"Em, stay there. I just need to make sure there's no one on the other side of the cabin. I'll come back and get you." She nods her head, but she has tears in them. I think she's really frightened.

I can't just walk away, so I move closer to her and pull her into my arms. "I'll be fine. I've survived bombings, IED's, fires and so much more. I promise you I'll be fine. Just hunker down and don't move until I'm back." I look into her eyes, and I can see the fear and she's shaking. I hold her tighter and then kiss her. "Just remember that kiss, there's more of those where that came from." She rests her face on my chest.

"Be careful, Luke." I let her go and step away, moving stealthily toward my cabin. I can see footprints in the direction that I'm going. They must have been looking into the cabin. Thankfully, they didn't break any of the glass and the doors were still locked. I see footprints behind the cabin that lead further up into the forest. As long as they don't come back down the way they came, we’ll be fine. And to be honest, we moved them further along the mountain.

I go back and signal for Emma to come out from behind the tree and I watch her move swiftly over to me. She jumps into my arms and hugs me with her legs wrapped around my waist. I've only been gone for a few minutes. I imagine what it will be like if I've been away from her longer.

"Hey, it's fine, they're not here." I carry her inside and slowly drop her down. "Are you okay?"

She moves over to the fire. "Yeah, just a little shaken, I guess. I've met Viktor before and he doesn't care who gets in his way when he's hunting animals, he’ll take them out too. I've seen him catch and kill animals and even kill someone else looking for the animals. He doesn't care how many people he leaves in his wake."

"And did he see it was you the other day? Or did he just think it was someone watching him?"

"I don't know. I think he thought it was a bear or something. But I'm not 100% sure. I have a picture of him on my camera, which I took for my safety."

Luke smiles up at me. "I like it, you thought about what would happen if you never made it back down." He kisses me on my head. "Thinking like a real survivalist. We might have more in common than you realized."

"I doubt it. My only survival techniques that I have are usually when I'm out drinking with my friends. If one of them gets into trouble with a guy, then I'm sent over to sort them out."

He laughs. "You sort them out? Do you mind if I ask you how?"

"I punch them, they're never expecting it, so it floors them every time. Then when he's down, we run as fast as we can out of the club."

"Clever. Distraction technique. I like it. Are you going to use that technique on me if I tell you that I want you so bad right now. I want to undress you, and I want to fuck you."

I clear my throat. "Direct. I like it. That's an excellent tactic. I need to warm through first."

"I can make you warm up. You don't need the fire." He takes my drink out of my hand and puts it on the table, and he turns me to face him. I watch as he slowly places his hands on my cheeks and pulls me in for a deep kiss. I jump into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist as he carries me to the bedroom. He puts me on the bed and begins taking my clothes off. Then I help him remove his. He is fit. I'm sure his muscles have muscles. And that 'V', I like where it's going.

When we’re both naked, he leans over me, pushing me down flat.

"I need you right now. I want to take you so hard." He puts his hand between my legs and runs a finger inside my lips. "You're ready for me. That's good because I don't want to wait to have you wrapped around my dick."

"I want you, Luke." He lowers himself, so he’s on top of me, and he spreads my legs and thrusts into me in one go.

"Shit." I take a deep breath. I wasn't expecting him to go that deep. It's at that point where it hurts, but it's the sort of pain that feels good, if that makes sense.

He thrusts in and out and kisses me at the same time. This feels special. Like we are two lovers who have been together for years. We match each other thrust for thrust. Enjoying the feeling between us.

"Fuck, Emma. I love how you feel. I feel like I've just come home. Is that weird?"

"No, I feel the same, Luke. Can you do me a favor?"

He looks at me and runs a finger down my cheek, tracing my lips with it. "What's that, babe?"

"Can you stop talking and just fuck me. I’m chasing my orgasm and you're slowing me down." He laughs and I love its deep timbre.

He does it, though. As well as his smile, I see determination in his eyes. He fucks me hard, and I scream out his name when I come. He follows a few thrusts later and then collapses on top of me before pulling out and rolling off me.

"Shit, I didn't think about a condom, Emma."

"I'm clean and on the pill so it's fine with me. Are you clean?"

He chuckles. "I'm clean, it's been a long time since I did this."

"I don't want to know," I say, putting my fingers in my ears.

He takes them out and smiles at me. "Seriously, though. That was freaking amazing. I'm hoping we can do that again. Soon."