Blooming in the Wild Page 0,53

faint firelight, waiting for her to answer. And she knew with a sudden breathless surge of longing that if she so much as nodded, she’d find herself slipping into his sleeping bag instead of her own. They were in a cave full of other people, she reminded herself.

“I can do it, thanks.”

With a shrug, Joel flipped his leg over the log and stood up behind it. The mustachioed Vandal leered cheerfully at her from his broad chest.

By the time everyone was yawning, Bella’s small watch read ten o’clock. She used the latrine, took a cup of water outside to brush her teeth and wash her face. Rain still misted down through the trees, pattering on the lava shelf before the caves.

She thought longingly of bathing in the pool. With the intense humidity, her skin felt sticky. But she knew leaving the camp was a really bad idea, so she settled for washing off her face, throat and arms and brushing out her hair.

Camille and Li opted to sleep in the smaller cave. The rest of them laid out their beds in the big cave. Cassie and Tanah nabbed the flat areas of the natural shelf in the rear, and Matt unrolled his mattress on the cave floor below them.

Frank chose the flat area near the cave mouth, which left a large open area along the far wall. Bella unrolled her mattress next to the wall, and laid out her sleeping bag on top. She made sure her boxers and clean tank were where she could find them in the dark. Then she sat cross-legged on her bed, and waited for the others to settle down and turn off their lights so she could change into her sleepwear.

Joel was the last one into the cave. In the light of the lanterns, his hair was damp with rain. He spoke quietly with Frank and then walked purposefully back toward Bella.

Her heart thumped, matching the rhythm of the surf pounding on the shore, as he paused beside her bedroll and bent to pick up his own. Out of his sphere, away from that dangerous field of magnetism he seemed to wear like an aura, she’d had time to remember why lying down next to him was a bad idea.

“Oh no.” She shook her head. “You’re not—”

He cast her a darkling look before tossing his sleeping bag out on his unfurled mattress. “Oh yes, I am.” He dropped to one knee and leaned over to her. “Bella, I’m afraid of redheads that go bump in the night. I need you to protect me.”

She bit her lips against the snicker that wanted to erupt. Just when she was irritated with him, he made her want to laugh. Although her smile was quickly followed by a frown. She was more than a smokescreen, and he’d better not forget it.

She glared at him as he sat down to kick off his sandals.

“Ready for lights out?” Frank asked, kneeling before the big lantern. “Ready,” Joel answered. The two men exchanged a look, and the cave went black.

“Wow, that’s really dark,” Matt said over the surf.

“No starlight,” Frank called back. “Maybe get some later. Moon should be about half full too.”

Cassie let out a yelp. “Ouch. Tanah, you kicked me.”

Tanah mumbled something, and Matt answered; then the three of them laughed.

Bella waited for a moment to let her eyes adjust. Satisfied that it was truly dark and no one could see her, she patted her hand over her pillow for her tank and boxers. Finding them, she tugged her tank off over her head and pulled on the clean one. Her panties felt damp, so she wriggled out of them along with her shorts and tugged on the boxers.

She could sense Joel tugging off his sweatshirt beside her, and the waft of air as he dropped it beside his bedroll. Then she heard the tug of a zipper and felt him shift as he pulled his shorts off. The thought of him naked so close to her sent heat throbbing in her pussy. She clenched her hands into fists to keep from reaching for him.

“Damn, wet undies,” he muttered.

“Me too,” she blurted, then felt her face burn.

He was still for a moment. “Does that mean you’re not wearing any?” he asked.

“Maybe.” Let him wonder.

He groaned softly, and she was smiling as she lay down. She pulled the light cover of her bag over herself, propped one arm behind her head, and gazed out into the night.

Strangely, even though it