Waking up to his warm body against hers was different, but not scary like it might have been before or even should have been in that moment. She found herself wishing she had turned one of the lamps on in the night so she could see what he looked like while he slept.

Did he have a stone hard expression, were his features softened and more boyish? Did his dreams dictate if he smiled or scowled?

At some point in the night, they had shifted so that they both faced the wall. One of his arms was draped over her side and his body curved against hers. Feeling his morning stiffness poking the back of her thigh, her face heated. Not sure if it was because of a dream or what, she wondered how long it would be before he woke up.

There was the option of getting out of bed to explore the door more, see if she would be able to walk out. But she wasn't sure that would be a good move. It wasn’t probable that he’d stay asleep too much longer and she didn’t want to risk anything.

While she waited for him to awake, her mind began another endless journey. It started with the question of why she hadn't tried to open the door. Despite knowing that she would have had the opportunity to run if it had been unlocked, she couldn't even make herself try the doorknob.

She couldn’t come up with an answer except that she was scared. Yeah, it could have been unlocked and she could have gotten out. But just how far would she have gotten? He knew the woods. There was a very good chance that she could have fallen into another trap and met a worse fate than the hole in her foot she'd received before. Running away in the dark made no sense.

But she was never going to get out of the cellar without him during the day. So what other choice was there?

He shifted and tightened his hold on her. His member pushed against her harder.

She let out a soft sigh and tried to lay as still as possible. When he didn't make any noise or other movements, her mind began to drift again.

Maybe the real question didn't concern her actions, or lack thereof, but his. Why had he come into the cellar and left both of the doors open? He had to have known that she would wake up at some point and there was a good chance she would go explore.

Sloane wanted the answer to be that he trusted her, but she knew that wasn't it. This had to be another test. And if it was, then she felt more confident that she'd made the right decision to not even bother with the door.

"Mornin'." His drawl broke her out of her thoughts.

"Good morning." Her words were almost a whisper.

"I overslept." He groaned as he rolled away from her and sat up. His back was now to the wall and his feet rested on the floor.

Unsure of what to say, she just asked. "How do you know?"

"I can see sunlight coming down the stairs."

She propped herself up to look and see that a thin beam of orange light grew in intensity the further from them it reached. "You were going to get up while it was still dark?"

"Yeah."

The idea of waking up so early made her frown as she watched him. She could just see the outline of him as he ran his hands through his hair.

"I gotta get goin'." He stood and stretched, taking weird zombie type steps toward the stairs. "You want something to eat before I leave?"

"Sure."

"See you in a few." This time, he shut the door behind him.

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He had a suspicion that she would explore the house since he'd left the door open. And he knew that she had. What he hadn't been sure about was if she would leave.

The front door had been unlocked.

She had been right to assume that it had been another test. It was one he had debated about, not sure if it was the right time.

Was he prepared to have to hunt her like the others if she left the house?

He was pleased to know that she had decided to stay. Because he had known the answer to that question a long time ago. And he didn’t want to ever have to do to her what he’d done so many times before.

After feeding her bagels and cream cheese with fresh fruit, he had dressed for a trek through the woods. He made sure to shut and lock the cellar door before leaving the house. Just because she hadn't risked anything in the middle of the night didn't mean that she wouldn't in broad daylight. There was no guarantee that even if she had tried to leave, that they’d cross paths.

The humidity was intense and it wasn't even that late. This helped him make the decision to just check a section of the land so that he wouldn’t be out there all day. There were other things he'd rather be doing.

Everything was quiet aside from the small animals making their presence known. He didn't rush around, but instead found himself enjoying his traipse through the woods. Despite the many times he’d navigated his land, this time he found pleasure in doing so; it wasn’t just a necessity.

This must be what Sloane finds appealing about hiking.

He'd never thought to appreciate the way the sunlight dripped through the canopy above him or see the beauty in the various shades of green that surrounded him. The gentle songs of the birds and the rustling dance of the squirrels added to the ambiance.

The traps in that section of the land remained untouched.

Taking his time to enjoy it all, Carter headed back home. A part of him wanted to talk to Sloane about his walk, but he wasn't sure how she would react; irate or unhappy. Besides, she didn't need to know why he was checking his land.

By the time he returned, the sun had begun its descent, casting bright reddish pink and peachy orange hues across the sky. The humidity had died away, but not enough to keep him from feeling sticky.

After a quick shower, he started cooking dinner. He put everything on the tray as usual and went down to her. As soon as he entered the room, he knew something was wrong.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Her words were rushed and she had a weird expression on her face.

"You okay?" He set their food down and stared at her.

"Um…I…please don't be mad." She lowered her head before standing up.

The red spot on the sheets was one to rival the shade of her face.

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