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“Good morning.” His voice sounded soft and dreamy. At first, I thought I was dreaming. Finally, I open my eyes and see him crouched over me. This is a view I can get used to.
“How are you feeling?” He asks. I sit up and look around. The jungle looks so much different in the light of day. I felt like we were enclosed on each side in the darkness last night, but now it’s much more open and accommodating.
“I’m good. Thank you for last night.” I smile and wink at him. He smiles too, but doesn’t let it linger on his face for too long.
“I meant your ankle.” He points to my foot.
“Oh! Of course, duh,” I reply. I massage the ankle, and it feels much better than yesterday. I rotate my foot around to see if there are any sharp pains, but it’s just a dull throbbing.
“Um, it’s pretty good. I think that bandage really helped.” I reach out my hand for him to grab it. He does and pulls me to my feet. I brush off leaves and other jungle debris. I notice my bra and underwear sitting on a rock and feel embarrassed.
“Uh, can you give me a second?” I walk behind a tree to get dressed. It’s weird, but I don’t want him to see me changing inthe light of day. Last night was magical, but it’s different when you’re both getting naked.
Finally, I emerge from the tree, careful not to slip on my ankle again. “You ready?” I ask.
“Yeah. I went out into the jungle last night while you were asleep. I didn’t notice any hunting lodge, but I did find a path to a road. It should lead to the nearest town. Does that work? Then, you can contact your friends.”
“Um, yeah, I guess that works. How far do you think?”
“By my estimates, we should get there in a couple of hours.”
He pats down the fire, making sure there aren’t any hot embers exposed. The light of the morning sun feels so bright and warm. It’s such a far cry from how it looked yesterday. Or, maybe I’m just seeing it differently after last night. I smirk to myself as I remember what happened with him and I.
He leads the way, staying slow and steady. Although my ankle isn’t fully healed, I’m much faster than I was before. I think I’m even getting the hang of finding clear spots so I can move more naturally like he does.
“Hey, so, I wanted to ask you. Was I keeping you from something yesterday?”
He pauses ahead of me and lets me catch up. “How is your ankle doing?”
“It’s fine. I feel a dull pain when I hit the ground too hard, but otherwise, it’s okay.”
He pulls out another bark-looking bandage and crouches down. “Let me see it.”
“I’m fine, I swear,” I protest. He pulls my leg up and inspects my foot. There’s something so arousing by the way his hands feel when caressing my thigh and calf. He’s so gentle and yet so strong.
He puts another bandage on it and wraps it tight. At first, it’s uncomfortable, but as I put my foot down, it feels a lot better.
“Thank you.” I lean against him to fix my shoe.
“We should keep going.” He starts to walk away again.
“Um, so are you just going to ignore my question?” Either he doesn’t want to answer it, or his people don’t think it’s rude to ignore people like that.
“I’m a soldier. Or, I guess, what you might call a mercenary.” He moves slowly so I can stay next to him.
“I was on a trial mission yesterday. There was a group of us, and only those who succeed in the mission get to move on to the next stage.” He sounds sad and forlorn that he had to abandon it.
A wave of regret washes over me. On the one hand, I’m glad he found me and that we spent the night together. However, I’m also upset that he had to sacrifice his job to rescue me.
“Can you retake the training test?” I ask, hopeful.
“I don’t think so. It’s not that kind of a test. It’s a pass or fail, and if you fail, I’m not sure what happens.”
“Well, can’t you explain the circumstances to your superior officer? Like, you found a damsel in distress, and felt compelled to save her?” I joke, but he doesn’t seem to find it funny. My smile vanishes in an instant.
“I don’t know. I’ve never had to explain myself before. I’m not even sure what the proper procedure is for something like this.”
“I am so sorry. Had I known, I would’ve—” I cut myself off. I’m not even sure what I would have done if he never showed up.
