Path to Secrecy

Intimacy

Monday 2.30 am, Bonfire

#190 in Adventure

"I must have overdone the marshmallows."

Two-thirty in the morning. The fire from the bonfire extinguished like crushed dreams, fighting to attain victory. Cadets waved goodbye to those they've met on the night of their first steps in reaching their final goal. The river refused to keep quiet, rumbling away like a wide moulting avalanche. I watched Azalea carry herself up the steps of the cabin, a hand over her stomach and a grimace frowning her lips. I suppressed a laugh, I wanted so hard to release. Just the way she whined and stumbled, it reminded me of the party days where girls dramatically faltered and fainted, not realising the supposed alcohol mixed in the punch was actually Apple Cider. The party days before one of the most precious person to me, vanished from my life. Rahul chuckled expressively, he took one look at me and laughed even harder. My lips were squeezed shut in pain from her rib-tickling appearance, shoulders shaking at a friends' stupidity. My hair was pulled into a tight chignon and I shrugged, before releasing the constriction, letting my hair free. The last of the bonfire sparks doused leisurely and I sighed, the chilliness of the night finally catching up to my numb body. I looked over my shoulder, one last time, admiring nature's beauty and attraction. It was something hard to miss, especially while staying at a Military Base Camp. The only thing you could see all day, unlike the life of the city.

The flutter in my stomach was still there, causing me to take deep breaths to relax my erotic heartbeat. I was aware of someone's eyes on me. Travelling down until they left a lava trail, too hard to eradicate. I wanted to bite my lip at the feeling. Such a sensual feeling, I wondered whether these feelings should be permitted or not. Especially during this moment where I worked hard to avenge my father's death. I flipped around, avoiding the gaze of an attractive male, slipping past him without a word. His jumper engulfed my hands and I bunched up the extended material in my palms, failing to turn around to see if he was behind me or still bumming a cigarette, the spark of it hard to go unnoticed against the dusky night.

"Going to bed that early?"

I paused up the hill, fidgeting with the material in my hands. Sidling them by my sides, I flipped around, a flock of my bangs falling into my eye. "What have you got in mind?"

He shrugged carelessly, the white smoke escaping his lips before vanishing in thin air. I gulped, resisting the urge to see the lips up close. He blinked in concentration, tapping the stick between two fingers, ashes rolling onto the ground before disappearing. "Nothing? Just a simple question. Are you going to bed this early?"

I raised my eyebrows, somewhat challenged at the question. Sighing, I pushed the hair away, prancing back to a spot in front of him, watching as he tossed the cigarette on the floor, no move to extinguish its burning effect. "Early?" I prevented the smile, licking them instead. Angus took the second to smile, looking down at me with an interested gaze. "Define late."

He smirked, an actual smirk that had me wondering why it hadn't appeared earlier. I bit my cheek, the shape of my cheekbone reflecting in his caramel coloured eyes with the technique of the moonlight. "It's never too late." He gulped, his Adam's apple bopping against his skin so smoothly. I watched all the moves. The way he blinked, the way he smirked, the way he smelt. Despite a partial reek of smoke, a cologne I'd grown fond of in the past couple of hours caused me to sigh of comfort, eye him like he was a piece of meat.

"Well, it's late for me." I breathed, rubbing at the tip of my ice cold nose.

He snorted, blinking at me in a rare way, an expression I'd never seen before since the day I first met him. "It's funny when you say that. You look just about ready to take a hike in the mountains."