Chapter 7 #2
He wasn’t. “Well, I’m not. I’m hungry and my feet hurt.
” Another lie. Boy, I was racking them up today, but he was stubborn and I wasn’t going to let him carry on and hurt himself any further.
How had I not thought about that? I’d been so excited to get to the blue cliffs and see what we could find that I’d spaced out.
I guess I was used to thinking only about myself when I was out of the clinic.
I’d also assumed that if he was in pain, he’d say something, but I was working out that males often did things that went against their own best interest, especially when they wanted to appear strong and capable.
He gave in without any complaint, and we got busy setting up camp. Fender found a sheltered area. It was really cool actually. Ivy had overtaken a huge willow tree and had created a natural canopy, like a leafy tent. Fender started a fire just outside it, then dragged over a log for us to sit on.
“I’m just going to…um.” I aimed my thumb over my shoulder. “Use the bathroom.”
Fender lifted his chin, then strode ahead of me, scouting the area behind the willow, before giving me the go-ahead. I grabbed the packet of travel tissues I carried for such occasions and my knife, mainly for Fender’s benefit, and found a spot far enough from Fender that he wouldn’t hear me pee.
I was finishing up when a snuffling, grunting sound reached me. Quickly doing up my pants, I slid my hunting knife from its sheath and quietly moved toward it.
A wild boar snuffled around the roots of an oak. He was big, with lots of wiry hair sticking out all over him. I took another step. A stick cracked beneath my foot. The boar spun my way, making a guttural growl that I knew well. I braced.
He was about to attack.
Fender
A high-pitched shriek came from the direction Tempest had gone. I exploded into action, running into the forest. Thrashing sounds reached me. Oh fuck.
I burst through the trees—and jerked to a stop so sudden I almost fell on my ass. “What the… Tempest?”
She turned to me, blood smearing her hands and face, and she grinned.
“I found dinner,” she said, then dragged her blade down a huge, and now dead, wild boar’s gut, and began field dressing it.
“He was about to charge me,” she said as she worked.
“I don’t like to kill an animal if I’m not able to make use of all the meat, but this big guy didn’t give me any other choice. ”
I stared at her stunned. She was soft and sweet and awkward, and apparently could kill a boar with a knife and her bare hands. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, smeared with pig’s blood, while she proficiently pulled out its insides.
“You like tenderloin? Backstraps? We could definitely cook them over a fire, no problem.” When I didn’t answer, she turned to me. “Fender?”
I shook off my stupor. This I had not expected. Not at all. Somehow, though, it was sexy as fuck. It also made me even more curious about my little female. “Sounds good.”
She’d done this before, a lot, there was no missing her skill.
She sliced off all the choice cuts, then got me to dig a hole for what was left, so we didn’t attract any unwanted company overnight.
She produced a small spade that folded in half from her pack, and I buried the guts and what was left, then we headed back to camp.
The fire was blazing now, and I couldn’t take my eyes off Tempest as she pulled a small trivet with folding legs and a frying pan from her bag of tricks, set it up, and tossed the meat on to cook.
“You want to use my bottle to wash up, peaches? I can refill it later.”
“Thanks, that would be great,” she said as she pulled out a container with something else in it and placed it on the ground beside us. I scented the air. Smelled like potato salad.
I handed her my bottle. She thanked me and took her pack under the canopy of the ivy-covered tree to freshen up.
When she resurfaced, she’d changed her clothes and had washed off the blood.
She was wearing yoga pants—I only knew that’s what they were called because of all the females living at the den now—a long-sleeved T-shirt, and both hugged her ample curves. My mouth went dry.
“How’s the meat looking?” she said as she walked over.
“Good.” I had no idea, honestly. I’d been too focused on listening to every rustle she made while she was changing, the little humming sounds she made when she rummaged around in her bag, and the way she’d muttered to herself before she’d walked back out.
She kneeled by the fire and flipped the meat, then pulling her sleeve over her hand to protect it, she pulled the trivet a little farther away from the fire and covered the pan with a metal plate.
When she turned back to me, her cheeks were pink from the heat of the fire and she seemed content but also determined.
“What’s on your mind?” I said, because there was a frown between her brows that I didn’t like.
“You,” she said.
“Me?”
“We need to tend your leg before dinner.”
It was like she’d dumped a bucket of ice water over my head.
The last thing I’d been thinking about was my leg.
It still hurt like hell, but when Tempest was around, it was hard to focus on anything but her.
Perhaps I should have taken her via a gateway, but with the way our powers worked, that would mean taking her to Hell first, before opening another to get us here.
Yes, it would have saved us time, and in my case, some pain, but I didn’t think Temp would have liked that, and I wouldn’t have gotten an excuse to spend more time with her. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not,” she said.