Chapter Twenty-one
Emma screamed as she leaped. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryan jump beside her. Her stomach did a barrel roll as she dropped, and some last-second instinct had her squeezing her eyes shut just before…
Splash.
The water smacked her toes and slammed up her nose, and then it had swallowed her whole. She went down, down, down, her ears popping the whole time. For a moment, she hung suspended in the water. She opened her eyes to a deep blue haze and the shadowy image of Ryan below her to her right. She looked up at the surface sparkling above her and started kicking.
She broke the surface with another splash, laughing and spluttering and gasping for breath. Ryan popped up beside her, treading water with one hand while he swiped water from his eyes with the other.
“That was awesome!” she shrieked.
“Yeah, it was,” he said, a wide grin on his face.
“I want to do it again.”
Now he was laughing at her, kicking toward the spot where they’d left her backpack. She followed, gliding through the water behind him. It had felt shockingly cold when she first went in, but now that her body had adjusted, it wasn’t bad at all.
He climbed onto the rocky shore, reaching out a hand for her. She gripped it and hauled herself up onto the rock beside him. Before she’d realized what was happening, she was in his arms, her body plastered to his, and he was kissing her like a man possessed.
“You were sexy as hell jumping off that cliff,” he murmured against her lips.
“It was even more fun than I thought it would be.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
“This part’s pretty fun, too.”
Yep. They were dripping wet and completely entwined, their skin slipping together with a delicious friction that warmed the last chill of the water.
“This part’s not fun, though.” Ryan adjusted himself in his trunks.
She giggled. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he said, his voice all low and rough. “I’m not.”
“Well, in that case…” She leaned in and kissed him again. His tongue slid against hers, igniting a fiery need inside her. She needed this moment, this man, this life. How could she give it all up next week?
“Emma,” he rasped, pulling back, “we’d better get going if we’re going to hike back up.”
She grumbled a little in protest, and Ryan hauled her in for one more blistering kiss. His cock pressed against her, so deliciously hard inside his swim trunks. She really wanted to help him out with that problem, but yeah, she wanted to jump again, too.
“Not going to be as much fun in wet, squishy sneakers,” she said, sliding them off one at a time to empty as much water out of them as she could.
“Maybe not, but it beats climbing back up barefoot.”
“Is that what you and Derek used to do?” she asked.
He nodded with a smile. “Tore our feet up pretty bad. Never brought towels either.”
“See? We girls think of everything.”
“You do,” he agreed. “Definitely an improvement.”
She wondered if he meant that, or if a part of him wished it were still her brother out here with him, racing their way to the top, barefoot and soaking wet.
He stepped closer and took her hand, as if he’d read her mind. “It’s different. Derek and I were here to out-daredevil each other. It was wild and reckless. Fun, sure. But it’s really great sharing it with you, too. I love sharing this kind of shit with you.”
The look in his eyes made her heart turn over in her chest.Gah.He didn’t mean…but…“I love sharing it with you, too.” She pressed her lips to his again then led the way back to the path.
This climb was a little different, wearing nothing but swimsuits. She wasn’t self-conscious in her bikini, especially not with Ryan, but okay, she wasn’t exactly sorry that their slippery, wet sneakers meant they had to forgo any rock climbing this time because she could only imagine what kind of view he’d have gotten following her up the rock face…
