“This is the spot.” I picked up one red stiletto and wondered about the other. “What were you doing out here?”
“Hunting.”
“So late at night?”
Bram smirked. “I had nothing else to do at night until I found you.”
The reminder of all the sex we had zipped through me. I ignored the longing in the pit of my stomach. Twirling around, I recalled the direction I’d come from.
“This way,” I told Bram, then took off.
He followed me through the thicket. In my anger, I hadn’t remembered how long I’d followed Chris. Therefore, I was relieved when I spotted the bush with the unmistakable tree at dusk.
“There.”
“It’s a tree.”
“I recognize that tree.”
“Trees all look the same, Jayne. Trust me.”
I crossed my arms. “No, that’s where Margo and George got married.”
“You’re imagining things. It happens. Believe me.”
“You went from not talking to mansplaining in the blink of an eye. Come on.” Tugging Bram forward, I led him to the remains of a fire. “See.”
He bent to feel the ashes. I followed suit. They were still warm.
“Had to be another wedding party here tonight. We probably just missed them.”
His expression was hard. “I don’t see any of the lavish quarters you spoke of.”
Blowing out a breath, I started to argue but then thought better. I supposed he was upset I quickly found the way out of the jungle when he couldn’t. I softened. “Of course not. We took Jeeps to get here. It took twenty minutes. The camp’s probably still pretty far off. Honestly, I didn’t pay attention on the ride.”
“We can follow the tracks. In the morning.”
Bram rekindled the fire. We sat beside it, both of us dressed for once.
“You can lay on me,” he offered.
“Nah.”
“You went from spreading your legs for Brute to a cold fish in the blink of an eye,” Bram mocked my earlier comment.
“You’re awful quick-witted for someone who couldn’t talk this morning. Oh, the only thing you can say is come… I should have known what you were after…” We sat in silence until I had to know. “When did you realize I was real?”
Bram turned to me. I refused to look at him as he spoke. “I started to when you first fought me. But it took days of you being there.”
“Why didn’t you say something when you realized? I mean except saying come?”
“I wanted to, but I hadn’t spoken much in a long time. You’re lucky I was asking for your consent.”
Finally, I turned to him. “Lucky… that you didn’t rape me? You seem to talk just fine, now. Lots of words... And how did you know I wasn’t just scared into submitting? I mean if I had sex with you under false pretenses how was it not rape?”
“Rape?” Bram shouted, like it was ridiculous. “You wanted it. That much was clear. And I wasn’t even sure you were real…” Then he hung his head in his hands. “I practiced speaking every day when I left the cave. I listened to you ramble on every night and something clicked. Once I got it right, I didn’t know how to tell you. When to tell you.”
“You lied to me.”
