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“Yup,” Gabriel said from underneath his blanket. “No thanks to any of you.”
I took my spot in between Nathan and Silas, sliding into my sleeping bag and settling in.
“Let’s just try to get some sleep,” Kota said, smoothing out his sleeping bag and putting his glasses carefully on a little cooler near his bed. “We’ve got an early day tomorrow. Lights out.”
Kota’s request was followed by a few grumbles, but no one argued. Kota was on the very end closest to the tent door. Next to him was Victor, then North. Silas, me, and Nathan were on the mattress, and sleeping lengthwise at our heads were Luke and Gabriel.
Silas pressed close, providing some heat but not enough for me since he was wrapped up in his own sleeping bag. Nathan leaned against me on the other side. His fingers found their way to my face, and he slipped one between my lips.
I wanted to give him one of my fingers, but I was too cold to take my arm out of my sleeping bag. I chewed on his finger a little but then dozed off.
NIGHT IN A TENT
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but at I woke up freezing. Despite Silas being close to my left, and Nathan on my other side, my back and stomach were cold, even though the sleeping bag. My forehead was sticking out and cold. My feet were ice. The air from the mattress wasn’t warm at all, and the tent itself had cold air throughout.
I exhaled a long puff of air, and could swear I was seeing my own breath hanging above my face.
I tried moving to my side, but my shoulders ended up freezing, and then Nathan and Silas weren’t close enough. I either had to cuddle with one or the other. I tried Silas. As I got closer, he did turn into me, but I wasn’t getting much heat along my stomach, and my butt and back were cold.
I moaned. My mostly-asleep brain was trying to work out a problem, and I couldn’t do it if I was cold, so I was trying to figure out how not to be cold.
If I was cold, they had to be cold, too. We shouldn’t sleep in the cold. I knew that. Extreme cold makes you sleepy, but if you fell asleep in it, you could die. I knew that from living up north and everything I had been taught in elementary school about staying safe during the winter. Have they ever been this cold while camping? Maybe they were so cold they were sleeping through it, and that was dangerous. “We need to get up,” I said, hoping someone was awake.
I caught someone mumbling back but it faded. Either he wasn’t concerned or didn’t hear me. Was everyone able to sleep through this cold? What had happened to the heater?
“Silas,” I said.
“What?” he asked, his deep voice vibrating the bed.
“We need to wake up.”
“It’s not snowing,” he said.
“No. We can’t sleep here.”
Someone else groaned, there was a creak and thumping around, as if someone flipped over on a cot.
“North,” I called. No one was listening! I was sure this was wrong. We couldn’t sleep in these frigid temperatures—maybe they were groggy from the cold shutting down their brains. Freezing to death wasn’t good. “North,” I called again.
“Baby,” North mumbled back. “Go to sleep.”
“We can’t sleep in the cold,” I said, turning a little, allowing some cold air into my sleeping bag, enough that my body started to shake and rattle against the cold. “Did the heater break?”
“You can sleep,” North said. “We’re here. You’re fine. Go to sleep.”
“It’s too cold,” I said. “I can see my breath.”
North groaned. “You’ve got a sleeping bag. It’s not that bad.”
“We can’t sleep,” I said. He was missing the point.
“Why can’t we sleep here?”
“Because... if we sleep in the cold we may never wake up!”
There was a rustling, and I glanced over to see North sitting up. “Sang. Get your pretty ass over here before I come over there and thump you.”
“Thump her,” said a slurred voice of Gabriel.
I didn’t want to get thumbed, but it was really cold and I didn’t want to get out of my sleeping bag.
“Come on,” North said.
I only hesitated another moment. I pulled myself out of my sleeping bag. Silas and Nathan turned over as I tiptoed my way toward North’s cot.
The air was so cold, I thought my feet would freeze to the bottom of the tent. Why did the Academy pick winter as the time to camp? Why was this a thing? I’d have to talk to North. He was reasonable. He approved of Gabriel getting me out of my tent because of the cold. He’d hear me out and he’d make everyone get up and go sleep somewhere else. Maybe he’d go get the heater from my tent. Maybe we’d sleep in the cars with the heat on. Anything had to be better than the ice cold tent.
Instead, North surprised me by opening up his sleeping bag. He found my hand in the dark and tugged me down. “Get in,” he said.
I wedged myself into the bag, snuggled close against him while on my back. He reached over me, zipping us up.
North tugged the sleeping bag up around our heads. It was surprisingly warm and got warmer quickly when the material covered my head. He mumbled to me inside the darkness. “Now what the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s too cold to sleep here,” I said. “If you fall asleep in the cold, you don’t wake up.”
“Baby, we’re not dying of hypothermia.” He dropped his head against my hair and wrapped his arms even tighter around my body, drawing me in closer. “Now close those pretty lips and go to sleep.”
North’s sleeping bag warmed even more. Was his thicker than mine? I didn’t understand, but chilled shivers took over my spine again. . North tucked his arms closer around my body. He pulled me around until my back was pressed up against his chest, my butt into his waist. He crossed his arms over my chest, and bent his head, until and pressed his lips to the back of my neck.
Our legs pressed together and I slid my fingers along his arm, silently thanking him. Maybe he hadn’t realized how cold I was in my sleeping bag. Maybe the others had better sleeping bags. I’d have to inspect them in the morning and see what made the difference.
I dozed for a while. I woke when I felt North’s lips against the back of my neck, trailing to my ear. The air was still, and it was dark. I strained to listen, even though I was sure the others were sleeping and no one was paying attention.
Maybe North knew that, too.
I stretched slightly, but the move made my body press closer into his. His arms tightened around me. His lips parted until he was sucking at my skin.
His teeth grazed at the soft spot behind my ear and sent a wave of warm sparks through my body. My hands covered his forearms that were wrapped around me. It was the only spot I could reach. I rubbed my fingers against his arm as if to let him know I loved what he was doing. It was the first tender moment I’d had with any of them since we’d arrived, and I hadn’t even realized how much I missed a touch like that.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
Part of me wanted to stop him. His kisses, his touch reminded me of when we were at the hotel on the beach. Could I remain so quiet if he continued? Each gentle brush of his lips against the soft skin along my neck made my heart throb.
My body responded in ways to his kisses that felt good, but I was confused as to what I should do.
His mouth trailed down my neck to my shoulder. The coarse hairs on his face electrified me.
His lips parted. When his teeth grazed against my skin, I shivered into him again. I smothered a moan against his arm.
He was going to do it. I felt it inside me. Part of me panicked, sure the others would hear.
The other part of me didn’t care and wanted it badly.
His arm tugged me tighter around the waist and the other was a cushion at my head, supporting me up and giving himself support to nuzzle against my shoulder.
He bit down slowly, his teeth sinking into my skin. It was only a half bite, less pressure than what I knew he could do.
At the
same time, his arm holding up my head came down, sliding around my chest and holding strong. The other pulled me in tighter. A leg wrapped around mine, locking me in.
The jolt took over my body, diminished only by his strong hold. Electricity coursed through every nerve. There was nothing else except the bite and the feeling it brought.
My shoulder pressed back against his teeth with an instinctual reaction. I craved more. He was holding out and I couldn’t bare this.
He held onto me with his teeth on my neck for a moment, before slowly easing up. He sucked at the spot, sending another wave of shivers through my body.
A minute passed before I could breathe again, sinking back against him. I swallowed a moan, forcing myself to stay silent.
His mouth lifted until he was nuzzling behind my ear again. “Baby,” he whispered, his voice gruff.
My heart pounded, out of control. He’d stirred something inside of me. My brain whispered that I should be quiet and go back to sleep, but my heart was drawn to him, craving, needing.
North released the strong hold on my body, and I gently pushed for room to turn and face him. He pulled me in, his arm encircling my head to hold me close again, and his palm at the small of my back, urging me close, even as I was snug against his body.
