Unbreakable Stories: Snow (Unbreakable Bonds 2.5)

They didn’t talk for a long time. Snow slid out from under him and lay on his side, gaze locked with Jude’s. They stared at each other and Jude wondered if the same, sort of surreal euphoria had made Snow stupid, too. Snow leaned over him to switch off the lamp. Jude waited for him to settle, then sprawled half over him, tucking his face into Snow’s neck. He settled in, knowing they’d move apart at some point because they were both sticky and sweaty from the sex. He’d probably end up in the wet spot. He didn’t care. “Hey, General?” he whispered after a couple of minutes.

“Yeah.” Snow’s response was more breath than voice.

“You do know that you’re my safety net, too, right?”

Snow’s arm tightened around him. “I do,” he whispered, pressing warm lips to Jude’s forehead. “I do.”CampingChapter 1This was not his idea of a relaxing vacation.

Snow stood in the center of the clearing that Rowe had chosen, his hands on his hips as he tried not to frown, but that wasn’t working out so well. A thick green canopy blocked most of the direct late-day sun, but the moisture thickening the air locked in the oppressive August heat despite the shade. Songbirds chirped loudly around them, but there was no distant rush of cars on the road or raised voices of other people. He and Jude had been working a lot of hours recently, and he’d grown accustomed to the constant cacophony of beeping machines and the chatter of doctors and nurses. It felt as if they were truly alone in the world and it was a bit unsettling.

Snow didn’t camp.

Oh, he’d done more than his fair share of rough camping while in the Army—inhospitable places like Afghanistan and Serbia—but he’d not slept outside since returning to civilian life, and he’d certainly never planned to do it again. He liked his firm but soft king-sized bed covered in 700-thread count sheets of Egyptian cotton. He liked indoor plumbing and hot running water. He fucking loved his coffeemaker.

Swallowing back a curse, he turned and his eyes fell on the reason—or rather two reasons—he’d agreed to this vacation nightmare in the first place. Jude knelt beside Rowe, holding a nylon cord while Rowe hammered a securing spike into the ground. They all tried to go on vacation together every year, but every time they attempted to make plans this year, Rowe had bailed. Until Jude had suggested camping.

For the first time in months, a small spark of life lit Rowe’s tired green eyes. He perked up and started asking questions, willing to at least consider the idea. It hadn’t taken much more pushing to get Rowe to commit to a long weekend of camping and hiking, through Red River Gorge within the Daniel Boone National Park in Eastern Kentucky.

Jude had camped with his brothers and friends when he was young, but never in Red River Gorge so he’d been over the moon with excitement since it had first been mentioned. Snow couldn’t bring himself to shoot down the suggestion when both Jude and Rowe were invested in the idea.

But Snow didn’t camp.

Luckily both Andrei and Rowe had camped within the Gorge on several occasions so they were at least familiar with the area. Rowe had warned them that they needed to bring all the essentials because they were camping primitive. He’d also warned them that black bears and mountain lions were frequently spotted within the Gorge. And of course, Kentucky already had its usual selection of poisonous snakes and spiders. Freaking fabulous.

“Where the hell is Lucas?” Rowe snapped, drawing Snow out of his grumbling thoughts. His friend shoved back to his feet, dusting off his hand on the seat of his worn khaki cargo shorts.

Snow pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and held it up. His connection flickered between one and two bars, and they were setting up camp on a peak near Half-Moon Rock. It was a good guess that they’d have zero cell service when they hiked down into the lower part of the gorge. That was an unsettling thought.

“Lucas hasn’t texted since they left Winchester almost two hours ago,” Snow replied. The Red River Gorge was about a three-hour drive south from Cincinnati, with most of the trip spent on the highway, but the last stretch was along winding narrow roads cutting through the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It had been a gorgeous drive in, seeing the massive rocky cliffs and green trees dappled with buttery warm sunlight. Snow had even started to look forward to the trip until they arrived at the spot that Rowe had picked for camping. It was off a trail. No bathroom. No running water. No electricity. No signs of civilization of any kind.

Shoving his phone away, he tamped down the urge to text Lucas. He had a spare charger and if he was desperate, he could charge his phone using Rowe’s truck, but he was trying to make the phone battery stretch as long as possible. Texting Lucas wasn’t going to get him there any faster.