Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68509 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68509 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Seeing something, he hopped forward, giving me a view of his backend.
“Oh, my God. You have little butt cheeks,” I said, letting out a strangled little laugh. I was pretty sure I’d never seen a frog with cheeks before.
The frog, oblivious to my delight, kept hopping forward. His little pink tongue flashed out, grabbing some sort of insect, and pulling it into his mouth, munching away.
“Hey, if you’re here to eat bugs, we can be friends,” I told him.
I kept an eye on him as I waited for Wick, my heartbeat tripping faster and faster with each passing moment when he didn’t return.
Even though I didn’t hear men’s voices or gunshots, my stomach was twisted in knots as the sun started to dip lower and lower.
Inside the cave behind the waterfall, the temperature dropped more than usual, making me shiver.
Then, a crunch.
I went up on my knees, trying to squint through the water, but it was impossible to see more than a blurry shadow.
“Marco,” he called, voice low.
“Polo,” I called back, startling my frog friend enough to squeak again.
“You were gone a long time,” I said as he moved into our little cave.
“The açai tree was further than I remembered. Were you worried about me, duchess?”
“What? No. Of course not. I made a new friend,” I said, waving over toward the corner of the cave. “He has a butt.”
Wick let out a little chuckle at that. “Does he also have a frowning mouth?”
“Yes!”
“He’s a rain frog.”
“He makes really cute squeaks.”
“Until he won’t shut up when you’re trying to sleep,” Wick said, sliding in beside me, and putting a heavy bag on my lap. “Got a ton of açai. Some monkeys must have climbed the tree and shaken a bunch down. We got lucky.”
“These are kind of tart, right?” I asked, sniffing one of the fruits.
“Yeah. Kind of bitter, but with a hint of sweet too. I had a few. They’re decent. They’ll hold us over, anyway. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, we are in a fancy hotel and you are in a food coma.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears,” I said as I popped fruit into my mouth. My eyes winced a bit at the tartness, but after a few of the berries, I got used to it. It was food. I couldn’t complain.
“How’re your legs?” Wick asked once we both had our fill and sealed the bag back up.
“They’re sore, but tolerable. How’s your head?”
“Throbbing a little, but I’m not dizzy anymore, so that’s a win.”
“It’s chilly,” I said as a little shiver moved through me.
Wick’s arms reached for me immediately, pulling me until my legs were over his and my head was against his chest.
“I’m gonna sleep like this,” he told me, his hand rubbing up and down my back. “I don’t think my back could handle sleeping on the rocky ground.”
“This works for me,” I said, already feeling his warmth leach into my cold skin.
We were both out in no time at all.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Violet
I woke up damp with mist from the waterfall, but warm in Wick’s arms.
“Where are you going?” Wick asked, reaching for me when I tried to slide off his lap.
“It’s light enough to clean up and change,” I said, waving out beyond the waterfall. “I still feel gross,” I added.
“Yeah, same,” he agreed, rummaging in his bag to grab soap as I got my toothbrush and paste.
We each crept out of the cave, stretching and enjoying the warm sun as we headed off in opposite directions, disappearing into the woods for a few moments before making our way back to the water, brushing our teeth, rinsing with water bottles, then each staring at each other as we started to peel off our crusty, muddy clothes.
While my growing desire was more discreet, Wick’s was a lot more demanding of attention, his cock growing thick with each layer of clothing I removed.
And if I wasn’t feeling so gross, I might have reached out, to touch, to tease, to demand the same in turn.
As it was, we both clearly wanted to get clean, dropping down on the green at the edge of the water, slipping our legs in and scrubbing.
“What are the risks of going in this water?” I asked, feeling like I needed the pressure of the water from the falls to get fully clean.
“Moving water is safer, especially waterfalls. There’s still risk, though.”
“What kind of risk are we talking? Are things burrowing up inside me? Am I losing a limb? Or might I just need a course of antibiotics?”
“If you’re just bathing under the falls, keeping it out of your eyes and nose, probably just possible antibiotics.”
“I think I’m taking that risk,” I declared.
“Wait,” he said, going back to get the first aid kit out of his pack. “Let me just smear some petroleum jelly over any cuts you might have. So long as you don’t scrub those areas too much, you should be protected from any nasties getting in through the cuts.”