“Do you really think I trust you to have access to the door?” He shook his head. “Put your sleeping bag on the back wall. Lana, pretty lady, bring yours up here.”
I cast a quick glance at Toren, then let go of his hand to push out of my sleeping bag. Once my legs were free, I gathered it up. “Do you need help?” I asked Toren quietly.
“No.” Despite the terse word, his expression pinched as he unzipped his sleeping bag and drew his legs out.
I quickly pushed my sleep mat and my pack out of the way, bundling them into the corner of the tent. Once Toren rolled off his mat, I pulled it and his bag toward the back wall and arranged them. It would be a tight squeeze, but we’d fit.
Slipping inside, I motioned to Toren for him to join me, then aimed a pointed glare at Deke. “You can arrange your own sleeping area.” I didn’t want to get too close and give him the chance to pin me down.
Once more, Deke’s low chuckle filled the tent. “Feisty. I can see why this one appeals to you, McCrae.”
Toren’s deep grunt was his only answer. He rose to his knees, pushing his pack my way for us to use as a pillow, then shifted toward me. Getting into the sleeping bag, he put his body between me and Deke and zipped us into the flannel-lined nylon.
“Don’t murder us in our sleep,” Toren tossed over his shoulder.
“Nope. I’ll save that for later. I need you to get me out of here.” There was a bit of shuffling as Deke arranged my sleeping mat and bag. The light bounced around the interior of the tent, interrupting the shadows from the fire glowing just outside.
“Add more wood to the fire,” I said. “Since you’re now blocking the door. Which we also now can’t close. I’d like to not freeze to death too.”
“Careful. My amusement at your feistiness will only get you so far.” But he rolled out of the tent to put more wood on the fire.
“The sat phone,” I whispered as soon as he was gone.
Toren’s hand was already reaching for the zipper on the front of his backpack. “We’ll stuff it down by our feet. That was good thinking, telling him we used your phone to call Walker.”
“In the morning, I’ll put it in my pants below my underwear. He can kill me before I’ll let him get in there.” I would fight with every ounce of strength I had before I’d ever let a man touch me like that without my permission. I’d rather die.
Toren stilled. “He’ll have to go through me first.” The quiet whisper held a dark growl.
My fingers found his shirt, and I curled them into the fabric for a brief moment then let go.
He resumed digging in his bag for the phone and soon found it, shoving it down between us as far as his arms could reach. I raised a knee, getting my toes on it to shove it down the rest of the way.
We finished none too soon, either. Moments after we got it situated, and we settled down, Deke reentered the tent.
“McCrae, did you bring a phone? I’m assuming it has a satellite capability, like your girlfriend’s, right? You wouldn’t come out here without a means of communication with the outside world you knew and trusted. No hunting guide worth a damn would.”
Toren said nothing, just reached for his backpack again.
“Hand over your GPS unit too.”
I tipped my head into Toren’s chest and said a silent prayer of thanks that Toren kept all the devices separate and hadn’t invested in one of those all-in-one types. It was keeping the sat phone off Deke’s radar.
After retrieving his cell phone and the GPS device, Toren rolled with a wince and tossed them at Deke. “Here. Don’t lose them. I’d like them back when my pilot dumps you off.”
Deke scooped them up, putting them in one of his coat pockets. Another of those mirthless smiles flitted over his face, making him look menacingly evil in the glow from his flashlight. “The feistiness is cuter on your lady friend.”
“Yeah? Well, banged up or not, I still hit harder, so keep that in mind. We’re going to sleep now unless there’s anything else you’d like to demand?”
“I think we’re set now. Don’t try anything funny. I sleep with the safety off. And no pillow talk.”
Toren didn’t answer, just rolled back toward me.
I couldn’t see his face this close; there wasn’t enough light. But I could feel the intensity of his gaze on me.
I lifted my face.
He tipped his forehead into mine. “Get some sleep,” he breathed.
