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“Me, either,” I say, smiling. “I’m glad we’re logical people who are scared of credible threats like clowns and leprechauns instead of silly things like bats and rabies.”
He nods and winks. “Thank God. But the bats won’t bother us if we don’t bother them, and we both have headlamps. If we see anything sketchy, we can always turn around and head back the way we came.”
Sobering, I agree, “Totally, and I think we should plan on playing it safe. Yes, I have a lust for adventure, but I’m more excited about living to see another day. And to eat the yummy stir-fry I’m going to make you tonight.”
“And Freya’s depending on us to come home,” he says.
Touched by the fact that my pet is on his mind, I lean in, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
He smiles as I pull away, his voice soft, “What was that for?”
“For worrying about my little girl.”
“She’s a cutie,” he says. “And we’ve come a long way since she tried to bite my dick off.”
Laughing, I agree, “You have.”
But not nearly as far as Wes and I have come.
Just a few days ago, we were barely speaking. Now…
Now, he feels like a member of my team, a person I can trust with my life, and the only man I want making me tingle for the foreseeable future.
I lift a hand, cupping his scruffy cheek for a beat, on the verge of saying things I shouldn’t. Feeling things I shouldn’t. It’s only been a few days. It’s too soon to tell him that I’m falling in love with him. But maybe by the next time we head off on an epic adventure…
We’ve already started talking about reworking our summer plans to go hiking together. The fact that he isn’t the slightest bit apprehensive about heading out into the wilderness alone with me for two weeks speaks volumes.
So does the warmth in his gaze as he leans into my touch. “I have so much fun with you,” he says softly.
“Me, too,” I say, the back of my nose stinging a little. “With you.”
But what higher compliment is there in the world than to be told that you bring someone joy? What are we here for if not to lighten the load for each other with jokes, fun, and affection?
I lean in, kissing the tip of his nose before pulling back with a laugh. “Okay! Let’s do this. I told Freya I’d buy her a jewel-studded collar if we find treasure.”
He chuckles. “She’d look swanky in a jewel-studded collar. But I’d prefer you in one. And nothing else.”
Cocking my head as I pull on my pack, I murmur, “If that’s what you want to spend your treasure money on, I wouldn’t complain.”
Laughing and teasing, we step into the sun, the strongest I’ve felt on my skin since last summer, making me grateful we’re headed back into the shade soon. There’s only so much sunscreen can do when you’re bone white from being indoors all winter.
We reach Devil’s Roost in about twenty minutes and pause for a beat in its ominous shadow.
“Well, I guess we know why it’s called Devil’s Roost,” I say, scanning the large, horn-like formations framing the entrance.
“Scared?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No, but there’s a vibe here, right? Do you feel it? Something a little…off? Kind of like the forest last night?”
He pauses, lifting his nose as if scenting the air. “It definitely feels wilder out here. Like no humans have been this way in a while.”
I shiver as a cold breeze brushes across my skin and frown. Where is a breeze like that coming from on an eighty-five-degree day? When I realize it’s wafting from inside the cave, I shiver again. “I think we should put on another layer.”
Wes nods. “Our waterproof jackets, I think. It could be damp in there, too. And we can always stop and add a sweatshirt underneath later if it gets colder as we descend.”
“Descend?” I squeak, wondering if maybe I’m a little afraid of tightly enclosed spaces, after all.
“The cave drops about two hundred feet before leveling out as you start toward the other side of the mountain.” Wes pulls his zip-up jacket from his pack and slips it over his head, tugging it down around his hips. “The forum I was reading last night after you went to sleep said the ground is pretty uneven, so it’s good we wore hiking boots.”
