Page 18 of Green Ravens

“You don’t think anyone will see our fire?”

“Nah, we’re far enough inland.”

Sawyer inched away from the flames, trying not to let his mind go back to the explosions and balls of fire that had erupted around him yesterday. Flames that’d overtaken his men.

“How are you feeling?” Oakley asked, his voice low and laced with comfort. “The burns, I mean?”

“Not bad…kinda numb. All the pain is in my feet and thighs.” Sawyer stretched his legs out. “Can’t tell you the last time I humped it so long. Probably was in BUD/S training.”

Oakley was staring at him with an unreadable expression.

“Looks that bad, huh?”

Oakley gave him a sly smirk. “You can call me a liar, but you’re even sexier now than you were when I had you pinned to that tree the other night.”

“Fuck off. You didn’t have me pinned.”

“Okay, you weren’t pinned. You were pliant.”

He let out an abrupt laugh. “You’re full of shit.”

Oakley kept his head down with his eyes on their food, hiding his charming smile.

That’d felt good. His heart was so broken that Sawyer had wondered if he’d ever be able to laugh again.

He was stabbing some really large ants trailing beside the log he was resting on with a twig when Oakley yanked the stick out of his hand and threw it behind them.

“Stop doing that,” he ordered.

Oakley’s voice was stern and loaded with annoyance.

“What?”

“How would you like it if someone came intoyourhouse and started beating you with a stick?”

Sawyer’s mouth hung open, but nothing came out. He had no rebuttal.

“We’re visitors here. Act like it.”

Geez. “My bad, it was an ant or a beetle or whatever,” he grumbled.

“No matter how small or large, everything has a job and a role to play in this jungle, Sawyer. We only kill what we must to survive.”

Oakley took the skewered snake off the fire. It was charred and cooked far past well done, but maybe that was a good thing. He knew high temperatures killed bacteria.

Sawyer didn’t like that Oakley was still scowling.

For some reason, Oakley being upset with him was causing a mild ache in his chest.

“Hey.”

He waited until Oakley gave him his attention.

Those damn eyes, which glistened even in the minimal sunlight struggling through the dense canopy, made his breath hitch.

“I’m sorry, all right. I won’t kill anything else…not on purpose.”

Oakley’s forehead finally smoothed out and the relief within Sawyer was instant.

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