Gia veered off the road into a field, heedless of what kind of livestock might be huddled in the dark. She stumbled through grass and mud, getting soaked to the bone. At the top of the hill, jagged stripes of lighting illuminated her surroundings. There appeared to be a rocky outcropping up the incline, from what she could tell through the driving rain. She kept to the grass and mud.
“Gia!” Marco’s voice thundered in the distance. “Gia!” The beam of his flashlight swept in an arc in her direction but didn’t quite reach her. “Gia!”
“Come on, Mr. Marine, show me your stuff,” she muttered as she hustled in the opposite direction. Her teeth began to chatter. She tugged her useless leather jacket around her. Stupid thing’s only for show.
Some kind of animal snorted. Whatever it was, it stomped its foot a yard or so away. One stomp. Two stomps. Another snort.
“Shit,” she muttered, coming to a halt. “Don’t animals give you some sort of warning signal if you get too close?” She squinted into the darkness. “Hey, Mr. Cow or whatever you are. Only passing through, No threat to you or your family.”
More stomps and something like a hoof slogging through mud followed.
“Brutus?” Gia yelled as softly as she could, facing the snorts.
“Gia? Gia, where are you?” Marco called.
She glanced over her shoulder, grateful for Marco’s flashlight beam indicating his progress “Over here. Playing with a cow or something. He seems pissed. He keeps stomping his hoof at me.” Her teeth kept up the chattering noise, out of control of her wishes.
A gunshot blasted overhead.
Gia’s hands flew over her head in protection.
The bovine or whatever it was, bolted, stampeding away from her.
“Shit,” Gia said, sinking to her knees. “It could have bowled me over. Nice move, marine.”
Marco barreled up behind her. Holding the small flashlight between his teeth, he put his hands under her armpits and lifted her to her feet. “Come on, let’s get you back to the car.” Once she was standing, he grabbed the light from his mouth and shone it on the wet grass as he tugged her along.
“Who shot the gun? Was it you?” she said, through her clacking pearly whites.
“Yep. When you took off running, I snagged my gun out of the glove box. You never know when you might need it.” He hurried her through the slush and mud.
“You didn’t aim it at me, did you?” she asked.
“Right. You’re on to me,” Marco said.
She could hear his eyes roll.
“Only thought to check. Damn, I’m cold.”
Marco stayed silent.
“Aren’t you going to lecture me or anything? Tell me it’s my own damn fault?” Now she swore she could hear him shaking his head. “No, you’re in full-tilt reasonable mode. You’re probably patting my head in your mind, right?”
“Gia shut the fuck up,” Marco said.
“Whoa, first signs of a pulse,” she said.
The flashlight beam bounced on his stiff, rigid jaw.
“I was beginning to wonder if you had a soul,” she said. “Or, a heartbeat.”
“Gia,” Marco said, through clenched teeth. “Stop.”
As the rain pelted them, Marco increased their speed.
“Not so fast. I can’t...” The toe of her Vans caught in a hole, and she fell, head first, twisting her ankle. “Ow. Fuck. Smooth move, Brutus. I can’t move,” she said, through clenched teeth.
“Oh, sure. This is all my fault.” He crouched next to her, jammed the flashlight under his arm, and proceeded to examine her ankle. “This hurt?”
“No,” she said.
“This?” he said, tenderly probing her with his fingers.
“Ow!” she exclaimed, jerking her foot away.
“How about here?” He gently prodded another area.
“Not as much as the last place.” Tears of rage pooled in her eyes.
“Its swelling. Let’s hope it’s not a bone break. We’d best get you somewhere safe,” he said.
“I’m so sorry, Brutus. I’m a shit about everything. Mostly I’m pissed because...because...”
He scooped her up and said, “Let’s get you somewhere dry. And I’m listening. You’re pissed because?”
“I was having a really good time,” she wailed. “The best time I’ve had in ages. And I blew it. I’m pissed at myself,” she said, surprised to be crying so hard.
“Shh,” Marco said. He kissed the top of her head.
A flash of lightning sparked a metal fence post directly in front of them.
“Oh, shit,” he said. He veered left and powered them down the hill toward their vehicle.
Another arc of lightning struck a tree, splitting it in two with an angry crack.
Gia let out a shriek, like a little bitch. She clutched Marco’s neck.
“New plan.” Marco turned and headed up the hill toward the rocky outcropping she’d seen when she started out.
The flashlight beam bobbed up and down, illuminating fleeting shapes, as Marco jogged along. “Here,” he finally said. “Let’s try this.” He ducked inside a cave.
Inside the stones, the air felt cool and damp. But at least no more rain pelted them.
Her arms gripping Marco’s neck, Gia peered into the shadowy cave. From what she could tell, it looked like it was fairly deep. She hoped a wild animal wasn’t huddled in the back, waiting to tear their throats out.
Marco gently sat Gia on the ground. He removed his wet jacket, revealing a small pack. Positioning the flashlight so it would light the cave, he began searching through the bag.
“What is that? Some sort of survival kit?” she asked, still sniffling. The stone wall felt cool and unforgiving, poking her back.
“Sort of. It’s not my full kit. I grabbed it last minute when we were leaving. But it has a few things we need at the moment.” He rooted around in the bag, producing an emergency thermal blanket and some blow-up thingie. He fiddled with a button on the transparent blow-up thing.
It shone like a lantern.
“Et voila,” he said, appearing pleased with himself. “Solar light.” He hooked the light over a crag in the wall where it made a pleasant glow. “Okay, honey. Let’s get you warm.”
“Don’t bother. I can deal.” Gia’s teeth were full on out of control.
Marco bent down to place the high-tech blanket around her shoulders.
She shoved it off and him with it.
He stood, the top of his head grazing the ceiling of the cave, and stared at her, hands on his hips in his usual superhero mode. “What’s this? Are you macho? Accept the help, girl.”
“Go ahead. You use the blanket.” She hugged her knees to her chest. “Why’d you take me on? As my sober companion, you know?”
“I’m beginning to wonder,” Marco said, retrieving the blanket and enfolding her in it.
“Ouch,” Gia said.
“You’re extremely stubborn. I suspect you’re not used to people being kind to you. You’ve got the emotional armor of a trained warrior.”
“Thanks for that, Dr. Phil,” she said, staring at her feet.
“Actually,” he said, reaching for a couple of branches on the ground. “I’ve followed the band for a couple years. You, in particular.”
“Really?” She brightened, feeling like a little kid. “You followed me?”
“Don’t tell, okay? There goes my street cred.” He retrieved a few more sticks and placed them on top of the others. Then, he procured a lighter from his pack and lit the kindling. “Wait here. I think I saw some under a ledge outside. Maybe some of them aren’t soaked.” He stepped away, returning a few seconds later with a small load of dry branches.
The smell of wood fire coupled with the heat made her want to relax. She refused to give in to the warmth.
“Wait, I see how this goes. You only wanted to be a sober companion for a rock star, right?” she said, back to her moody self. “So you could add it to your list of accomplishments.”
“Hell, Gia. Can’t you accept a compliment? Besides the fact I maintain strict confidentiality, I like you for you. I think you’re fun, funny, you’re incredibly dedicated to your craft...you’re an amazing, talented, sexy, gorgeous woman.” His words trailed off as she vigorously shook her head. “Is everything a fight with you? Are you always this pissy or only with me? Christ, you can be a pain in the ass.”
“Maybe you bring out the best in me,” she said, batting her eyelashes at him.
“I’d hate to see your worst.” He tucked the blanket around her shoulders.
His soothing ministrations made her jittery, jumpy...as well as a little turned on.
“There. How’s that?” Marco said.
“Fine.” Her teeth began to calm their clackety-clack.
“Good.” He searched through the bag and tsked. “Damn. I wish I’d brought the full kit. We don’t have much in the way of medical supplies. Well...” He shrugged off his sopping sweatshirt and peeled off his Henley.
Gia stared at him. “Wow, Brutus.”
“Wow, what?” he said. He proceeded to tear his shirt into strips.
“What are you doing? That’s a nice shirt. It looked good on you,” she said.
He lifted his eyebrow and stooped in front of her, strips in hand. “So, what’s the wow?”
“Fishing for compliments?” she said.
“No, I wondered what the wow was for, is all.” He sat on the ground and placed her leg on his lap. He untied her shoe and eased it off with the finesse of a skilled and kind nurse. His jaw set, he proceeded to bind her ankle like a medic might do.
“You’re hot, okay?” she said, turning away from him.
“What?” He reached over and gently guided her face away from the wall, regarding her with those damn soft eyes. “What did you just say?”
She shoved his hand away with more force than she meant to use. “I said, you’re hot. You and all your muscles. Way to get my mind off the pain.” Heat crawled up her neck, spreading along her face.
A slight smile crossed his face. “Must’ve been hard to say something nice to me, huh?”
“Maybe,” she said, her face growing hot. She wanted to smack herself. How is it I can be all cool and tough with the losers I fuck but with Brutus I turn into such a hesitant girl?
“Does it hurt? Your ankle?” He rested his hands on her shins.
“Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t know.” Her walls began to rise like a prison gate on alert.
“Wait,” Marco said. “I can see frost forming. Don’t leave me like this, escaping into one of your pissy moods.”
“Wait, what. You got your compliment. Don’t make me vulnerable again. I hate it. I hate to be soft.” She took a long, shuddering breath. Vulnerable people get beat up.
“Maybe this will change your mind.” He cupped her chin with his large hand and inclined his head toward her.
Before she knew it, his lips were on hers, tentatively exploring. She put both hands on his incredibly warm, amazingly muscular chest and pushed hard. “Aren’t you supposed to be my sober companion? This isn’t allowed, right? This wasn’t in the contract.”
He stared at her, breathing hard. “You’re right. It’s not in the contract. It could get me fired, actually. Do you want me to stop?”
She placed her hand on the back of his beefy neck and drew him close. She kissed him hard and deep, forgetting everything except the consuming feel of his mouth on hers. When they pulled apart, they both looked at one another, breathless, eyes bright.
“Now that was one fine kiss,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “Care to see what I can do for an encore?”