Page 26 of Green Ravens

Sawyer opened his heavy-lidded eyes to find Oakley gazing hungrily at his mouth.

“What is that?”

“Papaya fruit. I found the plant when I was catching the fish.”

“Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever had fruit that sweet.”

“Let me taste.”

Oakley smoothed another piece across Sawyer’s lips before he slipped it inside and followed right behind it with his tongue.

Fuck, not again.

The last time they got lost in tasting each other, a jaguar almost ate them.

But the memory of that threat wasn’t enough to make him stop.

Chief Aiken Oakley

I gotta stop. Stop, stop…stop fuckin’ kissing him.

Oakley barely came up for breath before diving in again, his tongue searching for every sweet hint of papaya he could find.

He was grateful Sawyer had sense enough to stop them because Oakley could’ve explored him for the rest of the night.

“Fuck you taste good,” he mumbled against Sawyer’s lips. “When we get outta here and are cleared from duty for two weeks, I’m gonna rent a villa in some tropical paradise and let you fuck me on every surface from the balcony to the bathroom.”

Sawyer’s rough laugh morphed into a low hum. “You sweet talker, you.”

They held each other for several minutes until an inevitable weight bore down on them.

“Before we can get lost in each other for weeks, you know what we’re gonna have to do first.”

Oakley swallowed a lump of regret that pierced his heart like a rusty spike.

Yeah, as the chiefs of their crews, they would have to visit their teams’ families and explain how they died while serving their country.

Sawyer’s grip tightened and so did his hold on his neck.

“We’ve been MIA for over forty-eight hours.”

“I know.” Oakley held him back.

“How hard do you think they’re looking for survivors?” Sawyer’s words sounded hesitant and uncertain.

“Around the clock.” Oakley touched their foreheads together. “I know it.”

Going from zero to one thousand emotionally caused an exhaustion that made him sink into Sawyer’s embrace.

He didn’t want to think about being MIA or the death of his men anymore. Not until they were out of the woods, literally, and back on base.

For now, he’d track time by the second. Staying present and surviving each one that ticked by.

He and Sawyer parted and walked several yards away and did their business, drank more water, and then settled as comfortably as they could on some rock formations near each other.

Though it was dark, it was probably no later than eight o’clock. But after trekking from sun up to sun down, his body felt as if it were three in the morning.

Oakley struggled keeping his eyes open. Sawyer had claimed first watch, but he could’ve sworn he heard light snoring.

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