Win moaned when Angus caught one of her nipples in his mouth, teasing and laving it until she was breathless with want and desire and sensation. All she could do was arch back, dig her fingers into his shoulders and enjoy the ride.
Angus was magnificent. A gentle warrior dedicated to protecting her, sharing his life with her and using his body to bring hers to the highest levels of delight. Win gave herself to him utterly, crying out when he brought her close to the edge—then crying out again when she went over it, crashing down in wave after wave of relief, her cries mingling with his as they bucked together, sharing a closeness that nothing could supersede.
When it was over, she laid her head on his shoulder and panted, glorying in the sound of his shuddering breaths. They brought each other to these heights, fit together like only soul mates could. This was her man. Her Angus.
She’d never leave him again.
“Meeting in five minutes—before breakfast,” Boone greeted them the next morning when they finally made it to the bunkhouse. They’d spent the night in Angus’s tiny house, but they’d hardly slept.
“We’ll be here,” Angus said. Nothing that happened now could dim his happiness. Win had agreed to marry him. She was wearing his ring. Bearing his child. And the love they’d made in the woods last night had rocked his mind.
Now they’d have a lifetime of such encounters. Some indoors, he hoped. But some outdoors, too. It had felt good to plant himself like a tree in the woods and coax sweet cries of bliss from the woman he loved. He didn’t think there was anything sexier than the sounds Win made when she was fulfilled, and he meant to spend his life making her happy. It was far more than the sex he was looking forward to, though. Spending time with Win, talking to her, laughing with her, raising their child—he couldn’t think of anything better.
Win scooted off to rummage in her luggage for new clothes and made for the bathroom. When she was done, he took his turn, and by the time he emerged again, the bunkhouse had filled with Base Camp’s inhabitants.
“Is Fulsom here?” Greg asked, sidling up to Angus.
“Haven’t seen him.” He knew why Greg asked—this kind of thing usually led to a visit from their benefactor.
“Settle down, everyone,” Boone called from the front of the room. Angus held out a chair for Win and sat as close to her as he could. “Don’t worry; Fulsom’s not coming.”
There was an audible sigh of relief in the room and a few chuckles.
“We need to have a talk, though. First—Angus? Do you have any news?”
“I do,” Angus said. “Win’s agreed to be my wife.” He squeezed her and held up her hand. “Here’s the proof.” Her ring winked in the light.
“Leslie—any objections?”
“None at all,” Leslie said, beaming. Byron’s arm was around her shoulders.
“Then that’s settled,” Boone said. “Angus, Win, we’ll get your wedding planned right away. I’m relieved,” he added, “but that’s not why I asked you all to come here.” He took a moment to gather his thoughts. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I feel like our experiment has gone off the rails.”
Angus exchanged a look with Win.
“Winter has been hard on all of us. The attacks on our power and food systems, the broken nights when we’re taking turns on guard duty, the cramped quarters for the single people and all Clem’s interference—it’s taken its toll.”
Around them people were nodding.
“It’s already April,” Boone went on. “We’ve got nearly two months to go, but that time is going to go fast. Spring is here. We’ve already started the plants we’ll grow in our garden this year. We’ve got to hang in there and get this done—but that’s not all we have to do.”
Angus squeezed Win’s hand. He wanted her to know that whatever Boone was going to lay on their shoulders next, he’d be there to help her. She squeezed his hand back.
“We’ve got to enjoy ourselves,” Boone said firmly.
Around them, the others exchanged glances, surprised at the direction he’d taken. “We’re the ones who conceived of Base Camp, not Fulsom. We’re the ones who chose to come here and pursue a simpler life. You women made hard choices so that you’d have time to pursue projects you weren’t getting to out there in the wider world. And I’m pretty sure most of us men had ideas we wanted to pursue, too.” He looked around the room. “We’re letting Fulsom control us. We’re letting the show dictate our schedules. We’re losing the very thing we wanted to build—all of us heading in different directions, scrambling to fit it all into a day.”
“What do you want us to do about it?” Savannah called out.
“I want us to take stock. Figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Figure out what we can let go of and what to double down on. We need to get back to basics. We need to help each other live the lives we want to lead. And we need to keep Fulsom out of it. Tomorrow, I want everyone to take a day off.” He raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I know, I know, we all have chores we have to do, and we’ll do them. In fact, we’ll help each other get the basics done, but for one day that’s all we’re going to do—the basics. I want you all to spend the rest of the day thinking about what you want your lives to look like after the show is over. At dinner we’ll come together and talk about it. See if we can get our lives looking like that right now.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Nora said from where she sat. “It’s been a long time since any of us took a rest.”
The others
