It was seriously fucking sexy.
“Come here,” I said, and crooked a finger, needing to touch him in some way and remind myself that he was real, thatthiswas. Otherwise I might start to believe I’d been blown to kingdom come in that explosion back in Wales and this was all just a dream.
Because seriously, was I really enjoying being stuck in thejungle?
Shep stretched out beside me, his golden-tanned skin sprinkled with droplets of water, and I moved in to take his face between my hands and press a kiss to his lips.
I’d meant it to be flirty, fun, a way to take our minds off things. But the second our mouths met, the mood changed.
I sipped at the cool water dotting his lips, teasing and tasting until he opened for me and I slipped inside, taking my sweet time to enjoy him. The kiss was lazy and unhurried in a way that said we had forever to explore one another. When Shep’s soft groan met my ears, I gently pushed him to his back and rolled with him.
As he settled onto the towel and stroked his hand down my back, I ended the kiss and moved in under the crook of his arm, resting my head on his chest.
Addthatthat to the list of things I never knew I liked.
“This is nice,” he said in a way that told me he was as shocked as I was at justhownice it felt. “Feels…”
“Right.” I turned my face up to see Shep craning his head to look down at me. When he reached for my sunglasses to take them off, I almost protested.
“Strange, isn’t it?” he asked as he put the glasses down beside him, and I nodded.
“A little. I keep wondering how I—” I frowned, looking for the right way to put everything I was thinking, when I barely understood it myself.
“How you what?”
“How I never…saw you before.”
Shep’s lips pulled into a smile so big I felt my cheeks heat. When he started to chuckle, I went to sit up.
“I don’t think so,” he said, grabbing hold of me and pulling me tight to his body. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
I struggled in his hold, my embarrassment rushing through me as he kissed the top of my head. “I swear, if you don’t let me go, I’m going to kill you.”
“No you won’t,” he said in a voice that told me he was all too pleased with himself. “You look really fucking sweet when you blush.”
I glared up at him, and he winked at me, making my cheeks turn even hotter.
“Oh yeah, I like that.”
“You’re not going to like it when?—”
Shep ran his fingers down my cheek and took hold of my chin, cutting off any and all thought. He pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “You know what I was thinking?”
“How impressive I look both coming and going?”
“That we’ve known each other for so many years that you’d think we’d know everything there is to know about each other.”
“Is this your way of telling me you’re hiding secrets from me?”
He grinned. “Not intentionally.”
“If there’s something you wanna know, ask away. I’m an open book.”
Shep ran his fingers through my hair, and it felt so good I could’ve fallen asleep right there. “Why don’t you tell me something no one else knows?”
“I thinkPeoplemagazine caught that scoop years ago.”
“I’m serious.”
