Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 80431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
“There’s a deeper pond a little ways down. It’s full of these. It had some decent-sized snails too if you like escargot.”
Sawyer’s stomach rebelled even at the thought.
“Fish is fine.”
Oakley handed one of the stalks to him, watching him pick at the white flesh before putting some in his own mouth.
It didn’t taste like his favorite—Chilean seabass—but it was better than snake meat.
They ate in silence—apart from the intrusive animal noises—until nothing remained of the little guppies but bones.
“How does your face feel now?” Oakley asked as he scooted closer.
“Dry…achy.”
“Come ’ere. Turn and face me.”
Oakley cupped his left cheek and gently palpated the sensitive skin on his neck.
“It’s not infected, and not all of the blisters have burst, so that’s good.”
“Are you a doctor too?” Sawyer asked because he didn’t know what else to say.
The way Oakley had been caring for him was a lot. He wasn’t used to being nurtured or protected. He was the protector.
Sawyer flinched when Oakley touched a sore area on his lower jaw.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“It’s fine.” He shrugged, easing back. “I’m sure it’ll heal at some point in my life. Scars never bothered me.”
“They don’t bother me either,” Oakley whispered, staring into his eyes.
He was able to breathe easier when Oakley got up, went back to the edge of the pond, and began pulling the leaves he’d gathered during their journey from his pockets.
Sawyer used his swatter to bat away a large spider trying to climb onto his boot, careful not to upset Oakley by killing it. The other insects didn’t bother him as much anymore, but he didn’t do spiders.
Oakley laid out some of the dampened leaves on a smooth stone and the others he put on a stone close to the fire.
Sawyer gave Oakley an incredulous look when he pointed to his lap.
“Lie down.”
Da fuck?
“Don’t look at me like that,” Oakley rumbled. “Lie your ass down so I can treat those burns.”
“With that?” He pointed at the slimy leaves.
“Yes.” He frowned. “People all over the world have been using that as antiseptic for centuries.”
Sawyer shook his head.
“What do you think anti-inflammatories, analgesics, and astringents are made from? Huh? You think they magically come in pill and liquid forms. Then just suddenly appear on the shelves at Walgreens.”
Sawyer rolled his eyes.
“Exactly. A lot of medicine is harvested from right here in this rainforest. This Cordoncillo leaf has tons of antiseptic properties and will disinfect those open cuts. And it also has numbing agents that are used in making Novocain.”
Numbing sounded good.
Sawyer sat, then turned and laid his head on Oakley’s thighs. Staring up at him from that angle made him think of what it’d be like to have Oakley stretched out on top of him and buried deep inside him.
“The heated Matico plant is an anti-inflammatory and will also reduce the pain and swelling.”
Oakley kept talking like a scientist as he rubbed the leaves from Sawyer’s temple to his throat, oblivious to Sawyer’s increasing arousal.
“There are plants all around us that act as aphrodisiacs too.” Oakley smirked. “But I didn’t pick any of those…unless you want me to.”
When he didn’t laugh, Oakley’s smile faded as they stared into each other’s eyes for a long time.
Sawyer had never met anyone as smart as the man holding him.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Oakley whispered.
“I can’t help it.” Sawyer ran the pad of his thumb across Oakley’s eyelids. “It’s those damn eyes.”
Add the fact that intelligence was his biggest turn-on, and Sawyer wouldn’t need any aphrodisiacs.
He hummed when Oakley ran his fingertips through his wet hair while he dabbed pieces of the warm leaf along his singed scalp.
It was almost dark by the time Oakley was done, but he’d be damned if he didn’t feel ten times better. His skin felt moisturized as if he’d been massaged with aloe lotion, and the pain was minimal, enough to give him a glimmer of hope.
How would he thank Oakley for all of this when they made it out of there?
“Where are we sleeping?” he asked, glancing up at the trees around them.
None of them looked able to support them.
“We’re gonna sleep on these rocks.”
“On the ground.”
“No, on one of those big ones over there.”
Oakley pointed to the smooth stones beside the pond before he began throwing more sticks on the fire.
“I’ll just have to make a big enough fire to keep the animals away.”
Sawyer didn’t sit on his ass, basking in his remedies and freshly cared-for skin. He got up and began to search for smaller stones to surround the fire to form a pit.
“The trick will be not letting it go out in the middle of the night.”
Sawyer blinked, remembering the jaguar.
“We’ll take shifts, okay.”
“Yeah, no problem. I’ll take the first one,” Sawyer volunteered.
Oakley walked up to him and took his chin between his thumb and forefinger. He surveyed his work, his mouth so close that Sawyer could feel his warm breath.