his solid chest and push away from him.
“Kels, what’s going on?” He asks.
“Nothing is going on. I just stated what I want, and I don’t actually have to explain myself to you all the time,” I say heated and confrontational.
“Kels?” He looks upset. He actually looks disappointed.
“What? I don’t see what the problem is. You can still tell everyone you took me camping. It’ll still look good on your record,” I huff, folding my arms across my chest and fighting the desire and the tears that are confusing the hell out of me.
“I’m not leaving. Let’s start the fire, take a breath, and just relax for a moment. You can talk to me, you know. You can tell me what you’re thinking,” he says, trying to reach for me again.
“Ugh!” I release a huff of frustration and storm towards the dead trees. “I’m going for a walk,” I say, desperately needing to put space between myself and this man who is literally driving my body wild with lust.
Kala is kicking at my insides, scraping her claws along my thoughts. She’s determined to have him, and it’s making it impossible to even think straight.
“I’ll go with you then,” Miles says, jogging after me on the walk I’m only taking to get away from him.
“No, Miles! You shouldn’t come with me!” I shout angrily, continuing to storm towards the trees, away from our cozy little campsite.
“Kelsey, stop doing this! Whatever is bothering you, just say it. You don’t have to hide your thoughts or pretend anything around me. I’m your husband!”
He’s getting angry, too, now, and I can hardly blame him. I must look like a lunatic going from cheerful, everything is fine, to this full-blown bitch mode.
In this moment, I don’t even recognize myself. We’re already at the group of dead trees, but I don’t stop. I’ll keep walking until he stops following me.
Suddenly, Miles grabs my arms and drags me against his body.
I lash out immediately, and he locks his hand over my mouth, spinning my back against his chest and gripping me so I can’t move. His movements are so forcefully efficient, it’s terrifying. And his strength is nothing like I’ve ever felt before.
“There,” he whispers, pointing into the distance before I can put up any proper kind of fight, not that I think I could fight him.
“Do you see?” He asks quietly with his lips against my ear.
I nod, and he releases his hand from my mouth as I stare in horror at three rogues walking between the trees.
He pulls me behind one of the thick trunks of a dead tree. Its bark is grey and flaking.
“What are we going to do?” I whisper. All of my anger is gone, and my mind has flipped into hyper focus. My training kicks in, and I’m back to being myself. Just normal Kelsey instead of Kelsey being driven insane by a man.
“We attack. If there are only three of them, I can take two, and you can take one,” he says.
“Wait, no. We don’t know if there are only three. We should stalk them and observe first. There is no sense in putting ourselves in danger for no good reason,” I say quickly.
Miles goes quiet for a moment, and I wait for the inevitable remark that shoots my idea down. Why would any man take advice from someone like me?
“Good idea. I tend to always choose the aggressive route, but I think you’re right,” he says.
Shock bolts through me.
“Really?” I stammer.
“Yes, Kelsey, really,” he muses.
“Do you think they saw us?”
Miles whispers. “No, if they’d seen us, they’d be heading straight for us. Or at least not walking out in the open like that. They might be tracking us, though, or searching for us,” he says.
We stand close together, the heat of our bodies mixing as we observe.
“Notice how they move?” He speaks.
“With no specific direction,” I remark.
“Exactly. And the guy in the front is the leader,” he tells me.
“How do you know?”
“It’s something you pick up over time when you have to hunt them for years. It’s a way they hold themselves compared to the members beneath them. Rogues are different from us. They don’t operate on respect most of the time. It’s fear that keeps them in line beneath their Alpha.”
“I don’t think they know this part of the woods,” I comment.
“Why do you say that?” He asks.
“They wouldn’t be walking so close to that tree line if they did. There’s an underground river that runs in this area, and if you don’t know where to step, you can fall through in some parts and get seriously hurt.”
“Impressive, how do you know that?”
I scoff. “I’ve never lived anywhere but here, Miles. I know this place like the back of my hand,” I explain.
“I can see why you do so well in security. You have an eye for things and a strong sense of calm the moment there’s any danger,” he whispers.
We follow them in absolute silence for thirty minutes. They are roaming aimlessly and appear to be heading nowhere. Miles gently tugs me down behind a thick bush and whispers, “Let’s get home and warn the pack that they’re close to our border.”
I nod.
Miles moves away from the bush first. I wait, listening carefully, then I follow him.
But in the distance, we hear a shout.
“What the fuck was that?”
“Over there!”
“Movement!”
I grab Miles’ hand and drag him to follow me.
He hesitates for a second, then gives in, and we sprint, staying as low as possible and out of sight. He lets me take the lead and trusts that I know what I’m doing.
Miles moves with agility behind me as I dart between trees until I reach the spot I’m looking for. I dive into the small rock cave and pull him in with me. Crawling a little deeper so that we’re entirely out of sight, I lie on my back, and Miles lies on top of me.
Our breathing is heavy as we press close together.
“Can you hear them?” I ask quietly.
“Yes, they’re not too far away,” he says.
We both fall silent and wait.
As the seconds tick by, I realize just how small the space is and how close we are to each other.
I’ve only ever been in here alone, and Miles is practically double my size.
I’m trapped beneath him with every inch of my body pressed against his.
His muscles ripple over me as he shifts position, and I can feel the bulge of his cock pressing into me.
My body begins to burn with intense desire.
Heat like I’ve never felt before spills between my legs, and I bite back the groan of horror when I realize I’m going into heat. Why now? Are you actually kidding me?