“Survival 101,” I responded. “You can live three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. It’s not exact, obviously, but it tells you where to put your priorities. We have some shelter, but it isn’t going to last long if there’s a storm. It’s good enough that we’ll look for a water source tomorrow and then work on building a stronger shelter. After that, we’ll find better food sources.”
“Lindsay always told me she couldn’t live without a shopping mall within five miles of her,” Raine said. “It’s kind of funny how little you really need to live. I wish I had a toothbrush, though.”
“We can make those,” I said. I jumped up and went to a shrub with woody stems. I pulled off a relatively green one and stripped the leaves down so there was nothing but stem. I cut a piece of it off about six inches long and stuck one end in my mouth and started chewing on it. I handed a second one to Raine. After a minute, I pulled it out and showed her the frayed ends. “It works pretty well, actually.”
Raine did the same and was pretty delighted with how well it worked.
“Can you get one of these in mint flavor?” she laughed.
“I doubt it,” I said, “but you really don’t need the toothpaste as much as toothpaste manufacturers want you to believe. It’s the bristles that really do all the work.”
I drank a little more of the water we had collected on the raft and handed the container over to Raine. She drank as well and then looked up at me. She had a strange expression on her face, which I didn’t understand at all.
“We should probably see if it worked,” she said and then quickly moved over to me and caught my lips with hers.
I didn’t give a shit if the makeshift toothbrushes worked or not because Raine’s lips were on me, and that’s all I found particularly noteworthy. I grabbed her by the hips and pulled her closer, reaching into her mouth with my tongue. I had become so accustomed to her scent and taste, they were almost as ingrained in my senses as my own. With her teeth cleaned, she still tasted like my Raine.
My Raine. Where the fuck did that come from?
Raine maneuvered herself onto my lap, placed her hands on either side of my face, and kissed me deeply. She backed off after a minute, her fingers trailing over the now smooth skin on my face. She scowled.
“You don’t like it?” I asked.
“I do,” she said, “but it does make you look very different. I was just wondering how you managed to get it so smooth.”
I pulled out my knife and flipped it open.
“It’s really, really sharp,” I said.
“Makes me wish I had one, too,” Raine said.
“You have something you want to shave?” I cracked a smile, unable to help myself and my wandering imagination.
“I’d love to shave my legs,” she said, a blush suddenly covering her face, “and my…um…armpits.”
She giggled, which made me laugh, too.
“Why the fuck are armpits funny?”
“They aren’t,” Raine said. “I’m pretty glad I’m in your shirt now instead of a bathing suit.”
“I really don’t give a shit,” I told her honestly.
“Well, I do. I guess it’s ingrained in me. The perils of popular female hygiene culture.”
“Let me do it,” I said suddenly. My cock jumped to attention at the thought, though I couldn’t have explained why if someone had asked me. The idea of shaving her was just…hot. Sliding my knife blade over her skin…yeah, I definitely wanted to do that.
“Do what?” Raine asked with her eyes narrowed.
“I’ll shave you,” I clarified. She started shaking her head immediately.
“No way! You give me the knife, and I’ll do it myself!”
“Have you ever shaved with a knife like this?” I argued. “There is no way you wouldn’t end up slicing yourself open, and in case you haven’t noticed, there isn’t a fucking first aid station around. I can do it without cutting you.”
“You are serious, aren’t you?” she asked, her eyes big and round and glaring up at me.
“Very much so.” The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. I looked at her legs, really just noticing that there was a decent amount of hair on them. I didn’t care, so I hadn’t paid attention before. “Let me do it.”