Craved

Renee:

Renee fought a smile. She selected her pebbles and set them back in order, except white on his side and black on hers. She couldn't believe she'd won. No, she wasn't a horrible chess player, but she usually won about half the games she played, depending on her opponent's skill, and Damon had been the best she'd ever faced.

"I learned something playing against you too." She ran a hand over her hair. No doubt, her hair had puffed into frizz ball by now.

"Oh?" His seductive wink made her breath hitch.

"Yes." She set her queen in the square and dusted the dirt off her hands. "Get you to checkmate as soon as possible so you can't knock off my pieces one by one while you chase me around the board."

He laughed, and she was pleased he seemed to be enjoying her company.

While they played, she'd thought to forfeit, since he kept chasing her pieces around the board, taking them one by one. Pride made her continue. She would not yield and admit defeat. He'd have to take it from her. Then she noticed an opening and went for it, figuring the worst outcome was he'd take yet another piece.

He slid his knight across the board, one turn away from taking her queen. Damn, he was going to win. She scanned his pieces, looking for an opening. There, his king was unprotected on one side. She took her bishop, placing it in the diagonal line. "Checkmate."

His wide eyes told her she'd surprised him. Butterflies fluttered inside her. Probably because she mentally knocked him on his ass. Only now, he'd be paying more attention.

"I like you thinking you know how to beat me." He waggled his eyebrows.

She laughed and tossed a pebble at him. "And I do like winning."

They played two more games, and he won both. A tie. This next game would be the tiebreaker if they didn't end in a stalemate. Just as she pushed her third pawn forward, the sound of metal vibrating echoed around her.

Her head jerked up. "What is that noise?"

"Sounds like they're trying to drill us out."

"What time is it?" They'd been playing a while, and her eyelids were heavy while she'd waited for his turn. Now with the sound, she was wide awake. "After eleven. We'll probably be out of here in an hour or so." He nodded to her pack. "You should eat the rest of your protein bar and have your water." "Don't you want any?"

His grin lit up his face, but he didn't look at her with a hunger for food. It gave her a thrill and her heart skipped a beat. Now she suspected what the little pigs felt like when the big bad wolf pounded on their door. Had they secretly craved the wolf to ravage them like she desired Damon to?

"Have your water and food, Renee." He moved to the side gesturing away from the cave entrance. "We'll continue our game like this while we wait."

"Sorry." She dug out her bar. "I'm too hungry and excited we're getting out of here to concentrate to play."

At first, his eyes saddened, but he nodded. "Very well, we'll continue our game another time. After we've both rested and eaten something." He said the words almost as an afterthought.

Forty-five minutes later, gloved hands poked through small openings in the rockslide. "A few more minutes while we stabilize this overhead, and we'll get you out," someone shouted.

"Thank you!" She didn't care if it was almost midnight; Damon promised to buy her a huge burger, fries, and a vanilla milkshake on their way back to camp. Hell, she might even say he should pay for hotel rooms for the night for all of them. She required a full meal, shower, soft bed, and ten hours of undisturbed sleep.

While the firemen worked, she paced the small area. For some reason, it was hot in the cave, so she splashed water on her face from the makeshift water shaft. What did she smell like after not bathing for forty-eight plus hours? Damon, when they nearly made love, had smelled like musk, cinnamon, and pleasure. He didn't stink at all.

"When we get out of here, I'm getting food." Her stomach growled.

"If it is within my capability, I will grant you any wish." He bowed his head.

A mixture of excitement and unease poured through her. Surely, he was as exhausted as her and from the fever most of the day. "Food and a bed."

He raised his eyebrows. "Then we'll head back to camp?"

"Not tonight." She shook her head. "It's over an hour's drive. Let's grab some food, check into a hotel, and crash until tomorrow."

A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. "If that is your wish?"

"Yes."

"Done."

He was granting her wishes? Maybe she should ask for a recommendation letter.

A few minutes later, she crawled out with Damon behind her. The rocks closed off this section of the tunnel for several feet. Parts of the path were so constricting that she had pushed aside thoughts of getting stuck here and never able to move again. But inch by inch they wiggled on their stomachs until they reached an opening, and with a fireman's assistance, she scrambled out of the rock pile and collapsed onto the cave floor. A fireman lifted her to her feet and Carla darted forward, embracing Renee. She squeezed back. Travis clapped her on the shoulder.

Then Damon slinked through the opening and met her eyes. She couldn't look at him the same as before, and her smile widened. Not because of their kiss and nearly sex, but because he kept her calm. He put her needs first and, it seemed, above his own. Clever too; creating a game of the small rocks and pebbles.

Carla said something, and Renee blinked away from Damon's dazzling countenance revealing two faint dimples. If he smiled wider, would they deepen?

"Are you sure you're okay?" Carla asked.

"What? Um, yes. I'm just famished." Renee followed her out of the caves. "How are you all? Did you get trapped in a cave-in like us?"

"No. At the first tremors, Raul ordered everyone to a safe area." Carla swatted at a fly. "When the quake subsided, we did a count and discovered you two missing. Several of the tunnels were collapsed or partially, so it took some time getting to the right one."

"No one was hurt?" Renee asked taking the rock-carved stairs to the tourist center above the tunnels.

"We all made it out fine, but stayed close by in the hotel," Carla said. "When the firemen said they thought they found you both and would reach you tonight, we all came and waited. No matter how long it took."

"Thank you." Renee covered her mouth as she yawned. "Hey, it's late. Let's grab some food and sleep at the hotel."

Damon was listening to a message on his cell phone, but he nodded to Travis and gave him the keys to the bus. They were safe and alive.

Everyone piled into the mini-bus and found a burger joint opened late. No one was getting out into the cool Turkish air, so Travis pulled into the drive-through. After she got her food, Renee ate, not caring if grease dribbled down her chin. Damon, though, only ate a few of Travis's fries. Was he still recovering from his fever?

Her vision still showed Travis as an old man with a large nose, but it seemed to blend now with the image of him as the geeky, tall man she'd met when she first arrived here. Damon still made her shudder with desire. Alluring...an adjective for him. Now though, she noticed a sadness in his eyes.

Before she realized it, all of her food was gone, and her eyes grew heavy. She rested her head on her arm over the seat and dozed. Vaguely she heard Carla talk about sharing hotel rooms.

What felt like a moment later, Damon carried her to a hotel's hallway.

"Ugh! I can stand on my own." She pushed away.

He set her on her feet, and the room spun.

"Careful," he said.

"Which room is mine?"

"The hotel was full-I'll sleep on the bus or go to another hotel." He kept a hand on her back steadying her and leading her down to the end of the hallway. "Right. Carla told me." She stumbled and frowned. "Why did she have to get a room way so far away?" At the door, she tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "About the room arrangements-"

"It's not like we haven't been alone together. Give me the key." She supported her weight against the doorframe before she fell. "I'm tired and going to take a bath." "A bath in your condition is too risky. Take a shower."

"We've been in a stinking cave for days." Her stomach lurched at the thought of how much she must smell. "I have to get clean and then pass out into a bed." "One thing." He pushed past her into the hotel room.

She needed sleep like a sugar addict craved chocolate. Damon went into the bathroom and fiddled with something. A moment later, he breezed past her and out the door. "I've got to take care of a few things. I'll see you later. 'Night." Finally. Peace and quiet. She slipped into the bathroom and let the water run to warm up while she undressed. After looking in the mirror she nearly laughed. Now she understood why he had been so accepting of getting food to go at the burger joint. She was a mess with her hair a nest of tangles with dirt and rock dust. What would she wear to bed? Her clothes were dingy and smelled. A thick robe lay beside the bath. Perfect.

She reached to plug the stopper, but it wasn't there. Frowning, she rose and looked around the tub, then the floor. Had Damon taken the stopper? She almost considered calling the front desk to bring her a spare or something but flipped on the shower while cursing. Oh well, a shower would be quicker, and she could collapse into bed sooner.

The warm water soothed her, and she washed. Maybe Damon was right, and she would have fallen asleep in the bath and drowned. After shutting off the water and she was dried, she put the robe on. A large comb lay beside the hotel supplies. of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap. She brushed her teeth, then her hair, swaying on her feet.

Time for bed. Her eyes drifted closed, and her muscles relaxed as she sank deeper into the bed. Someone came in and immediately got into the shower.

When the chair beside the bed creaked, Renee struggled to wake.