Love Me Back (Amelia and Daniel) novel Chapter 320

Amelia’s scalp prickled with terror and she let out an involuntary gasp.

Daniel’s face was grim, his brow furrowed in a deep line. “Don’t sit down yet. There might be more of them.”

Amelia didn’t dare glance at the snake again. She stood frozen, holding her breath, every muscle tense.

Daniel gripped the snake and walked to the corner. He bent down, grabbed a rock, and stepped outside. The patter of rain mixed with the dull thud of stone meeting flesh. When Daniel came back, the snake was gone. He lingered at the entrance, scrubbing his hands clean with rainwater for what felt like forever.

Amelia barely dared to whisper, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Daniel finished washing up, then picked up a long branch and swept it across the cave from left to right, checking every crevice.

“It was probably the flowers that attracted the snake.”

He tossed all the wildflowers outside, then got a fire going near the big rock. The warm, flickering light chased the shadows from the cave, letting Amelia finally exhale and loosen the knot in her chest.

“Sit here,” Daniel said, pointing to a rock. “I wiped it down. And with the fire going, no more snakes will come near.”

Amelia pressed a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breathing. “Thank you.”

Daniel shot her a sidelong look. Now that the crisis had passed, he slipped back into his usual rakish manner. “That’s it? Just a thank you? Nothing a little more… substantial?”

Amelia didn’t want to be rude to her “life-saver,” but he was really asking for it. “We wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t picked this godforsaken spot. You just had to watch the meteor shower from the middle of nowhere.”

“Fine, blame it all on me.” Daniel leaned back on his hands, stretching out his long legs and nudging a branch with his foot. “Wanting a romantic night out with my wife—guess that’s my crime.”

Romance? Right now, it felt more like the two of them were stranded in the wilderness.

Rain hammered the world outside. Inside, the fire crackled, filling the cave with dancing light and the gentle scent of smoke. A hush settled over them. Amelia stared into the flames, losing track of time, until the sky outside turned pitch black. Night had fallen.

“Daniel,” she said, poking the fire with a stick, “did you send out our location? Why is it taking so long for someone to show up?”

“Mm…” His answer was little more than a sleepy murmur, as if he were about to doze off.

In the flickering firelight, she saw two angry red puncture wounds near his wrist.

Her heart lurched. Had he been bitten by the snake?

She felt his forehead again. He was even hotter.

Panic rising, she quickly unclasped his fitness watch and hurried to the cave entrance, holding it up to search for a signal.

Daniel had clearly tried sending their location a few times, but there was no way to know if anyone had received it.

…

Back at the base, Finley was pacing in circles, nerves stretched to the breaking point. Ava, clearly fed up, strode over and gave him a sharp kick.

“Brilliant plan, genius. Now look where it got them. If anything happens, how do you plan to explain this to the Campbell family?”