“Never!” I repeated, attempting to bring the almond to my mouth again. Tuck lowered himself on top of me and grabbed my wrist, halting the almond near my mouth. We wrestled, fighting for the almond as I laughed and squirmed, the grin on Tuck’s face wolfish with excitement.

He pinned my arm and went toward the almond with his mouth as I laughed and struggled, both of us panting and writhing in ways that were dialing my sexual frustration up to a hundred. But I couldn’t deny that I loved it. Fighting with Tuck had always been thrilling, and apparently, I’d never grown out of it. And, if his flushed face and rapid breathing were any indication, he felt the same way. He bit off the almond and I let out a gasp of outrage before he brought his face up, the piece of almond between his straight white teeth. I lifted my hand, realizing he’d split it in half.

“Humph,” I said, and popped the other half in my mouth, both of us chewing and smiling stupidly at each other. “Consider that your payment for helping me get home,” I muttered.

“Paid in full,” he said. Then he chuckled and got off me and held out his hand to help me up.

“Good, now get us out of—” I spotted something over his shoulder. “Oh my gosh, Tuck, look.”

He turned, peering at the spot where I’d pointed. “A tree house.”

I moved around him, hopping over a rotting trunk and rounding a feathery fir, its branches tickling my cheek as I passed. The ladder looked sturdy and didn’t wobble when I shook it, and so I looked over my shoulder at Tuck who had arrived on my heels. “I’m going up.”

“Careful,” he said.

I quickly climbed the ladder, and then crawled into the small space that was a platform surrounded by four short walls that you could hide behind or look over. Just beyond, I could see a row of roofs, proving we weren’t so lost after all.

A cardboard box sat near the corner, and I moved toward it as I heard the sound of Tuck ascending behind me. I looked inside the box and let out a sound of glee.

“What is it?” Tuck asked.

I pulled one of the items out of the box and held it up. “Crackers,” I said and then removed a couple more things. “Spray cheese,” I squeaked, close to crying with joy. “And marshmallows. Beautiful, glorious marshmallows.”

chapter thirty-three

Tuck

“You’re kidding.” But I could clearly see she wasn’t. Holy shit. We’d come across a bounty. I’d been ravenous all day in more ways than I wanted to think about, not able to satisfy any of my myriad cravings. Walking had been a constant torture considering my serious case of blue balls.