The beach was the last place that he wanted to be!

As eager as he was to leave he had to wait for those over by the fire to fall asleep before he and Kim could slip away.

He glanced down at Kim. She was as beautiful as the lush tropical petals of a rare flower in full bloom. The glasses perched on her nose only added a level of cuteness to her that was unexpected, even as it was sexy.

Gently he grasped the rims of the glasses and slipped them off her face so they didn't press into her face as she slept. Looking at her now, as she slept, he felt a level of protectiveness sweep over him as he had never felt before for another human being.

He'd keep her safe. He'd make her his woman too, but that would come later. Right now he had to focus on just keeping them both alive.

Tiredly he let his eyes close as he leaned back against a tree along the forested edge of the beach. He drifted into the realm of restful unconsciousness, but his battle tested senses of perception never really went to sleep. He was asleep, with one eye open so to speak.

*****

I blinked my eyes open. Oh no, where were my glasses?

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I relaxed as my fingers found them folded on the cushion before me. I slipped them on and took in my surroundings.

It never seemed to get dark here. It was always this hazy orange glow.

It was impossible to tell what time it was, but instinctively I knew that several hours had gone by since I had been last awake. Then in a panic stricken moment I realized that Colt was gone!

I abruptly sat up and was about to call out, when a big hand closed over my mouth and I was drug bodily backward into the jungle vegetation behind me. I was about to let an elbow loose into my unknown captor, when I smelled him and sensed who it was that held me.

Not sure why, I felt myself relax in the knowledge that it was Colt who held me. His face came into view as his fingers came away from my mouth. There was such a sense of expectant wariness about him that I didn't dare speak.

My skin prickled with sensation, as a chill swept through me, as I wondered vainly at what my city noise conditioned senses were missing out on. One finger came up to his lips and I nodded in silence.

His hand reached out and pressed my glasses more firmly onto my face. It was an odd gesture and I wasn't prepared for his further contact of me, when he leaned in close and whispered directly against my ear, "Follow me if you want to live."