“I know,” Tabitha reassured. It sucked, but the reunion was the wrong time. There was too much at stake.
The torture on Zac’s face mimicked exactly what she felt in her heart.
Until his jaw took on a resolved clench.
“Fuck it.”
Chapter forty-two
Zac
Shecouldhavebeeninjured. Could have died. Zac could have been crushed by that chunk of granite. Every single worst-case scenario filtered through his mind at an alarming rate. What would a world be like without her in it? Without tasting her lips and feeling her pressed against him?
He lived the last sixteen years without her.
Because he’d left her.
Selfish, selfish prick that he was, he’d made the call to dip out and live a life devoid of her beauty. Her passion. Her heart.
He’d done it to himself.
And so he decided to do this for himself now. Decided to be selfish yet again. But this time, he’d have her. Delight in her comfort.
Because fuck it, they were alive. And the world would be less bleak with her still in it.
Zac’s lips descended on Tabitha’s as though he’d find the answer to the meaning of life there. He pressed his tongue into her mouth with a needy desperation and to his delight she responded in kind. That sweet taste of dried apricots had his head swimming with lust and called focus to the restricting nature of his climbing harness. God, he needed it off. But he needed more of her first.
He swiftly flicked open her helmet clasp and removed the safety equipment from her head. Instead of tossing it aside carelessly, he placed it down with reverence—he nearly kissed it—because it had helped keep his woman safe when she’d taken that whipper up top. He removed his as well and placed it beside hers.
She smirked curiously at his actions, but he didn’t even consider embarrassment.
Gratitude overshadowed it all.
“I’m suddenly a big fan of safety,” he teased, closing the distance to her smiling lips. He cradled her jaw with both hands, tilting her chin up to sink deeper into her mouth.
Tabitha snaked her hands around his ribs and gripped his shirt. She pulled him closer, pressing her body against his. Pressing her figure eight knot and his Grigri hard between their harnesses.
Time out.
Zac pulled back and was punished with her forlorn whimper.
“I know, tabby cat.” Nimble fingers wrenched on her knot—which had tightened fiercely with her falls—to free her from the obstructing gear. As he worked the knot, she unhooked the belay device from his harness, accidentally brushing his dick as it strained against the confines of his harness and zipper. She grinned wickedly.
Ok, not-so-accidentally, then?
Finally, the tangled rope gave way, and he pulled her free. Her harness was next. Once loosened, it fell to her feet with a satisfying thud. The squeeze of her hands on his shoulders made him hum with pleasure as she stepped out of the loops and buckles.
Zac scooped Tabitha into his arms, delighting in her yelp of surprise, and hauled her away from the flaked rope and strewn climbing gear. He set her gently on one of the boulders at the opposite side of the ledge and knelt to remove her climbing shoes.
His long fingers snaked around one ankle while he released the tidy bow she’d tied after lunch, before she’d started up the third pitch of the day. The pit of his stomach welcomed his heart as it dropped.
She could have died.
“Are you ok?” Tabitha’s voice was a soothing balm, calling him back from lingering fear. When he didn’t look up at her right away, she reached for his face with both hands. Bent forward, she placed a gentle kiss on his knitted brow.
“You could have—”
“But I didn’t,” she reassured and kissed one cheekbone just above his beard.
