So she got my cock’s message? “Yeah, but I like being alive a little more. So, penknife.”
I start to pick up the pace as she says, “If you think my answer was dumb, what about yours? A bottle opener? Why would I need a bottle opener on a desert island?”
I shake my head and mutter under my breath, “It auto-corrected. I didn’t know how to spell it.”
“What?”
“Bottle . . . whatever. That French guy.” I lean against a wall of corn. “Can we just rest for two seconds?”
She’s quiet for a little bit. She’d answered books for that question. So in a way, I was right. But I’m not going to say that. I’m shit-stupid compared to her.
“Oh.” She unwraps her legs from around me and lowers them to the ground, loosening her grip around my neck. I guess that’s the closest she’s going to come to admitting it. And the closest I am. “Sorry. Better?”
No. “Yeah.”
I reach between us and adjust my cock through my cargo shorts, but nothing I do is going to stop this raging hard-on. Nothing short of stripping her down and fucking her here, and I know there are cameras. Lots of cameras. There are drones overhead, and the ropes that tie us together are equipped with cameras and voice recorders too.
“I’m good. Up you go.” I lift her into the place that feels right. Complete.
I don’t know if I’ve gotten past the point of pain or if my body just wants her that bad, but whatever it is, I don’t have to drop her again. Over the next hour, we manage to get the last four markers, still not seeing anyone else in the maze. Either we’re doing really well or really shitty.
“Hold on—I see the exit,” I say to her, sprinting forward.
Her body tightens around me as we explode through the gates. Camera crews are there, as is Will Wang, waiting for us.
“Are we first?” I ask him.
“You’re not done yet!” Will says as we’re quickly untied from each other. I look over at Penny. The lime shit is gone; now she’s covered from head to toe in mud. I bet I don’t look much better. “This van will take you to your next challenge.”
We load up into the van, soaked and shivering in the heat being pumped through the vents. A single cameraman comes with us, sitting in the front of the van, filming everything. The driver pulls away, and I say, “Hey. Can you tell us where we’re going?”
He shakes his head. “Sorry.”
I punch the seat and sit back. Penny is shaking, drenched, her clothes sticking to her skin. I put my arm around her. “You mind?”
She shakes her head and leans into me. She smells like earth and rain, and as my lips graze the top of her head, I nearly kiss her there. My cock is still hard for her, so I can’t get comfortable.
She drops her head on my shoulder, like she doesn’t mind being near me at all.
And somehow, just like that, we fall asleep.
FIRST OUTPOST
Nell
I’m tired, yeah. But I think with a shower and a good night’s sleep, we’ll be fine. No, of course we’ll be doing both separately! The vows matter nothing to me. He’s not really my husband. Who do you think I am?
—Nell’s Confessional, Day 2
We are so close.
After making it to the airport, the driver gave us our bags and an envelope that wasn’t to be opened until we landed. We cleaned up a little in the airport restrooms, and then we, and the other contestants, were flown off on a three-hour flight to another undisclosed location. Then we were separated and had to decide whether to take a cab or an airport shuttle to our next location, someplace in the mountains.
Almost the second we got there, I started throwing up.
Altitude sickness. Great. I’d had the same problem during a family trip to Switzerland when I was younger, but I’d thought I’d outgrown it.
Now it’s almost nighttime again. We were blindfolded again by one of the accompanying crewmen, but I think we’re in the Rocky Mountains, because there’s a thick fog over the massive peaks around us. It’s damp and gray. We’re in front of a large wrought-iron fence with nine colored gates. If I look through, I can see the sign that says OUTPOST. REST HERE.
Beyond that, it looks like cabins. Real cabins, with beds and indoor plumbing and all that