For a cat, Rick was heavy on his feet. Even with her human limited hearing, Adie could pick up the sound of him thumping up the dozen wooden steps that led to the room. She sprawled herself across the bed taking up as much space as possible in anticipation of him opening the door. Bags rustled, keys jingled, a lock snapped back and in tumbled Rick, skilfully balancing two drink cups and two bulging paper bags in one hand. In his other hand, he clutched a bag and the door keys. His teeth held onto yet another bag.

“A wittoe hewp pwease,” he mumbled around the bag. Using his hip, he flicked the door closed before making his way to the small table in the corner of the room.

Adie groaned as she threw the covers off and rose from the bed, padding barefoot across the room to help him unload. “Are you expecting company?” she asked, eyeing the vast quantity of food she helped unpack.

“No. Why?”

“Because, there’s enough food here to last us for a week.”

“Don’t exaggerate.” He chuckled. “There's enough for a couple of days at most. I did warn you we have a long trek ahead. We’ll need every ounce of this stuff.”

"It's all fat and sugar."

"It's energy food. Trust me, we'll need it."

“How far exactly is it to your dad’s place?” she asked warily, picking up her fries and stuffing several in her mouth at once.

“Dad’s house is only a few miles up the road. We’ll be leaving the car there and walking the rest of the way to see the Shaman. If we leave at first light… Sorry, I’ll rephrase that. If we can escape Mum’s clutches by first light, then we should reach the Shaman by about suppertime the following day. Providing you can keep up that is,” he teased, while moving some of the pre-cooked food into two backpacks that already contained the tent and sleep mats.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hold us back,” she said with confidence, thinking of the rigorous exercise schedule she kept. Running close to ten miles every day since she and Callie had kicked paedophile George from their home three years ago kept her in shape. Adding to that, the mixed martial arts for self-defence and she considered herself reasonably fit. She eyed the growing backpacks. Then again, I've never been camping or hiking through a forest with a big, heavy backpack.

Rick fastened the pack and set it on the floor by the door.

“How come we didn’t just stay at theirs then? Your folks I mean. I wouldn’t have minded sleeping on the sofa, or the floor for that matter.”

“Because Mum doesn’t know we’re coming."

Adie shot him a glare.

"What? If I told her I was bringing a woman home she’d have our wedding planned and the church booked already.” He shrugged. “She’s all but married off the other three to the first friends they brought home, why would I be any different?”

Adie laughed. “Can’t wait to get rid of ya huh?”

“Something like that, yeah.” He grinned and stole one of her fries. Looking at her properly for the first time since he got back, he drank in the sight of her as he stuffed the fry into his mouth. “Hmm mmm, nice,” he approved.

His eyes danced over the creamy flesh of her breasts - exposed by the low cut of the nightdress - continuing all the way down to her toes and back up again. At the same time, he slowly sucked the flavour of the fry off each of his fingers, lingering seductively over the last one.

She flushed and rolled her eyes. “You have your own."

Grabbing her burger, she spun on her heel and retreated to the bed out of his reach. Her hips unconsciously swayed as she walked.

With the grace of dancer, she silently twirled to face him again. Her nightdress rode up her thigh as she sat, showing off even more of her legs. The swell of her butt cheek showed when she crossed one leg over the other.

Rick sat at the table and got an even better view, but decided not to mention it because she would only move and spoil it for him. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to loosen the expanse across the front of his jeans as they became tighter with his growing interest.

Both his burgers and fries where gone before she finished her fries, and he sat for a few minutes watching her eat. Big mistake. The way her lips closed around the straw and sucked the ice-cold cola had him groaning aloud. He managed to cover the involuntary sound with a cough. His imagination ran rampant as she pushed several fries into her mouth at once and sucked on her fingers afterwards. Her tongue flicking out to lick her lips clean was the last straw. He could take no more of the seductive torture. Twisting away from her as he stood, he sidestepped to the bathroom so she wouldn’t see the evidence of what she could do to him without conscious effort. A cold shower beckoned him; it might wake up his brain but with any luck, it would put other aspects of his anatomy back to sleep.

Two can play at that game. Adie chuckled to herself, sneaking a peak at his withdrawing back through her hair. She caught a glimpse of the bulge that had him walking funny. That’ll teach him not to tease. She shivered slightly at the thought of the freezing cold water he had to be running. The silk of the nightdress rubbed over the sensitive peaks of her breasts as she moved. Either it's suddenly gotten cold in here or I played the game too well.

The phone still had no signal when she dialled voicemail again. Resigned to not hearing from Callie before morning, she crawled into bed and kept to her own side, facing the bathroom door. Rick emerged in nothing but a short towel that barely covered his tight ass. Oops, she thought, not sorry in the slightest. I used both the big towels.

The light from the bathroom, which gave Adie the perfect opportunity to admire the artistry of a true master, silhouetted him as he stepped into the room. Mother Nature certainly held nothing back when she carved this fine specimen of a man. Finely sculptured upper body, his muscles those of a man used to regular heavy work. His stomach so well defined, she could count every one of his abdominals. He bent his knees slightly to get his bag off the floor, his calf and thigh muscles bulged like those of a seasoned sprinter. The towel gaped at the side; that’s when she noticed the cute, black-outlined tattoo at the top of his thigh.

He turned just in time to see her tongue dart out and sweep slowly across her suddenly dry her lips. Every pick of moisture seemed to have migrated and pooled at the juncture of her thighs. 

On smelling her arousal from across the room, he swiftly turned on his heel, going back into the bathroom to repeat the process. She might want him right now, but Sam had hinted at the mental scars from the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her uncle. He would take it slow, give her time to get used to the idea of them together. He’d let her come to him.

When he returned, she was snoring softly. He lifted a pillow and a spare blanket from the bed and made himself comfortable on the floor, setting the alarm on his watch for 5am.

A red light at the top of Adie’s phone was flashing like a beacon on the bedside table, throwing an intermittent crimson glow around the room. It chirped just once, waking her with the signal for a new voicemail. She snatched it up to check the signal and eagerly dialled to retrieve it. Callie’s unusually chirpy voice greeted her.

 “Adie, hi. Sorry, I’ve only just got your messages. I’m fine as you can hear. Things were a bit iffy with phone reception where we were and then the battery died. We managed to find a diary belonging to an apprentice of the witch that cursed Lucien and I’m going start going through that shortly. Irene’s been offered at place at the Shadow Academy - the place Circle of fire have their headquarters – and she’s decided to stay on. Some really old book claimed her as its protector, which I really don’t get yet, but anyway… I’m back at our house cleaning up the mess and before you say it, yes, me cleaning. Never thought you’d hear me say that did you? I’ll speak to you soon. Love you.”

She puffed out a breath of relief and immediately tried to call her back but the signal dropped out again. She growled in frustration at the lack of network coverage in the area. After a brief moment, she decided to text instead in the hope that it would send eventually.

Hey Sis, got msg. glad u ok. no sgnl here. headin 2 ricks nw. luv u. tlk soon xx

“Was that your sister?” Rick sleepily asked from beyond the bed.

“Yeah, she’s says she fine so I guess we’re all go for tomorrow,” she confirmed, shining the light from her phone in his direction. “Why are you sleeping on the floor?”

“Umm, you were sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you.” He phrased it more like a question.

“Well I’m not sleeping now. Come on,” she coaxed, patting the mattress. “The beds big enough for both of us. I promise not to bite.” She inwardly flinched at her brashness, thinking, What the hell did I just say that for? I sound like a right slut. It was too late to take it back, he was already gathering the pillow and blanket off the floor.

He hesitated at the side of the bed, clutching the pillow to his chest like a shield. “Are you sure you don’t mind?” he asked, giving her the perfect opportunity to change her mind.

She swallowed audibly. “Just stick to your side of the bed and we’ll be good.”

He slid in beside her, chuckling softly, and stuffed the pillow between them before he lay down. “And you stick to yours.”

Adie woke with a start, the strange beep, beep, beep right next to her ear shocked her awake with its persistence. An arm reached across her body and fumbled to stop the racket. Sometime during the night, the pillow that separated them had been thrown off the bed. She lay draped across Rick’s chest with one of her legs thrown over his thighs. His fine chest hair tickled her nose making her sniff and snort. Unwinding herself from him, she rolled away and felt an instant chill with the absence of his body heat.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, grateful for the darkness shrouding the room that covered the embarrassment flooding her cheeks. She threw the covers off and sat up, reaching for her phone.

Rick groaned when the screen illuminated her. The strap of her nightdress had come undone at the front, draping so low it completely exposed the sweep of her breast. The pink pebble peaked in the chill of the air. He closed his eyes and prayed for strength.

Within twenty minutes, the bags were packed and they were heading towards Rick’s family home.

“What’s the big rush with leaving so early anyway?” Adie asked around a yawn.

“I’m hoping no one will be up yet and we can be long gone before Mum gets wind of me being home, never mind the fact that you’re with me.”

“Won’t your parents be surprised to see your car parked there without you stopping in to say hi?”

“Probably, but we can deal with that when we get back.”

The silhouette of a large ranch house came into view as they turned up the fence-lined driveway. Rick slowed to a crawl and extinguished the lights of the car.

“Cross your fingers.” He parked the car behind the barn at the back of the house. “Stay here, I’ll be back in sec,” he said, getting out and gently closing the door over so it didn’t make any noise. By the time Adie looked up, he was gone, vanished into the depths of the barn. 

After a few minutes, Adie became impatient and slipped out of the car too. She leant against the back of it, waiting for some sign of him. Off to her right, she caught a sound - the scuff of a boot kicking a rock.

This guy seriously needs some lessons in stealth, she thought.

The shape of a tall figure stepped into Adie's view. Followed closely by the distinct double click of a shotgun being snapped closed and primed to fire. She stiffened and held her breath.

Hands grabbed her arms from the opposite side to the gun toting man. Her instincts had her twisting, punching her attacker in the chest with the flat of her hand and swinging her leg up in an arc. Her foot solidly caught her assailant on the side of the head. She dropped and rolled behind the car as a shot rang out in the air. She visualized the metal of the gun and began chanting for it to come to her hand.

“Dad, hold up!” Rick shouted from inside the barn. “She’s with me.”

“Rick? For Christ’s sake son, how many times do I have to tell you not to creep about in the middle of the night?” The gun-toting male - now identified as Rick’s dad - scolded as he lowered the weapon. “We could have killed the pair of you and then your mother would’ve strung my guts from the tree tops.”

Rick came out from the barn just as the yard lit up with four 500-watt spot-lights. Everyone blinked.

“Oh great! Now you’ve gone and woke Mum. We were hoping to be gone before she knew we’d even been here.” Rick complained.

They turned at the sound of a groan to watch a dazed, young man stagger to his feet. He rubbed his jaw and shook his head to clear it. “You pack a hell of a punch for such a small package,” he grumbled.

“This is exactly the kind of thing I’m forever warning you about.” Rick’s Dad sniggered. “Never underestimate your opponent. Ever.”