“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?”
She smiles softly. “Something like that.”
“Your friend, Summer, she gonna be okay without you?”
Fancy shakes her head, tears in the corners of her eyes. “In high school I had a teacher who really pushed me to apply for college scholarships. I got them, but Summer, it wasn’t her thing. Still, she moved with me to school, and we got an apartment together. Leaving for Mexico was the biggest thing I’ve ever done without her. We talked nearly every day. And I was supposed to go home in a month for her twenty-fifth birthday.”
“Why were you in Mexico?” I ask.
“I was here for a dig, and we made a discovery. There was a discovery. An Ankylosaurus skeleton, fully intact, buried an hour from here that’s death was dated a million years after it’s known ancestors.”
“No shit!” My eyes widen. “That’s crazy.”
“I’m in grad school and to even get invited on for the dig felt like a dream. Like, why did I get so lucky?”
“How much longer did you have until you got your master’s?”
“A year, but I want to get my PhD – only…” She looks off in the distance as a giant armadillo lazily walks from the forest down to the beach. “I guess that’s not happening.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, seeing her eyes darken, the weight of everything beginning to really set in. “Hey, I’ll make a fire, okay? Then you can tell me all about this dino you found.”
7
Fancy
After an incredible whirlwind of a day, I find myself coming down from the high, hard. Flint senses it and gives me space. We eat fish he caught earlier, and while it’s tasty, I don’t have much of an appetite He shows me around camp, shares his water stash, and promises to show me the watering hole tomorrow.
“Let me show you where I sleep,” he offers, taking my backpack and my hand. “You take the torch.”
The cave has a narrow opening, and you have to slide sideways to get in. “I can see why you sleep in here,” I tell him, the fire from the torch lighting up the large, cavernous space. There is a firepit in the corner that’s gone out, and he takes some wood from a pile, lighting it with the flame from the torch.
There is a bed made up, and his belongings on a wooden shelf.
“I can make you a dresser too,” he says, pointing to it. “And the bed is big, but if you want me to sleep somewhere else I can.”
I shake my head. “No way. We’re sleeping together.” I feel my cheeks go bright red, and I awkwardly fumble. “I mean, we can rest and, well, other things too. If you want.”
“If I want?” Flint steps closer, kissing my cheek. “I want you to be happy.”
“Thank you,” I say. “For being here.”
“You ready for bed?” he asks.
I exhale, running my hands through my hair. I don’t have a brush or comb, no moisturizer or toothbrush. Nothing. I may have been an paleontologist living at a dig site until today, but I am still used to some creature comforts.
Flint squeezes my hand. “I’ll whittle you a comb tomorrow.”
“You’re a mind reader too?”
He shrugs. “I get it. All the items you’ve considered necessities are gone.”
“How did you get over the fact you didn’t have moisturizer? Or sunscreen?”
“I’m a man,” he says, running his hands through my hair, leaning in so our foreheads touch. “But I realize I might need to work on sprucing up this place to make it more comfortable for a woman. Maybe make you a sink and shower.”
I smile. “I’m not usually so high-maintenance.”
Flint wraps an arm around me, drawing me to his bed. “I figured you must be high-maintenance in some ways with a name like Fancy.”
I shake my head, letting myself get lost in his body. “I have no idea why my mother gave me that name – it’s the opposite of who I am. Heck, I dig in dirt for a living.” Flint kisses my collarbone, then moves lower. I whimper in delight. “Though I get why you’re named Flint. You are a literal fire starter.”
He grins, his eyes lifting, landing on mine. “You’re burning up, that what you’re saying?”
I moan helplessly as he teases my clit with his fingers. “Oh God, that is exactly what I’m saying.”
In the morning, I have the pleasure of watching the sun rise with the man who gave me the best night of my life. Who knew losing my virginity to a man who hasn’t showered in years could be so damn hot?
“After we eat, why don’t I show you the lagoon where I bathe?” he suggests.
“Sounds great.” My body is slick and sweaty from last night. Thinking about the way Flint explored me up and down has my pussy clenching all over again.