The sun rose, and Roanna rose with it.
Jack was sprawled out in their tent, his arm thrown against Roanna as she listened to the rain thunder down on the vinyl walls surrounding them.
She knew that Ninian and Erin, uncomfortably sharing a tent, would be awake as well.
Whether or not they were talking was a different matter.
Roanna felt for Brianna, stuck all alone in her double tent, praying they would reach the man she loved in time.
Shrugging off her empathy, Roanna dressed quickly before going out into the rain.
It was cold for the Amazon, and almost as soon as she stepped out of the tent it began pouring down in earnest, thundering down on her skin like hail pellets that stung as they struck.
After a few moments Roanna’s hair was soaked and it no longer stung when the raindrops hit her.
The cool water was a much-appreciated repeal from the incessant heat of the day, and Roanna reveled in it.
“Pre-made breakfasts today,” Roanna murmured, then chuckled as she thought of how Jack and Brianna would deal with the downpour.
She trudged through the rain and tapped on the outside of Erin and Ninian’s tent, and grinned when she heard the two of them bickering inside.
“Jesus Christ!” Ninian snarled as she stepped away from the tent, tugging her socks over the hems of her jeans as she did.
Roanna tried to contain her grin as Ninian stepped out of the tent, still fuming.
“Sleep well?” Roanna murmured cheekily.
“Blow me,” Ninian muttered.
Roanna laughed throatily, throwing her head back as she did.
“We should get breakfast ready, Ro. Brianna and Jack are going to wake up soon,” Erin reminded her before stepping out of the tent.
“We won’t be starting a fire any time soon, Erin. Pre-made breakfasts today,” she said.
It was Roanna’s laugh, that full, throaty laugh that spoke of unadulterated joy.
Yes, it was the laugh that woke him from the dead sleep he was in.
And then came the aches. Every muscle in his body seemed to be screaming at him from above and below, berating him for his stupidity that was the day before.
Jack forced himself to suppress the groan he felt rising up as he sat up, surprised to find he was nearly naked. He had no memory of undressing the night before – he had been concerned only with sleeping, as soon and as long as possible.
The laugh sounded again, sneaking through the vinyl surrounding him to tempt him, taunt him.
Roanna.
“So you did it,” he murmured quietly.
Suddenly desperate to feel the rain he heard pattering on the tent, Jack yanked his pack closer to him, then groaned when his muscles protested.
Gentler now, Jack pulled out a new set of clothes, dressing quickly and gently before he slipped his boots on his feet, and tucked his clothes in as Roanna instructed.
Now cautious, he left the tent and stood in the rain for a full thirty seconds before he opened his eyes.
The rain was cold, and thundering. It was so loud Jack was surprised that he could even hear Roanna’s laughter. A glance to where he heard said laughter, Jack saw Roanna, Erin and Ninian standing in a circle, speaking to one another.
![Loved by a Dark Heart [COMPLETED] by Oddchildout](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/13462834-80-k249027.jpg)
Roanna, with her shoulder length auburn hair shot with red, her back to him as she faced Ninian, tall and regal as her cocoa skin glowed against the white of her clothing, and Erin, so beautiful and young, so similar to Roanna in the oddest ways.
The pounding rain masked the sounds of his approach, and Jack smirked sneakily as he approached Roanna.
Roanna heard Jack behind her, no matter what he seemed to think.
The slightest crunch of his boots on the ground, the faint noise of him breathing, the way the rain made different sounds as it pounded against his clothes.
Quick arms snaked around her waist, pulling her against him firmly.
Amused by such a teenager-boyfriend kind of gesture, but nevertheless excited by it, Roanna leaned against him.
“Morning,” he murmured near her ear, his face nestled into her neck.
“Sleep well?” she asked softly.
The rain pouring down on them allowed for some privacy, and Ninian and Erin began to bicker with each other again in seconds.
“Well enough,” he said.
Roanna caught the wince he tried to contain and made a note to use the liniment later in the day.
Brianna ventured from the tent shortly after, and Roanna distributed energy and granola bars throughout the five of them.
“How far away from the site are we?” Brianna asked over the thundering rain.
Roanna cast a worried look to the sky, where the sky bloomed gray behind the triple canopy.
“Two days of hard hiking and we’ll be there,” Ninian said.
Roanna shook her head.
“It’ll take us at least three,” she contradicted, her eyes still on the sky.
Ninian’s eyes followed her, and her own face clouded with the same worry as Roanna’s.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Brianna asked.
“The rain doesn’t seem to be letting up. That means that the mountain will be crumbling,” Roanna said.
“What do you mean?” Jack asked, confused.
“I’ve been around here before. There are a lot of cats and boars, and the shortest way to get there is to go halfway up a small mountain and walk around the edge. That’s two miles on the edge of a mountain, a foot and a half of space to walk on,” Roanna said.
Brianna frowned.
“And if we go around the mountain completely?” Brianna asked.
“A week and a half. Where we go on the edge is tapered, the rest of the mountain is too large,” Ninian explained.
“How does the rain affect us?”
“We have to be more careful,” Roanna shrugged.
“But we can continue?” Erin asked uncertainly.
“Yes. But you have to listen to every word I say. And the same goes for Ninian,” Roanna spoke clearly.
The three people she spoke to nodded, and Roanna nodded to herself with them.
“Let’s pack up. We need to get started before the sun is completely raised,” she said.
They packed up within minutes and began again, the packs heavy on their backs, the ground dangerous beneath their feet.
