“I’ll agree to that if I can have another bite,” he said with a knowing smile.
“Deal,” she said, as she handed him the spoon. “But I think you can feed yourself,” she said knowing she would crack if she had to feed him again.
He chuckled and shoveled a few spoonfuls in before handing it back. “Don’t blame me, you gave me the spoon,” he offered apologetically, shrugging his shoulders before he put the Jeep in gear heading for camp.
“I’ll remember that next time,” she said, as she glowered at him over her thermos playfully.
“Your grandmother is a good cook. Do you cook?” he asked, as he maneuvered the dirt road with ease.
“You can’t live in my Gram’s house without knowing how to cook. She considers it a right of passage to cook a full Thanksgiving meal from start to finish at the age of sixteen. No shortcuts either, no turkey bags or store bought pies, everything from scratch. So yes, I know how to cook. The better question would be, do I like to cook?” she explained, amazed to see the lights from the campground so quickly.
“Huh. Do you?” he said, pulling to a stop next to the chow hall.
She got out of the Jeep and said, “Guess it depends on who I’m cooking for,” she shrugged and walked away from him to let him stew on her words.
Chapter Sixteen
Aarik
Aarik watched as Kiya sashayed away and felt relieved knowing she was safe. Every minute past nine was torture as he had waited impatiently for her earlier that night. She was a grown woman and had it made more than clear that she could take care of herself, but something about her brought out his protective side. He wanted her to need him and was surprised to find he was willing to wait until that day. His longer strides ate up the distance between them and just as she was about to enter her tent he called out to her, “Hey, did you ever see Diego?”
“I forgot to look but I don’t know what car he drives, so who knows,” she said and looked like she wanted to say more as she stalled outside her tent with the flap open.
“Weird. Guess he couldn’t hack it,” Aarik said, trying to blow off the nagging feeling something was off.
“Yeah, maybe. Do you know which tent he took? Maybe he’s already back,” she suggested as she looked around.
“No, afraid I wasn’t paying attention. I seem to remember we were having a conversation at the time he left and I must confess, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you,” he admitted freely.
“Do I need to go back to calling you Dr. Landon?” she threatened jokingly, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously.
“Point taken,” he said raising his hands in defeat. “Guess we’ll find out in the morning. I don’t think going tent to tent to validate your theory would garner me much respect. Need to keep the help happy, if you know what I mean. Besides, I’d hate to see what Cooper wears to bed, to be honest,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. Aarik rocked back and forth on his feet as he stalled their goodnight.
“Well, I’m going to head to bed,” she said and stopped when she was halfway in. “Damn it! I forgot the air mattress in my car. Gonna be another long night,” she said with a sigh.
“What’s wrong with the one you have?” he questioned.
“Slow leak, had to keep filling it through the night,” she replied.
“Ahh, good,” he said accidentally.
“Good? Good that I didn’t sleep? Did I hear you correctly?” she said in confusion.
“Did I say that out loud? Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” he apologized. “It’s just you were extra grumpy this morning and now that I know about your deflated mattress, it means there’s hope for you yet,” he offered gingerly.
“Don’t bet on it,” she retorted between giggles.
“If you want I can go back and get it. Just give me your keys,” he said, reaching out for the keys.
“That’s not necessary. I’ve slept on worse,” she said adamantly, inching back a bit.
“I might have a patch kit in my tent,” he offered, in a last ditch effort to solve her problem and extend their time together.
“That might help,” she said hesitantly, looking up at him with hope in her eyes.
“Follow me,” he replied nervously, as he licked his lips and walked over to the entrance of his tent.
Suddenly anxious to be in such close quarters with her, he entered his tent and kept his eyes away from the bed. Kiya followed Aarik and stayed close to the entrance as he rummaged through his bag for the patch kit. “Here it is,” he said, pulling it out and brandished it about like a valued prize. When she made no move to come closer he stood up and walked over to her and said, “Do you know where the leak is?”
“I didn’t stop to look to be honest. More focused on blowing it up and going back to sleep, if possible,” she answered honestly, as her eyes flicked back and forth between his lips and eyes.
“Use water. If you get it wet you’ll be able to see air bubbles,” he suggested, and practically groaned when she licked her lips, wetting them in the process so they glistened. He took a step back and handed her the patch kit. “Just make sure to wipe it dry before you apply it,” he added in a trance-like voice, confused by the reaction she stirred in him.
“Well th..thank you. I don’t want to keep you up, so I’ll just return this in the morning,” she said backing out of the tent without breaking eye contact, holding the patch kit in front of her with both hands.
“Sure, no problem. Whenever is fine, I’ll be up for awhile,” he replied, on auto pilot as he fought to regain his wits, ravishing the woman was not something on his list for the night.
“Okay, well, thanks again,” she said, then turned around and headed back to her tent.
Aarik waited for Kiya to enter her tent and when she turned and gave him a shy smile he felt giddy inside from the little attention she bestowed upon him. He decided, as he sat down to finish his paperwork, that he could become addicted to her smiles if he wasn’t careful. He contemplated how complicated it would be over the next couple of months if they were to act on those feelings and decided whether it ended in torture, or better yet, rapture, he was looking forward to the ride. Now he just had to convince Kiya it would be worth it as well and, if he had to chase her, so be it, he thought.
He was surprised at how tired he felt by the time he switched the light off at his desk and listened for movement outside that would indicate someone else was awake at the late hour. Aarik crept from his tent as quietly as possible when he felt the coast was clear and cursed silently when he crashed into a camping chair and created unwanted noise. He paused mid-stride, adrenaline kicking in that provided the second wind he needed as he waited to see if anyone heard the commotion. He exhaled slowly and tried to relax his muscles when the campground remained quiet.
Taylor was awake, which surprised Aarik, when the flap opened and he stepped out with a toothy grin. “Couldn’t sleep. In fact I’m surprised you didn’t wake the whole camp with your clumsiness,” he whispered, looking around in mock amazement.
Aarik shushed him with his finger and walked to the entrance of Vos’rok in silence with Taylor following behind. He waited until they reached the hallway before he turned on a small flashlight to illuminate the way to the hangar room. He didn’t say a word until they stood in front of the craft, “It feels like I’ve waited my whole life for this,” he said quietly.
“Most of your life, anyway. What are you waiting for?” pushed Taylor.
“My heart to get out of my throat, I guess,” he replied, pulling the medallion from around his neck he climbed aboard the craft. “Step back, please,” he said cautiously, holding his arm up in warning.
“How far? There’s not much room,” questioned Taylor, looking behind him nervously as he inched back.
“I don’t know, hug the wall or something,” Aarik volleyed back, nervously staring at the medallion intently.
“Quit stalling, it either works or it doesn’t,” Taylor said matter-of-factly, wh
en he reached the wall and dramatically hugged the wall playfully.
“Okay, here goes nothing,” replied Aarik nervously.
Aarik’s hand hovered briefly over the key-like slot of the console before he clicked the medallion into place. Holding his breath he waited for something, anything to happen and was greatly disappointed when nothing changed. The medallion fit perfectly and looking at it in its rightful place gave Aarik a feeling of completeness.
He looked up at Taylor in confusion, “I don’t get it. It’s an exact match, what are we missing?” he hissed out, trying to keep quiet.
“Maybe the battery is dead?” offered Taylor, as he inched away from the wall to see the fit for himself.
“If only we knew it had one. I’m tempted to have them unbury that one over there first. Maybe the crushing rock pierced the insides and we can see what makes this baby run,” he said, nodding towards the wreckage.
“Yeah, maybe. Will it come out?” Taylor asked, with a look of concentration on his face as he pointed to the medallion.
“Sure hope so. I wouldn’t want to explain where this came from and I definitely don’t want to lose this,” he pulled the medallion back out with ease and studied the intricacies of the locking mechanism. Smiling up at Taylor he said, “Thank, God,” before he kissed his medallion and stuffed it under his shirt where it belonged. He climbed out of the craft with reluctance and headed towards the door, lost in thought.
“Aarik, can I ask you a question?” Taylor said, as they headed back up the metal ramp to the main hallway.
“Of course. Surprised you felt you needed to ask,” Aarik replied, and shut off his flashlight when they got close to the hallway entrance.
“You said you found that when you were a kid. Did you ever go back to the cave?” Taylor asked.
“I tried after I got my undergraduate degree, but the new owners wouldn’t let me. Not sure if they believed me. I was by myself, young and backpacking across Europe. Not really sure I thought it through,” he responded. “Why do you ask?”
“We need to find the power source and I just thought it might have more clues. Which brings me to pose my next idea. In all honesty, I think we need to push forward with the cave-in, not the crushed craft. Maybe we will find information on the power source or the source itself. Reverse engineering a battery is not a good use of our two weeks. If we find nothing in the next week, we can always try your plan,” he offered politely.
Aarik stopped at the entrance to the chamber and said, “You’re right. Like usual, why do you think I keep you around? Need your wisdom and perspective to keep me in line. Let’s head back in silence. Get some rest, we’ll need it for tomorrow.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kiya
Kiya closed the flap of her tent and dragged her hands over her face to wipe the smile from her face. She couldn’t believe how much of a fool she made of herself, when she just stood there like she was entranced by his grandeur. She looked down at the patch kit in her hands and blushed when she remembered how good he looked bent over to get the kit, with his bed in the background just calling their names. When he walked over and stood in front of her, her breathing increased as it raced to keep up with her heart. She barely won the fight with herself when she uttered the words to leave, and when she looked back before entering her tent, she couldn’t help but smile when he was still there watching her.
She needed a cold shower, but settled for a quick splash from her water bottle before she tore apart the cot and focused her energy on fixing the mattress. She located the pin sized hole and had it patched before midnight but tossed and turned with unspent energy as she stared at Aarik’s tent and the soft light that teased her with the knowledge that he was still awake as well. She argued with herself as she contemplated whether or not visiting him would be a good idea. She looked at her phone and moaned when she saw the time, it was close to 3am. She needed to go to sleep but the fire inside her burned hot and with a sigh she crawled out of bed and grabbed her shorts.
Kiya stuck her head out of tent and snorted to herself when she noticed Aarik had turned off his light. “Of course. Just my luck,” she whispered. She was just about ready to pull her head back in when she saw Aarik stick his head out. She pulled her head back in with a gasp and rushed back to her bed wondering if he had the same idea. Kiya clasped her hands over her mouth as she attempted to contain her laugh when he crashed into something loudly. She waited patiently in anticipation but when he didn’t show up after a few minutes she crept towards the flap and peeked out to see where he went.
She was surprised to see Aarik and Taylor walking away from camp towards the chamber in silence. Kiya shoved her feet into her shoes haphazardly and struggled to pull them on correctly as she followed behind them from a distance. She paused at the entrance and pulled back quickly when Aarik turned on his flashlight and they entered the tunnel whispering to each other. She waited until the light from his flashlight dimmed before she entered the cavern and tiptoed to the tunnel entrance and knelt by the archway. She felt like a secret agent and concentrated on her breaths to calm herself before she peered around the column to see them entering the craft room. Wondering what couldn’t wait til morning, she swallowed the spit gathering in her mouth and followed after them.
When she reached the bottom, she hid behind the right pillar and stood on her tiptoes to get a better view of what they were doing. Aarik was climbing into the craft and had pulled out a metallic disk. Kiya wished she was close enough to hear their conversation and watched in fascination as Aarik inserted the round object into the vehicle. When nothing happened her disappointment matched her excitement as she raced back to her tent ahead of them. Knowing he had a secret confused her. On one hand, he was keeping things from her but on the other hand he might understand her story. She sat on her bed and waited for Aarik to return before she climbed under the covers, closed her eyes and passed out from exhaustion.
She slept in the next morning and prayed as she entered the chow hall that she’d find life inducing coffee. Food was often forgotten for periods of a time, but coffee was sacred and without it she didn’t consider herself human. Doris looked up from her cutting board and pointed to the travel mug on her table without saying a word. Kiya beelined for her next fix and only spoke after she drained half of her mug. “Ahhh. Thank you, Doris. I needed that. Sorry for missing breakfast,” she said, and sat down to enjoy her coffee.
“No problem, dear. Late night again? You look exhausted,” Doris asked, as she concentrated on her knife and plowed through the vegetables with precision and speed that would put Bobby Flay to shame.
“Yeah, you could say that,” Kiya replied, lost in thought as she contemplated whether to tell Aarik.
“Can’t say that I blame you,” replied Doris nonchalantly and winked.
“Huh? Blame me? Oh...Oh.no nothing like that. My mattress was flat and Aarik loaned me a patch kit and…never mind. Needless to say, I miss my bed, is all,” Kiya rattled off in defense, taking a sip of her coffee as a distraction.
“I’m not blind, you know, but if you two would rather keep it to yourselves, I can understand and will keep it a secret,” replied Doris, as she swept the vegetables from the cutting board with her knife into a large pot.
“Not sure what you are referring to, but I can assure you our relationship is strictly professional,” she said, in a last ditch effort with as much honesty as she could muster.
“I’m sure it is,” Doris said, before adding under her breath. “And I’m Dolly Parton.”
Kiya realized arguing with the old woman would get her nowhere and hoped changing the subject would get her to drop the conversation. “Um, do you need any help? I have some time before I need to get to work. Oh that reminds me, did you see Diego this morning?”
“No to the first question, I’m just about done. Remind me which one is Diego?” Doris asked wiping her hands on her apron.
“I thought a woman like you would know everyone’s name,�
� Kiya tsked back jokingly.
“Only the ones with manners,” Doris piped back in defiance, putting her hands on her hips for emphasis.
“That explains it. Diego looks a little like Aarik, I guess but not quite as tall, dark and...and big,” she finished, barely stopping herself from saying handsome.
“Oh, that one. Yeah, he was here this morning. Left with the others. Why?” she asked, as she continued to wipe down her workstation.
“We actually work for the same company, if you can believe it. Met him for the first time when I got here, but after the day we had yesterday, I haven’t seen him is all,” replied Kiya, as she got up to refill her travel mug before she headed out.
“Don’t really care for that one,” Doris stated, as she walked over to her makeshift kitchen and put the pot on the cooking stove.
“Why’s that?” Kiya prompted, following behind her closely.
“He eats with his pinky out, like he’s some type of royalty,” she replied in exasperation.
Kiya was startled by Doris’ choice of words and chuckled slightly before she answered, “I never noticed, shows you how observant I am. Well, if you’re sure you don’t need me, I’m going to head out.”
“Thanks for the offer, but all I need is time now. Will I see you for lunch?” asked Doris.
“For sure. Aarik and I agreed to split our schedule so I’ll need to fuel up before this afternoon,” she replied heading towards the exit.
“Don’t work too hard,” Doris added, as she walked over to garbage bins to change it out.
“You’re one to speak. As you slave over our meal,” joked Kiya over her shoulder.
“It’s different. This isn’t work to me. If I wasn’t cooking here, I’d be cooking somewhere else. It’s what I do,” Doris said with a smile.
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