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Cold, wet drops landed on her face, and she groaned, turning over on the soaking wet mattress. She bolted upright. Several drips were coming through the tent roof from the rain that was pounding down.
The murmur of voices came from the main area, and she reached for her shirt. Her thigh muscles complained and shivered in remembrance. She loved him, but this was a connection forged that strengthened her love. They were connected in every possible way, and it was something she craved with all of them.
A drop of icy water landed on her head, bringing her back to the present. She dragged her damp shirt on and staggered into the main area.
“Good afternoon.” Josh smirked at her.
“It’s not, is it?” She looked around, not sure where her phone was.
“Not quite,” Jake said. “You have”—he looked at his watch—“ten minutes till it’s considered afternoon.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “There’s a problem though.”
“Have you wet yourself? Or are you sweating for England?” Nate asked, pushing his glasses up his nose as he squinted at her.
“Well, that’s the problem. The tent is leaking, everything is soaked.”
Nate looked at Matt. “Well, I guess that answers that one for us.”
“What?” Lily came towards them, shivering as a gust of chilly air came through the open flap.
Matt flicked the netting down, so they could still see out, but stopped the draft.
Josh and Jake wrapped her up between them, then quickly let her go. “You’re all mushy. Get dried and dressed before you catch a cold.”
“My clothes are all wet. I had them laid out for today.
“Wear something of ours, and roll it up,” Jake suggested and went into their side to find something for her.
“The campsite is flooding in places.” Nate came over and kissed her gently. “We were discussing whether we should pack up and go home. There’s not a lot we can do with weather this wet.”
“But now it’s leaking your side, we should just give up,” Matt added. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to break any time soon.”
“What were we going to do today?” she asked.
“We were going to go to Golitha Falls, but in this we’ll be wading through mud.” Matt stepped away from the flap.
“We’ve left some clothes on the bed in there for you.” Jake came back in.
She kissed him and went in. She came out a few minutes later, rolling up the sleeves. She’d had to roll up the sweats too, but it was better than damp clothes. The twins swept her up between them, her face jammed against Jake’s chest.
“You look fucking gorgeous in our clothes,” Josh said, as they released her.
“Thanks for bringing me here.” She looked at them and then the others, making sure they were all listening. “I’ve always wanted to see the Jamaica Inn. And you bought me a meal in there. It was incredible, and I’ll never forget it.”
“You’re welcome,” Nate said, pushing up his glasses. “Thank you for fixing my glasses.”
“That’s the other thing that’s incredible,” she said.
“What? Nate’s glasses?” Jake looked at Nate sideways. “’Cause there’s nothing else incredible about Nate.”
Nate flipped him off. “Ignore the peanut gallery, Lil.”
She found her hairbrush and tried to restore some semblance of normality to the tangled mess on her head. “I mean, when we bonded.”
“Oh, yeah, that was incredible,” Josh said. “It was a shame we couldn’t have done it under the moonlight at the pool.”
“Yeah, but that was before we knew what would happen,” Jake reminded him. “We’d have frightened the wildlife if we’d done it there.”
Lily yawned behind her hand and they stared at her.
“It’s midday. How on earth are you still tired?” Nate asked in disbelief.
“I think I was born tired.” She went over to where they’d stashed the food they’d brought with them and settled down to make sandwiches. “Do you want some sandwiches?”
“Yes, please.” The twins’ response was instant and in sync.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” Nate said, going into their sleeping area with the twins.
Matt crouched beside her. “About last night.”
It hadn’t occurred to her he might regret it, but his eyes gave nothing away. Whatever his response she had to be honest with herself. “I don’t regret it, Matt. I never will.”
She saw the spark of relief flash across his face, and she tugged him to sit. She crawled onto his lap, cupping his cheeks with her palms. “Do you?”
“Never.” His words were adamant and the kiss he gave her firm.
She wound her arms around his neck and buried her face into his neck as he held her close, rocking her.
“You blew my mind. I mean, you’ve gotten me off before, but being inside you? Shit, Lily. It was different, somehow.”
“Better?”
“No, not better, well, not... You get me off and I’m dying, but inside you? I can’t explain it.”
“It’s a connection, or at least it is for me.
“Yeah, connection is a good word. Even before I got off, I felt it. It’s gonna sound stupid ’cause I was inside you, but it felt like you were inside me. You were everywhere, in my blood, in my mind, my veins, everywhere. I always felt kinda hollow after with...yeah. But you got inside me and I’m never letting you leave. I guess you complete me? Bugger, I sound like a girl now.”
Lily kissed his neck, unable to talk past the lump in her throat. He pulled back, reaching to wipe away a few tears that escaped.
“I hope these are coming from the happy tears well?”
She giggled, nodding and wiping away a few more that came out. “I love you so much, Matt.”
“Good. Right, enough with the girl talk, yeah?”
She got off his lap and he stood up. “I am a girl,” she reminded him, grinning.
“Yeah. Although, if you were a boy, I’d turn gay to keep you.”
“Who’s gay?” Jake came out with a roll of sleeping bags in his arms.
“Nate is.” Josh followed with blankets. “We’re going to start packing up.”
“Reckon Merlin’s still got his wand?” Lily mused, bringing out the packet of bread and cheese slices they’d bought in the campsite shop.
“What? Merlin didn’t have a wand.” Matt sounded confused.
“Sure, he did. When all the dishes needed washing, and putting away, he used his wand. We could do the same if we could borrow his wand. Get all the clothes and stuff to pack themselves away. Instead of Rubity, Scrubity, we could have Packity, Tentity.”
“Lilith.” Nate’s voice echoed from the other room. “Merlin did not have a wand, he didn’t have a pointy hat, wear blue robes, or sing fucking songs.”
“Met him, have we?” she called, smirking at Matt who was shaking his head, a huge grin on his face.
Nate grumbled, but she didn’t hear what he said. “What was that, darling? I didn’t quite catch what you said.”
“I said.” He came to the flap and pointed at her. “That if Merlin was like that in real life, then you are most definitely the Mad Madam Mim.”
“You forgot Marvellous,” she said smiled sweetly at him. “I’m the Marvellous Mad Madam Mim.”
He sped towards her, gripped her cheeks, and narrowed his eyes. “You just love to wind me up, don’t you?”
“I just love to wind you up,” she agreed.
He kissed her thoroughly. Her hands hovered by his head before she melted into him and sank them into his hair.
She dimly heard the tent flap being unzipped, and something about getting the car, but it was vague amongst the feelings Nate gave her when he kissed her like this.
And this was why she loved to wind him up.
