“You practically dragged me to bed and attacked. Like the whole visual got your blood pumping and your libido jumped in like it was a race.”
“You’re telling me you didn’t like it?” She reached between his legs and gripped his member. “Seems to me like I wasn’t the only one dancing to that song.”
He pushed her hand away and scowled. “You know what I’m saying. You got off on her reaction, then, just to rub it in her face, you screamed your lungs out while we went at it.” He sat up and crossed his arms over his knees. “The whole thing was one big show for the good doctor.”
Lana threw back the covers and stood at the end of the bed. “So what if it was?” She ran a hand over her head and began to pace the tiny area nervously. “Maybe I didn’t like the two of you sitting out there whispering that whole time. Maybe I don’t like her.”
Simon’s face slowly broke into a smile. “You were jealous?” He leaned forward playing off her mock expression of shock. “You? Jealous of her?”
“Shut up.” She waved him off. “I am not.”
“You were!” He chuckled as he reached for her arm and pulled her back to the bed. “Why in the world would you be jealous of her?”
“Maybe because she’s a doctor.” She pouted as she sat on the edge of the bed. “Maybe because she has long hair.”
“I like your hair shaved. It’s hot.”
“Shut up.” She slapped at him. “I can feel it trying to grow back in, but…” She trailed off. “I don’t know yet if it will grow back full. I’d rather not risk looking like a chemo patient.”
He tugged at her hand and pulled her closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck. “How could I ever want anybody but you?” He kissed her shoulder as he held her. “I’ve told you before, Vee holds sway with the people of this camp. If we want to win the people over, we need to win her over first.” He pulled back and stared at her knowingly. “And trying to shock her isn’t the way to gain her trust.”
Lana sighed animatedly and fell back onto his chest. “I know,” she groaned. She slapped at his leg. “I just didn’t like how close the two of you were out there.”
He laughed lightly and wrapped his arms around her tighter. “We were keeping our voices low so we didn’t wake the other campers. I’m sure a lot of them got little sleep after the gunshots last night.”
“She’s too pretty not to be attractive to you.”
Simon leaned back and stared at her, his mind wandering to the shape of the doctor’s mouth. “Who says she’s pretty?”
She grunted as she squirmed away from him. “I’m not stupid, Simon. I see the way everybody looks at her.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Even you.”
He shook his head. “I see a doctor. I see a person with pull in this little community. That’s all I see.” The lie dried his lips and he looked down.
Lana snorted as she sat up. “She’s younger. She’s got bigger tits. She has an ass that would stop traffic.”
“Thankfully, there are no more cars on the road, so that isn’t really an issue, is it?”
“Don’t play with me, Simon.”
“I’m not.” He reached for her chin and turned her to face him. “I belong to you. You might not be able to say it back, but I care about you. And when I care about somebody, nobody else gets my attention.”
She stared at him for a moment then slowly nodded. “I believe you.”
“You’d better.” He pulled her back to him and she rested against his chest. “Remember, you were the one who said we were married now. I’m holding you to that.”
Lana smiled and nuzzled his chest. “Good.” She ran her finger lazily up his middle and circled his nipple with her fingernail. “Because if you’re right, and we need her to sway the others, I’d really hate to have to kill her.”
6
Hatcher shifted the go-bag on his shoulder and stepped onto a larger boulder. He pressed the binoculars to his face and scanned the tiny valley below. “Nothing.”
Missy huffed behind him, fighting to catch her breath. “I’m too old for this shit,” she muttered.
Hatcher lowered the field glasses. “You’re too young to talk that way.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m old enough to be out of shape for this.” She bent back, stretching her back. “We could have brought the four wheelers up here, ya know.”
He nodded then turned back. “The engines dull my hearing.” He hopped off of the boulder and landed beside her. “We can go back now. You can ride the rest of the way home.”
She groaned as they headed back down the peak. “Dull your hearing for what?”
“Just sounds.” He paused and handed her a bottle of water. “Nature. That sort of stuff.”
“Bull,” she called as she twisted the cap off and took a long pull. “Nature isn’t what you were listening for.”
He nodded as he turned back toward the ATVs. “If there’s a herd out there, there’s a chance she’s with them. I wanted to hear if there was anything out of place.”
“Like a bunch of people screaming?”
He shook his head. “You’ve been here for how many months? You really expect me to believe that you don’t know what I mean when I say the sounds of nature?”
“You mean the bugs, the birds, the…critters.”
“Yup.” He slid on the loose rock and used his hands on another large boulder to stop from sliding down the hill. “Did you hear anything from up there?”
“My heart pounding in my chest.” She slid behind him and caught herself on the same boulder. “If we’d just driven around to the side, we could avoid all of this and not be out of breath.”
“I’m not out of breath.” He reached for her hand and helped her further down the hill.