Page 39 of Fourth Point Of Contact

I turned just as she opened her mouth and let the water flow inside.

“No! Don’t do that!”

She choked, then spit out the water, glaring at me. “What the fuck was that?”

“You can’t drink the water,” I snapped. “Ever heard of bacteria?”

“Ever heard of dying of thirst?”

“Yeah, but trust me, you’ll feel a lot worse if you drink that. Stomach cramps, diarrhea, and?—”

“I get it,” she sighed. “I’m so fucking thirsty! And you fucking me didn’t help.”

“About that,” I said, taking her given opportunity to clear up a few things. “What happened…It was just sex. I know you’re probably latching onto me because of what happened, and you’re looking for someone to make this shit better, but?—”

Her eyes crinkled with humor the longer I talked, and as the smile split her lips, I realized she was fucking laughing at me. “Are you done?”

“Are you laughing at me?”

She nodded furiously, still grinning at me. “I’m sorry, but the panic-stricken look on your face is just too much.”

“I was not panicking.”

“Uh, yeah, you were. You had that look like I was going to go all swoony and beg you to marry me.”

Okay, I had assumed that’s what was going to happen. “Well, you just never know. I mean, things happened and…you just broke up with your fiancé.”

“Exactly!” she laughed, sliding her fingers over her wet hair, brushing it out of her face. God, she was so fucking gorgeous. “I literally just found out my fiancé is a cheating asshole. Do you really think I’m moving on to someone else already?”

“I mean…that’s what I would probably do.”

“Well, women aren’t like that. Most women,” she clarified. “You know, I have these feelings and things that get in the way.”

“But you can fuck another man?”

“Well, that was about attraction. Feelings weren’t involved. Besides, somehow, it seems like a bad idea to fall for a man I jumped out of a plane with. Doesn’t bode well for a relationship.”

“I guess not. So, you wouldn’t be opposed to going another round?”

She rolled her eyes at me as she shoved past me and headed over to her clothes. “We’ll see, Casanova.”

“Hey, I resent that. I happen to be better than Casanova.”

“In what way?” She glanced over her shoulder at me as she tugged on her sopping-wet underwear.

I couldn’t help but let my eyes linger on her fine ass and beautiful thighs. How could any man in his right mind cheat on a woman like this?

“You know, I’m more than a piece of meat.”

“That’s my line,” I corrected, “and there is definitely more here than meat. I just happen to like staring at you.”

“Well, why don’t you figure out how to get me water. I’m thirsty.”

“That, I can do.”

As she pulled on her clothes, which should be illegal, I went in search of a birch tree that had the right amount of bark for me to strip. We didn’t need much, but it had to be solid. When I found the tree I needed, I pulled out my knife and started peeling the bark off the tree.

“What are you doing?” Piper asked as she walked over, buttoning her blouse.

---