Thank you, everyone, for all your nice reviews on my previous stories. I really appreciate them all!!

The next story in my Cam/Hunter series. You might want to read "I Try" before this one as this story is a continuation of their relationship from then on…

That momentous night
By Dany
Rated R for sexual, but not graphic situations between Cam and Hunter.

Summary: Set a day before the finale, 'Storm before the Calm'. Readers should be familiar with this episode to fully understand all the references to it in this story and its relevance at the end. Other than that, the title is pretty much self-explanatory…

"All right, guys," Kelly said with a sigh of relief as she pulled the van to a stop. "We're here!"
A collective whoop rose from her six passengers.
"Awesome!"
"Finally!"
"Dudes, I so have to find the closest bathroom…"

The van's doors swung open and the Wind and Thunder ninjas scrambled out into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn Hotel.

Shane stretched. "Man, I know there's such a thing as cabin fever, but I think I was seriously starting to get van fever."

Tori gave him a friendly shove. "It hasn't even been three hours, Shane."

"Hey, I have a hard time sitting still through one class in school. That should tell you something," the Red Wind Ranger replied.

"That just tells us that you have the attention span of…Dustin?" Cam said with a grin, then darted from the half-hearted swipes of the Red and the Yellow Ranger.

"So where's the field?" Blake asked, eyes darting all around, impatience and anticipation clearly written across his face.

Everyone looked around, but Hunter spotted the reason for their trip first. "Over there." He pointed to the far side of the outskirts of the forest where a large sign and brightly colored tape marked the entrance to a huge dirt track.

It was too far in the distance for them to make out the black letters on the sign, but they all knew what it spelled:

WELCOME TO THE 5TH ANNUAL U.S. ACTION GAMES!

They all grinned at each other. Tomorrow was the big day, and every one but Tori and Cam had signed up for one of the many competitions: dirt bike racing, skateboarding, freestyle motocross…

"Come on, let's get our rooms, ok?" Kelly called to them, and the gang trotted after her and into the hotel lobby. She motioned them towards a cluster of sofas by the sitting area while she approached the front desk to check them all in.

A few minutes later, Kelly returned with their key packets in her hands.
"All right, let's see…Tori and I are rooming together, here's Shane and Dustin's room…"
She handed the two boys their key cards. "Blake and Hunter…" She tossed the Bradleys their key packet, "…and the Privileged One with the single room."

Cam snatched his key packet from her with a sly smirk. "My solitude is worth those extra twenty bucks, believe me."

Hunter was rubbing his belly. "Man, I'm starving. Let's drop our stuff in the rooms and find something to eat around here."

Affirmative head nodding all around showed him that he wasn't the only hungry one, and only ten minutes later the gang had re-assembled in the lobby, ready to grab some grub.

"All right," Blake was rubbing his hands together. "Let's find us a place where we can feast like kings."

Hunter threw an arm around his little brother. "And I saw just the place for that."

He led the team out of the lobby and across the parking lot.

The Invitation…

"Dude, when I said 'feast like kings', I definitely didn't have this place in mind," Blake whined as Hunter shoved him into a booth at the Burger King across from the hotel.

"I can get you one of those paper crowns, if it'll make you feel better," Shane deadpanned, drawing snickers from the others.

Blake just glowered. "Isn't there at least one of those 'all-you-can-eat buffets' around here somewhere?"

Dustin threw a crumpled napkin at him. "Where do you think you are, dude? Vegas?"

Kelly smiled and shook her head at the teens. Their friendly bantering went on all through the meal, the excitement about tomorrow's games almost tangible between them. They all needed this break, were overdue for it. The fights had been numerous in the past few weeks, and Lothor seemed to be sending them tougher and tougher monsters. It almost felt like he was getting desperate. Yes, they certainly needed a reprieve.

Kelly, of course, knew nothing about any of this. She simply saw a group of very talented young men who wanted to show their skills at the games tomorrow.

The sun was slowly sinking behind the treetops of the distant forest by the time the gang finished their dinner. They spilled out of the restaurant, still laughing and teasing each other. And for a moment, none of them paid any attention to Cam and Hunter, who were bringing up the rear of the little group. The Thunder ninja and the Samurai Ranger dared to give each other a long, deep look, and Hunter smiled. It had been two weeks since Cam had had his fateful conversation with his father, which fortunately ended in Sensei welcoming the Crimson Ranger into their family. Their relationship was flourishing, but they still had yet to make the official announcement to the team. Cam simply wasn't ready yet, and Hunter didn't mind; he was going with the flow, namely Cam's flow. And as long as things were fine between them, he really didn't care who knew, or who didn't.
Suddenly, Cam nudged Hunter's arm and looked down. Hunter followed his gaze to find Cam holding a key card out to him. His room key. Hunter raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he reached for it automatically and quickly slipped it into his pocket before anyone noticed the exchange. The two young men looked into each other's eyes. They had gotten pretty good at reading the other's expressions, and now their eyes spoke to each other. "Are you sure?" Hunter asked silently.

"Oh, yeah," Cam's eyes answered him.

"Now I almost feel like a groupie," the Crimson Ranger mumbled.

Cam grinned. "Well, rest assured that you'd be the only member of the 'Cam Fanclub' who'll be let in."

Hunter chuckled as he scuffled next to Cam, hands jammed into his jeans pockets with his fingers curled tightly around the card. He opened his mouth, but there was no opportunity for asking when he should come over, for suddenly Dustin and Blake, apparently in need of a mediator after their argument about the perfect air pressure of their motorcycle tires had gotten somewhat heated, literally jumped him simultaneously while trying to shout over each other.

"Dude, your brother just won't believe me! I say it depends on the track conditions. You can't just go with a standard p.s.i. of…"

"Hey, I didn't say I didn't believe you, but everybody knows that you always start off with 12 pounds of air, and then…"

Hunter rolled his eyes, gave Cam a crooked grin and let himself be dragged off by his two motocross pals. Cam shook his head, smiling to himself, and moved off towards the hotel's main entrance. See you later…

Unintentional voyeurism…

Kelly had asked them all to pleeaase turn in early tonight, so that they would all be well rested for their races in the morning, but sleep was the last thing on Hunter's mind as he leaned against the window frame in his room, staring out onto the parking lot. Not that there was much to see out there, now that night had descended upon the town, but right now the Crimson Ranger wouldn't have noticed it if Lothor's entire evil army marched across every parked car outside at this very moment.

His mind was four doors down the hall.

He held the key card up, twirling it between his fingers. The implication, along with the look Cam had given him earlier on, was clear. So if Cam was ready to spend the entire night with him, then he, Hunter, should be nothing but happy about that, right?

So why am I so nervous all of a sudden? he wondered. Suddenly he felt like a schoolboy on his first date. It wasn't the physical part of it all; Hunter was quite confident in his performance abilities, even though it had been a while. But he was still worried about possibly endangering their relationship by pushing Cam into something he wasn't ready to do yet. Or was he now?

"Only one way to find out," Hunter mumbled as he resolutely pushed away from the window and made his way out the door before he changed his mind.

There was no one in the hallway, so Hunter felt no need to rush as he approached Cam's door. After only a moment's hesitation, he shoved the key card into the slot and pushed the door open.

"Cam?" he called softly.

No answer, but he heard the water rushing the moment he called Cam's name. The bathroom was just off to the left of him, the door half ajar. And before he knew it, his body was moving towards the source of the running water entirely of its own volition.

The bathroom was steamier than the Amazon rainforest, the mirror over the sink completely fogged. Apparently, Cam liked his showers hot, really hot.

The Samurai amulet was laying next to the sink, and for a moment Hunter had the craziest notion that it knew he was there, was watching him.

In lieu of a bathtub, there was a glass-enclosed shower cubicle, equally steamed up, but nevertheless Hunter could make out the figure inside quite clearly.

Cam was in full profile, facing the wall, left hand pressed against the tiles. His head was down, the water cascading down his neck and back, while his right hand was slowly moving through his soaked hair. His right leg stuck out at an angle, obscuring Hunter's view of what had been the Crimson Ranger's secret desire for a long time, but presenting him instead with a full eyeful of a perfectly round buttock, a beautifully sculpted thigh, and long, muscular legs.

It was the sexiest sight Hunter had ever seen. Absolute turn-on.

He tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone completely dry, and his heart was thumping so wildly that he was afraid it would break through his ribcage.

Now Cam's head rose slowly, up towards the jets. Eyes closed, lips slightly parted, he let the hot water pummel his face, and Hunter could take it no more.

Before he lost his last bit of self-control, tore off his clothes and seriously invaded Cam's personal space in that shower, Hunter did the only other thing he could do; retreat.

He backed away from the door frame and out into the hallway. The hotel room door was only a few steps away, and he reached blindly behind him for the doorknob. Once outside in the foyer, he pulled the door shut with exaggerated care, and immediately turned back towards his own room, staggering the four doors down the hall, still breathing hard.
'Back later…' was all his fogged mind could produce right now.

He needed a shower himself now; an ice-cold one.

Blake's take on things…

When he got to his room, however, he found that Blake was in the bathroom.

So much for that shower.

Hunter slumped onto his bed, propped his back against the headboard, and closed his eyes.

Immediately, the image of that naked body in the shower was crystal clear behind his eyelids. Ok, this wasn't helping at all.

The bathroom door opened and Blake stepped out, clad in navy swimming trunks and a loose tank top. "Hey."

Hunter lifted his chin in greeting. "Where do you think you're going? They don't have a pool here."

"Nope, but there's an oversized Jacuzzi in the back," Blake answered with a sheepish grin. "I'm meeting Tori there."

"Hope you kept that secret from Red and Yellow," Hunter exclaimed.

Blake snorted. "'course! I intend to be the only one with hairy legs in that tub."

The two brothers exchanged grins before Blake slung a towel over his shoulder and went for the door.

"Blake?"

The Navy Ranger paused, his hand on the doorknob. "Yeah, bro?"

"If I'm not here when you get back…" Hunter began.

Blake's expression spoke volumes. "Don't worry, I won't wait up for you." He was halfway out the door before he stuck his head back in, pearly whites flashing. "Just make sure you can still walk tomorrow morning, ok?"

The pillow hit the door just as Blake pulled it shut.

Cam's room, second try…

Cam was sitting at the edge of his bed, flipping disinterestedly through the TV channels when he heard the knock on the door. With a small frown he switched off the tube, flipped the remote onto the bed and went towards the door.

"What happened to your key?" he asked after he had backed away from the entrance to let Hunter into the room. A flicker of hesitancy came across the Crimson Ranger's face before he answered. "Oh, I have it, but I didn't just…wanna walk in on you, you know?"
Cam could have sworn he saw Hunter's mouth curl upwards for the briefest second, but decided not to get into it. He was far too happy to see him here to think about mysterious facial expressions.

Before the door had even fallen shut, the two men were already embracing. Their lips came together tenderly and Cam's grip around Hunter's waist tightened. His mouth opened, eagerly welcoming the Crimson Ranger's tongue inside. Their kissing went on for a while as both men simply enjoyed each other's presence and the luxury of some solitary time together.

With the increased fighting lately, Cam had been much busier than usual with the maintenance of the Zords and all the other equipment. Blake's, Dustin's and Hunter's spare time had mostly been spent practicing for the Action Games tomorrow, so there had hardly been any opportunity for the two of them to spend any time together.

Which made the undisturbed hours ahead of them even more precious.

When they broke the kiss, Hunter regarded the long-sleeved, deep green shirt Cam was wearing. "Nice shirt."

"You like it?" Cam grinned. "I wasn't crazy about it at first, but then I saw the name of the color and I just had to get it."

Hunter gave him a puzzled look. "And just what is the name of the color?"

"It's called 'hunter-green'."

The Thunder Ninja's mouth quirked. "Now I like it even more."

He leaned in for another kiss, but Cam took a step forward instead, and Hunter let himself be pressed against the wall. He felt a knee between his legs, then Cam's mouth was at his neck. Automatically, he tilted his head as heat rose in him, and his pulse quickened.

It was unusual for Cam to take the initiative like that, and Hunter found that he liked that change.

But even with all the obvious evidence, he still had to quiet the tiny nagging voice in his head. He had to ask. "Cam, you really want me to stay tonight?" he breathed.

"Uhumm," came the muffled answer from just beneath his ear.

"I don't want you to jump on this just because of an 'undisturbed night' opportunity."

Cam pulled back from his neck and looked at him. "Hunter, I can get a room at a hotel in Blue Bay Harbor for us any day, so that's not it at all." The samurai's honest gaze was fixed on the blond man. "I just know it's time for more."

"No philosophical musings, Zen quotations, or mathematical analyses?" Hunter mocked him playfully.

Cam rolled his eyes before a grin crossed his face. "No, just you, me, a locked door and…" A quick glance at the bedside clock. "Ten hours until you have to be at the track."

Hunter slipped his hands into the back pockets of Cam's jeans. "Well, I have a few ideas of what we can do until then, but sleep would be at the bottom of that list."

"Well, maybe you should follow up on those ideas," Cam said huskily.

And Hunter did. Suddenly his mouth seemed to be everywhere at once; on Cam's neck, earlobe, jaw, throat…Cam closed his eyes, giving himself over to mindless bliss. His skin seemed to tingle in the aftermath of the Thunder Ninja's caresses.

"Maybe I'm coming down with a fever, but I really think it's getting hot in here," he said breathlessly after a while.

Hunter didn't even blink. "That's because you're wearing way too many clothes," he replied smoothly, and immediately went on to unbutton Cam's shirt. The samurai's bare chest was smooth and warm and Hunter surged against him with renewed hunger.

Cam tried to mold himself to the Crimson Ranger, but there was still too much clothing between them, so he backed off a bit instead.

"I didn't know you were a baseball fan," Cam pointed to his crimson 'St. Louis Cardinals' sweatshirt.

"I'm not," Hunter grinned. "Just liked the color, that's all."

"It looks good on you, but…" Cam threw the drab brown carpet a quick glance, then turned back to Hunter with a mischievous smile. "…it would look even better on the floor." And without warning he grabbed the sweatshirt with both hands and pulled it up. The Crimson Ranger's half-hearted protests were muffled as Cam pulled the garment over Hunter's head in one swift motion. As soon as his face popped free from the collar, Cam pressed his mouth to his.

Neither of them bothered to check whether a crimson sweatshirt really complimented a brown carpet.

TO BE CONTINUED…