31. Chapter 31

“What’s for dinner?” Carina comes over by Maya at the fire pit. “This is a fancy little set up.”

Maya stands up from her squatted position and wraps any arm around Carina, pulling their sides together. “Hopefully Lane doesn’t mind that I borrowed it.” She reaches out and adjusts the little chain. “Or any of the stuff we brought.” She chuckles. Maya didn’t bother to ask her father if they could use all the camping stuff. She just got up early, after he went to work, and pulled everything up from the basement and threw it in the living room for when Carina showed up.

“And this is?” Carina thinks she could take a guess at the item set up in front of her. It has three legs and is set up over the fire pit. From the top, where the three legs join, is a chain that hangs down in the middle. At the end of the chain, a few inches over the fire, is a circular grill grate.

“It’s for cooking burgers and hot dogs and stuff. Corn. I could’ve gotten fancy and had vegetables but that’s a lot of work. And they would need to have been all cut up and cleaned and wrapped in tinfoil. We could do potatoes. I brought a few of those. You want to keep it simple when camping. Stuff that travels easy. That you don’t have to do a lot of prep with.”

Carina kisses Maya’s temple. “You really do know what you’re doing.”

“Did you doubt me?” Maya clicks her tongue and slips away from Carina’s side.

Carina hums. “A little.” She holds her thumb and index finger an inch apart. “I just didn’t know, bella. I’ve never been camping before. I don’t know what’s involved.”

Maya nods. “Usually, lunch is just sandwiches or something you don’t have to cook. That way you don’t need a fire. Dinner is when you start the fire and keep it going until it gets dark, sitting around the fire, having smores or just sitting around it.” Maya was only ever allowed one smore per night. “Enjoying. Relaxing.” She goes over to the cooler and gets out the hamburger patties. “You freeze this bad boys before you go. So they don’t spoil over the course of a few days. These ones I didn’t freeze cuz I knew I’d be using them the first night. Do you want one or two?” She holds up the hamburger patties for Carina to see.

The walk down to the river in the afternoon was more than a walk, and Carina is more hungry than if it had been a casual walk. “Two, please.” Carina tucks her hands together behind her back and licks her lips, salivating at the thought of a yummy hamburger. “Do you have cheese?”

Maya furrows her brow. “Cheese?”

Carina nods. “For the burgers. Duh.”

“Oh.” The blonde shakes her head. “No, sorry.” She never gets to have cheese on her burgers so Maya didn’t think to bring any. She doesn’t usually get much other than the burger itself and a few condiments like ketchup and pickles and lettuce. So, no bun but she had her mom buy buns for this camping trip.

“Did you want potatoes or corn? Tomorrow we will have whatever you don’t pick today. I also brought hot dogs. We can have those tomorrow. There’s also rice.”

Carina is very impressed. “You’ve got this all planned out.”

Maya ducks her head. “Yeah. Sorry.”

Carina chuckles. “It’s fine bella. I’m fine with eating whatever you’ve got planned. You’re the expert here. I trust you. You’re in charge of keeping me fed and hydrated and safe.”

Maya looks up and gives Carina a shy smile. “So hamburgers and corn?”

“Si. Perfetto.” Carina grins.

“We have to prep the corn first.” Maya brings the hamburgers back to the cooler and gets two ears of corn. “Have you ever done this?” She holds an ear out to Carina.

Carina raises an eyebrow. “What exactly?” She takes the cob.

“De-hair the corn.” Maya grins, knowing now that Carina hasn’t. “Maria spoils you.” She shakes her head lightly.

Carina scoffs. She likes to think she knows how to cook but really, she just mostly knows how to make breakfast foods and warm up all other meals in the oven. The prep work and actually putting together of a dish are mostly foreign to her. She can’t really put up any argument though, Carina has none. “Show me, bella.” She near whispers.

“Peel back the leaves.” Maya starts peeling. “If a few of the outer leaves fall off that’s okay. But don’t pull them off. The leaves will protect the corn from burning while it’s on the grill.” She shows Carina how to peel them back. “At home you could soak the corn/leaves in water for a bit to moisten them.”

Carina makes a face. “Moisten.”

Maya looks over and grins. “No bueno?”

Carina grins at Maya’s Spanish and comes back in Italian. “Non buono.”

“Moisten.” Maya bites her lip after saying the word.

Carina shakes her head. “It sounds so gross.”

“Moisten.” Maya says with a little giggle.

“STOP.” Carina whines.

Maya laughs. “Here.” She shows Carina her corn cob as she gets down to the final few leaves. “You can see the hairs now.”

“Woah.” Carina bends forward, looking at Maya’s corn. She not nearly as far along with pulling her leaves back but stops altogether to look at the hairs.

Maya starts pulling the hair off and throwing it in the fire. She finishes and folds the leaves back over the corn. “Ready to go.” She looks at Carina’s corn cob. She isn’t even to the hairs yet. “Here.” She reaches for the cob to do it herself.

“No.” Carina pulls the cob away, turning away from Maya. “It’s mine.”

“Fine.” Maya huffs. “I was just offering.”

“I want to do it myself.” She pouts.

Maya sighs, rolling her head to the side. What they are doing right now is dumb, boring, mundane. It’s an everyday sort of thing. Preparing and cooking a meal. It shouldn’t give Maya warm fuzzies or butterflies, but it does. She thinks it shouldn’t make her feel so good, but again it does. It feels good and right and warm and lovely.

She watches Carina peel and pull until the cob is free from hair and ready to go. “Now we cook.” Maya holds out her hand for Carina’s cob once it’s ready. “These will take longer than the burgers and will have to be turned multiple times and watched so they don’t catch on fire.” Maya adjusts the grill so it’s right over the fire.

Carina watches as Maya toys with the grill grate and the corn and the fire. The blonde seems to be thoroughly enjoying what she’s doing. Carina takes note of that. She doesn’t know if she would be sticking her hand in the fire pit and turning a log over and adjusting it. “Be careful Maya.”

Maya lifts her hand from the fire and makes a grabby hand at Carina. “My glove will protect me.” She has a fire resistant glove on her left hand and tongs in her right. “I’ve got this.”

Carina’s eyes move to where one of the jugs of water that they brought is sitting. Just in case.

Dinner is cooked without incident. And also eaten without incident. Maya stokes the fire after they eat and then they both clean up from dinner, putting everything away except for the marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars.

They have some marshmallows and smores as day turns into night. Carina is a little apprehensive as dark falls over them. Something about not being able to see their surroundings has Carina uneasy. “Can we go in the tent now?”

Maya looks over, turning her attention from the fire to Carina. “Sure.” The fire lights up Carina’s face and Maya see the worry on Carina’s face. “Okay.” She gets up and holds out her hand for Carina.

Carina gets up from her lawn chair. “What about the fire?”

She hadn’t planned to go to bed this early and had just put another log on the fire fifteen minutes ago. “I’ll let it die down a little and take care of it later.” There’s no use in wasting water on a raging fire. It’ll be much better if it dies down and is smaller and she can pour only a few ounces on it to put it out.

Carina enters the tent first. “When did you do this?” She looks at the sleeping bags, using the flashlight in her hand to illuminate them.

“While you were digging through the car to find your headphones.” Maya smiles.

“Oh.”

The sleeping bags have been opened up and then zipped together.

“Mason and I used to do this when we were little. We would have our own and sleep on this air mattress and one of us would usually slide off onto the hard ground in the middle of the night and it would always turn into an argument and fight about pushing the other off on purpose. Lane, he, uh- did this. And told us no more fighting. We did it every time after that. We would sleep together in the big sleeping bag. That way no rolling or pushing or falling off happened.”

“That’s cute.” Carina grins.

Maya ducks her head. “It’s embarrassing.” Her ears heat up because of it. Sleeping in the same sleeping bag as her brother until she was, like, thirteen isn’t cute.

Clicking the flashlight off, dark overtakes the tent, and Carina pulls her shirt and shorts off. The glow of the fire out the front of the tent providing a little bit of illumination but not much.

“Woah.” Maya gulps as she watches Carina slip into the big sleeping bag.

“Your turn.” Carina settles, the sleeping bag tucked up under her chin.

“Yes. My turn.” The nerves wrack Maya’s body as Carina keeps her eyes on her. That damn brunette and the things that she makes Maya feel. The thrill of the adventure and possibility are present as well. She toys with the hem of her shirt. Her eyes linger on the sleeping bag and the form of Carina’s body inside it.

“Come lay with me.” Carina whispers softly. She can see the hesitation in Maya. Where just this afternoon they were making out like the horny teenagers they are, now Maya is hesitant with what is presented. Carina has seen this before and knows Maya is getting caught up, thinking too much about different scenarios and how they might play out. She thinks it’s endearing, but also wishes Maya could be a little more fluid when different, new, scenarios present themselves.

Maya stands there for a moment more, but her hands move from the hem of her shirt, sliding up to the buttons and slowly unbuttoning each. She looks down and watches her fingers as they work.

“Are you going to give me a little strip tease?” Carina teases.

Maya looks over at the brunette with a crinkle in her brows. She then bites her lip and shakes her head, and the buttons are finally undone. She shrugs the shirt off, it falling to the floor in a crumple. Next, comes the shorts. This, them in various states of undress isn’t exactly new, but having Carina watch her as she undresses is a little nerve wracking. No one has ever paid as much attention to Maya as Carina does. She reminds herself of that right now, switching her thinking. Carina only cares. Carina only wants good things for her, for them. So, with that, the nerves fade into the background of her mind. Still there, but not the main focus.

She quickly unfastens the button on her shorts and slips them off. Maya takes the few steps she needs to get to the head of the slipping bag. She gets down on her knees, hovering over Carina’s face. She puts her palms on Carina’s cheeks and leans down for a kiss. First, her lips to Carina’s forehead and then her lips on Carina’s lips, upside down. It’s a little weird at first. The opposite direction kiss a tad more interesting to maneuver.

Carina giggles. “Like in Spiderman.”

“What?” Maya sits up a little.

“Except without the rain.” Carina looks up and back at Maya. “In Spiderman where Mary Jane is being chased down at alley by a group of men and Spiderman is watching from the rooftops.  Spidey fights off the bad guys that are trying to attack her. But then he disappears and then reappears upside down. She pulls down his mask just enough to reveal his lips and then they kiss while he is hanging upside down.”

Maya hums. “Never seen it.”

“What? Really? We have to watch it sometime.”

“Okay.” Maya agrees easily.

Carina wraps her hands around Maya’s wrists removing the blonde’s hands from her face. “Get in here, Spidey.” She then releases the wrists and scoots over to one side, giving Maya room to slide into the sleeping bag.

Carina reaches over as Maya settles at her side. She rubs her hand over the side of Maya’s head, sweeping her hair back away from face, leaving her hand there cupping her ear afterward. “Hey, bambina.” She mumbles quietly.

“Hello, Carina.” Maya tells her. “Do you want something?”

The Italian laughs heartily.

Maya turns onto her side. “I love your laugh.” She runs her hand over Carina’s stomach, walking her fingers up and down Carina’s far side.

Carina stops laughing. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Maya presses her lips to Carina’s cheek and then moves down to her shoulder, placing several soft kisses there. Her right hand, on Carina’s ribs roams further up her side. The cover of night, and the security of the sleeping bag around them, has Maya releasing the hold she had on herself.

Sometimes, it’s like this fight inside of her. Between what she wants and what is can do or have. It stems from training and repetitive mantras being drilled into her for years and years and years. The ability to just let go, for Maya, isn’t a natural one anymore. The ability to just feel and be had been removed from her for the longest time. But with Carina, she feels it again. Even if she has to remind herself to relax and let go of that control sometimes.

She hooks her index finger under Carina’s bra strap. “Can we take this off?” She whispers in Carina’s ear.

Carina hums. “We?”

Maya shrugs her right shoulder. “We. You. Whoever.” She doesn’t want to be presumptuous and say herself, but also, herself.

“You.” Carina wiggles her eyebrows.

“Me.” Maya rolls her eyes.

“I’ll do yours, if you do mine.” Carina offers.

“Oh.”

“Unless that’s-“ too much. Carina swallows the words.

“No. It’s not.” Maya just hadn’t thought about herself. She thought about Carina and getting her bra off but not a lot more than that. There is something about the idea of undressing Carina or watching Carina undress that has Maya intrigued today. Her thoughts are focused more on Carina right now than herself. “Sit up.” She whispers.

Carina pushes up onto her elbows and Maya slips her hand between Carina’s back and the sleeping bag. Maya’s eyes focus on the right side of Carina’s face, her right cheek, as she unhooks the clasp. Her fingertips tickle across Carina’s back as she removes her hand.

Carina tries not to fidget too much. She feels restless and she wants to wrap herself around Maya and never let her go. She feels entirely too much right now. It’s like a system overload. She can joke around and try to get Maya flustered all she wants; but when it comes to the thought of Maya undressing her, giving her body undivided attention, and taking her to pure ecstasy, she’s a damn mess.

She reaches over, turning onto her side, slipping her hand over Maya’s waist, and finding the bra hooks on Maya’s back, releasing them. Carina’s fingers find Maya’s bra strap, pulling it down from her shoulder as she moves her hand back towards the front of their bodies. Her eyes roam Maya’s face and neck and shoulders through the darkness. The rest of her body out of view, wrapped underneath the sleeping bag.

“Maya.” She whispers.

Maya snaps her eyes up to find Carina’s. She had her stare focused on a spot over Carina’s shoulder on the far wall of the tent. Carina smiles that tiny soft smile of hers. The one that Maya hasn’t seen Carina smile towards anyone else, so she knows it’s reserved just for her. It gets Maya to focus on Carina again, forgetting about the fact that Carina is taking her bra off.

“Eyes only on me.” Carina whispers.

Maya inhales shakily. Her whole body shudders.

“What? What’s wrong?” Carina feels it.

“My-“ She shakes her head. Lane always tells her eyes forward. All the time. That the only thing that matters is the finish line. Here he is again ruining something between her and Carina.

“Hey.” Carina forgets the bra and brings her hand to Maya’s cheek. “It’s okay, bambina. We don’t have to do this.”

Maya closes her eyes. Just for a moment and takes a deep breath. “Say it again.” She thinks if Carina says the words again, she can wrap around them in a different way. In a way that is only for Carina.

Carina wrinkles her brow. “What?”

“Say it again.” Maya says quickly, trying not to panic.

“Eyes only on me?” Carina isn’t sure what’s going on.

“Again.”

“Eyes only on me.”

Maya puts her right hand on Carina’s hip and rolls into her body, pushing Carina onto her back.

“Oh.” Carina looks up at Maya now. Maya shrugs her bra off and settles her legs between Carina’s. She finds the material covering Carina’s chest yet and slips it off with Carina’s help. Then, Maya settles further, slipping her hand under Carina’s armpits, her palms on the brunette’s shoulders from underneath. Lowering her chest, until she feels her skin meet with Carina’s.

“Oh god.” Carina moans as Maya’s chest presses against her own. Her hands find Maya’s back, fingernails pressing into soft skin.

Maya moans too. Deep. So deep. Her eyelids shut. She thought she knew what this would feel like. The sensation of them skin to skin, chest to chest, but this is so much more than Maya thought. They’ve shared hugs and cuddles and held each other before. There have been times when there were no shirts and just a bra or bikini, so Maya thought she would know what this felt like. But it’s more. She can feel Carina’s heartbeat and she knows her own is beating equally as wildly. Carina is warm and soft and squishy and solid all at the same time. And when Maya shifts a little and her nipples rub against Carina’s, she feels it between her legs.

“You feel amazing.” Carina whispers.

Maya opens her eyes and looks down at Carina. They spend a millisecond locking eyes before Maya connects their lips in a slow kiss. Soft, gentle, with no rush or trepidation. Just lips locking together casually over and over.

Carina hooks her legs over Maya’s. Her hands finding Maya’s ass after a little bit, squeezing and rubbing over the panties, her skin, and then slipping her fingers underneath the elastic, gripping Maya, urging her on. When Maya rolls her hips, Carina moans into their kiss.

After a little bit, Carina hooks her fingers into the sides of Maya’s panties. “Off.” She mumbles into their kiss.

Maya nods, detaching her lips from Carina’s. She gets to her hands and knees, shuffling up a little as Carina slips the material down her legs. Higher until her breasts hang over Carina’s face. When lips attach to a nipple Maya nearly collapses on top of Carina. Her arms shake as Carina’s sucks, her tongue flicking over the nub. She looks down and watches with staggered breathes.

Carina releases her after a moment and Maya settles back down to a glorious smirk on Carina’s lips. “I’ve wanted to do that for the longest time.”

“You like my boobs.” Maya shakes her head.

“I love your boobs.” Carina bites her lip. She runs one hand up Maya’s back, into her hair, cradling the back of her head, and pulling Maya into another kiss. This one more hurried and heated then their previous languid exchanges.

Carina braces herself with her left arm, the other wrapped around Maya protectively, and rolls them over. She needs to be on top. She needs to get her underwear off. She needs to be able to feel all of Maya with all of herself.

Maya’s hand finds Carina’s waist giving her a gentle squeeze; slightly surprised with the change but not unpleasantly so.

The Italian gets to her knees, the sleeping bag forced open further, unzips some from the edges. She reaches down and slips her underwear down her thighs until they are at her knees. She lays back down on top of Maya before rolling onto her side and shimmying out of her underwear completely. They find the bottom corner of the sleeping bag, forgotten.

She throws her left leg over Maya’s legs, pressing herself against Maya’s hip with a low moan. And Maya doesn’t know what to do with herself as Carina smirks at her and rubs herself against her thigh and hip. Eventually, she pulls Carina in for a kiss.

Carina’s fingers toy with Maya’s right nipple as they kiss. That hand eventually finds a place on Maya’s side, against her ribs.

Everything that Carina does has Maya growing increasingly aroused. Even the simplest of touches. So much so that she can feel the wetness between her legs seeping onto other surfaces. She is absolutely throbbing and more than ready to be touched. But as Carina moves against her, she gets distracted a bit. Her own wants and needs battling with her want to explore and enjoying more of Carina’s body. She reaches down with her right hand, slipping it along Carina’s arm and then finding her hip. She gives the brunette a soft squeeze, and then pulls Carina’s hip tighter to herself.

Carina moans and grinds against Maya for a moment before the hand on her hip is pushing her away. “Wha-“ But then that same hand is moving and pressing against her, slipping through incredibly wet folds and Carina is moaning in a different way. “Maya.” She draws the name out. She lifts her leg, her heel pressing into the air mattress allowing Maya more access. She closes her eyes as Maya strokes over her, resting her forehead against the side of Maya’s head as she starts to rock against those wonderful fingers.

They work on a gentle rhythm until Carina is panting in Maya’s ear. Until her back is arching. Until she presses against those fingers as hard as she can as she tumbles over that edge. Her grip on Maya’s side loosens from it’s tight hold as she relaxes against the blonde.

Maya’s hand finds Carina’s hip again, holding Carina there as she presses kiss after kiss to the brunette’s forehead.

Carina groans as she recovers. She blinks lazily as her fingers stroke up and down Maya’s side. They leave that side and move south, stroking over Maya’s hip, and then thigh, before working inward. She has to shift to get a different angle and when she does Carina moans as her most sensitive parts pull away from Maya’s skin, leaving a sticky trail between them.

She throws her leg over both of Maya’s, straddling her while she leans on her right arm to hold herself up a little so she can keep her other arm between her body and Maya’s.

Maya holds her hands to Carina’s shoulders at first. They move down the Italian’s back and find her ass; trying to pull Carina down on top of her so that they are pressed against each other. Now that she knows what that feels like, she wants to feel it over and over again. Everything feels so much all at once for her. It’s often like that when it comes to Carina.

Carina keeps the little bit of space between them, though. She sets a smooth pace. Alternating between Maya’s clitoris and her entrance. Rubbing and stroking as Maya wiggles about beneath her. The muscles in Maya’s legs tensing and then releases and repeating as she tries not to squirm around too much.

“Carina.” Maya begs, her voice strained.

The brunette leans in and kisses Maya, licking against her lips until Maya allows her entrance. Tilting her head to the side slightly, Carina kisses her hard, openmouthed. She slips one finger into Maya as she does so. The blonde bucks her hips and Carina smirks, satisfied. She enjoys seeing and feeling all the different ways that Maya reacts to her touch, to her kiss, to her feelings.

She adds a second finger and strokes and curls at Maya from the inside, trying to work her higher and higher. Closer and closer. To see if she can get Maya to come with vaginal penetration alone.

And Maya pants and moans and arches but- “Car-“

Carina nods and rests her forehead against Maya’s. Her thumb comes into the mix, swiping over Maya’s clit a few times. It has Maya arching up into her. She circles the little nub a few times, stilling her fingers inside Maya to focus on that little spot. She strokes faster and faster as Maya’s breathing becomes more erratic, an indication that she is close.

Maya brings a hand up from Carina’s ass, the back of her thigh, and slips it into the hair at the side of her head, curling her fingers as she moans out loudly as she comes undone.

Carina feels Maya clench her fingers and stares down at her in wonder. The blonde clenching over and over as she rides out her orgasm. This is quickly becoming Carina’s favorite thing; watching Maya as she reaches that high, as she goes through the feelings, as she reacts.

When Maya pulls her head away, looking off to the side; Carina sinks lower, slipping her hand from between Maya’s legs. Her hands grip at Maya’s hips as she lowers herself to rest her hips between Maya’s legs.

Laying on her back, Maya puts a hand on her forehead, her eyes closed, her breath ragged as Carina presses kisses to her collarbone, her chest, her neck, her cheek. When she gets close enough, Maya wraps her arm around Carina’s head, turning her face, and kissing Carina briefly before needing to breathe again.

Carina shifts, rolling over onto her back, pulling her legs from between Maya’s, and smiling in pure delight. Whether it’s the darkness of night, or the isolation of the tent in the woods, or something else they ended up without any clothes on between the layers of the two sleeping bags that are zipped together. And no matter what else happens on their camping trip, Carina will consider it a success.

“You know what the best part about this is?” Maya asks a few minutes after a mind altering orgasm.

Carina has an answer for that. It’s easy. Being close to Maya and being able to see her face as she reaches her orgasm and being able to share experiences with the person she’s in love with.

But Maya says. “That we can’t get pregnant.”

Carina laughs, hard. “Seriously?”

Maya grins at Carina’s laughter. “Yeah. Why?”

“I thought you were going to say something sweet.” Carina tickles her fingers over Maya’s thigh.

“Oh.” Maya furrows her brow together.

Carina doesn’t think Maya is entirely wrong though. “It is a plus to not have to worry about, though. You’re right about that.”

“What did you want me to say?” Maya thinks back.

“I don’t know.” Carina shrugs. “Something like how great it is to be close to each other in different ways. Or to have these shared experiences.”

Maya hums, trying to think of something romantic and heartfelt to say. “Carina, I love you. I didn’t know what love was. I had this, like, messed up version in my head but I didn’t know. I didn’t know what patience was. You’ve showed me so much of both. I feel so lucky that you are a stubborn Italian who wouldn’t take no for an answer. You saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. For that, I will be forever thankful. I’m so happy now that I didn’t realize that I was unhappy before. I was just going through the motions. The same regimen every day. Getting up early, training, going to school, practice or training, homework, going to bed and repeating it all again the next day. Nothing changing.” Maya rambles a little as she runs her hand over Carina’s ribs, pausing to look into warm brown eyes.

“I love you, Maya. You’re so amazing. You just didn’t see it. I hope you do now.” Carina sighs.

Maya nods. “The feelings that I have for you are big. They’re huge. They could have been overwhelming. But because you are so easy, they weren’t.”

“Easy?”

“Yeah.” Maya nods. “Doesn’t this feel easy. Between us. Almost effortless. Comfortable.”

Carina rolls into Maya’s side, her lips find Maya’s cheek, and then her nose, and then her lips. “I’ve never felt so at ease with another human.”

“Exactly.” Maya grins. “So, yeah. I love you and I have lots of big warm gooey sappy feelings for you. But don’t tell anyone.”

Carina chuckles. “You’re so articulate.” She twirls some of Maya’s hair around her fingers.

“Shut up. I want to hear you do better.”

A challenge. Carina always rises to a challenge. “Maya Bishop. Stubborn. Independent. Strong. Fast. Maya Bishop. When you said we couldn’t be friends, I was devastated.”

Maya frowns and feels an ache in her chest at how much that hurt Carina.

Carina props up Maya’s lips with her index finger and thumb, turning her frown upside down. “I was devastated because I liked you. I wanted to know you. You are a mystery. Very intriguing. Alluring. Then I got to know you and I couldn’t not know you. And I unlocked your heart and, bella, it’s so beautiful.”

“You give yourself a lot of credit.” Maya smirks, joking.

“You, also, gave me a lot of credit.” Carina tilts her head to the side. “But you did all the work. That, this, we were only possible because you allowed it to be. You.” Carina pokes her finger into Maya’s chest. “You’re beautiful and brave and bold. You inspire me to be all those things.”

“Really?” Maya interrupts.

“Si.” Carina nods. “I loved you for a long time before I told you.”

“Really?” Maya sits up a little.

Carina chuckles lightly. “Yeah, bella. You’re very lovable in my eyes.”

Maya blushes and lays back down. “Oh.”

“You’re so cute when you’re shy.” Carina pulls Maya tightly to her chest. “Very cute. And very sexy.” They lay like that for a couple of minutes, hands roaming and stroking over body parts softly.

Maya pushes herself up a little, feeling the sticky moisture of their adventures as she retreats from the sleeping bag. “My mom is going to have to wash these.” She mumbles.

Carina giggles and bites her lip.

“We are going to have to lay in our own filth.” She continues.

Carina watches as Maya reaches for her button down and shrugs it on, buttoning a few of the buttons in the middle. “Not filth.”

Maya tilts her head to the side.

Carina shakes her head. “Not filth. The essence of our love and passion.”

“Jesus, you’re a sappy romantic, aren’t you?”

Carina shrugs, looking down, blushing a little. “It’s, uh, natural. The, uh-”

Maya chuckles. “I know it is.” She leans in, putting a hand on Carina’s cheek. “I love you.” She says the moment before she presses her lips to Carina’s. “You are so-“ Maya hums. “Fucking smart. You know so much.” She references sex stuff in a medical sense and also a practical sense. “Will you teach me all you know?” Maya licks her lips.

Carina nods as she bites her lip. “You know stuff too.” She feels incredibly vulnerable right now with the incredible way Maya is making her feel. “Like, about camping and running.”

The blonde clicks her tongue. “I’ll be right back.” Maya shuffles the rest of the way out of the sleeping bag.

She watches Maya move through the tent towards the door. “Aren’t you going to put any pants on?” Carina leans up onto her elbows, watching Maya’s silhouette in the glow of the fire behind her.

Maya doesn’t answer the question. She steps out of the tent, into her boots, and walks off to get a jug of water from the car. There’s no one around and it’s dark. The cover of night enough for her to be confident in her movement in putting out the fire and making a pit stop to relieving herself before returning to the tent.

She comes back and pulls a pair of clean underwear on and slips back into the sleeping bag.

They settle in for sleep, but Carina can’t get to sleep. As soon as she starts to drift off, she hears a noise outside the tent. She swears to Maya each time that whatever made the noise is just outside the tent and Maya insures her that it’s far away in the distance.

“No. Maya.”

Maya can tell that Carina is actually worried about it. “How about I go out and check?”

“Noooo.” Carina pulls Maya tight to her side. “And get eaten? I don’t think so. You’re staying here.”

Maya kisses Carina’s cheek. “Are you really scared?”

Carina lets out a long sigh. “I just- they’re sounds I haven’t ever heard before.”

“Would it help if I told you what the sounds were?”

Carina doesn’t think it would. That might only give her a different mental image. There’s something about the cover of darkness that makes this experience scarier. Carina wasn’t afraid of the noises in the woods during the day. She also didn’t hear many noises in the woods during the day. But now that it’s silent, all she hears is the river running in the distance and the random animal noises every few minutes. It doesn’t help that all they have for protection is a flimsy tent. She thinks about asking Maya if they can sleep in the car.

“Here.” Maya grabs the edge of the sleeping bag and sinks further into it. “Get in.” She says before ducking her head inside, covering her entire body with the sleeping bag. Carina follows her until they are both covered and completely inside the sleeping bag.

Maya wrinkles up her face. “It smells like sex in here.”

Carina laughs, hard. “That it does.”

There is a hoot off in the distance. “That was an owl.” Maya whispers and rubs her palm over Carina’s bare hip.

“There are probably fox and coyote and snakes. Though I don’t think you would hear a snake. Bunnies, squirrels, little mice. Little critters.” Maya tries to think of everything that she’s seen in the woods.

“And bears.” Carina adds. She knows Maya is trying to name all the little animals and not the big scary ones, like bears.

“There might be. I’m sure there are somewhere. But I’ve personally never heard of one coming by campers here and I’ve never seen one. I do have bear spray though. Just in case.”

Carina groans and scoots closer to Maya. “That’s so reassuring.” Her words dripping with sarcasm.

“You’ll be alright. You’re safe with me.”

Carina sighs. She does feel safe with Maya but- but there’s also predators out in the woods that she knows could tear them to pieces if provoked. “Lay on top of me.” The dark doesn’t help, but the feeling of the sleeping bag covering their entire bodies does. Like she’s hiding and the bears can’t see her in the sleeping bag. Like somehow it might protect her. But having Maya wrapped around her would make Carina feel even better.

“What?”

“You heard me.” She tries to smile but ends up failing. “To feel safe.” She mumbles. As embarrassing as a request, there is something about being totally encompassed by Maya that gives Carina a sense of calm, a sense of security. She thinks it has something to do with the weight and touch.

Maya smiles. “I love you.” She shifts so that she’s mostly laying on top of Carina. “How’s that?”

“Better.” Carina runs her hands up and down Maya’s back. “Thank you.”

Maya hums, she rubs her nose against Carina’s cheek. “I’ll be your big cuddly koala bear.” She loves getting to cuddle with Carina. She doesn’t want to be overbearing, though, so she tries to keep it to a moderate level. But right now, being wrapped around Carina is perfection.

Carina grins at that. “I love you, Maya.” She closes her eyes with a gentle sigh, feeling like she could actually fall asleep now.