Page 49

He leans into the darkness and grabs something, a stick, which he then places in my hand. “I stockpiled dry kindling under the tarp. Use it to maintain the fire and keep the wood dry. Don’t forget to keep blowing for air.”

I pause and hesitate. If he’s aware he’s still touching my thigh, he doesn’t show it.

“Do it,” he snaps.

I lean forward, close to the embers, and blow as hard as I’m able, making a wind tunnel with my hands. He does the same until the fire catches, and he tosses a bit of fuel on it from a bottle he has beside him. He finally shifts his hand, but only to grab my waist to drag me up and away from the flames as they take hold and the fire roars in front of us. His lean, athletic body ripples behind me as he maintains his firm grip.

I freeze and catch my breath. As the fire warms my face and the rain shoots down, his tall, muscled body shelters me from most of it. He says nothing; he doesn’t move, just his heavy breath in my ear and his heat that pushes right to my core as he presses into my back. The moment lasts longer than I’m comfortable with, and I don’t look at him, but I don’t push him away, either. Finally, his fingers move up an inch, pulling my body into him slightly.

He rubs that little spot above my thigh, dangerously close to the place I was touching while watching him earlier. His mouth is so close, his breath tickles my neck, sending a shooting pulse of desire through me.

I turn to face him, my heart now a raging beat, and stare at him with a mix of confusion and fear. His chestnut eyes flicker and a smile curls his lips, like a predator eyeing its prey.

My face burns from the memory. I can’t turn my eyes away from him—so bold to touch me like this. He knows exactly what I’m thinking about, and exactly what he’s doing. A silent tease to remind me I watched him and enjoyed it. My body trembles and I step back, finally pushing his hand off me.

“Micah, don’t,” I whisper, and he tilts his head as if pondering what to say. Not that Micah’s ever speechless, but silence seems to be his message of choice. His eyes flicker with fire before returning to their usual distant and cold state.

He steps away from me, and his face shifts to that of annoyance. “You girls need to practice basic survival skills and how to contribute more than just gathering wood. Tomorrow, while we hunt, make sure you learn how to catch a fucking fish and quit being so useless.” He stalks off into the forest, as if he’s the predator that truly belongs there.

I blow out a deep breath, relieved he’s gone. His heavy presence makes me nervous. Everything about Micah puts me on edge, especially knowing what he’s capable of. I’ve seen it, and I think I just experienced it firsthand.

As the rain eases to nothing but a few faint drops, I make my way to my now soaking wet spot to dry my blanket and damp clothes in front of the blazing fire Micah left me. With my heart rate cooling, I settle in for a long night. Micah won’t be forgiving if the fire goes out again.

Maison checks on me without delay. I gaze up at him and smile as he approaches, and I instantly relax, seeing it’s him as he walks over in a gray hoodie instead of the black one Micah was wearing.

My pulse picks up slightly as he slides in behind me with a dry blanket in his arms. He’s quiet, not saying a single word. My stomach clenches. He saw us; he watched the entire thing, I can tell by the tightness in his eye. It’s the same look he has when he talks about Olivia—the distant flash of anger hidden behind his blind love for his twin. An anger I know he is trying so hard to suppress. He just watched Micah put his hands on me, and I didn’t push him away.

I sit on his lap and sink my hips right into him, trying to get as close to him as I can. He wraps his strong arms around me, pressing his hand against the flutter in my heart. “Go to sleep, baby,” he whispers against my cheek. “I’ll watch the fire for the rest of the night.”

“London, wake up.” Jade softly kicks at my feet.

Dim light pours through the fir moss and sticks that make up the roof of Maison’s and my shelter—the one he built for us to live in. My head rests on his gray sweater and it smells like him. I don’t really remember him carrying me back, just a brief kiss on my forehead as he left with all the other guys—including Nigel, who was muttering to himself all yesterday about it—as soon as light hinted at the sky, signaling morning.

I rub the sleep out of my eyes, propping myself up. Jade hunches at the entrance, her bright face peering at me, looking refreshed, like she came from a swim.

I am barely coherent, having stayed up for most of the night. Exhaustion seeps into my bones under the mid-day sun and heat, making it difficult to get up. I’m dry and warm and content on the soft bed of boughs that support and protect me from the cold, hard ground. Maison did an excellent job insulating us, having worked on it daily for the six days we’ve been in this spot. I lay back down in what I now consider one of my safe spots on this island and moan.

A sense of foreboding hits me, like every morning, my muscles lethargic from a lack of proper diet. I survived on meager rations of apple, berries, squirrel, rabbit, and fish. Hunger is a constant tug eating my insides, especially knowing our fresh produce is nearly gone.

“Come on, London,” she says in the cheery voice I usually appreciate about her. “Micah warned me to not let you stay in bed all day. Naomi and I are going to attempt to fish. Thomas has been showing me some pointers. I think I can do it.” I remember my own failed attempts at it, and Micah’s snide comments about my lack of effort since then. She jumps on the bed, tugging at my blanket.

My face scrunches. Jade following Micah’s orders bothers me more than him trying to control me from a distance—however, both are irritating. Especially with Micah’s roaming hands last night, which I opt not to tell Jade about given her recent fondness of both Micah and Thomas. Jade knows Micah’s dark side—she’s the one who first warned me about him. She seems to have quickly forgotten.

She sits cross-legged at the end of my bed as I resign to the fact she won’t be leaving and change into a T-shirt and new pair of sweats, throwing my hair up into a messy bun.

“Hopefully, the guys have luck catching something big for us,” Jade says. “Micah says a deer could sustain us for a while until we get rescued.”

Provided we are actually rescued.

Micah made sufficient spears, but I’m clueless about deer hunting. Maison and Micah used to go on hunting trips with their dad. Maison’s detailed accounts of those trips assure me they know what they’re doing. That, along with the knife Micah carries, makes me think they will get something.

Jade and I walk outside, and cool, crisp air hits my face. It’s the coldest day since we’ve been here, and the sun isn’t shining at all. A thick layer of billowing clouds line the sky, with various shades of gray blending into the water. I imagine this is what it’s mostly like here this far north, where our daylight will eventually turn into twenty straight hours of darkness a day. Today, a thick moisture lingers in the air, a scent I almost think is snow. Naomi is waiting for us by the fire, her arms wrapped around herself, tapping her toe. Her head whips up as we approach, and she smiles at Jade, but a flash of annoyance hits her face when she looks at me lugging behind Jade, as if my mere presence pains her.

“Glad you could get out of bed to join us,” she snipes at me.

“It was a long night, and it rained,” I snap back at her, taking in her rather fresh appearance, despite how awful I feel and look. She and Jade must have gone bathing together.

Her eyes flash. “I’m aware. Apparently, you needed both twins to save you.”