Hunt and Pray (10 page)

Drew frowned. “I should have been paying more attention… to covering our tracks, I mean.”

Chance shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. It would have been almost impossible for me to not leave any signs, and I’ve had a lot of training on how to avoid being tracked and captured.”

Drew appreciated that Chance was trying to make him feel better, but he still felt bad. He looked up when the other man shook his arm to get Drew’s attention.

“Come on. Let’s get moving again. You sure you’re okay… at least physically?” Those piercing blue eyes swept over Drew, making him shiver a little.

“I’m gonna be sore and bruised when this all catches up with me. Right now, I think the adrenaline is sort of blocking it all out.” Drew didn’t feel all that bad at the moment, but sort of felt like he should be feeling worse.

Chance nodded his agreement. “Yeah, when you get home you’ll probably sleep for a month.” A sad look crossed his face, and it made Drew wonder what the other man had been thinking about. He was going to ask, but Chance shook his head as if to clear it and then forced a smile.

“Ready?”

Drew didn’t know if he was or not, but there wasn’t much choice but to move on. “Let’s go.”

They started walking again, Chance looking back a little more often than he had before the fall, but it felt like they were making good time.

Drew tried hard to not look at his watch too often. It tended to get dark earlier this time of year, and he wasn’t sure how many more walking hours they had left before the darkness and exhaustion took their toll.

They stopped a couple more times to rest and drink a little, but they tried to take it easy on their meager water supplies. Drew was starting to get hungry but figured there was no point in complaining when there was nothing to eat.

Chance just kept walking, never seeming to stumble or be less than sure-footed, and it made Drew slightly jealous, although he couldn’t find any fault with the view. He found himself distracted once again and didn’t stop walking until he hit something solid. It turned out to be Chance.

Drew looked up, and those beautiful eyes were smiling down at him. “I thought you were going to stop daydreaming while you were walking. What were you thinking about?”

He couldn’t help the telling blush that crept up his cheeks. “Uhm… nothing?” He tried to move around Chance but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

“Were you checking out my ass, Edwards?” Drew jerked his head up in surprise and found himself caught by Chance’s intense gaze and cheeky smile.

Drew shrugged. “Sorry?” He wasn’t really, but he didn’t want Chance feeling uncomfortable around him.

Chance chuckled. “Don’t be.”

Drew waited for more, but Chance let go of his arm and started walking again, speaking as he went. “I might have heard the sound of water up here, and I think we could both use it.” He looked back over his shoulder and smirked at Drew. “Don’t lose track of me now.”

Drew snorted quietly. “Jerk.”

Chance grinned at him and then turned his head and kept walking, and Drew followed him. As they walked, Drew started to hear the sound Chance had mentioned.

It wasn’t long before the stream came into view. It was small… they could probably get across by only taking one step in the water… but the current moved quickly.

“The water should be okay to drink. It’s fast-moving and clear, so it should be clean.” Chance’s voice was closer than he expected, and Drew turned, startled, and started to take a step back. He was stopped by a strong hand on the small of his back that pressed him forward against Chance’s body.

“Careful. You almost stepped into the stream.”

Drew’s hands automatically came up to rest against Chance’s chest as tension suddenly built between them. Chance appeared calm, but the quickly beating heart Drew felt under his palm told a different story.

Drew was distracted for a second by the muscles working in Chance’s throat as the other man swallowed. His eyes moved back up to meet Chance’s, and he watched as they darkened when Drew licked his lips nervously.

Chance’s free hand came up and reached toward Drew’s face. He stood and waited for the touch, eyes slipping closed in anticipation, but he was jolted out of the moment when Chance abruptly let go and turned away.

“I’m sorry.” Chance’s voice was soft and regretful.

Drew was puzzled. “For what?” Chance hadn’t done anything to be sorry for… except maybe denying Drew that touch.

“I wanted… you don’t need….” Chance scrubbed his hands through his hair in apparent frustration at not being able to say what he needed to. “I shouldn’t touch you like that without your permission. No one should.”

Drew smiled as he realized what had Chance so upset. “You’re not like Ezra, Chance.” He crossed the couple of steps that separated them and put his hand on Chance’s arm. “I knew you weren’t going to hurt me.”

Chance ducked his head so Drew couldn’t see he face. “How?”

Drew was getting more confused by the second. “How what?”

“How did you know I wasn’t going to hurt you?” Chance was practically mumbling, quite the turnaround from the outgoing man Drew had been joking with earlier.

Drew shrugged. “I don’t know. Most of the time it’s easy to tell.” There was something else going on that puzzled Drew. “How do you tell when someone’s not a threat to you?”

“I don’t.” He turned away from Drew and took a couple of steps. “My father always taught me not to trust anyone… to always assume they were out to hurt me.”

Drew couldn’t imagine going through life like that; always alone… always convinced there was no one on your side.

“I hope you know you can trust me. I don’t want to hurt you, Chance.” Drew was at a loss. How did you convince someone you meant them no harm after a lifetime of them being told not to trust a soul?

“I think I’m starting to get that.” Chance sighed, shoulders slumped, and Drew couldn’t hold back. He walked over slowly and let his hand rest gently on Chance’s back. When the other man didn’t flinch away, he started to rub up and down, happy when the tense muscles under his fingers started to relax.

Chance leaned back into the touch and then turned his head to look at Drew. “You’re a touching kind of guy, aren’t you?”

Drew pulled his hand back self-consciously. “Sorry. I’ve always been that way.”

Chance turned and caught Drew’s retreating hand and held it for a moment. “It’s okay… kinda weird for me… but okay.”

Drew grinned and just like that, the moment was gone.

“So, about this water, then….”

The other man nodded and started to speak. “I think we’ll follow this for a bit and see where it leads. And I think we might have to find somewhere to hole up for the night.” He pointed to the sky.

In the fading light, Drew could see some heavy clouds gathering overhead. The thought of trying to fight their way through the woods in the dark when it was raining was terrifying.

“I’m open for suggestions. Any idea where the nearest Hilton is?” Drew knew his humor was a poor attempt at deflecting his fear, but Chance let it go.

“Jeez, Drew, you sure aim high. I’d settle for a no-tell motel at this point.”

They both started to chuckle as they walked along. It was peaceful here, and Drew regretted he wasn’t getting a chance to enjoy it.

After another hour of following the stream, they came to a place where it widened a little. Drew was ready to give in and lie down right where he was when Chance caught his attention.

“Hey, Drew, look at this.” Chance beckoned him over to where he was standing.

There was an overhang jutting out from a huge rock that was almost completely hidden by the trees. Drew grabbed the flashlight and checked to see if anything was living there, but it was empty. The space was deep enough they would be able to get out of the rain he could smell on the air, and it seemed like a good place to spend the night.

“What do you think?” Chance looked at Drew expectantly as he walked under the rock, hunching a little. Drew followed him.

The ground under them was dry, and they were hidden from view, and Drew knew that he needed to sleep at least a little.

“Okay. It works for me, as long as you think it’s safe.” Drew wanted Chance to know he trusted his judgment.

“Let’s fill up our water bottles and then try and get some rest.” Chance walked back to the water and dipped his hand in and tasted it before he slipped his pack off and pulled out the empty bottles.

Once they had their fill of the cold water, they went back to their little resting place and sat down beside each other.

Drew was reluctant to remove his shoes, but he had to get some air to his badly blistered feet. He reached down and pulled the laces, gingerly slipping them off when they were loose enough.

Chance noticed. “What are you doing, Drew?”

Drew glanced at him and then back at his feet, trying to work up the courage to take his socks off. “My feet are sore, and I think they need some air.”

Chance bit his lip in a nervous habit Drew had come to recognize. “Can I help?”

Drew nodded and leaned back and braced himself as Chance ever-so-gently slipped his sock off his right foot. The pain made him hiss, but the rush of cool air soothed his foot quickly.

“Fuck, Drew!” The anger in Chance’s voice made Drew look down at his exposed foot. He wasn’t prepared to see the blood seeping from several places where the skin had been completely worn away.

“Oh….” He didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t like there had been a lot he could do to prevent it.

Chance quickly stripped off his T-shirt and laid it on the ground before carefully lowering Drew’s foot to rest on it. The other man cursed under his breath as he pulled the sock from Drew’s other foot and found it to be in worse shape than the first.

“Why didn’t you say anything, Drew?”

Drew shrugged. “Not much point. There isn’t a whole lot that can be done about it, right?”

Chance lowered the other foot to rest beside the first, then stood and bent over to pull Drew up into his arms against his naked chest.

Drew squawked and instinctively wrapped his arms around Chance’s neck. “What in the hell are you doing?”

Chance walked determinedly to the stream and set Drew beside it. “I’m going to clean your poor feet and put some ointment on them.”

Not giving Drew a chance to protest, Chance quickly rolled up Drew’s jeans and then carefully set both feet in the water.

It was almost icy cold, but it felt like heaven to Drew. He watched from under his lashes as Chance strode to the overhang and grabbed his T-shirt.

When he came back, he knelt beside Drew and started massaging his calves as his feet soaked. It felt amazing, and he couldn’t help moaning in pleasure at the firm touches.

Chance quickly pulled back his hands. “Am I hurting you?”

Drew looked up at Chance and found him blushing.

“No, why?”

Chance bit his lip again. “You were moaning….” He trailed off, looking a little embarrassed.

“No, it just feels really fucking good.” Drew eyed him for a moment. “You ever do this before?”

“No, never.” He wouldn’t look at Drew as he spoke. Instead, he kept his eyes on Drew’s legs as he returned to working the knots out of the muscles. “I haven’t touched a lot of people—kind of goes along with the whole ‘not trusting people’ thing.”

Drew let his head fall back and closed his eyes. “You’re really good at it.”

He could feel the temperature dropping and the humidity rising and knew it was time to get under cover. He sighed and opened his eyes. “We should get back under there. The rain is gonna start soon.”

Chance nodded, pulled one of Drew’s feet out of the water, and dried it with his T-shirt, arching his eyebrow at Drew when he tried to protest. He grabbed a few large leaves off a nearby tree and set them on the ground before setting Drew’s clean foot on them.

He repeated the process with the other foot, and once he was done, he threw the shirt over his shoulder and stood, then bent to take Drew into his arms once more. He carried him back to their little space and set him down carefully and Drew found it hard to let go of Chance’s warm body.

Chance didn’t say anything, but grabbed his pack from where he’d set it down and pulled it open. He took out the first aid kit and gave Drew two of the pain pills that were left, then gently smeared the antibiotic ointment over the sores on Drew’s feet before he wrapped them loosely in gauze.

“That should keep them clean for the night. I’m going down to wash our socks in the stream so we can hang them to dry.” Chance didn’t look at him as he gathered everything together, returned the kit to the pack, and then stood to leave.

“Thank you, Chance. I appreciate it.” He smiled up at Chance and was rewarded with a gentle smile in return.

“You’re welcome.” He stood there like he might say more, but then turned and hurried down to the stream.

Drew leaned back on his elbows and watched Chance slip off his boots and socks before washing both pairs in the stream along with the shirt he’d dried Drew’s feet with.

Watching him walk around half naked was no hardship, but Drew was worried about what would happen when the sun went down and it started to get cold.

The shelter they’d chosen was perfect, but unfortunately, he knew rattlesnakes would think so too. It was going to be a long night.

He looked up as Chance returned, his feet stuffed into untied boots, and laid the dripping clothes on a rock to dry.

“I’m gonna grab some wood and start us a little fire. It’s going to be too cold to go without, especially with the rain coming.” Chance turned to leave but stopped when Drew reached up and grabbed his hand.

“Is it going to be safe?” He was worried about being left alone, but he was also worried about Chance stumbling around in the near dark.

Chance nodded. “I think so. I’m sure the colonel and Ezra would have gotten ready to get out of the rain, and I don’t think there’s any way they could spot the fire in here.”

Drew squeezed Chance’s hand and let him go. “Okay. I’ll be here waiting.”

Chance grinned and walked out of the shelter.

Drew settled in to wait for him, trying to pretend he wasn’t afraid and failing miserably.