At the top of a mountain, in what could barely be called a cave.
He eased an arm out from under their piled-up covers and brought it quickly back into the heat.
Cold as hell out there. And he didn’t hear rain anymore—or the constant thrum of the waterfall. Bad news. He’d be surprised if the rain hadn’t turned into something worse in the night.
And here they were, outside and buck naked.
He pulled in a deep breath and let out a sigh, unable to stop the smile from splitting his face.
Best wake-up. Ever.
His eyes cracked open, just enough to watch her.
On a wave of heat, everything they’d done came rushing back. Not just the kissing and touching, but the bone-deep emotions. The stuff that he couldn’t begin to explain—the stuff that had plumbed his soul.
Though he didn’t think the sun was all the way up, there was enough light that they needed to get moving again. How good would it be to stay here, instead? Perched in the clouds, where no one could see them? They could—
With a light humming sound, she stirred, her body going through the early phases of wakefulness the way his had.
In a moment of certainty, he opted to play it casual. No morning-after weirdness, no pressure to make this something—even though he knew that what had happened between them was cataclysmic. Leo, he surmised, wouldn’t appreciate pushiness at this point. She didn’t like having her mind made up for her.
He rolled out from their nest, giving her space to wake up and time to adjust to this new reality.
The cold slammed him like a fist, and for a few seconds, he wanted nothing more than to crawl back in there with her. His penis, thick and languid a moment before, begged him to, but he ignored it.
The sky was lighter than he’d realized.
He threw on a shirt and long underwear, went around the bend to answer nature’s call, and returned quickly.
“It’s cold and it’s late, Leo. Better get going.”
“Yep. Yep. Sounds good,” she said, voice thick with sleep, as she emerged, wrapped in blankets. Though her sleepy eyes lingered on his body, it didn’t take long for them to skid past him to where what had been a waterfall last night was now a massive icicle. Beyond it, so big it took his breath away, was the wilderness they’d spent the last few days crossing. The entire vista glittered in the sunlight, crystallized like the breath in his lungs.
Growing up, his mom had put figurines on the mantel around the holidays every year—a Christmas village. He’d loved those things as a kid—the warm glow of the lights in each little window, the sparkle of the snow-crusted roofs and trees. Not once in the last decade had he felt cozy looking out at this place. Not once had his cabin seemed as warm as this overlook today, a snug haven in a land frozen solid.
“How on earth did we climb up here?” Leo’s question was light, but there was a definite thread ofholy shitin there. Like she’d had no idea how far they’d come.
Careful not to meet her eye and show her what she’d done to his world, he responded with a nonchalant, “Good question.”
She crawled forward, almost to the edge. “Nothing but a goat path.”
“Sure is.”
While he pulled out dry clothes and threw her items that would, again, be way too big, she turned to take in the shallow shelter they’d spent the night in.
“And today…”
Halfway dressed, he sat beside her to pull on socks and, finally, his boots—which were miserably wet.
“Today, we do the summit. Hopefully before the helicopter arrives.” He pointed straight up. “Hope not to break our necks in the process.”
She shut her eyes. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
“Yeah, but once we get over the top, it’s all downhill.” He stood and then, because he couldn’t deny this thing—didn’t want to—he squatted beside her, wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, and leaned in for a quick, clean kiss.
It was nothing of the sort. The moment they touched, it turned dirty and deep, vocal and more complex than most of the relationships he’d had, including the one with the woman he’d almost married.
When he finally pulled away, he imagined his expression was something like hers—shell-shocked and exhausted and hungry for more.
