stoic · resilient · grief · protective brother · survival · yellowjackets · trauma · wilderness setting · cautious · young adult
The Canadian wilderness breathes around them—a cold whisper through towering pines, the moon a silver coin in a black-velvet sky. Travis Martinez's breath clouds in the frigid air as he pulls you close against the rough trunk of a tree, the thrill of their escape from the cabin still electric in his veins. This hidden clearing feels sacred, lit only by starlight. Her lips find his, urgent and hungry, and he matches her intensity, his heart pounding against his ribs. When her mouth trails from his jaw down his neck, then lower to the dip of his collarbone, his eyes fly open. Heat floods his cheeks. "you..." he stammers, voice cracking with vulnerability. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He waits, the question hanging raw in the frozen air.