“I guess you’re right.”
I do feel bad. I’ve hardly given Flint much thought at all.
“Iamright.”
I yawn and cover my mouth. “Sorry. I’m so tired I could fall asleep sitting up.”
“We should finish eating, then get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be rough going. We need to cover some serious ground.” I hear him moving, gathering things up.
I make a noise of agreement.
“I need to get rid of any evidence that we were here. If we leave food scraps anywhere near where we’re sleeping, it could draw unsavories.” He’s already moving away, his footsteps fading into the trees. “Give me a minute. I’m going to bury everything a good distance from here, and then I’ll help you get into our hiding spot.”
I take the opportunity to go to the toilet behind a nearby tree, feeling my way.
Then I carefully walk back to the log. The jungle presses in around me again, but it doesn’t feel quite as frightening as it did before. Maybe it’s the food. Maybe it’s just knowing Magma is close by, even if I can’t see him.
A few minutes later, he’s back, his footsteps quiet.
“Okay. Let’s get you back in there. I’ll be right behind you.”
I crawl toward the base of the tree and find the opening by feel, sliding into the hollow the same way I did before. I squeeze up to the side as much as I can, trying to give him room.
I shuffle forward until my knees hit the back wall of the hollow, and then he’s crawling in after me, and the space that already felt small somehow gets smaller. There’s a scrape of wood and leaves as he drags the brush back across the gap behind him, sealing us into total darkness again, and then there’s nowhere left for either of us to go.
“This is tight,” I whisper.
“There’s room. We just have to… Here…” His hand finds my shoulder in the dark, guiding me. “Turn around. Face away from the entrance.”
I do, and immediately his arm comes around me, pulling me back against him because there’s nowhere else for either of us to put our limbs. My back ends up pressed flush to his chest, his other arm slides underneath me, and somehow, in all of that shifting and adjusting, my head ends up tucked against him, my cheek resting just below his collarbone.
I can feel every inch of him against my back. He’s so big it’s almost comical. He smells like the outdoors after rain, with something underneath that, something smoky and a little spiced. All things considered, he smells really good. His chest rises and falls slowly behind me in a steady rhythm. The muscle of his arm where it rests over my waist is hard and warm.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice low near the top of my head.
“Yeah.” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“I’m sorry it’s so tight. It’s just that?—”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“Try to sleep. We’re safe.”
“Okay.”
I lie there in the dark, listening to his heartbeat against my ear, slow and even, and I think there’s no way I’m falling asleep like this. Not after everything I’ve been through and everything still to come. My brain is going to keep me up all night, running through all of it; I just know it.
It doesn’t take long for me to drift off.
15
Magma
I wake to find Carla wrapped around me.
One leg is thrown over mine, her knee wedged between my thighs, and her arm rests across my chest. Her breasts are pressed against my ribs. They’re soft and warm, like her. She smells incredible. Beneath the dirt is all female. Vanilla, cherries, orange blossom, rainbows and fucking sunshine.
I want to eat her.
