Page 42 of Fourth Point Of Contact

“I’d give anything for a canteen right now,” I said, taking the water off the fire.

“So, now it’s safe to drink?”

“Yeah, but you probably want to let it cool down before you chug it. I’ll let you have this one and I’ll make another for me.”

“You’re not going to share this with me?”

“I don’t want you to kill me over it,” I teased. “It’s fine. It won’t take too long. I can handle an extra five minutes.”

She took the pouch gratefully and waited for it to cool down as I started working on the meat. “So, do we keep hiking from here?”

Birds chirped in the background, keeping the rest of the forest awake. We still had hours of daylight, but I was concerned about moving on from our location when we had an adequate source of water.

“I think we should camp here for the night.”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Camp?” A surprised chuckle left her lips and she shook her head. “Nope. I don’t camp.”

“I realize that, but your other choice is to pray we find a cabin in the woods.”

“Nu-uh,” she said, pacing away from the camp. “A cabin in the woods? Are you crazy?”

“Not at all. Which is why I suggested we stay here. We have water to keep us hydrated. My team has my tracking information, and they’re more likely to find us quickly if we stay in one place. Now, if we were still in search of water, I’d suggest we move on, but we’re not. Staying alive requires food and water, all of which we have right now.”

Her lips twitched into a frown, and then she slumped down to the ground again. “I guess you’re right.”

“Gee, thanks,” I snorted. “I’m glad you have so much confidence in me.”

“I do,” she said quickly. “It’s just…well, I did jump out of a plane with you. And you said we were flying in style, but really, you didn’t know how to fly said plane.”

“And you’re not really a stewardess,” I pointed out.

“No, I’m not,” she sighed. Her eyes drifted to the trees as she murmured, “And you don’t really have strong, black wings to carry me out of here.”

I must have heard something wrong because whatever the fuck she said didn’t make any sense. “Sorry?”

Another heavy sigh left her lips. “It’s just…if you were my book character, you would be this strong, fierce man with these amazing abilities?—”

“I am a strong, fierce man with amazing abilities.” Geez, talk about offensive.

“I’m sure you are, but you don’t have wings.”

Okay, that was it. She must have been more dehydrated than I thought. “No, I don’t, and neither does any other man.”

“Rhysand does.”

“And Rhysand is…”

“A character from my book.”

I couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. I was literally at a loss for words right now. She was comparing me to a book character? “Right.”

Yep, that was all I had. This woman had lost it. Completely fucking lost it. First, I had to compete with mechanics. Then roughnecks. Now it was men who didn’t even exist?

Her eyes caught mine and she sighed. “Don’t take it personally. There’s no way you could compare.”

“Of course. I’m just a human, after all.”

“Exactly!” she beamed at me. “It’s nothing personal.”

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