River's Escape (River's End Series, #2) (11 page)

“Oh my God! That’s so cool. I had no idea we could have a stove in here.”

Her face looked really bright and she seemed to truly be amazed by it all. She also seemed really into it. He didn’t think she was mocking him, although it could have gone either way. A girl like her could disdain a lot, and think all of it was stupid. Instead, she seemed completely impressed and delighted by it.

He quickly undid the cots and started assembling them.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t figure out how to set them up.”

“You don’t have to apologize. Why should you know?” He tossed the thermal pads at her. “Unscrew the cap on the end and blow these up. They’re not great, but they add a little more comfort.”

“Really? I didn’t realize we got pads too.” She started blowing, and her cheeks puffed out as she shut her eyes. When she blew, he stopped for a moment, thinking she was about the most adorable sight he’d seen in quite awhile. He ignored the thought and quickly got back to work. It was getting later and much colder. They needed to eat and sleep. He threw the sleeping bags and small camp pillows out, and she gazed around when it was all set up. The tent could have held another person. The other three would have set up the same tent, only a few feet behind camp.

She suddenly flopped down on the cot and sighed. “This is way more than I hoped for. I would have been so screwed with my pathetic, little sleeping bag.”

“You won’t get cold; these are suitable for zero degree weather.” He watched her nearly frolicking on the narrow bed with the puffy sleeping bag pillowing around her. Her hair fell down and he had to turn away before he thought it would be a good idea to lie down next to her.

She rolled up on her side, placing one hand under head and her elbow under her. “Why did you think far enough ahead to pack for me? How could my brothers not know everything I’d need?”

He finished pulling some of gear. “Because your brothers barely share one brain between them. You should know that.”

She shuffled around. “That’s kind of mean.”

“Kind of true too, I don’t hear you arguing.”

“Okay, kind of true.”

She got up then and started unpacking her duffel bag from under her bed while searching for personal items. He set up a small, metal table and indicated for her to put her stuff on it. She flashed a grateful smile. She was fidgeting around. Her strange behavior finally entered his conscious.

“You okay?”

“Um, yes. Just…”

“Just…? I told you I can’t read your mind. Speak.”

“I didn’t consider how… awkward this might me. You know, not a lot of privacy.”

“I warned you.”

“Yes, but at the time, I thought my brothers would be here, and I’d be staying with them. You’re not my brother.”

“No. I’m not your brother.” He kept his gaze carefully away from hers. She was the furthest thing from being a relation to him. All he could picture is what he’d like to do to her on the bed she kept frolicking on with so much girlish wonder.

She was still fidgeting, and acting weird, so Ian said, “Look, I’ll step out. Do whatever you need to do.” Maybe she was cold and needed to put on more clothes or something.

She followed him as he passed by the fire to warm his hands. Okay, she did not want to change. She was almost hanging onto the back of him, yet she would not meet his gaze.

He thought the whole
tell me what you need
talk could actually work. He sighed. “Kailynn? What do you need from me?”

Her gaze skittered around like a ping pong ball. “I need to… to pee.” She finally gasped it out as if saying a dirty word.

Well, yeah, of course, she did. He previously went off behind a tree before stringing up the highline and kind of figured she’d go somewhere in the camp while he was gone. He dug around his bag and found a flashlight. “Here.”

She took it, but stood there without moving. Then she clicked it on and stared at her boot toes. He nearly smacked his hand to his forehead. “You’re scared?”

She nodded. He could have guessed just by the way she blushed.

Grabbing another flashlight, he gestured for her to follow him. He walked her twenty feet from camp and then swung the light around, checking for any strange eyes peering back. Nothing as far as he could see. She stood there, anxiously nearly crossing her legs.
Crap!
How long had it been? Now that he thought about it, she never really wandered away at any point today.
Shit.
Did she have to hold it all day? They drank bottles of water getting in. “Did you wait all day?”

She nodded miserably. He had to cover his surprised laugh with a cough as he held out a half roll of toilet paper. “Well, you can go now.”

She took it, avoiding his gaze, and nodded as she put her flashlight on the ground. He turned his back to her and heard nothing. Now what she was waiting for?

“I can’t go with you standing there.”

“Okay, I’ll go back to camp.”

“No!” she exclaimed, and quickly added, “you can’t just leave me out here.”

He turned at her loud protest. He had no freaking idea what he was supposed to do. He wasn’t the best at reading signals, but this was ridiculous. He spread his hands in a motion of giving up. “Then what would you like me to do?”

“Maybe, step over there, but keep your light where I can see it.”

He walked behind the tree she indicated. “Promise you won’t look?”

“On my mother’s grave, I don’t need to see you pee.”

She groaned in embarrassment or annoyance, he wasn’t sure. “Don’t use your mother like that. That’s gruesome. And never, ever again talk, or even think about me peeing.”

He was still chuckling to himself when he leaned his back on the tree where she insisted, for some reason, that he remain. After several minutes, she finally called out that she was finished. Her entire face was red when he returned. There was no more dancing around, however.

“Look, we both gotta piss out here. I go down from camp, and you come up, okay? So you don’t have to worry about it.”

“I didn’t consider that part.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter to me, but as we’ve just established, it matters to you. So pay attention when it’s getting dark and you’ll be fine.”

“You won’t wander up this way? I don’t really want to go any further from camp than this.”

“I promise.”

She trailed him back to camp and he set up the fold-up camp chairs. Scooping up the meal of hot dogs and potato chips, he set them on the tin plates. She took hers with a happy smile. He sat down and sighed with relief. He was tired too. The hot fire on his legs, and warm food in his mouth started to ease some of the exhaustion. She ate as fast and thoroughly as he did, even asking for seconds. Timidly. Huh. Kailynn was a little bit different out there in the woods alone with him. She was very unsure of herself. Half the time he spent with her were occasions when she snapped, or got rude over something he didn’t say. But out here, he surprisingly, commanded her respect, which was not easily earned. Except, of course, by Shane.

The food was in the ice chest they strapped to the pack saddle with special leather bags. When traveling they had the cooler on one side of the horse and a box of dry goods on the other.

Her eyes grew heavy after Ian took her plate and set it into the small creek that was five feet away from the fire pit. It was a small, glacier-fed stream that was only a foot wide and maybe three inches deep. The water was crisp, cold, and clear. Ian treated any water Kailynn drank with the SteriPEN, a device that uses ultraviolet rays to purify the water. He and Jack always drank straight out of the creek, and so far, nothing ever happened to them. In fact, the water was the best Ian ever tasted. It ran into Hunter Creek a hundred feet below camp. It was another a pretty spot that Ian intended to show Kailynn tomorrow.

He built the fire inside the tent up higher so it would be warm when they went to sleep. She went inside and Ian assumed by her shadow on the tent, that she was changing. He became sure of it when she took her bra off, and he detected the outline of her breasts. After another five minutes, he heard her shuffling around and settling into bed. She finally released a happy groan of contentment, similar to the sound one might make after a satisfying orgasm. He smiled. He got it. A warm bed after their long day felt every bit as satisfying.

He closed all the food containers and strapped up the horse packs. No sense in inviting wild animals. They’d never had problems before, but it was always a possibility, and one he would not inflict upon his tent-mate. He turned the lanterns off and entered the tent, closing the zipper door tightly. The fire cast funny shadows around the small area. The tent was snug and warm. Crazy to feel after the cold mountain air outside.

He didn’t look her way and assumed the sudden virginal shyness would keep her from watching him. He unzipped his coat and hung it on a nail he hammered in years ago on the ridgepole. Discarding his shirt, he unzipped his jeans and sloughed them off. The hot fire kept his skin warm as he slid into the flannel pants he wore up there to sleep in, and he pulled the long-sleeved thermal shirt over his head.

He turned and pushed the covers back, stopping in shock when he caught Kailynn’s gaze. She was facing him and her eyes were wide as they remained fastened on him. He was surprised she bothered to look at him, since she seemed to avoid it most of the time. Now alone, in a tent, she watched him change? Weird girl.

“Need anything?”

She shook her head, and her long hair fell into her mouth. She shook it away and turned flat on her back. Ian sighed with relief too when his head hit the pillow and his body became enveloped in the soft down of the sleeping bag. The dark now seemed very quiet. Only Hunter’s Creek gushed and bubbled, doing a good job of keeping other sounds away. It always helped him sleep easier.

He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, but never really expected to go to sleep with Kailynn Hayes in quite this way. A ball of contentment lodged in his chest, and eager anticipation for the next few days. It was all new for him, but very welcome nonetheless.

He wasn’t sure how to proceed with her and couldn’t get a read on what she thought, wanted, or even considered doing with him. He didn’t usually make a move on a woman unless he was relatively sure it was welcomed. It just wasn’t his style. But with Kailynn? Ian had no idea.

KAILYNN NEVER FELT SO exhausted in her entire life. Every muscle in her body ached or felt thoroughly fatigued. She was also never so exhilarated. The entire day became a smorgasbord for her senses. There were ten miles of mountain and wilderness views to drink in. Glimpses of high, majestic mountain peaks, rushing waterfalls, and moss-laden creek banks. When the sun shone, it looked like a magical forest straight from a young kid’s imagination. Never mind the hours upon hours she spent on high alert while scanning for bears and wolves, and only after Ian mentioned it, cougars as well. She was always concentrating hard while riding the horse; and whoever thought you could just sit there, had never done so. Her entire body was tense and at the ready; especially after the psychotic jump Tommy did out of the creek. She could have died if she hadn’t been clasping the saddle horn with every last ounce of her strength.

Her butt did feel like it had been through a meat grinder, not to mention her thighs and inside her legs. Her toes were swollen with blisters and her shoulders hurt from hoisting the gear that always managed to take her breath away whenever she tried to help Ian.

She did not expect Ian to be as strong as he was. So lithe and lean, she never really noticed that his leanness was actually due to whipped-smooth muscles. His arms strained and she couldn’t detect an inch of fat. She didn’t know how she missed that about him.

She missed a lot of things about him. He was so different out here. He was kind of dominant and in control. He was kick-ass, actually. There seemed no end to what he knew how to do and did. At least, it seemed that way to her. He was nice too. Very considerate. He didn’t expect her to do anything, but in his quiet way, made her want to please him by helping whenever she could.

Why, though, did she watch him undress? Well, first, because considering how quiet he was most of the time, she naturally assumed he was shy. “Bashful” to put it in his words. She assumed he would have tried to cover himself while changing. But holy crap! He did not. He whipped it all off before she could blink an eye. His thermal shirt was tightly across his chest and hugging his stomach. His lean, narrow hips held briefs and she could barely see the outline of him. The same thing she was forced to witness in Drew, and which so horrified her with him, now had her staring hard at Ian in the shadows of firelight. He lifted a leg to put his pants back on and she saw they were lean and long, spotted with freckles and soft hair. He might have even been bigger than Drew
down there.
The thought of Drew’s naked penis made her toss the sleeping bag over her head. Why would she have stared at Ian like that? Much less, even thought about Drew’s again?
Gross. Yuck.
She knew she did not like penises, so why did she gawk at Ian Rydell’s?

“Need something?”
Now, she wanted to shrivel up inside her chest. He caught her gawking at him. She didn’t expect him to glance her way, although he didn’t seem the least bit perturbed to find her staring at him like a big-eyed barn owl. But… she was.

She needed to have sex. She had to get over her belief that the parts involved were some kind of mythical, magical parts of human anatomy. She needed to grow up and be like everyone else: blasé, if not bored, by sex. If only she could have imagined that sucking on a penis was pretty casual these days, and no big deal. Or stop blushing because she vaguely saw a male’s genitals through his underwear.

But sex was that big of deal to her. She was that naive and stupid about it. She was also that innocent.

She forced her brain to think of something else.
The camp
. It was awesome. Like a little, secret oasis tucked inside massively thick trees and towering mountains. It was a tiny pocket of perfection in the world, and no one else knew about it. The big creek was a good twenty feet down a small slope from camp. But next to the camp ran the cutest, little, curving trickle of water. Ian just went for it, and drank it straight off the mountain. She wasn’t sure about that yet, although it was very cold and crystal clear. The way Ian instantly popped up their camp out of nothing, was still a near miracle to Kailynn. She slept in a comfy, warm bed, with heat, and she never expected that.

The night was really dark up there, with nothing to break it up, but the trees, which seemed to further enclose it. His lanterns were like magic. But now, the fire began dying low. The trickling creek filled her ears, but she could also hear the brush of branches on the tent’s canvas. The twittering of something. She tensed. What was that thump? That little scurry? What if a mouse got in there? What if it crawled inside her sleeping bag? What if a bear suddenly grabbed the tent and tore it down? Or started scrounging around the food supplies? And the horses… clomp, snort, thump. They never stopped making noise; and she never imagined they were so loud.

Crash!
She sat up straight. What was that? A bear?

“Ian?” she whispered before thinking twice about it. Nothing. He was facing away from her. “Ian!” she repeated louder. Still, nothing. “Ian!” she finally yelled.

With a jerk, he sat up, blinking his eyes. “What?” he asked, his voice sounding garbled.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” He stilled, listening carefully. The creek rushed; the horses stomped; and the tree branches scratched on the canvas.

“That noise.”

He watched her for a second, then got out of the sleeping bag and ducked down. He pulled out his duffel bag, grabbing something from it and handing it to her. Then, with a yawn, he rubbed at his eyes. “Thought these might come in handy.”

She took them and glanced down.
An iPod and earphones?
“Just put the music on low and it will drown out all the night sounds. I know the horses can get loud.”

“Are you sure it’s not a bear?”

“I’m sure it’s just loud horses. For both our sakes, just put those on.”

She scrunched her face up, looking confused. “You brought this along just for me?”

He kicked his bag back under the cot and crawled back into the sleeping bag. His butt was in the air for a moment right in front of her. How did she fail to notice how firm and tight it was? She shifted her gaze away. Lord, she was obsessing. It had to be because of the traumatic Drew episode. Besides, Ian was most likely gay, which was why stripping down in front of her didn’t seem to faze him in the least. “Yeah. I thought the night sounds might get to you.”

She studied him as he shuffled around, trying to get comfortable. “Thank you,” she said softly.

He mumbled a groggy, “You’re welcome.” But she still sat up and listened. When she finally felt safe enough to lie back down, she put the earphones in and set the music on low. She stared at the ceiling. Why did he remember to bring all kinds of things for her? Things she never even thought about? He brought earphones
in case
she got scared, which was almost ridiculously thoughtful. And taking her to pee. Remembering her toilet paper. Building fires to keep her warm, and setting up the beds. The music blocked it all out. Her thoughts kept spinning, but finally, her utter exhaustion subdued them.

****

Ian started a fire early the next morning before taking the earphones gently from Kailynn’s ears and turning the iPod off, hoping the battery would last the rest of the trip. She shuffled in her sleep a little, and her long hair spread all around her, while her arms stayed tucked snugly under the sleeping bag. He wanted to reach down and touch her cheeks, which were rosy from the cold air. The outside thermometer said twenty-eight degrees. He jumped back into bed while the fire worked its magic.

Ian really liked this. He cherished being out there, doing his favorite damn thing, with her. Kailynn wasn’t into him, and he knew that. But he sure as shit was into her. He didn’t quite know how to change her mind about him. Or divert her interest away from his brother. He was pretty sure she’d come on this trip primarily to seduce his brother. Now he was glad to have her to himself… and what? What could it accomplish? Probably shit for him. Still… he had hope. Shane wasn’t there, all big, and menacing, and bad-ass, to draw her eye. Maybe she could finally see
him
now.

He rolled over and got up. Sure. That was likely to happen. From biker to rancher: a lifestyle she detested and mocked. He pulled his jeans up as goose bumps broke out over his skin. Quickly donning the sweatshirt and wool-lined Carhartt, he jammed a hat on his head and shoved his feet into his boots. He rubbed his hands near the warm fire and added more wood to keep Kailynn comfortable. Then he tended the horses and camp. He finished the enclosure so he could let the horses off their leads to graze in the small fenced-in area. He made coffee and started cooking breakfast. It took him several hours to get the rest of the camp set up decently. Suddenly, the tent flap burst open and Kailynn appeared. She passed by him in a blur of puffy coat and sloppy boots, since they were his, while rushing towards the spot he’d taken her the previous night. Her pajama pants were stuck into his boots and she clomped her way up the trail. Ian politely turned to stare at the fire when she returned, so she didn’t get all weird again. But was anything cuter than seeing her wearing his clothes? Probably not. She didn’t come out of the tent for another ten minutes. When she finally reemerged, she was clad in the snow pants, his other coat, and gloves. Her breath blew like smoke as she neared the fire and stretched her hands out towards it. It was barely thirty degrees.

She glanced around. The sun was just skimming the tops and ridges of the steep peaks above camp. They speared into the blue sky like granite arrows. “Okay, thank you. I would be shivering like hell right now if you hadn’t packed these for me.”

“Worth me seeing your underwear?”

Her lips quirked up. “Definitely worth seeing my underwear.”

“It was only fair, after all, you’ve seen mine,” he said with a knowing smile. He was obviously referring more to her observance of him last night, than to her laundry chores. The bright redness in her cheeks could have been from the cold air, but he suspected it was more because of her strange aversion to mentioning undergarments.

He handed her a cup of warm coffee, which she took into her hands with a grateful smile. She glanced around, visibly approving of what she saw. Her smile was genuine and her eyes became kind of dewy and soft. “This is really incredible.”

“You like it?”

“I love it. I’m really glad we came.”

“Despite the initial awkwardness?”

Her eyebrows dipped as if she were trying to figure out a puzzle. Was he the puzzle she could not figure out? She didn’t seem to know if he was referring to her privacy issues, or because she was acting so weird around him. “Yes. Despite the initial awkwardness.”

He started making her breakfast, while dismissing her offers to help. She spent her life serving others, and it was nice to see her being served for a change. Besides, he didn’t mind taking responsibility. She attacked the food with the same vigor he had. The bacon, eggs and biscuits were all cooked over the fire, using cast iron pots and a frying pan. She was delighted as she watched everything he did. He was pretty sure he’d never managed to confine her attention on him before at any point in their twenty-year history of knowing each other. She insisted on doing the dishes and he only agreed if they switched off. He didn’t need her there to do all the “female” chores. He was just glad she was there. She walked around the camp and explored the short distance down to the creek. He walked her down to the spot where the little creek dumped into the big creek, creating a large, deep pool. Fallen, moss-covered logs provided natural bridges to cross it, and a huge, smooth boulder served as a giant island, splitting the creek in two. The underbrush was mostly turning yellow for fall. When she whipped out a camera and started taking pictures, Ian was rather surprised. She even snapped a few of him as he moved around the camp, or tended the horses. She took pictures of everything, from the camp set-up to the food cooking on the fire. It seemed to be like some kind of marvel to her.

Midday, they saddled up and took the horses to another lush field so they could graze. There wasn’t enough available for them in the small enclosure, which they already had eaten, leaving only bare roots. She eyed up the horse, and Ian could see her reluctance as she slowly bent over in a weird, stiff manner. Still, she didn’t balk about it or complain. She never whined, or had even one snarky, snappish comment for him. Kinda new to have Kailynn being so nice to him for once.

The ride up to the meadow was only about twenty minutes, but it was nearly straight up the mountain and made all the horses break out in sweat. Kailynn was more than a little stressed by it. Still, the magnificent views of craggy mountains at nearly the same elevation as they, kept Kailynn’s head turning. He was pretty sure she wasn’t faking the big-eyed interest in what she kept looking around at. He stopped at the bottom of a meadow. They unsaddled and Ian got the hobbles out and started with his own horse.

“What are those?” Her voice came up behind him when he bent down to clip on the rings around his horse’s two front legs. “Handcuffs? Won’t they fall and break their legs or something? Those look like torture devices.”

He finished and sat back on his haunches. Glancing up, he found her nearly scowling at him. Chuckling, he sprang to his feet to unhook the lead rope, releasing his horse, “free” for the first time in almost two days. “No. They’re hobbles. They aren’t torture devices. And yes, they are kind of like handcuffs, meant to inhibit the horse’s stride. They can’t run with these on, but merely hobble around. Hence the name. Trust me, we want them wearing them. You really don’t want to go on a twelve-mile hike in search of your horse.”